Where Tomorrow Goes

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Where Tomorrow Goes

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A blue hour at the beginning of darkness at Passo Falzarego, a beautiful atmosphere during the day and a night that turns out to be even more interesting an mysterious

I took this photo just before darkness shoting on one of the main peaks and working with a focus stacking between the backround mountain and the foreground shrub

My main intent in this photo was to convey a sense of darkness and mystery, I used focus stacking on a bracketing series which that I blended with luminosity masks in Photoshop

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended the shot using TTS Pro to achieve a final shot with both background and foreground in focus, after this I increased the blue colours and decreased the exposure to intensify the dark mood

I increased details and I applied a orton effect, , after this I fixed contrast over the frame. I added a soft blue filter and with dodge and burn tool I made some painting over the shrub and over the mountain

I fixed the lights and darkness using luminosity masks and I increased sharpen over the mountain, as last touch I increased the vignette giving more light to the center of the image

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 70-200 f/2,8 (used at 102mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 320 at f/7,1

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Hiding

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Today I post two shots of a details of some peaks during my hike in Passo Falzarego. That day I was surrounded by clouds, I took these two photos while I was uphill and the colors of the sunset that struck these two high peaks struck my attention

The colors in those days were fabulous, accentuated even more by the magic of the low clouds which, as I wrote in previous posts, contributed to creating a magnificent atmosphere throughout the valley


WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

For both exposures I made two handheld shots. For both shots I followed the same workflow in order to obtain 2 similar images. I proceeded for a digital blending than adding details using TTS Pro

I added some warm colours using luminosity masks applied to hightlighs and a warmer filter. After adding a small orton effect, I increased the yellow colours where the sun hit the mountain helping myself with a dodge and burn tool to empatize the lighting

I fixed lights and contrast in the highlights and shadows, I added some lights using a white brush with the glow tool

The last touch was to add a small vignette to increase the darkness around the border

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 70-200 f/2,8 (used at 102mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 320 at f/7,1

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

Losing Sight

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During the days I stay at the Dolomites, the splendid scenery of the mountain in autumn was constantly changing. Very intense days of cloudiness alternated with low clouds to rainy days, unfortunately not always all suitable for taking good photos

That afternoon I was literally surrounded by low clouds on the horizon and I took a lot of photos in this mountain scenery so particular and engaging. In this photo the clouds moving towards the forest below

It was a very beautiful atmosphere, rarely seen in the past at these levels as I said in my previous post. More photos will follow with similar scenarios of those days

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

This image is a result of a digital blending with 2 exposures (of course I captured 3 but used just 2) that I blended using TTS Pro with auto blend darks function inside that instantly blend a darker exposure into a brighter exposure

After this I started edit the shot using luminosity masks correcting lighting in the sky and shadows, I also fixed contrast using midtones masks. I increased details that I partially muted with a orton effect.

I fixed up colours adding more vibrance and giving more yellow tones around the trees and the part of the mountain touched by sunlight

I made a small crop to cut off an empty space below and I made some small intervention with clone stamp tool to remove some rain drops

Last touch was to add a small vignette excluding the sky because it makes the clouds too dark

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 70-200 f/2,8 (used at 102mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 320 at f/7,1

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Wood of the Giant

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I recently spent a few days on the Dolomites to take a different tour than I did last time. To tell the truth, every time I try to do a different tour because the alternatives of beautiful natural places to visit here are really very much

Among my stops there was certainly a decent excursion to Passo Falzarego where I could admire a beautiful autumn scenery, in fact the whole area had a splendid view of red trees with low clouds, the one you see in the picture is a portion of what he surrounded me, in the next posts I will have the opportunity to show you the fullness of the autumnal scenery of the area

I also love the beautiful atmosphere that creates low clouds, on this day the colors and the atmosphere of the sky have really created a show that I have rarely seen. It must be said that I also had to face quite difficult days from a meteorological point of view, some days the clouds were so low that visibility was practically zeroed and rain don’t spared me, so a good mood but with moderation 🙂

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured 3 exposure in bracketing to make this shot, I make a blend manually using luminosity masks and my panel TTS Pro. I increased the yellows applying a warm filter to the highlights and shadows and I lighten up the light source using the glow tool

After this I increased details selectively and I applied a orton effect to create a dark dreamy look atmosphere to the mountain than, with the use of dodge and burn I increased the light source and the lights rays through the trees

I set the contrast and highlights and I increased the highlights, after a soft shadow recovery the last touch was to set the vibrance to give more show to the colors of autumn

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Nikon 70-200 f/2,8 (used at 105mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 320 at f/9

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

Halfway to the Coast

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The beautiful colors of the Cilento cliffs are one of my favorite spots in this area. This year I have been several times here and every time I managed to capture great sunsets and as many beautiful colors. The mountains are not far from the sea here and this creates a beautiful atmosphere at sunset

When I took this photo in the evening the sea was very rough, I put my tripod on a rock sheltered from the high water and started shooting with the colors of the golden hour until almost complete darkness

Capturing the entire event allowed me to take the whole dynamic range of the scene. In particular the brightly colored sky is the result of the yellow colors of the sunset when it was to turn towards the blue, having more series of shots at my disposal it allowed me to protect the yellows by exploiting the beautiful purple colors of “evening”

At the same time the long exposure of the water was captured in another series of shots that I used on the main frame to edit

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

For this shot I makes 2 different blends: one for a series captured during the golde hour and another with another exposure series captured during the blue hour, so with more darkness.

I selected the shot with the golden hour and I used the blue hour blend to make some adjustments in the main frame, so I used it to blend, water and some part of the sky that i want to replace with a more dark image

I added details and I increased yellow colours in the sky using a warm filter applied to luminosity masks. I used dodge and burn on the rocks to make some lights effect in the direction of the sun, I always used dodge and burn to soften som lights coming from the clouds. I added orton effect and I increased the contrast using TTS Pro that have this function applied to luminosity masks in order to create a series of curves easy to adjust

I fixed the finale exposure and I increased the shadows to mitigate the darkess coming from the foreground rocks

As final step I made some colours increase adjustments, pushing up the vibrance but reducing the blues becoming too strong

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 22mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1) x2

ISO: 100 at f/14

Software: Photoshop CC2020

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 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

Vessels

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Always from the same location of Belluno Alps National Park I took this photo of the waterfall that feeds the “pools” of my previous post. They are charaterized by a small stream, but with a strong flow that is powerful enough to feed the whole system of which the valley is characterized

The turquoise color of which the water of the pools below is made up can already be seen in the part below the waterfall where it already begins to take on a very bright color

For this shot I used a Nd3 filter stops with a series of 3-shot bracketing to have the chance to perform digital blending


WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I started using a digital blending using my panel with the 3 shots bracketing taken

I regulated brights and contrasts using luminosity masks,than I used dodge and burn to adjust the lights around the rocks near the waterfall. Since the image was very flat I wanted to create a darker and at the same time soft effect with an orton effect filter and in particular the orton effect dark that you can find inside TTS Pro I used a 30% opacity to have a strong effect

I used curves to adjus the luminosity of the whole frame and after generating a strong vignette I fixed the final contrast and color correction to the final image you see

As final step I decreased the luminosity to create a dark mood in the whole picture

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)

Three Exposures (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Counterparts

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giuseppe-sapori-counterparts

Sunset at Tre Cime of Lavaredo, I took this photo on the way back from the refuge Locatelli, in a lucky day of October where there was a beautiful and warm weather. This side view is just one of hundreds of pictures I took during sunset and is the result of a vertical stitch between the foreground and the Tre Cime peaks. Since my D-800 was broken and I was with a d90, and thankfully :), I tried to expand the visual field and give more depth to the image, I take 3 bracketed shots for the Tre Cime and 3 for the foreground

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

This time instead of stitching the images before the digital blending I did it as first thing of the mountains and then of the foreground, only later did I sticth, this is because by doing the stitching before the images alignment was bad. The digital blending of the images was done with luminosity masks launched from my panel that i suggest to download it even if you didn’t

Starting frome the blended image, I applied and worked dodge and burn the mountains and foreground. I intensified the sunset colors using the brush method that you can find in this guide, and launched orton effect to add a glow effect to the photo.

With the help of luminosity masks i added some contrast applying curves to darks 3 masks and changing the blending mode to soft light. Final interventions was adding more details, with high details filter into TTS Fast Panel, a small vignette effect and a bit more contrast using levels

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-90

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 14mm)

Four Exposures (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2017

Extensions: TTS Fast Panel

Nature Embrace

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giuseppe-sapori-nature-embrace

Lake Carezza near Bolzano was a pleasant surprise that I met along my way. It is a small alpine lake located in the Val d’Ega, about 25 km from Bolzano. It is nestled between thick forests of trees and is located under the massive of Latemar, which is reflected in its crystal clear water. Lake Carezza is known for its beautiful colors and why people who lives in this place call it the “rainbow lake”

The entire circumference of the lake is surrounded by a fence, and the lake is located a few meters below this. It ‘a beautiful lake to admire but very difficult to photograph, in fact any shot does not do it justice. During my shots I have sought to emphasize the reflections that were in the water and the massive Latemar which stood in the background, but it took me long to find an interesting spot from where shoot 🙂

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

As I said in my previous post, I was with a D90, so I could not take more than 3 bracketed shots, so I chose to take a series (-1, 0 + 1) and (-2, 0, +2) separate. With Photoshop  I have used the set (-1, 0 + 1) and +2  exposure from the other set, cause the photo was very dark view of the shortage of light.

I blended all exposures with the luminosity masks, then I made some color correction on the green and the yellow. I used dodge and burn to lighten the darker parts of the trees and increase highlights on the mountain. With midtones masks I set contrasts on the frame and with Fast Panel I increased details over the picture, also applied orton effect to darken a bit and create a glow effect. As final I set contrast, shadows, and highlights again to balance the image

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-90

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 14mm)

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

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2017

Extensions: TTS Fast Panel

 

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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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