Óbidos, in Portugal, is a charming little historic village dating from the early times of our nation, when the first king of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, conquered it from the Moors back in 1148.

Every time I go there, I find myself amazed by its exquisite ancient layout, with the small medieval traced streets and alleys stretching up the hill, dominated by the monumental stone castle.

I promised the editor of “FotoDigital”, the Portuguese magazine that offered me the D300, that I would send the first material shot with the new toy. After a coupled of months familiarising myself with the Digital Rebel (and busting the family finances buying new lenses...), I set course to Óbidos and spent a day making my first DR “project” portfolio.

The day was perfect for photography with low cast sun light from the east in the early morning, overcast skies during most of the day (providing for some great shadowless even-lighted shots during the day) and cloudy skies in the late afternoon that warranted some dramatic early evening shots.

This gallery is the result of that day’s work. It is also a “Thank You” note for “FotoDigital” and a tribute to my beautiful Portugal.