18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Milky Way Alentejo

I live in the north of Portugal and now I have a chance to go to Alentejo to do that, but I need to come back home in the same day because I have things to do and in the north of Portugal there isn't a clean sky. I see clouds everywhere and pollution light everywhere... At 10pm in Monsaraz a place in Alentejo I started to see the Milky Way but I was searching for a place with less light. Monsaraz is a beautiful place with a castle but there is a lot of light point to the castle. So I started to see in a short period a place... Not far away there is a company advertising as a starlight place... I went there to a place named Campinhos but it's in the middle of the village and there I wasn't seeing anymore the Milky Way. So I went back to Monsaraz because there I was able to see the Milky Way better. When I was going back I saw a small road exit and I was able to see again the Milky Way with fields and trees around... a typical place in Alentejo very beautiful for photography! I said to myself it'll be here... then I start to put my camera on the tripod and then I take the shot that you see here!

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2020
Date Uploaded: 08.2020
Photo Location: Campinhos, Portugal
Camera: X-T3
Copyright: © Rui Figueiredo Almeida