Author Archives: Giuseppe Sapori

Romantic Rome

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I love photographing Rome from the bridges of the river. This is a shot that I cyclically go to take because it’s a beautiful spot and every time it changes in something

No doubt, this spot is one of the most classic in Rome and if you have seen my recent instagram / facebook stories you realized how many people had crowded it in a street corner just to take this picture

Unfortunately some locations in Rome are recently becoming impractical for the crowds around these photo spots and this is becoming one of them

However the view from here is magnificent, Castel Sant’Angelo on the right (remains covered by the trees but it is still visible between), at the bottom the San Pietro basilica and all the beauty reflections and water games that this postcard offers

The only disturbing element is unfortunately that horrendous billboard that has been there for a long time now, besides being huge it is also illuminated and impacts a lot in the picture. I could not remove it in post because I would have compromised the photo, but I had a strong temptation to do it

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I wait until the complete dusk to make this shot, this is from the late blue hour. I captured 5 bracketed shots and I blended all the exposures using TTS PRO 

With the blended image I fixed the light and darkness using curves tool and luminosity masks, than I straightened the horizon using ruler tool on the bridge and I launched high details filters of my panel

I applied a cold filter to the image, first applying it on the highlights and then on the shadows, to give a greater nocturnal and a “elegance” touch to the frame

I fixed some colors that appears too bright, for this I used hue / saturation filter applied selectively thank I increased the vividness of the sky

In closing I applied a slight orton effect and increased the sharpen reducing the opacity to 20%

I hope you will find this informations 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/16

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Touch of the Sun

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Looking back at some of the shots taken in Japan, I found this picture that take my interest.

In particular this is the initial area of the Arashiyama Bamboo forest, at this point the bamboo is not as thick and narrow as in some of the inner points but you can appreciate the beautiful through the bamboo

The light is surely the most striking in this photo and in particular how it touches those two large dark trees beside the bamboo, the tree on the right in particular

To make the shot in my opinion very interesting there is also the beautiful game of contrasts and lights on the main avenue and at the end a tourist who enters the frame at the bottom that concludes the composition of the image

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured for this shot 3 exposure brakets that I blended using my panel, with the same tool I lauched high details effect very usefull to add details using frequency separation

I incresed the yellow colours applying a warmer filter first to the highlights than to the shadows, separately with a different opacity (usually shadows require less % than highlights)

With the dodge and burn tool I darkened some part of the foliage with too much light and with the glow tool I increased the luminosity at the points of the path and on the fence hits by the sun

With the use of orton effect I increased the glow of the picture, to give more energy to the sunlight. Final steps was to decrease a bit the general luminosity, recover the shadows and to add a small vignette

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Five Exposures (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/9

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Underbelly

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One of the most significative spot of Rome is the view of Castel Sant’Angelo with his bridge, this is one of my favourite spots in my city

The beauty of the castle and the reflections on the river during dusk are make this place one of the most famous locations in Rome

I usually take my shots the other side of the bridge but this time cause to a dry river this time I preferred the view from the west side

That day I stayed in the place from the sunset to the end of the blue hour, just before dark the sky take a tone of a beautiful purple

Although I was satisfied with my previous shots taken, the latest photos with this shade of purple became my main choices 🙂

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I take 5 exposure brackets for this frame, I blended the shots using
TTS PRO with the function auto blend darks, I started from the darker shots to the brighter

With the use of luminosity masks I ligthened some parts under the bridge, to decrease the darks than with dodge and burn I pushed up the lights in the areas of main view of the frame

I increased details and contrast, with a curve tool I also increased the luminosity of the sky and applied a soft warm filter to the higlights to mitigate the blue/purple effect and better mix it with golden hour colours

I added a vignette to increase the sense of darkness of this image and with the glow tool I increased the luminosity of reflections and water

Last passage is to use color efex pro filter to use “glamour glow” filter to add a smooth look to the image, I love the glow generated by this filter

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

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/13

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro, Color Efex Pro

Waiting for the Night

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Here is a new autumnal image from my series of photos taken in Friuli. During my tour I also included a series of local lakes that had caught my attention over my research of some spot to photograph

It often happened that I had to deal with the rain during those days but the autumn atmosphere and the mist that rose on the horizon made special any corner of nature that caught my attention

I’ts for the same reason that towards evening, I stopped on the banks of a lake to take this picture where I tried to portray the dark but at the same time colorful armosphere that could be admired in those places

At that moment there was a pretty strong rain, luckily I always carry an umbrella with me that allowed me to cover the camera and to take the shots without wetting the lens, the image is realized with a 3 shots brackets

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I combined the shots using digital blending between the darkest photo and the central shot, I used the most exposed shot to lighten some areas of the photo (such as puddles) using a brush applied to luminosity masks

Using TTS PRO, I launched autumn colours to increase the red look of the autumn foliage, than I increased the blue colours applying a cold filters to the shadows.

I adjusted the contrast and brightness then started using dodge and burn over the puddles, around the tree and on the mist to stand them more to the viewer’s eye

After this I created a strong orton effect to increase the dark mood and to give a more dreamy look to the frame

I gave to the highlights a greater warmth filter in order to create a warm tone that highlights the colors of autumn, at the same time I launched color lookup filter using “Midnight” (opacity 10) to restore the same level of brightness and leave the colors of the sky unaltered

I 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 14mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/9

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Autumn Path

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This is a photo taken last autumn during my tour along the Friuli Venezia Giulia, were days of heavy rain and very adverse weather but during those days I could admire beautiful autumn landscapes

It often happened that I stopped with the car along the routes to get off to take pictures. Among these landscapes that have impressed me there is certainly this view of the valley of Raccolana wrapped in the fog and the colors of autumn, down the walking path through the woods

What struck me was the mix of colors not only present in the valley between the green and the red that blend the leaves and the trees but also the perfect meeting between the warm and the cold light at the end of the day

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I take this as single shot, so I edited the image by using luminosity masks applied to curves adjustment layer, without any blend

Using my panel TTS PRO, I launched autumn colours to increase the red look of the autumn foliage, with the same tool I launched high details to increase the details over the frame

My next step was to give more warm look to the photo so I applied a warm filter to the highlights, after this I launched orton effect  to give a more soft look to the landscape

Using dodge and burn applied to luminosity masks I give more lights over the fog, after this I fixed contrast between highlighs and darks

Latest steps was to decrease the general lights and to add a soft sharpen to the final frame

I always 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 31mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/6,3

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Ice Bushes II

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Another pov by the iced lake Calaita, I took advantage of a vertical photo along the vegetation on the lake. As I wrote in my previous post, this location is an alpine lake located in the valley of Lozen and it in winter is very often frozen without snow.

Compared to the previous photo this was taken at an earlier time of the day. Also this picture is made by using focus stacking technique to compose the photo by the mountain and the close-up bushes

I take all my shots bracketing in order to select have the correct dynamic range avaiable to blend the exposures

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I focus stacked the main shots and with the other bracketed images I made other focus stacking pictures, to have the exposures avaiables to digital blend all the images. At the end of this process I created my base shots, blended and focus stacked

After the details increase with the use of TTS PRO, I launched dodge and burn (to lighten the bushes and the trees ) and to darken the light over the mountain that was too high.

I increased yellow colors on the mountain and I decreased the same yellows on the bushes. With the luminosity masks applied to the highlighs I incresed the lights at the back of the mountain and I launched a orton effect to give more dreamy look at the image. Always using my panel I lauched details shadows filter to increase the details over the foreground without affecting other part of the frame

Last spots was to intervened on the colors, increasing the level of blue and violet in general and adding a soft vignette

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8

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

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Iced Bulwark

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I always liked to photograph the frozen lakes and when I find one I never stop circling around looking for some rift or some interesting spot to shot 🙂

This is exactly what happened in this lake, where in my previous post, I talked about this represents one of my favorite photography locations

The surface of the lake was covered with transparent ice and below it you could see the vegetation, in some parts it emerged from the ice

I made this photo lying on the ice with the technique of focus stacking with bracketing to capture the two different points of focus, in this way I got 5 shots of different exposure per point

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I selected 2 shos to focus stack than with luminosity masks : I launched curves tool to fix lights around foreground and sky

I launched luminosity mask contrast using TTS PRO, after a color fix I pushed up the blues and yellow colors increasing in this way the violet tones

The next step was to increase detais, especially over the mountain, than with dodge and burn I give more prominence to the cracks on the ice

I reduced the exposure of the image and as final step I increased the highlights to give more enery to the sky

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (–1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS PRO

Ice Bushes

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This is one of my favorite lakes, one of those locations where I come back often and always willingly, I’m talking about the lake Calaita a small alpine lake that is located in the valley of Lozen. The lake in winter is often frozen without snow on and this make lake Calaita a perfect spot for photography

That day I found several interesting spots here including these bushes that emerged from the lake’s icy water, I waited until the golden hour sunset where the sunlight lit up and warmed the mountain at the bottom giving it that beautiful yellow colours

I captured the image in focus stacking then focusing first on the part of the bush and in the series of successive shots towards the mountain

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I started focus stacking all the exposures, than with the final frame I adjusted the lights and shadows using luminosity masks : I launched curves tool to decrease the lights over the sky and give more visibility to the shadows

I increased details using TTS PRO, with the same panel I launched dodge and burn (to lighten the bushes and the trees ) and cold highlighs filter to increase the level of blue of the frame

I added contrast and I fixed the yellows using hue/saturation tool. As final I added a softner effect applying glamour glow filter of color efex pro, decreasing a bit the whole exposure of image

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (–1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro, Color Efex Pro

Mirror Hole

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During my visit to Lake Braies, I took a short ride along the lakeside looking for some interesting spots until I found this hole in the ice on the left side of the path

What struck me most about this spot was not so much finding an interesting composition, but to see how the trees and the mountain reflected in the hole in front of me. On the right side, the mountain reflects itself on the thin layer of existing ice

I took a series of 7 exposures brackting since the area where I was shooting was quite dark I wanted to have the full dynamic range available to intervene later with the digital blending

I take my shots a distance using my 14-24 lens set to 20 to not get too close to the hole where all around the ice was very thin, it was a little risky 🙂

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I opened all my shots inside Photoshop and I blended the exposures using TTS PRO with the use of luminosity masks I set the highlights and shadows to fix the sky and lighten the trees that was too dark

I increased details in the whole frame mitigating the effect by inserting a slight orton effect, which as you know I love to insert in almost all my images at low opacity

With dodge and burn I increased the lights over the ice and the reflections around the hole, giving more energy to the reflections and to that glow of light that is near the ice

I increased the purple colors a bit using camera raw filters and I put less blues using hue/saturation hand tool

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (-3 ; -2; –1; 0; +1; +2; +3)

ISO: 50 at f/9

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro


Bubble Crack

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Visiting Lake Braies is always beautiful, since I’ve been here other times, on my last visit I wanted to see it in winter. Usually in winter the frozen lakes lose part of their fascination, especially due to the absence of reflections, but in my opinion they gain on the colors and the pov where it is possible to take some pictures and Braies is one of the best on this

I found a very interesting point under the famous pier overlooking the mountain, under the snow could not settle and so remained only the ice, here the view towards the mountain in the background was perfect and the ice with all its variations did the rest

Photo aside this pov was definitely very uncomfortable, I had to shoot quickly because the place was very slippery and my tripod keep slipping away 🙂

I captured the images with two different focus points for focus stacking in order to obtain a unique focused picture of lake Braies 

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

As I mentioned above, I captured all my bracketing exposures first focusing on the ice below and then focusing to the mountain.  Once at the computer I uploaded all the photos between them and started this process to have 3 final images focused near and to infinite

At this point I started using my TTS PRO panel, to make a digital blending between images using auto blend functions. I started removing some people in the scene with clone stamp tool, than I raised the detail levels and adjusted the contrast with the luminosity masks

I used the dodge and burn to give more impact to the bubbles below, then adjusted the colors by increasing the purple and applying a colder filter to the frame. With the glow tool I adjusted the light intensity of the sky and lightened some points of the photo.

Finally I launched a slight orton effect and created a vignette effect to emphasize the central scene

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (-1; 0; +1;)

ISO: 50 at f/6,3

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS 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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