A few years ago, Lisa and I visited Portugal for the first time, and like many first-time visitors to the country, we spent our time in Lisbon and Porto, the most popular places to visit. Lisbon was everything we expected, but Porto was a different story. It wasn’t that the city wasn’t what we expected; it was that the weather conditions for our time there were less than ideal.

The quintessential summer mood: soft, warm tones, low contrast, and gentle shadows. That was the goal behind this recipe. Seaside Pastel is an airy, pastel look inspired by the feeling of a relaxed seaside vacation.

Returning to Lisbon, I felt a familiar excitement. A first visit often feels like an introduction to what’s possible. Everything is new, but within a few days, you begin to understand the city’s rhythm, its distances, its opportunities, and even its quirks. Four years later, I was back with a different perspective.

Lisbon is vibrant, photogenic, and full of character. It’s also incredibly popular with visitors, and it’s easy to see why. Getting around Lisbon is easy, and while you can absolutely explore much of Lisbon on foot, be prepared: Lisbon’s hills are no joke.

When you first plan to visit Italy, the cities that are commonly suggested are Rome, Florence, and Venice. Fantastic choices, and they are all great cities to visit. For Portugal, the must-visit cities are Lisbon and Porto.

I’m wrapping up my time in Portugal. I’ve got one more full day here in Nazaré, then a final night in Lisbon before heading home. It somehow feels like I’ve been away for a month, in the best way. It’s been an incredible trip, but I’m ready to reset and settle back into home life.

Concluding five days in Lisbon, I am now in Coimbra. The second stop on my Portugal trip. It will come as no surprise that I consider travel to be one of life’s perks, and I take every opportunity I have to go somewhere new.

Starting tomorrow, I’m heading to Portugal for 15 days, my first of what I hope will be two trips across the Atlantic to Europe this year. I don’t have any plans yet for the second trip, but I always try to travel at least twice a year, as time and budget allow. Planning this trip to Portugal involved more back-and-forth than I expected.

I’ve been wanting to plan my next adventure for a while. Over the winter, especially, the idea of warmer destinations and better travel timing was hard to ignore. I started jotting down ideas: cities I wanted to visit, then ways to connect them and make the most of my time across the Atlantic.

I’ve been shooting Fujifilm long enough to know that the usual “JPEG vs RAW” argument doesn’t really fit here. Fujifilm’s JPEGs, especially when you dial in that perfect film simulation or custom recipe, can often come out so close to the realized vision and tone that they deem RAW files unnecessary.

There’s a lot of noise in photography. It’s hard to escape the pressure to upgrade your photography. Everywhere you look, there’s a new body, a sharper lens, a brand that somehow is the one that everyone is moving to, or an accessory being pitched as the missing piece in your work.

Fujifilm’s DR400 setting is one of those features that quietly sits in the menu until you realize how beneficial it can be to your images. And then it can become an essential consideration in any Fujifilm recipe. Now, fortunately, the dynamic range of most Fujifilm cameras I have used has been great, sometimes exceptional.

Travel is amazing. It’s a chance to step into places you’ve never been and see things you may never see again. Each trip is a brief window to explore and pay attention in a way that’s hard to do at home. Even if you spend a month in one city, that’s still a tiny slice of your life, which is exactly what makes it feel so special and fragile.

Fujifilm recipes are a fun and exciting way to experiment with your photography. Using them is a way to take your work in directions you may not have considered and create memorable photos. Recipes can help you achieve a stunning look; however, it’s essential to realize that they don’t always work, and using one in the wrong shooting conditions or with the wrong subjects can result in images that don’t turn out as expected.

There are countless ways to set up your Fujifilm camera for travel, but during my actual travel time, I don’t want to be buried in menus and figuring out how to do things. I want a simple, reliable starting point that lets me react quickly to whatever I find: early‑morning light, busy streets, and that once-in-a-lifetime shot.