The Ceremonial Gateway II

The Ceremonial Gateway - Part II



The Belém Tower was built both as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and as part of a defence system of the entrance of the Tagus river and the Jerónimos Monastery, which was necessary to protect Lisbon. The system was initiated by King John II (1455-1495), who built the Fortress of Cascais and the Fortress of Sao Sebastiao of Caparica. The banks of Belém were protected by a ship, the Grande Nau, replaced by the Tower of Belém during the last five years of the reign of King Manuel I.


1 exposure only, with a 3 stop ND Grad. Quite a difficult scene to expose. Had to recover some underexposed zones with dodge. Perhaps HDR would have been the best choice here, but I wasn't using a tripod. Hope you like it!


José Ramos
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^{Belém - Lisboa - Portugal
Pentax K10d + Sigma 10-20
3 stop ND Grad
Post-processing - dodge/burning, vignetting, levels, saturation, colour balance, noise reduction, sharpness.}