Cobbled Streets & Beaches

              

As the sun sets over the beach, so this is the last holiday snaps of Portugal I'll post. Yes, I can almost hear the huge sigh of relief.

But at last I have one monochrome shot to balance against all the vivid saturated colour pictures I've been posting. And (surprise, surprise) it's the one shot I like most. 

In the town of Lagos, into the sun, I saw this lovely street of cobbles glowing. I just needed some focal point of interest for a more interesting picture, but the streets were pretty much deserted. 

I hung around for a bit, then from nowhere this old lady came tottering along. If she would walk in front of me, it might be perfect. So I waited, discreetly, camera poised and ready, for her to walk into the sunlight for the street silhouette I wanted. 

And I waited. And waited. She took a step forward. Stopped. Turned around. Stopped. Thought about where she was, where she wanted to go, had she got her keys? Lost her purse? Again she turned around, stopping always on the edge of the sunlight. If I had a stick I would have prodded her! I nearly gave up, but eventually, finally, she crossed in front of me and I grabbed the shot. 

Was it worth it? One of my wife's friends saw the picture and said, 'Oh, what a shame that old woman walked into your shot!' 

I wonder why I bother sometimes. Perhaps I need to crop it harder so she is more obviously the subject ...

And of course there has to be at least one beach sunset ... So there it is. And yes, that's me trying to be macho and not show any girly weakness from the agony of those sharp rocks cutting into my feet.