Author Archives: Giuseppe Sapori

Conjunctions II

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From the beautiful beaches of Cilento, I come back with a photo from a different perspective of my favorite beach of this area. To take this picture I used the distortion of my wide angle to create a more impactful effect in the foreground

To take advantage of the distortion it is always good to consider the corners of the image to avoid falling lines on the horizon. I love vertical photos but the management of distortions when you want to highlight a subject in the foreground may not always be easy

In my tutorial 7 composition guidelines for better landscape photography I insered Mind the Corners, to remember the presence of spots or other distracting elements in the picture that could focus away the viewer’s attention, the falling lines are one of them so always check it when you use lens distortion for you shots

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured 5 exposure bracketing series that I blended using TTS PRO.I used an additional shot to capture the sea with a long exposure that I used to make the water more soft

With the complete blend, I straighten up the horizon and removed some water spots on the lens. With the use of luminosity masks, I decreased the highlights and I increased the shadows in order to make better visibles the stones around the beach

I increased contrast and I added some blue colors to the image using a cold filter. I added a very soft orton effect and I used dodge and burn to increase the lights over the rocks and decrease the luminosity of the sea

Always using my panel I used the glow tool to make other adjustments and creating a manual vignette over the image

I hope you will find this usefull. I’m always happy to ear this from you!

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 14mm)

Five Exposures (-2; -1; 0; +1; +2)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Rockside

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Another shot I made in Cilento,  this is the the same beach of my latest post. At sunset the light behind that house on the lake was slowly falling, I made this shot through a 3-stop ND filter to capture as much as possible of the movement of the sea

The light coming from behind the house was a stark contrast to the rocks on the beach, in particular the one I placed first on of the frame

I shot for a long exposure series using bracketing, in order to blend all the images together, shooting in bracketing mode is what I always prefer to do when there is a strong contrast like this between direct light and rocks

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

For this shot 5 shots bracketing was necessary, I blended the best 3 shots using luminosity masks and TTS PRO

I removed some water spot on the lens using clone stamp tool, I fixed horizon line and perspective than I started add more details and contrast to the image

I slightly increased the yellow tone of the sky using a yellow filter applied to luminosity masks

After a dodge and burn job around the rocks and on the house I lauched my effect orton effect dark that you can find in my panel

I darkened the scene reducing by 0,15 the general exposure, I increased a little bit the highlights, than as final step, I created a vignette to increase contrast and give more attention to the main subjects

I always hope you will find this usefull. I love to ear that from you!

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 16mm)

Five Exposures (-2; -1; 0; +1; +2)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Conjunctions

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I took this photo in a beach located in the Gulf of Cilento, I love this area of Italy and very often I spend a few days here in the summer. The Cilento area is located in the southern part of Campania and is a UNESCO heritage area that offers not only beautiful beaches but also small mountains, archaeologic areas and natural parks

Although we are along the coast, the proximity of the hills to the sea, makes that in the evening, the sky around the mountains, is often clouded; creating interesting photographic spots not so common on the coasts

I make this shot in the final hours of sunset, to capture the movement of the water I used a 3-stop ND filter to avoid exposures that were too long for each series of shots

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured 5 exposure bracketing for this that I blended using my panel TTS PRO, to the blended image I added contrast and details

I fixed lights over the rocks and over the horizon using luminosity masks, than I enhanced colours using a cold filter applied to highlights and a bit less to the shadows

I boosted the colours of the sunset creating a mask for yellow, red and magenta to give more warm to the sky after this I applied a soft orton effect and a soft dodge and burn to the rocks and to the water

As final step I created a soft vignette to give more energy to the central scene

I hope you will find this usefull. I’m always happy to ear this from you!

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 14mm)

Five Exposures (-2; -1; 0; +1; +2)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Hands Lifted

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Waiting for my next trip I spend a day last week in the Tuscia region. It was a name given to the old region of Etruria now named conventionally has the name of the region around Viterbo

Here there is a beautiful beech forest, located on Monte Cimino. The beech forest and is a pleasant walk (especially the summer) to go through these beautiful centenary trees, very suggestive the lights that filter through the branches during the morning

I found these two trees that they had a shape almost representing hands towards the sky, where a strong morning light filtered creates beautiful plays of light

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I edited the single shot with luminosity masks, used to adjust contrast lights and darkness, no blend here was possible because I was freehand and the wind moved the leaves

I increased details using TTS PRO ,created two warm filters (highlights and shadows) applied to luminosity masks to give more yellows tones to trees and leaves

I launched an orton effect to give more sens of glow in the frame, plus to intensity the light I used the glow tool with a brush around the main lights area

With the use of dodge and burn I reduced some strong lights around the trees and as final step I added a vignette to give more prominence to the light coming to the sky I darkened some rocks with too much lights on them, I adjusted contrast using it applied to luminosity masks

I hope you will find this usefull. I’m always happy to ear this from you!

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 14mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 250 at f/8

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

5 Useful Tips to Focus in Night Photography

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With the arrival of summer it is also the perfect time to start doing some night shots. Like many landscape photographers I also love night photography and some time ago I wrote this guide about how to plan and shot the Milky Way

While shoting for the stars usually we are completely in the dark and is not always easy to find the correct focus point, so I decided to write this guide to give you som tips for focus in night photography

Manual Focus

During the night and without any light point the manual focus is one of the most efficient way to focus in the night. To achieve it simply move the manual focus ring until the infinity symbol. When using manual focus we have to consider that the exactly focus point can vary from the symbol of infinity from lens to lens.

So knowing your instrumentation is the key to the success of a manual focus. Write down or try to memorize then which is the optimal focus towards infinity on your lens so that you can easily recognize it in the dark

Live View + Zoom

This is also a recommended function during the day, it is about using the live view zoom to set the manual focus correctly. Just zoom in on a bright spot, such as the moon or the stars if we are shooting for the milky way and set the manual focus easily through the live view

Many mirrorless cameras have focus peaking as part of some live view systems, that shows you regions in the frame where the highest contrast exists by highlighting them in a bright color. Focus peaking consist to put focus very fast without any risk to wrong

Pre-focus during the day

This easy trick consist to focus your camera at a infinity subject during the day using autofocus. Then, switch the camera to manual focus and use a piece of gaffer tape to keep the focus on the lens from moving

Consider that using pre-focus which will be limited to the focus we set with light, so for every change of the subject it need to change method and focus

Target light points

Consists simply of focusing on a light source, if the moon is present in the sky it is surely the best point of focus to choose, instead if there is no moon you may be able to do it using a shining star

It is not always so easy to find light sources that can help us to use this function, in any cases can be very usefull light up the area with a lamp or laser pointers to illuminate the area, this may allow you to focus and set the desired shot

Hyperfocal focusing

Distance is defined when the lens is focused at infinity, where objects from half of this distance to infinity will be in focus for the lens. Instead, the hyperfocal distance may refer to the closest distance that a lens can be focused for a given aperture while objects at a distance (infinity) will remain sharp

Many lenses have hyperfocal markings on the lens barrel. This funcion allows you to set your lens so that, at a given aperture, you can determine at what distance objects in the frame will be in focus. So, without even looking at the viewfinder, you can set your focus

Here was the tip to focusing the dark, as you can see many relays to manual focus or with some experience in the field. And what about you? I’d like to know what methods you use to focus at night, let me know in the comments



The Bless II

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In one of my latest posts I talked about the valley of Ferriere, an enchanting place surrounded by nature that saw its period of greatest activity during the production of paper, where many paper mills in this valley were active and functioning

Today those paper mills are no longer there but all the remains of their buildings are still here, now the valley of Ferriere is aa very green wood full of waterways. During my journey I also found this waterfall which is located in a basin further downstream

The light was a bit strong and filtered through the branches, this meant that numerous contrasts were created between the areas struck by the sun and the darker ones. I captured this with a single shot and a 6-stop nd filter

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I edited the single shot with luminosity masks, used to adjust contrast lights and darkness

I increased the glow effect using TTS PRO applying an orton effect  and increasing the warm colors on the highlights

I also increased the lights coming from the highlights to give more enery to the warm between the trees.

I darkened some rocks with too much lights on them, I adjusted contrast using it applied to luminosity masks

I adjusted the yellow colors and the vibrance of the frame, the final step was to add a very soft vignette to give more impact to the waterfall

I hope you will find this usefull. I’m always happy to ear this from you!


TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 14mm)

Single Shot – Long Exposure

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Upper Sight

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I have been going to Amalfi for several years, now I know many photo spots here and I made some of them several times during the years. This time thanks to a conversation with some local people I managed to find a location never done before and it one of the most beautiful spot to have a great view from top

I’m talking about the highest point of the city of Amalfi where you can enjoy the best view of the city and the coast. Below me there was a balcony full of lemons that only if they had been covered by some sheets would have been an incredible part of the composition of the photo

Here late in the evening and with a slight haze I was able to capture a postcard of Amalfi in the evening from above, I realized it from a single shot and with a single exposure of 30 seconds

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I start editing regulating exposure, darks, lights and conrast using luminosity masks .

I intensified the glow of the haze using a orton effect and I incresed details in the whole frame using TTS Pro panel

I lightened the highlights and I darkened the shadows, used a soft dodge and burn in some critical points such as lamps and light trails

Th final adjustment was to regulate the yellow colours brighing it to a soft warm yellow rather than a orange as it was originally

I really hope you will find this usefull. I’m alwats happy to ear this from you!


TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Sigma 24-70 f/2,8 (used at 38mm)

Three Shots – Long Exposure

ISO: 100 at f/16

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Bless

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A shot captured inside the beautiful Valley of Ferriere, a natural reserve not so far from the city of Amalfi. Here there is an uphill path made up of many steps leading to this place. The history of the valley of ferriere is very old, once there were many ancient paper mills, where in ancient times paper production was very active in this valley, one of the best in all of southern Italy

Over the centuries the valley prospered thanks to the paper mills and nearby ironworks and the business reached its peak in the 1700s and lasted until the end of the 1800s, when historical events deprived southern Italy of the necessary financial resources for the modernization and mechanization of the manufacturing processes of these factories which, due to this, they closed

The closure of these activities and the particular climatic conditions of the place, have allowed a rapid unraveling of the structures that are now in ruins along the course of the stream keeping intact, however, all the suggestions of the case

Th Valley of Ferriere is absolutely a great spot for nature lovers and for trekking activities, it is really very interesting from a photographic point of view; in my uphill path I counted at least 3 waterfalls and I didn’t climb to the top

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I take some shots of his waterfall including some underexposed shots to “save” the leaves from long exposure. I started from the darker exposure to lighten the image using luminosity masks 

I lightened the water, the waterfall and the light coming from the top, then with TTS Pro panel, I warmed the image using two warm filters of the panel

I adjusted the contrast and brightness and I increased the tone of yellow colors and with the glow tool, I lightened some part of the leafs and other points of interest around the waterfall

I created a orton effect to increase the sense of darkeness with the light coming from the top

As last touch I created a soft vignette to emphatize the waterfall in the middle

I alway hope you will find this usefull. I’m happy to ear this from you!


TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 20mm)

Three Shots – Long Exposure

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Postcard from Capri

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During my last visit to the island of Capri it was wonderful to be able to admire and photograph the island from the sea. A seascape and a simple view but that struck me for the enchanting view of the island in the middle of the sea surrounded by the colors of the low lights of the late afternoon

You can see the faraglioni on the left side of the island, the main attraction of Capri, which appear from afar with small rock formations not far from the coast

I made this with a single shot, so there are no bracketing and I did not any digital blending. This time without too many technicalities I simply taken a handheld shot from the boat that took me to the Amalfi coast


WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I jus used the luminosity masks ,to fix the lights around the island… I decreased the highlights and increased contrast to better put in result the island in the middle of the sea

With TTS Pro panel I increased the cold mood using a cold filter, later with the help camera raw filter I intesified the blue/purple colours just a bit.

I created a orton effect to increase the glow of the image. I increased the lights behind the island to give more impact to the subject using luminosity masks.

I alway hope you will find this usefull. I’m happy to ear this from you!


TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Sigma 24-70 f/2,8 (used at 38mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/8

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro


Ray of Light

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We are in the beautiful island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples. It is considered one of the most beautiful Italian islands and is also the most famous italian island for its beauty

Particularly famous are its faraglioni and the blue grotto for which it is famous all over the world, the island is made up of continuous caves and steep cliffs that make it a very interesting spot for taking great seasapes

What personally I love of Capri is to look the sea from the cliffs and benefit from the beautiful colors and the silence of the sea, from here you can see the merging of the sky to the sea

I took this photo in one of the numerous panoramic points of the island, I love the way in which on the island of Capri sun and clouds often alternate and the continuous creation of different illuminations in the sky


WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I edited this shot using luminosity masks and my panel TTS Pro with whom I increased details and contrast in the image

With the help of color efex pro I launched skylight filter to create a soft warming effect into the sky. I added a orton effectto increase the softness of the horizon and the mountains from the viewer’s eye

I decreased the highlights and I created a vignette to emphatize the light coming through the clouds

I hope you will find this usefull. I love to ear this from you!


TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 14mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/9

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro, Color Efex Pro

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Hi, my name is Giuseppe Sapori, a professional photographer and author of this website, created by yours truly to show my work and share with you the techniques I use. My expertise is in the field of Landscape Photography... (Read More)

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