in the wild
May 2, 2017
words + photos by Laura Iancu of Travelers Universe
My favorite places in Valencia
Valencia is an open, cheerful and cosmopolitan city where it is very easy to have a great time. It offers a great combination of urban culture, sunny days, fantastic beaches, and plenty of cool things to do.
There are so many attractions in this city that making a list of best places is difficult. So instead, I am going to talk about my favorite places in Valencia.
For the purpose of this article, I took my new HERO5 Black for a spin and used it as my main camera. I love photography, but carrying a heavy DSLR all the time can get old very fast. So I wanted to see if a tiny GoPro can also do the job.
1. The Serranos Towers (above)
The Torres de Serranos are one of the best-preserved monuments of the city and an icon of Valencia. These two imposing pentagonal cubes are close to Torres de Quart, the last two gates left standing out of the twelve protecting the ancient walled city of Valencia. You can climb to the highest spot to enjoy a spectacular panorama. Their awe-inspiring enormity and the elegance of the Gothic style are truly worth your time.
GoPro Tip: Change up the default mode
The Hero5s one-touch capture mode is brilliant. When the cameras asleep, press the shutter button and not only will the camera be turned on, it will also automatically start recording. But for the purpose of my test I was not interested in video. Well, it turns out that you can change the default launch mode to whatever you like, you just need to know where to look.
Find the Preferences tab by swiping down on the screen. Here youll need to find the Default Mode option and give it a press to reselect your standard capture mode of choice. You can change it to stills as your default launch mode. Of course, there are other options like timelapse, or burst photos, loop shots or the video with photo mode.
2. Valencias Central Market
Whilst the prospect of wandering around a food market is not everyones first choice of what to do whilst on holiday, the historic Central Market of Valencia is quite unique and well worth a visit. It is one of the oldest running food markets in Europe, although the building itself was constructed in the beginning of the XX century, in genuine Valencian style, with lots of colors, ceramics, and mosaics.
Not only is it a great modernist building to admire, it is also somewhere where visitors get a closer insight into the daily life of the locals.
The market itself is divided into sections, such as fish, meat, and fruit. There are some really interesting stalls here and you may find traditional meat products which are still popular here but not in northern parts of Europe.
GoPro Tip: Choose your light
Probably you have heard all about catching the blue hour or the golden hour when shooting. However, when we are on holiday, we sometimes like to sleep late, or we simply cannot be in every place at a certain time of the day. We also have limited days to shoot our pics. On top of that, we love to be out during the day when it is warm and sunny.
The GoPro handles harsh, really sunny midday light pretty well. So dont shy away from taking pics during bright sunny days. However, try shooting in RAW so you can lighten up the shadows and tame down the bright spots while editing. Hero5 Black also has a WDR setting to help balance things out.
3. Plaza de la Virgen
Plaza de la Virgen is seen by many as the ultimate impression of the traditional Valencia of the past centuries. Plaza de la Virgin used to be the main square of Valencia, right from the Roman origins.
It is still a very active place, with most of the city traditional events taking place here.
The Plaza breathes with history, hosting three buildings of huge importance to the Valencians: the Cathedral (with the Gothic portal of the Apostles, where the Water Court meets every Thursday), the Basilica de Virgen de Los Desamparados (one of the first Baroque buildings in Spain and constructed in traditional Spanish style with a blue tiled dome), the Palau de la Generalitat (the seat of the Valencian government).
Its a great place to hang out, with plenty of places to eat and try a good Valencian paella.
GoPro Tip: Tweak the field of view
GoPro footage has a distinct look thanks in large to its super-wide angle lens. While this is great for fitting everything in your shot, especially when you are taking pics of landscapes, but it can also distort buildings and people close to the camera. The best thing about shooting with the HERO5 Black is that it has a number of field of view shooting options. It lets you get closer to your subject. For this, you can switch to the Linear option.
4. The old Turia riverbed
The old Turia riverbed is another jewel of Valencia that shouldnt be missed.
At one time, a wide river cut the city in two in the same way as the Danube separates Budapest or the Thames separates London.
The Turia River, which starts way up in the surrounding mountains, ran in the middle of the city and out towards the sea, but in the mid 50s during a big storm, the river flooded the center of Valencia.
Later a plan was created during the massive clean-up to divert the river from its present course and so it was re-routed outside the city to ensure that this kind of flooding never happened again. The upside is that this project created a beautiful park right in the center of the city.
GoPro Tip: Get close. The GoPro has a wide field of view which makes things look small. Getting close helps your subject stand out. Take a number of photos, each time getting closer to your subject. This will help you get a feel for how close you need to be. Things remain in focus as close as 12 inches. So dont be afraid to get close and fill the frame.
5. The City of Arts and Sciences
The City of Arts and
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in the wild 
