The Alfama was once the entire Moorish city of Lisbon -- a warren of tiny, twisting streets wrapped around a hillside below the Citadel of St. George. Today's Alfama is one of Lisbon's most picturesque neighborhoods. No Moorish houses remain, but the quarter retains its Kasbah-like layout. Compact houses such as these line its steep cobblestone streets –walking the Alfama is like walking through time. And that is what I am trying to imply with this image. I want you to walk with me, explore with me, acquiring a sense of place as you walk those cobblestones. Every picture should a focal point – an area that draws the eye. As soon as I saw the warm, nostalgic color of that house on the corner, I knew I had found the focal point for this image. I organized this picture around the contrast between the light and shadow, as well as between the brown cobblestones and the reddish house on the corner. I back away, framing the picture to follow the flow of the four posts lining the sidewalk on the right side of the picture. They lead us from the shadows into the light, and then into the shadows again. The tops of the last two posts reach up and point to the house itself, inviting us to walk through that door and into history. The house offers more than just lovely color. It glows softly. The sun has bounced off the windows of a house across the street from it, casting their reflections upon the wall of the reddish house. These reflections are important. Just as those posts pull our eyes towards that reddish house, the reflections of those windows continue the flow of light through this picture. Our eyes move from the bright cobblestones into the dark shadows, and then up to the glowing window reflections on the wall of the reddish house. Another factor at work in my composition is the curve of the curb. It plays a pivotal role in leading the eye through the picture and to the red house. Meanwhile, the repeating patterns of the cobblestone street create a matrix of geometric shapes that are echoed by the tiles on the roof of the house. I was fully conscious of all of these factors as I composed this image. I took about five or six versions of it, each from a different vantage point. This is the one that worked the best.