Author Archives: Giuseppe Sapori

The Lens Cap you will love – Kuvrd Revies

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How many times have you thought that you would like additional protection for your lenses? Something that keeps them away from dust, water and humidity?

The universal Lens Cap by KUVRD is what you are looking for

Thanks to a collaboration with this american company I had the chance to try their fantastic universal lens caps. Beautiful made by excelent material they are the best for storing and trasport your lenses in all conditions

These lens caps come in two different sizes micro and magnum one

– The micro lens cap is made to fit lenses from 54mm to 76mm

– The macro cap is made to fit lenses from 72mm to 122mm

I received 2 micro couples lens cap and 1 magnum couple lens cap that I imediately tested on my lenses

The packaging is amazing and very funny because they are packaged like cosmetics, in general the product together with the packaging constitutes an elegant object that immediately transmits the sensation of good workmanship

I tested the lens caps that perfectly fitted each of my lenses. They should be used to replace the original caps or be placed on top of them for extra protection, you can also insert KUVRD lens caps as stack for super protect your lenses

The lens caps can be inserted both on the lower and rear part of the lens in order to obtain a protective barrier for your lenses. Completely “wrapping” the objective constitutes an element of greater safety and practicality to transport

The KUVRD Caps are ultra resistant, during my last trip to Korea I carried my lenses completely covering them with these caps the result is that I found carrying them very confortable. So I could carry my lenses in backpacks together with other objects without the danger of scratches, they are also an excellent remedy against humidity and dust

Furthermore, as you can see from the photos, all KUVRD caps have a white cross on them, which can be colored if necessary to allow easy recognition of your lenses under the caps

In conclusion I am very satisfied with this product and I believe that these caps are an excellent protection for our lenses

I would recommend buying it to all those who, during their photographic releases, find themselves in particularly difficult climatic conditions, rain, humidity, dust and risks of impacts are drastically reduced thanks to KUVRD lens cap, personally I will never be without

Korean Nights – Haedong Temple

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During my trip to Korea I visited many temples but few of them really impressed me like this place. What you see in the picture is the famous Haedong Yonggung sea temple located near the city of Busan.

Also this temple was sadly destroyed during the Japanese invasion and subsequently rebuilt only in 1974. The temple is a large one in the middle of the sea and a small wood behind its, the surrounding area is inside a park relaxing and peaceful

When I arrive there I was really impressed of the strongest visual impact of the temple complex built on the rocks of the sea, here there are many panoramic points where you can have a beautiful view of the cliff and the temple in the background.

After visiting the temple I started taking some photos from a bridge overlooking the cliff and from where there is a beautiful view of the temple. However at the end of the day when they were gone all of them I moved down to capture some more shots and found this interesting spot by placing the camera between the bars of a fence on the cliff

Between the two shots I preferred to post this because it captures all the essence of the temple in the evening or anyway when the day comes to an end and the beautiful silence of this location remains, broken only by the waves of the sea

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

Being now at the last light of the day I realized this shot through a series of bracketing of 3 shots, with the darkest exposure of 30 seconds

I blended the exposure using TTS Pro, than I fixed lights and contrasts using luminosity masks. After a spot removal with clone stamp tool I used dodge and burn to lighten some rocks too dark and lighten the surrounding area of the temple

With a yellow brush I also increased the yellow colour aroud the lights near the main temple building

I corrected color cast adding a more blue/purple tone and I decreased the whole exposure of the image to increase the sense of dark mood of this scenery maintaining the exposure im the sky

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Three Shots ( -1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/16

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Focus: Mastering Luminosity Masks Digital Course

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My first video tutorial Mastering Luminosity Masks has finally come out, in this article I want to talk to you more in detail about this course, the reasons that led me to create a course on luminosity masks and why this will be an additional element of knowledge to your photography

What is Mastering Luminosity Masks Course

As you will have the opportunity to read and understand also from the page dedicated to the course, mastering luminosity masks is a video tutorial that leads you through the word of luminosity masks

Through the use of luminosity masks it is possible to work images only using Photoshop, taking advantage of an advanced level of selections of highlights, shadows and midtones

Through luminosity masks it is possible to proceed to an advanced level editing, intervening only in the areas of our interests, without affecting those portions of the frame that do not require any process

Furthermore, luminosity masks can be used to proceed through digital blending, that consist in selecting areas of interest and combine multiple exposure to obtain the perfect final image

A Luminosity Mask Course

Luminosity masks are a technique known by all those photographers who want to ask more from photography and want to go deeper in the editing process

This is a fairly used technique and there is many material on the web about it, but from what I could see the free contents on the web, they remains on the first steps of luminosity masks topic leaving the rest to a other researches or paid courses

Discover Mastering Luminosity Masks Course

Although there are very well-done pro courses to luminosity masks topic, but from a personal experience I found many of them too long, sometimes repetitive and expensive

Since many time in my posts and in my tutorials I write about the use of luminosity masks, but I have never focused on creating a course of my own that encompasses everything you need to know in detail in order to proceed alone to mastering luminosity masks and digital blending

In this course I have included everything you need to know to be able to manage this technique on your own, in the simplest way I could. I avoided dwelling on laborious things so I realized a course that captures the essence of luminosity masks. I created this course to allow you to manage this technique independently in the future

The additional element to your Photography

Luminosity Masks are the best technique to create a clean result on your images. Through the use of luminosity masks you will understand the importance of handling highlights, shadows and midtones in your photography

It is an additional element of knowledge for all those photographers who want to do a step forward the common used Photoshop editing techniques

The use of HDR software or Photoshop plugins, simply add filters and effects to the photos but makes images surreal and oversaturated

The step forward is to achieve a personal process of editing and learn capturing the images thinking of what you will do when you work on Photoshop

If you’re wondering how some photographers get beautiful clean and detailed pictures Mastering Luminosity Masks course is what I suggest to you

The Light Gate

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When I published the post about the Gyeongbokgunk palace I didn’t tell you about the famous Gwanghwamun front door. This is the main gate of the royal palace of Seoul

The Gwanghwamun gate has had a very long history, was destroyed during the Japanese invasion made up of reconstructions, displacements and new destructions, until a definitive restoration took place in recent times where we can admire in all its beauty

After all these historical facts now the door is an important tourist destination, many people are here visiting Gwanghwamun gate and Gyeongbokgung palace in fact on some days of the week you can watch the famous change of the royal guard, both are one of the most representative sights of the city of Seoul

I dedicated a careful photo visit to the door in the evening, since it is located in front of a large traffic artery, I used local traffic to color the frame by exploiting the light trails of buses and cars

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I took a series of shots in order to capture the best light trails, I selected 3 shots wich have some interesting lights, I put togheder using layer masking and luminosity masks.

I lightened the sky and increased contrast, with the help of my panel TTS Pro, I increased details, contrast and launched dodge and burn to fix the lights and shadows

I added some vibrant colors and a soft orton effect to give more soft looking to the shot, I made some correction with clone stamp tool removing some spots in the sky

As final step I incresed the highlights in the sky and I added a soft vignette to the frame

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 14-24 f/2,8 (used at 15mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/13

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Walking through the Ancient

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I love Seoul because it is a very variegate city, inside we can find tall skyscrapers and modern buildings but there is a part linked to tradition and traditional life

I’ts the case of this place, this is the beautiful Hanok Village, where you can find the traditional korean house. It is fascinating to walk along its narrow streets among the low houses and the so characteristic and traditional roofs. The Hanok Village offers one of the most interesting view of Seoul, with this street view that leads to the modern buildings

It seems a museum itinerary but the streets are full of real houses, it is considerated a residential zone and some people leave here. I arrived here quite early and found various signs on the spot asking for silence until at least 9 am, to allow the residents to rest

That’s right! in fact I read a few days before about this village that its streets are full of tourists during the day, which is why going there very early in the morning remains the only solution to shooting

Furthermore near the village there are several shops that rent the hanbok, the famous and traditional Korean dress, so it’s not difficult to find someone like you who decided to wake up early to get some shots immersed in the tradition 🙂


WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

Taking this shot did not require any particular technicalities, I reach the top of the village to benefit from the perspective, a girl who dressed in the traditional hanbok dress that was taking selfies just passed she approached a door I started taking some pictures

I take a single shot for this image so this time i didn’t used any digital blending but I used the same luminosity masks to correct the highlights in the sky and recover the shadows

I increased details and pushed up colours using TTS Pro, with dodge and burn tool I dodged some house tiles touched by the light to increase the clarity effect

I corrected the wide angle effect that was created on the houses creating a slight distortion, to do this I used the free transform tool dragging it on side

I hope you will find this usefull. I like 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

Seoul from the Sky

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View of Seoul from one of the tallest buildings in the city. I love photographing from these spots and more they are closer to the city with other tall buildings nearby, more they offer a beautiful view.

In my trip to Korea I photographed very much from spots like this, you will see it on the next posts… In the meantime I wanted to tell you about how I made this photo:

I climbed to the top of Seoul Tower after a pretty rainy day, I feared all the time to the last that the windows could be dirty and stained by the rain but incredibly (don’t ask me how) it wasn’t

To shoot the cityscape I always prefer a little glow of daylight before the total darkness falls, so I always prefer to start shooting from the blue hour.

Also mindful of last year’s experience where I took all my photos through glass covering the camera with a sweatshirt 🙂 this year I had a useful accessory that you find on the web for a few euros … it’s a sucker that is made pass through your lens and you can stick it to the glass with the lens, so as to completely avoid any reflection coming from behind you

In the picture there is a glare of sunlight that I captured through a series of long exposures and bracketing. The sky has a different exposure than the rest of the photo, this to prevent the lights of the city from being too strong-

For the city I take 3 bracketed shots that I used to correct the citylights and exposure of the builings and streets

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended the exposure for the city, using the dark exposure to decrease highlights on the streets and buildings. As I said before I also captured a series of long exposure for the sky that I blended with the first take of the one of the city of Seoul

I launched details enhancements using TTS Pro, I also added details to the shadows using the effect inside the panel. I made a series of colour correction to increase the blue color, decrease the red spot on the right, increase yellows coming from the city

With the use of luminosity masks I increased highlights and lights coming from the sky, giving more energy and light at the whole frame

I correct the horizon line and applied a free trasform to correct the wide angle distorsion on some building, than with the clone stamp tool I removed some spot of rain on the glass

The last passage was to add a soft vignette to emphatize the central part of the picture

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Sigma 24-70 f/2,8 (used at 32mm)

Three Exposures (-1; 0; +1) + Long exposure for the sky

ISO: 100 at f/14

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

After the Rain – Gyeongbokgung Palace

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Hi guys, on my first day in Korea I immediately found a beautiful rainy day 😀 the day I decided to go to the Gyeongbokgung palace the weather was certainly not the best: quite strong rain and gloomy day (even if very hot)

I will spend two words to tell you about this royal palace which is one of the most important buildings of the Chousun, namely the dynasty that reigned in Korea for the longest time

The palace was burned during the period of the Japanese invasion and subsequently abandoned due to the difficulties of the restoration until the 60s where an important restoration brings it back to ancient beauty

During my visit to the Gyeongbokgung I met many people who took pictures in traditional clothes (hanbok) and at the entrance of the building, it is possible at certain times to observe the interesting change of the guard in front of the main door of the palace

The rain did not discourage tourists who were like me under the underpasses at the sides of the main building, when I took this picture the sky was opening and it had stopped raining

The possibility of portraying the royal palace Gyeongbokgung with the perspective of some puddles was very suggestive while the sky opened up to the after rain colors. Some nice Korean ladies have protected me with an umbrella from the gutter drips at the top while I was taking this picture 🙂

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

To make this shot I used focus stacking technique, so I captured 3 bracketed shots focusing on the palace, thank other 3 bracketed shots focusing on the grass

I blended the shots following this guide, until obtaining 3 blended images able to be blended toghteder using luminosity masks

that’s what I did, using TTS Pro to digital blend the images until get the perfect exposure; after this I increased contrast and details, than I added a warm filter to the sky and shadows using Color Efex Pro

With the help of dodge and burn I give more light over the grass and over the puddles. After a color vibrance increase I remove some tourist near the temple using clone stamp tool

I decrease slightly the exposure value to increase the highlights and added more contrast to 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: 200 at f/7,1

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro, Color Efex Pro

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

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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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