“A wall worn by time, revealing its secrets slowly: rust-dark tears, stubborn roots, empty pots, and resting pigeons keeping watch over it all.” - Ed Lehming On a corner of, Largo de Santa Cruz do Castelo, as the sign says, just below the Castelo de São Jorge, sits this weathered building that caught my eye. I love these weathered buildings.

"A typical corner of Porto, where every balcony has a story and every street seems to lead somewhere worth discovering." - Ed Lehming Porto is filled with intersections like this one on Rua das Flores, directly across from São Bento Station. It is one of the first sights that greets visitors as they step out of the station and is so typical of the many angular intersections that define the city.

“Weathered balconies and wandering stories, where Lisbon's past lingers above the hum of Cais do Sodré.” - Ed Lehming One of the most fascinating things about Lisbon is how each neighbourhood has its own distinct character. Cais do Sodré had a gritty yet vibrant energy. The streets were lined with shops and cafés, but never felt crowded. The area moved at its own pace and, to me, felt more authentic than the more tourist-focused districts of Baixa and Chiado nearby.

“I often get nostalgic in places like this, imagining all the people who passed this way before me” - Ed Lehming This image was created while I sat for a while in Castelo de São Jorge, perched high above Lisbon on a hilltop overlooking the city. Reaching the castle requires a bit of a climb through the winding streets of the…

“There are patterns everywhere. Sometimes, unexpectedly, the pattern breaks, and we take notice. Something is missing.” - Ed Lehming I’m always seeing patterns. I’m wired that way. Physical patterns, data patterns, sequences in time. I notice them and appreciate them. Patterns were a big part of my working career. So, when I saw this wall in Bairro Alto, I had to pause and capture the moment.

“Street Art, graffiti, whatever you call it, is alive and well in Porto” - Ed Lehming I made this image simply because I thought it was interesting. The graffiti, which covers the entire building does not seem haphazard, there is a structure to it, not random “tagging”. At the time, I did not know that this building is fairly famous here in Porto, due to the grafitti.

“Ancient streets echo with the mysteries of footsteps long past and whispers of forgotten conversations” - Ed Lehming Back to Porto and wandering the 10th-century streets near the river, Medieval houses and gothic doorways interspersed with restaurants and souvenir shops make for quite the contrast. But, then again, ancient businesses and homes lined these very streets long ago, so not much has changed in that aspect.

“Through this old gate, time doesn’t pass — it lingers.” - Ed Lehming I seem to be on a wave of mono images lately, primarily because the photos I’m making are more historic and architectural in nature and I find that black and white communicates that better, without the distraction of colour. This passageway is on one of the many winding roads in Guimarães (pronounced Gimaresh), Portugal.

“In this stillness, history doesn’t just surround us — it leans in, inviting us to listen.” - Ed Lehming I love this photo. It simply happened. As I sat looking at the columns and really feeling the history. I was travelling with cousins and my cousin’s wife entered the frame. It made for a wonderful memory of a special moment.

“The city, absent of light, transforms. The sounds shift, and silence dominates” - Ed Lehming Our first night in Porto, exploring backstreets and the quite places. The hustle and bustle fades away, crowds gather along the main avenues for dinners and drinks, the secondary arteries largely forgotten. Yet, it still feels safe. The streets are lined by lesser venues, closed for the night.

“Quiet surrender to the weight of the moment, where even a seasoned traveller lets the world blur so the soul can catch up.” - Ed Lehming Surprisingly, another opportunity for a candid shot presented itself today. I watched this traveller come down from the walls of Sintra’s Pena Palace and sit down for a rest. I imagined the shot, but did not want to be intrusive.

“Lisbon’s streets hold stories—some whispered through smoke, some carried in silence.” - Ed Lehming I’m always observing, but cautious of being intrusive when photographing people in public. This shot just about created itself. As I was sitting in the shade of a tree in Lisbon’s Rossio Square, I could not help but notice this street beggar wandering the square and asking for spare change.

“Even as the house fades, the Lisbon tiles keep shining with stories the city refuses to forget.” - Ed Lehming I love the hidden stories of the city, the mystery of the abandoned. This building, in a busy square sits abandoned while its neighbours are clearly occupied and modern. There are stories here of lives lived and day-to-day routines. I think of these doors opening at the start of the day, children laughing and playing, neighbours chatting, now silent. Just one of many stories in this vibrant city. iPhone 17 Pro MaxMain Camera — 38 mm1/430 sec, ƒ/1.78 ISO 64

“Every tram carries a little piece of Lisbon’s heart through its narrow streets.” - Ed Lehming I still recall capturing my first tram photo in Lisbon last year. I stood patiently on the corner for just the right moment, figuring that the opportunity may not present itself again. Much to my surprise, after a few more days here, trams are everywhere, on most of the streets of Baixa, Santa Maria Major, Chiado, and other downtown districts.

“In Lisbon’s back streets, life unfolds softly between stone and sunlight.” - Ed Lehming I love getting to destinations by back streets. They tend to offer a more authentic view of the city than the broad commercial avenues with their crowds and endless souvenir shops. We found this scene while heading up the hill to the Castle of São Jorge. As steep climb from our apartment near the Tagus River, but more interesting.

“ “Clothes on a line, lives in motion—quiet proof that someone is home.” - Ed Lehming Such a common sight here. Every back street has laundry out drying. It’s quintessential Europe to me. There is such a relaxing and unassuming feel to this place. It’s like stepping back in time.

“Arches in sunlight. Lisbon in its element.” —Ed Lehming Another quick travel shot. I simply could not resist the arches and late day sunlight.

“Some places don’t tell their stories; they let you feel them.” - Ed Lehming Who knew, when I posted the story about the Alison tram from last year, that I would be walking up the same hill this year. Looking back, after ascending in 34°C temperatures is what inspired my caption. Even in the shade, the mid-day walk up this street made sure that I felt every step.

Travel day

"Antequera doesn’t rush you. It lets you wander its steep streets until the Alcazaba rises into view, all weathered stone and stubborn history. It’s the kind of place where you pause longer than you meant to, letting the past and the horizon settle into you.” - Ed Lehming We had only one day in Antequera, a rail stop on our way Granada and some 47 km north of Malaga.

“Where stone meets sky, the world remembers how to stand tall.” - Ed Lehming Moving on from Lisbon to Malaga, Spain. One of my most anticipated day trips was to get to Ronda and the beautiful bridge that seems to be on so many Spanish tourist sites and brochures. A short bus ride from Malaga brought us into the town of Ronda.

“In Lisbon, Fado doesn’t just echo through the night — it gathers around tables like this, where a candle flickers, a guitar waits, and every sip and every silence becomes part of the song.” - Ed Lehming On warm summer evenings, within the narrow, winding streets of Lisbon's Bairro Alto district, warm lamplight and voices drift from numerous taverns. Apart from the many commercial Fado venues, this area is intimate.

“Dragonflies dancing above the lake, near the summer's end — a moment the wind almost forgot to breathe.” - Ed Lehming Nature provides these miraculous moments that take my breath away. They are almost always spontaneous and unexpected. I had just walked along the stretch of beach and never even noticed them. Maybe it was the angle of the sun, or maybe I was focused on something else, but when I stepped over the dunes for a different view, the dragonflies filled my sight.

“Walk Rua Augusta slowly — Lisbon reveals itself one storefront, one smile, one sunbeam at a time.” - Ed Lehming Yesterday's image of the Praça do Comércio inspired me to do something that I don't often do: post a photo with lots of people in it. Realistically, it's hard to avoid on Rua Augusta unless you are out very early, and even then, this main thoroughfare is bustling with activity.

“Praça do Comércio reminds us that every city has a gateway where past and present shake hands.” - Ed Lehming Here’s another image from my exploration of Lisbon last September. As we walked toward the river along Rua Augusta, the main commercial street, we passed through the Rua Augusta Arch, which dominates the base of the avenue. Built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the devastating 1755 earthquake, which destroyed much of Lisbon, it is massive and impossible to miss.

“Every passage we walk carries the present forward, yet leaves a quiet echo of the past behind.” - Ed Lehming Today's image is another favorite of mine from the Chiado district of Lisbon. Many of the cobbled roadways have these arches that lead to large, mostly private courtyards. This particular one was open and led to several nice restaurants, and a clever florist has taken advantage of the space to showcase house plants.

“Where the hills rise and the tracks curve, Lisbon carries you gently through time.” - Ed Lehming 2026 OK, so I decided to go back to the start of last year's Spain/Portugal trip and walk through the photos in a somewhat clean timeline. It will be my way of sharing photos and memories and creating a bit of a travel journal for myself—something I had not really considered before.

"Every path we walk is shaped by the footsteps that came before it and the ones we choose to take now" - Ed Lehming I'm taking a bit of a nostalgic journey and revisiting images from 2025, including many from my trip to southern Spain and Portugal. I may jump back and forth a bit, so don't expect a smooth timeline at this point.

“In the quiet shelter of stone and sea, solitude becomes a companion—steady, vast, and deeply kind.” - Ed Lehming This photo is a bit of a gem for me. Taken on vacation last September in Lagos, Portugal, on Praia dos Estudantes, the Beach of the Students. Usually a very busy place, but by late September, the air and sea have cooled and it's less busy.

“The water stretches out like a quiet infinity, reminding me how small I am and how endless the world can feel.” - Ed Lehming Above is a photo of three islands at the east end of Lake Ontario. Despite the depth of the lake, geology plays its part and produces three low-lying islands that are all visible on a clear day from the southeasternmost point of Prince Edward County.

"Time marches forward. Sometime we see it effects and at other times, it's barely noticable" - Ed Lehming I spent some time with this photo, as I often do, looking for something. Sometimes subtle details reveal themselves, things I had not noticed when I shot the photo. Other times, there are whispers of wisdom; the image evokes thoughts for me and helps me think deeper about the world around me.

"Sometimes, simple is the best option" - Ed Lehming This scene presented itself to me this morning. Walking across the grass, I noticed this honey bee collecting sap for a dandelion blossom. The shot was simple to compose, and I was pleased with the first shot. Then, I got to editing and wanted to come up with something clever. Nothing seemed to fit, so I went with my first instinct and titled it "Yellow," the simplest option and the one that came to me first. Sometimes, simple really is the best option. iPhone 17 Pro MaxMain Camera — 100 mm1/1608 sec, ƒ/1.87 ISO 64

"Given the right conditions, even the commonplace can show surprising potential' - Ed Lehming Oddly enough, in contrast to yesterday's post about the commonplace, the next image up in my library is this one, which is not commonplace at all. This sunflower, a volunteer, likely seeded by a bird dropping in the middle of my daughter's vegetable patch, is a monster, over 4 meters (14' for the non-metric) tall.

"Even the most common, the familiar, the passed by, can show beauty when we just pause to appreciate it" - Ed Lehming 2026 I've made a practice of looking for beauty in ordinary places. We can't always be in exotic locations, and every day is seldom perfect or jaw-dropping. Most of us live in places that are, or over time, become, commonplace to us.

"There are days where it's all just too much. Entitlement, arrogance, and selfishness have drained me. My only solace on these days is beauty for good days and the hope that tomorrow will be better." - Ed Lehming Ya, it's been one of those days. I'm weary, tired of the nonsense of the world. Yet I'm determined to keep posting, even though I'm drained, knowing there are people out there, just like me, who are in search of some glimmer of hope, of beauty.

"It's quite a thing, returning to a place that not long ago gave peace, and now surges with raw energy" - Ed Lehming Those who have been following along over the past few weeks may recall the image that I titled "Solitude". It featured a long curving beach, serene blue skies, and a gentle ripple on the water. I returned there yesterday with my daughter, her husband, and three of our grandsons.

"Closer, closer, see me in all my splendour" - Ed Lehming Another macro shot today. This time, a garden cosmos from the front yard on a rainy day. When conditions are not ideal, I'm still looking for things to photograph. A brief time of sunlight between rain clouds lit up my cosmos and led to this shot. I wanted something a bit different, so I got up close with my macro lens, focusing on the light shining on the base of the flower.

"Every now and then, a composition that cannot be ignored presents itself" - Ed Lehming I made this image a few days ago while on my evening walk. I've been watching this cluster of Echinacea develop over the past few days and then suddenly "pop." What amazed me was that they remained almost pristine, with the exception of a few insect holes in their leaves; the flowers themselves were almost perfect.

"As summer wears on, it's effects start to show" - Ed Lehming I was sitting on my porch a few days ago, and the gardens were filled with hungry butterflies. After a few attempts with my iPhone, I was reminded of some of the limitations that phone cameras, no matter how current, still have. One of those limitations is that I cannot effectively control the aperture; the phone does all the thinking, and I ended up with a bunch of photos where only a small portion of the butterfly was actually in focus—less than ideal for what I wanted.

"Summer winds down and the landscape switches palettes once more" - Ed Lehming It's hard to believe that we are now past mid-August, but the signs are everywhere; the days have gotten noticeably shorter, the evenings a bit cooler and damper, and the wildflowers that were blooming just a few weeks ago are gone, replaced by the late summer sunflowers and black-eyed Susans.

"Moments define our lives. Some of those moments cause me to pause and marvel at the world we live in. Sometimes, it's simple things like appreciating the sky at dusk in all its wonder" - Ed Lehming Today's image is a simple shot, a moment in time where I looked out across the horizon and saw something that stopped me in my tracks for a bit.

"Wind shapes our world" - Ed Lehming I've become far more aware of wind lately. I first started paying attention a few years ago when I moved to Prince Edward County. The "county," as it's referred to locally, is an island on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario. Winds tend to blow in from the west, across the open water, and there really isn’t much in the way to calm them.

"Our summers abound with beauty, we just need to stop, from time to time, to really appreciate it, and with the right technology, take the memory home with us." - Ed Lehming This image astounded me and made me think about how we currently conduct our days, moving from here to there and seldom enjoying the journey itself. I've driven past this meadow dozens of times recently and noticed the clusters of Black-Eyed Susans scattered through the field and thought, "Those might make a nice photo," but then kept on driving.

"It surprises me that there are still places, not too far away, that offer quiet solitude" - Ed Lehming I got a bit introspective on this one. You see, it's summer here in "The County," which means that thousands of people pour into the area to enjoy its world-renowned beaches, wineries, breweries, and dining. The summers here are overrun with people looking to enjoy all that the County has to offer.

"There are times, when looking at my world, that I see a painting just waiting to be created. Then I realize that nature already has." - Ed Lehming This is a return to a previously shared image, though presented here as a portrait composition. I think I prefer the portrait version because it shows more sky and is a bit brighter overall.

"Year after year, nature bears witness to constant change." - Ed Lehming Another, though probably not final, view of this beautiful shoreline, taken at the same time as my previous post, but framed slightly differently. I spend quite a bit of time working on different compositions of the same scene. Some may appeal to me at the time, while others evolve during my editing process.

"Hark now, hear the sailors cry; smell the sea and feel the sky." - Van Morrison (Into the Mystic) Every now and then, a photo captures the dynamic nature of our world—times when the true moment is documented so well that I can sense the very air and feel of that moment in time when looking back at the photo.

"Winding down the day, at waters edge, the breeze in my face, there is not much better to end the day in peace." - Ed Lehming As a continuation from yesterday's "Standing in Awe" post, here's the same vantage point but looking to my right. I had nearly forgotten that we were just emerging from a few days of wildfire smoke from northern Ontario, which can be seen lingering on the horizon, subtly altering the colors of the landscape.

"There are times when a composition is just automatic. Often the simplest things align to create beauty without effort" - Ed Lehming I'm jumping ahead just a few days from the "Pink Sunsets" series that I just posted. I was looking for something a bit different than the open farmland I'd recently photographed, and I have a spectacular waterfront/beach view only a 20-minute drive from home.