Postcards from Spain: Travel photos to inspire your next visit
We recently visited Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and numerous smaller towns in Spain. All photos were taken with a Canon R5, Canon 15-35 f2.8 lens, and a Canon 24-105 f4 lens. I also used Peak Design’s Everyday Sling bag to hold the gear.
Baths of Doña María de Padilla, Seville
This was a spectacular spot for photography. Not only is the reflection a gift for photographers but the warm yellow interior and the blue light from the outside shaded area coming in through the window was a perfect addition. The scene was pretty dark so I had to up the camera’s ISO and try to keep the camera very still.
Read our blog post: A two-day visit to Seville, Spain
Segovia Aqueduct
Late afternoon is an excellent time for travel photography since the sun is low in the sky making interesting light. Earlier in the day I photographed the Segovia Aqueduct but the sun was higher in the sky and the photo was not nearly as interesting.
Read our blog post - Visiting Segovia: a perfect day trip from Madrid
Sagrada Família in Barcelona
Sagrada Família is such an unusual church that it makes a great subject for photography. In the morning the sun streams through blue windows on one side of the building while in the afternoon the sun makes the orange windows glow. Including people in the foreground adds a sense of scale to the size of the church.
Read our blog post: Guide to visiting Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
Casa Batlló in Barcelona
Gaudi’s Casa Batlló is one of the most famous sites in Barcelona. Its unusual facade draws crowds all day but at night the building glows with a light show. The building attracts sightseers both day and night.
Setas de Sevilla in Seville
Dusk was the perfect time to photograph Setas de Sevilla in Seville. At dusk there is still some blue in the sky while the colored light show on Setas de Sevilla is visible, making it a very colorful scene. The extra wide 15-35mm came in very handy to capture the scene. While processing the photo in Lightroom I was able to isolate the sky from the rest of the scene to adjust the tones of each area separately.
The Segovia Castle
The Segovia Castle sits at the far edge of the walled town. There are many great photo opportunities throughout Segovia with the Castle being the town’s marquis spot. Sitting high on a hill the view is spectacular and the window design helped make an interesting photo. Exposing for the bright light outside made the interior dark adding to the drama.
Read our blog post: Visiting Segovia: a perfect day trip from Madrid
Setas de Sevilla
Setas de Sevilla is interesting from the ground but walking atop the structure at night is spectacular. Trying to expose for both the color lights and the cathedral in the background was tricky but it was manageable in Lightroom. The winding path helps lead the viewer’s eye through the photo.
Since I didn’t have a tripod, resting the camera on the railing helped to keep the photo sharp during a long exposure,
The Barcelona Three Kings Parade
We were fortunate to visit Barcelona during the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6th. The parade attracts a huge crowd. I wanted to capture both the crowd and the parade so I spent a lot of time holding the camera over my head. Luckily the Canon R5 has a popout screen which helps when holding the camera at odd angles.
The parade takes place at night and the 24-105 lens is an f4 lens, not the fastest optics. The R5 is excellent at low-light exposures and it was easy to reduce the grain on high-ISO exposures during post-processing.
The view from Parque del Oeste in Madrid
This photo of the Madrid skyline is a good example of using exposure to make a photo more interesting. I underexposed the photo to make the dark areas go even darker, making the hazy view a little more interesting.
Plaza de España in Seville
Plaza de España is a wonderful photography location, the columns, the carved architecture, the water, etc… When we first arrived the weather was overcast but luckily halfway through our visit the late afternoon sun came out and made the photos much more interesting.
While so much of travel photography is under the control of the photographer - the lens choice, the composition, time of day, etc… there is still so much out of the photographer’s control, the biggest parts being the light and the weather. Luckily today everything worked out.
Real Alcazar of Seville
A photographer could spend hours wandering the Real Alcazar of Seville. Here I used multiple layers of interesting architecture to make a nice photo. Often I like shallow depth of field but for this photo I wanted everything to be sharp. The splash of light on the foreground wall really helped bring out the texture.
Bull Fighting arena in Seville
Photographing early in the morning or late in the afternoon brings interesting light to your travel photos. The long shadows and the colorful facade make a much nicer photo than if it was taken on an overcast day.
La Sagrada Família’s ceiling
La Sagrada Família is a wonderful location for travel photography. Both the interior and exterior are totally unique. This is the ceiling right in the middle of the church, it’s unlike any church I’ve ever seen. Using a 15-35mm wide angle lens I composed the photo so the columns would bring your eye to the ceiling. During post-processing, I used Lightroom’s brushes to lighten the darker area on the right so the details would be visible.
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