Some of you may have noticed that I do have a strong affinity with rocks of all kinds. While I am still working on different projects that have to do with rocks or rock structures my current trip adds just on top of that. Last week I drove down to Portugal exploring the nature reserve Serra da Estrela, continental Portugal’s highest mountain range, and home of the famous Estrela Mountain Dog, Serra da Estrela cheese and Serra da Estrela rocks!

Even though there is a lot to see and explore in Serra da Estrela, I went there specifically for the big granite boulders that are characteristic for this mountain range. These rocks of all sizes often seem scattered around randomly like marbles and are often round and with smooth surfaces. When they’re round they look like squeezed against each other and when they’re more of a blocky character they look like stacked on top of each other.

The rocks in the wider area of Serra da Estrela consist of granitic rock with quartz being the main mineral. Quartz is a mineral that comes in a wide variety of forms and colours and happens to be an important production material in several industries.

The interesting thing from a photographer’s perspective is the variety of colours (mainly different shades of grey) and shapes these rocks appear in. It sometimes looks like as if nature had practised on a miniature scale and then—once happy with the results—transformed the results into large scale. A lot of the giant rocks ‘lying around’ look exactly like their smaller counterparts which often are small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

I am currently working on a selection of photographs taken on this trip, but there are several challenges: The biggest is to decide whether to convert the photographs to black and white—which is what I had usually intended—or leave them as colour images and benefit from the variety of beautiful, though subtle colours that both the rocks and their surrounding environment have in common. Both colour and BW options require a subtle editing that emphasises the different colour/grey values but keeps their natural appearance. A difficult but enjoyable task.

I will update this post once I have results that are ready to show.

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A stack of characteristic granite rocks in Serra da Estrela – Portugal, Serra da Estrela – 2019
The round variety of the typical granite rocks ‘Grandes bolas graniticas’. – Portugal, Serra da Estrela – 2019
A trilogy of colour, found around the rocks of Serra da Estrela – Portugal, Serra da Estrela – 2019
Mountain range Serra da Estrela with a giant shadow caused by clouds. Visible in a higher res version of this image: llittle huts, trees and rock-built walls separating fields – Portugal, Serra da Estrela – 2019

Here’s an interesting post on Lonely Planet about Serra da Estrela Natural Park