Guimarães Portugal.
Our bus trip out of Porto, Portugal brought us to two beautiful and historic cities. We spent some time in the historic city center of Guimarães, the town where the first Portuguese king was born. Afonso Henriques (Afonso I) achieved independence for Portugal from the Moors. He reigned from 1139 until his death in 1185.
Though we saw some of the city through the bus windows, we spent most of our time on the cobbled streets and visited the church in the city center. I am always intrigued by those narrow streets and beautiful old European architecture.
About the photo: Our group had just walked down the street in the image above, and I lagged behind sensing there might be an interesting photo behind us. I turned around to see a gentleman who had just stepped out of a doorway and a couple walking down the street toward me. Though I had my Sony camera at the ready, I thought this might make a good image to share on a Cellpic Sunday. I pulled my Samsung S20U out of my pocket and tried both horizontal and vertical compositions.
When I got home, I loaded the photos into Lightroom for cataloging and immediately sent off the vertical composition to Luminar Neo. I tweaked the exposure and immediately thereafter went to work with Neo’s powerline removal tool. There were a few electrical wires crisscrossing the sky between the two buildings and Neo did a great job removing them. I then went to work with the erase tool to remove the fixtures that held the wires. OK, so I admit to turning the image into an unreal representation of what I captured. It’s art, so sue me. At least I let you know. >grin<
When those tweaks worked to my satisfaction, I adjusted the noise level and exposure, then I made a few more tweaks that I felt necessary. You can view the photo in 2K HD from my Flickr site by simply clicking on the image.
I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.
John Steiner
[…] Posted for Natalie’s Photographing Public Art and John’s Cellpic Sunday […]
I recognised that immediately! I love Guimarães.
Here is mine:
I’d like to go back sometime and spend a little more time. We spent too much time on the bus and not enough time to explore. 🙂
A lovely sight, John.
Thanks, Janet!
[…] John’s Cellpic Sunday […]
The story makes the photo John 🙂
There are so many stories in this interesting city. I will be sharing some more in future posts.
The lane appears narrow between these huge buildings.
What is the mode of transport?
Only by walking?
Thanks for sharing this lane with colourful buildings.
This part of the city has some lanes for walking only, and some wider lanes that were meant for vehicles of an earlier time. The city was founded in the 4th Century, so wide roads were not common. Our tour bus had to park some distance from here and we walked on cobblestone streets for much of this part of the tour.
Thank you John for the information.
Interesting that even with your camera handy you chose to use your phone – I would always see that as back-up for when I DON’T have my camera! But I have to say you’ve got an atmospheric shot here just the same 🙂
PS I remove power lines quite often and don’t always confess 😆
If I didn’t have a weekly “Cellpic Sunday” post, I’d be more likely to use my main camera. Sometimes I take a shot with the cellphone just because I think it would make a good candidate for my Sunday posts.
So, I’m curious. Did you shoot the same scene with your Sony? This is a beautiful image, but I’m with Sarah regarding using the phone as my backup. Thanks for removing the power lines. They do tend to alter an ‘old world’ moment.
As I noted in my reply to Sarah, I often choose to use my cellphone only because of my Cellpic Sunday posts. I often use both camera and cellphone to give me the choice.
In Tuesday’s post, I talk about just such a reason to use both. I’ll leave you hanging there for now. >grin<
With regard to this image, I only used my cellphone for this shot, though most of the images captured in this area of the city were captured on my Sony.
Nice set-up to read your Tuesday post! See you then.
[…] Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday […]
I’ve always loved the idea of strolling a European cobblestone street, John, this is lovely! Here is mine with a few cellpics after three weeks of hiatus, https://secondwindleisure.com/2023/04/16/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-pastoral-pastels/
It was not always easy for the older folks on our tour to walk on cobblestones, but it wouldn’t be Europe without them. 🙂
Good point, John! Klutzy me would be looking where I was going and have to stop for photo ops!
I loved Guimarães, such a pleasant surprise to see it here again. Your instinct was right. Those three gives this lane a nice touch of interest.
Here is a set I should have linked last Sunday: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2023/04/07/presidential-bonsai/
[…] Steiner, the blogger behind Journeys With Johnbo, has this prompt he calls Cellpic Sunday in which he asks us to post a photo that was taken with a cellphone, tablet, or another mobile […]
[…] https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/2023/04/16/cellpic-sunday-historic-guimaraes-portugal/ […]
Thank you John for the memories, I love Portugal and Oporto.
[…] Steiner at Journeys with Johnbo blog invites us to post a photo we’ve taken with a mobile device such as an cellphone, tablet, dashcam, […]
The history of these ancient European towns is mind-boggling! Your photo really invites us to learn more about this historic place, John.
[…] John’s Cellpic Sunday and Sami’s Monday […]
[…] Photobyjohnbo-Cell-Pic-Sunday23-0416 […]
Great picture from your cell phone, John. I’m afraid I often leave my Sony at home and just use my cell phone. It is so much easier. Last week I used both, but I liked the cell phone photos just as well, and it was easier to see to take them. I’ll link WQ to your post tomorrow because you always inspire my posts. 🙂
I’ve been to Porto (loved it) but not to Guimarães – I didn’t know/had enough time. May be I should make another trip 😀.
It was worth the stop for us!!
[…] This post is part of John.S’s Cellpic Sunday […]
The narrow streets are Europe are so charming.
They are indeed, Dan. I have many more images in the works to share over the next few weeks.