BREATHTAKING BUDAPEST SOME FAVORITES FROM MY RECENT WORKSHOP IN HUNGARY

IT'S BEEN SEVEN YEARS SINCE MY FIRST VISIT TO LISBON

I fell in love with it the first time, and I was thrilled to be back. This time I was lucky enough to be there leading a travel photography workshop with 12 awesome photographers, my co-instructors Mimo Meidany, and Fernando "Chicky Nando" Santos who lives right there in Lisbon.

Our trip started by driving four hours from Lisbon Airport to beautiful Porto, up in the northern part of Portugal along the Douro river, which is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, and it was wonderful. Everything I hoped it would be. I even recorded two courses for KelbyOne while I was there, and it was so much fun.

After a day or so, we headed back to Lisbon to do our location scouting before the workshop, and before we knew it, the workshop was off and running. We were getting up early to shoot, staying up late, laughing our butts off the whole time, making some photos, learning, lunching, and loving every minute of it. I'll tell the rest of the story mostly in the captions below the photos, but it was a very special week for me – spending my time with two of my dear friends: Mimo and Nando, and making new friends with the 12 fun-loving folks who were with me.

Above: When the guy walked into the scene and sat down I thought, "Well, I'll wait until he leaves" but then I looked through the viewfinder and realized he made the scene that much better.

Above: If you get up earlier enough, the streets that will be packed full in just an hour or so are nearly empty, especially at this popular Instagram spot where everybody's taking selfies in front of the funicular. Well, not at 7:00 am they're not, but by 8 or 9, these street is packed.

I'm Not A Hiker, But I Was That Day

People who are actually hikers will laugh at what I'm about to tell you, but for me, this was a relatively tough one – it was only 1/2 mile or so to Cruz Alta (the spot for this shot), but it was all uphill at a 14% grade, and then we get near the top, just to make sure you're sufficiently tired, there's a funky set of stairs (funky in that they were probably made 100 years ago, which apparently was the last time they were maintained), which lead to a bunch of big rocks you climb on which are a slip-and-fall injury attorney's dream come true, and then when you get all the way up there, you still can't see the palace because they're blocked by the trees. The only way to clear the treetops is to climb up on the cross monument, hang on with one hand and shoot with the other, but you'd (a) have to be taller than me, and (b) not afraid of heights (which I am, majorly).

Mimo had no problem scampering right up there and shooting, plus he's really tall, but there was no way I was going to do that. So, there I am sitting there depressed – I hiked all the way up there, survived and stairs and rocks only to not get the shot after all. However, technology to come to the rescue. Mimo came over and said, "I have an idea. Get out your Canon wireless app." (The Canon Camera Connect app lets you wirelessly control your Canon camera from your phone – you can choose your f/stop, ISO, shutter speed, etc., pick your focus point, and even take the shot all wirelessly). Mimo says, "I'll be your human tripod. I'll climb up there, hold your camera, but you take the shot with the app."

I was thrilled, and that's exactly how it worked. I could see the scene through the app, so I could call out Mimo, "Shift a little left; zoom in a little, a little more, ok – right there!" and I would take it from there, and take the shot. It worked like a charm and that's (a) how I got the shot, and (b) how many earned the nickname "Mimo the Go Anywhere Human Tripod." Thanks, Mimo! (and thanks Fernando who set up the wireless connection between the camera and my iPhone, since I hadn't set it up on my new Canon R6 II, and didn't even remember how. Luckily, Nando is a wiz with this stuff!

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot.

Above: Fernando arranged for us to shoot a window light portrait of famous Portuguese surrealist artist Raul Perez. In invited us into his home to let my entire workshop (in groups of two at a time) take his portrait. He was such a kind soul. So kind, patient, and warm to everyone. Plus, we got to enjoy his wonderful paintings, and it was a very special experience. He has a face with such character – it was a thrill and a honor to get the opportunity to photograph this wonderful artist, and gentle soul. Thank you Raul, and thank you Fernando (and Paula, who helped make it all happen).

The Mafra Palace Library

Below: The beautiful Library in nearby Mafra in the National Palace. By the way – these two images below are iPhone photos, and not taken in Raw – they're just regular ol' 12-megapixel JPEGs. So, why didn't I shoot it in Raw? I forgot to turn it on.

Above: (From L to R): Teresa, Sherry, Cole the Wonderdog, Kim, Craig, Me, Mimo, Scott, Bob, John, Vito, Miles, Willey, Kelly, and Richard.

Above: this is taken through a glass window looking down on the cathedral in the National Palace in Mafra. I placed my lens right on the glass to keep from having reflections on the glass. Shout out to Sherry from our group who found this overlook on our way to the Library.

Above: You know the palace is pretty amazing when this is the view when leaving the Men's room .

Above: We were there for over an hour, but I only took about 7 photos that morning. Here I used a 10x ND filter, but I wish I had stacked more on top to get a much longer exposure.

Above: Back in Lisbon, scouting for what would be a dawn shoot, went to shoot the Vasco De Gama Bridge (we were inspired by a beautiful photo taken by Chicky Nando).

Above: Those daytime shots convert really nicely to Black and White. Conversions done in Lightroom by using a B&W Profile and then increasing the profile's Amount slider to 100% to make the sky dark and give it that infrared effect.

Above: Long exposure with a 10x and 3x ND filter.

Above: built for the '98 International Expo in Lisbon, this structure is a blast to shoot for practicing composition.

For The Love Of Trolleys!

Ok, they call them 'Trams' but they are so wonderful, and photogenic, and fun. I couldn't stop shooting them. I told my students: they're loud, they're uncomfortable to ride in, and they're slow for the most part, but they bring a lot of old world charm to any city, and thus they've become a signature of this beautiful city.

Above: That's a tight squeeze!

Above: On our way to Porto, we stopped in Golegã to shoot this wonderful building – it was the photography studio of Carlos Relvas, one of Portugal's most famous photographers.

Did I mention the food?

You wouldn't think of Portugal as a burger town, but the fantastic burgers at Honorato Burger would prove us wrong (plus, their chocolate mouse was incredible! Mmmmm). Best of all – the super yummy food in Portugal was incredibly inexpensive. For example, beers were 1 Euro. A bottle of wine at a restaurant? $8 euros. Crazy low prices, and delicious food about everywhere you go.

Lisbon's amazing train station

Designed by world famous Spanish architecture Santiago Calatrava (the same architect who created New York City's incredible $4 billion dollar Oculus train station), it's beautiful by day and magical at night, so I pulled out my iPhone to capture the shots below.

Above: These train station shots were all taken in JPEG on my iPhone.

A Moroccan oasis hidden in the heart of Lisbon! (it's actually the entrance area to a restaurant, but it's become so popular, tour groups are now stopping in there for a few photos.

Gorgeous Porto!

Porto feels very much a vacation city – right along the river banks, lined with great restaurants and shops, and lots of photographic opportunities day and night. We only spent one night there, but we saw enough to know it would be great to go back one day and spend a more time. Chicky Nando was a trooper to drive us, and all our luggage and gear, four hours each way to get there.

Above: The two deck Dom Luís I Bridge spans the river. It was designed by a protege of Gustave Eiffel (of Paris' famous Eiffel Tower). The week after we left, they finished a restoration project on the bridge, and they allowed cars to travel on the lower level of the bridge again.

These boats were used to move wine down the river, and there are a number of them along the waterfront (strictly for display for the tourists).

Above: this is where we were when I took that Bridge shot that started this Porto section.

Above: Here's a pano from the other side of the river (there's a little water taxi that takes you back and forth across the river for 3-Euros. Beats making the walk all the way down to, and across the bridge. It's kind of a hilly city (like Lisbon in that regard).

Above: here's a closer view. Our hotel was 1/2 block behind the yellow building on the far right.

Above: One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Porto was to go to the Lello Bookstore (Livraria Lello), known as the most beautiful bookstore in the world, with its famous red staircase. However, it's become so popular (thank you Instagram) that they now sell tickets just to go inside, and it's sold out days in advance with a line literally running down the block. It's a huge tourist attraction now, which makes getting the stairs empty like pretty much impossible. So, how did I do it? See below.

Here's part of the series of shots I took – packed with tourists.

The bookstore is always packed to the gills, so I took a series of photos from the 2nd floor aiming down at the staircase, holding my camera as still as I could. There are no tripods allowed, and in this case, with good reason – it's a mob-scene in there - you can barely move. Anyway, I take a shot, wait 10 or 15 seconds, take another shot and so on, and hoping that people keep moving down the stairs and don't stop on the way up or down to take selfies.

THE PHOTOSHOP PART: If everybody keeps moving, you can open all these photos into Photoshop, then go under the File Menu, under Scripts and choose "Statistics." When the Statistics window appears, for "Stack Mode" at the top, choose "Median" from the pop-up menu (as shown above), then click the "Use Open Files" and click OK. Photoshop will analyze the scene and remove everything that moved in the scene. It did a pretty darn good job, but unfortunately for me, sure enough – some folks stopped to take selfies on the stairs, so there was some ghosting so I had to do a little Healing Brush and Clone Stamp work to get the empty stairs you saw earlier. So, a little camera technique and a little Photoshop magic got the job done.

Above: TOP – the view from downstairs. NEXT DOWN: Shooting up at the roof of this amazing bookstore. 2nd From BOTTOM: Downstairs looking up the stairs. BOTTOM: Another view from the 2nd floor, but on the opposite side. Same technique for getting rid of the tourists.

Above: This is the line to get into the Bookstore for people who already bought tickets online.

Such a colorful city – apartments like these are everywhere in Porto.

The underside of the two level bridge across the river.

I saw this neighborhood and Chicky Nando found it on the map. It took a bit of a hike to get there, but we got there.

You gotta love a train station with a view. :)

Above: the light in the train station is pretty amazing.

Walked right past this motorcycle and the ground was almost eye-level and well…I had to shoot it.

Adobe: We almost died on this street. Well, we almost got beat up. Don't go don't this street. It's not a safe area. Seriously.

WORKSHOP BEHIND THE SCENES SHOTS (by Chicky Nando)

Fernando did a great job capturing these behind-the-scenes shots of us at our shoots, in the classroom, and just having fun. He really captured the flavor and the feel of our team in Lisbon.

Photos by Chicky Nando.

Parting Shots!

Here's a few shots of the group – the top one is us at the opening night dinner. Below that a few of the gang at Belem Tower, and bottom right us at our last morning's dawn shoot.

The great folks who joined us in Lisbon. :)

NOTE: For even more in-depth coverage of this trip, the workshop part, and the entire 192 hour experience, you have to checkout Fernando's own Adobe Express page. I cannot imagine how long it took him to put it together – it's incredibly complete and a really fun read with lots of great image and more BTS stuff. It's like being there all over again. Here's the link.

Thanks to Chicky Nando, and Mimo for all their help, advice, hard work, patience and friendship, and thanks to the twelve wonderful, fun-loving, great photographers who joined us on this adventure in Portugal. It was a trip I'll never forget.

CAMERA INFO: Canon R6 II with a 24-240mm lens, all shot to fast 1667x Lexar SD Memory cards, also used a Peak Design tripod, and my iPhone 14 Pro.

Created By

Scott Kelby