Photographer's Note
After my very first posts, I decided to risk posting another film scan that has a special personal meaning for me, as it reminds me of my childhood.
I grew up up in Campo Maior until I was 11 and although I practically lost contact with everyone I knew there, I remember very well the warmth kindness and lively joy of the people there. The main festivities of the place consist in decorating the streets with paper (mainly floral themes), turning the streets and all the town in a giant artificial luxuriant garden This requires a lot of work, that is done by nearly everyone from the grandson to the grandma, spending every evening of many months cutting and stitching paper. Neighbours compete with each other to make their street more beautiful than the others and there is a jury to decide which ones are the best, but the competition doesn't involve money. No need to say that the town's only activities during the festival are all related with the party, as most of the streets are closed to cars. Crowds come to see this unique thing from all over Portugal and Spain and most of the streets get as crowded as big shops in Christmas time. I was lucky with this shot, as the street is almost empty.
The name of the festival used to be "Festas do Povo" (people's festival) or "Festas dos Artistas" (artists festival). As long as I know, strangely they have no relation with religion. Requiring so much hard work, it's no surprise that they have no fixed frequency - sometimes they happen every 7 years, other times they are more frequent, and there were times that they didn't happen for more than 10 years.
This street splendour is far from the more elaborate ones.
Location (latitude, longitude): 39.0114,-7.07103 (I am not sure about the accuracy, but my guess is that the error hardly surpasses 100 meters/yards).
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PS: I am getting kind of sad because now that I have an audience to my photos, I only can show the more recent ones, as the older are on film and 99.9% of my scans are pretty poor. I have to gain courage to see what I can do with PP in some of my scans and scan not only those which never weren't digitised. I only hope that my scanning and PP skills have improved a lot since my last 'scanning campaigns'.
I bet most of you who follow my posts more closely are wondering why I only post photos from Morocco and Tunisia. Well, besides the reason above, in these late years I became much of a 'tourist photographer', as I rarely use my camera when I am not on holidays (shame on me 8-), so I really haven't much choice if I stick to a minimal technical quality standard.
lucasgalodoido, Wanda1, metek, superpau, jwmunro, parbo, adores, bostankorkulugu, robertosalguero, ChrisJ, paura, dospordostres, zeca, xuaxo Ý÷ïõí(åé) åðéëÝîåé áõôÞ ôç óçìåßùóç ùò ÷ñÞóéìç
Critiques | Translate
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![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 133 W: 16 N: 61]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}
(809) 2006-11-27 20:51
Hi Jose,
wowowowowow!!!!!!!! The feeling is great, colors, and repeating paterns are awsome! Thanx for sharing!
lucasgalodoido
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5800 W: 190 N: 7424]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif){kind=small}
(26140) 2006-11-27 22:32
Olá José!
Gostei da decoração e das cores de sua foto, acho que só faltou o povo mesmo na foto!!!!
Deve ficar mais interessante esse lugar lotado!
Parabéns e Abraço!
Wanda1
(15142) 2006-11-27 22:37
Hi Jose,
I like the wide angle that you have used here to get in all the wonderful decorations. A nice mood is created and the people at the end add nice extra interest.
Regards
Wanda
UnTrained
![Gold Star Critiquer [C: 3377 W: 0 N: 0]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-n.gif){kind=small}
(0) 2006-11-28 1:12
Olá José,
first: thanks for personal reflections in your note - necessary to understand the background
second: I think you got everything from the scan what ever possible
third: even not my favorite but with this composition and POV - it attracts me a lot.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers, Ulf
fanch
(0) 2006-11-28 5:33
Je comprend ( enfin je crois .. ) l'émotion qui peut s'attacher à ce genre d'image ... C'est très Portuguais ces couleurs ( et ce blanc ... ) . Une ambiance nostalgique à propos de fêtes et de l'enfance !
Et le scan est très bien fait .
Amitiés ,
PixelTerror
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 9758 W: 0 N: 0]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-n.gif){kind=small}
(0) 2006-11-28 10:22
Ola Jose,
I don't find your scan that bad, actually I'd wish that all scans presented on this site could be at least as bad as yours ;-) I find this covered street perspective very festive and at this TE size quality is fine. You could maybe up the contrasts on the non white items, but this would imply to up it on the many whites as well with the risk to have them too bright, unless of course you cant to engage in working on quite complicated selections...
Have a nice day,
JEan-Yves
sothy81
(9646) 2006-11-28 10:23
Hi Jose, great shot. Interesting perspective. The floor is also great. Good one. Sothy,
superpau
(1464) 2006-11-28 11:36
Hola José!
Es una foto muy bonita, que se anticipa a la fiesta de la gente!
Me gusta tu POV, de arriba hacia abajo y de izquierda a derecha... es verme caminando por esa calle decorada!
Es una foto que transmite mucho, especialmente con tu buena nota!
Gracias por compartir!
Besos, Pau.
jwmunro
(286) 2006-11-28 12:35
Hello Jose -
Your scan is by far one of the best, technically, that I have seen lately. I do notice a slight color cast. Are the hanging papers supposed to white or do they have a blue tint? (the color cast) Otherwise, the image is very good, has acceptable depth, and is interesting.
Jose, begin going out to shot just for yourself - you do not have to be on holiday to make images that are interesting. Document your home town, windows, street life, fiestas, landscapes (both urban or suburban), different weather conditions, etc. The more shooting you do the better you become technically and the better your holiday images become. Step outside of your level of comfort or skill to develop more skills in observation and technique.
This image is well done, thank you for sharing your home town and memories with us.
John
parbo
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2432 W: 15 N: 3160]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-g.gif){kind=small}
(11092) 2006-11-28 16:19
Olá Jose,
Your note is including great story of "Festas do Povo" that I like a lot at least your photo. Slope of street is master piece of this great atmosphere because it helps to create different layout of paper decorated ceiling. Always wonderful white façades and flowers are helping to create excellent depth. Visitors at the end of street are helping to us imagine the scale of your splendid view. Your photo is in very good condition and I’m fully satisfied with your scan. Many thanks for sharing your memories and private portfolio with us. Congratulations.
Friendly Regards,
Ertugrul
adores
(46979) 2006-11-28 17:21
Olá José!
Está visto que somos dois alentejanos de serviço aqui no TE!
Acho que te portaste muito bem com o scanner. As cores e a definição ficaram muito boas. Pode não ser das ruas mais decoradas mas está muito bonita e tiveste sorte de não ter um mar de gente à tua frente. Deus sabe o povo que lá está sempre. Gosto do branco, da decoração simples e da rua cheia de casas antigas, nota-se que é Alentejo!
Cumprimentos, Anabela
bostankorkulugu
(42762) 2006-11-28 23:08
great perspective jose... beautiful streat with superb decorations... the people at the end of the street add a lot to the compo i think... congrats...
korkut
robertosalguero
(288) 2006-11-29 1:03
Jose this picture makes me remember my times growing up in Central America. I figure Portugese culture is not different, or very different at least, from my own. One thing I love in the picture is the cobblestone street and the white houses. Excellent capture of the small town/city ambiance in this picture. Truly a good scan!
Roberto
paura
(25796) 2006-11-29 16:41
Incrível fotografia aqui, José. A composição está excelente, da mesma forma que o tratamento das cores. Bom você compartilhar conosco uma fotografia dessa festa.
Paulo
ChrisJ
(152474) 2006-11-30 3:57
Ola Jose
Good daily life scene, with marellous linear perspective, repetition & colour. Obrigado & parabens!
dospordostres
(1170) 2006-11-30 21:32
Hola Jose,
Una foto muy bonita e interesante, con mucha profundidad y lindas texturas. Los ninnos al fondo de la calle le dan presencia humana, aunque hubiera sido interesante verlos un poco mas claros. Gracias por compartir tu foto y las memorias de antes.
un abrazo,
Daniel
pboehringer
(770) 2006-12-03 1:12
Hi Jose, I don't think that your complaints regarding the technique are appropriate. Given the fact that it is a scanning I think that it is pretty good. TE is not only about theperfect shot but also about learning of culture, places, people, etc from other places around the globe and that is exactly what you're doing here. I love this post. It is VERY interesting!
Very well done!
Kind Regards, Peter
alentejo
(1954) 2006-12-04 16:41
Ola José !
Bela foto e POV. Infelizmente nao conheço Campo Maior...:-(((
Conseguiste um excelente contraste entre as paredes caiadas e as cores das flores. Os pormenores da calçada estao muito bons tambem.
Parabens.
Um abraço.
zeca
(19762) 2006-12-04 22:03
Olá José!
Muito boa a foto! Gosto da perspectiva alta! Me parece um local muito interessante, com ótimo astral!
abraço,
Zeca
karenr
![Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 15 W: 9 N: 12]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/s-n-s.gif){kind=small}
(78) 2006-12-08 10:36
This is a stunning photo, reagdrless of the fact that it was scanned. I love the POV, DOF is excellent, and the people add scale to the scene.
TFs, Karen
Benedict
(7076) 2006-12-27 22:58
your risking worked! reminds me of the fiestas we have too back home. feliz ano nuevo, my freind!
benedict
fkokol
(1636) 2007-08-13 15:10
What a nice place. Wonderful colours and detail from festival.
greetings,
figen
xuaxo
(6854) 2007-10-09 5:26
Olá José
Para digitalização (e com os teus lamentos na nota), até está boa. Falta talvez um pouco mais de "vivacidade" (saturação das cores, não é?). Ou então sou eu que esperava uma rua ainda mais colorida nestas famosas Festas do Povo.
Desconfio que qualquer dia publicas aqui uma bela foto digital destas festas.
Acho que nunca tinha visto imagens destas festas com esses arcos pequenos no chão. Será que esta é a tua rua?
Um abraço, F.
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Jose Pires (stego)
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4422 W: 612 N: 7301]](//i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(24132) - Genre: Ôïðïèåóßåò
- Medium: ¸ã÷ñùìï
- Date Taken: 1998-09-00
- Categories: ÃéïñôÝò
- Camera: Olympus OM4, 24mm, 35mm positive
- Map: view
- ¸êäïóç öùôïãñáößáò: Ðñùôüôõðç Ýêäïóç
- ÈÝìá(ôá): EVENTS , FESTIVAL, !Norte Alentejano, !My film scans, !Top rated early posts [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2006-11-27 20:46
Discussions
- To jwmunro: Thank you for your useful advices (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-11-28 02:23 - To adores: "Acho que te portaste muito bem com o scanner" (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-11-28 06:29
