The Path of Defense

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The Path of Defense

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I have been to this location several times in the past, there is a post from 2017 that you can find at this link

The suggestive truglia tower is a bastion of roman origin used mostly used for military sightings. Destroyed several times over the years it has been rebuilt and today it is a pleasant panoramic point of the city of Sperlonga

Before being able to take this photo I waited a few days for an interesting sky and passed in search of a different composition from the ones I had already done in the past

I decided to compose the photo in this way in order to have in the same composition a good foreground element but at the same time of the leading lines that lead towards the main subject of the tower

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured 3 bracketed shot for this image that I digital blended using TTS Pro using the auto blend function. I increased details and the warm tones of the sun applying a warm filter to luminosity masks

I used the glow tool to lighten some part of the image and to create a glow effect, after increasing a bit the contrast I increased the color vibrance of the entire image decreasing the effect on the cactus

Lastly I applied the skylight filter of color efex pro limitedly to the sky to incrase the sunset color and as final step a soft vignette to better expose the central tower

As always I 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 19mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro, Color Efex Pro

A Night at the Castle

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A night shot taken in one of my favourite places for night shots, I’ve captured several milky way shots here and you can more informations about this place in this post and here.

This photo is the result of that night at the castle where before making this startrail I was intent on taking the milky way in the surrounding area. That night was not a “new moon night”, so I had time to shoot only before the moon rising before ending this night session. So after capturing the milky way in the spots that I had set for myself in the remaining time I made this startrail

The lights you see on some parts of the location where I was is the moon starting to rise illuminating the rocks that were in front of me, luckily creating a beautiful lighting and atmosphere to the surroundings in some of my shots that I used for blending

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured the startrail from several expoures that I blended using Starstax Software, than I opened the image into Photoshop and I started editing lights and shadows using  luminosity masks, with the help of  TTS Pro I reduced noise in the sky and in some other darker parts of the image

I increased the glow effect adding orton effect and I lightened some darker parts of the rocks using dodge and burn with a white brus. I fixed some colors in the sky giving more blue to it and increasing some purple/yellow tones near the horizon

I inceased the color vibrances to give a more pop look to the picture and as final step I softly increased the whole illumination to give more results to the foreground

As always 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)

Startrail

ISO: 3200 at f/2,8

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Path of Angels

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It’s not the first time that I photograph Castel Sant’Angelo from his bridge. Over the years I have proposed this shot at least 3 times always with a different light and at different time of the day… today is a new version related to the other shots I took in Rome in this after quarantine days

This is the version where for the first time in all my attempts to photograph Castel Sant’Angelo I did not have to use lens-filters or other photoshop tools to cancel people and tourists on the bridge. This is in fact another spot in Rome that is really very crowded during all the year and only now that the city has not yet opened its doors to tourists is it possible to do, here also in the early morning here are always someone taking photos

Regarding the shot this time I positioned my tripod at eye level since I wanted to avoid the falling lines of the castle and the angels on the bridge, with all this leading lines is very easy to have wide angle lens distortions here… I made it all through a series of bracketing of 5 shots

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I made a digital blend using my panel TTS Pro, I removed some ghosts bird in the sky using clone stamp tool than I started editing lights and shadows using luminosity masks

After correcting color cast, I increased color vibrance and details. I create a small orton effect to give a more dreamy feel to the shot, with dodge and burn I lightened some darker parts of the castle and around the bridges

I increased contrast and highlights and I corrected shadows, after a soft decrease of general luminosity I pushed up some sunrise colours using a cold filter

As final step I added a very soft vignette to put the viewer’s eye on the leading lines

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)

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

ISO: 100 at f/22

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

Chasing Sunlight

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Hi guys, also this week here you are another sunrise shot from Rome for this photo I chose another spot where you can admire the roman sunrise in all its beauty

The view of the roman forum is truly spectacular, I went here just before the sun started to glimpse the horizon composing the shot in a way that so that I could have a general overview of the roman forum with the Coliseum on the right

I captured some series of bracketing shots, also including some shots holding my finger in front of the sunlight, in order to have some shots without the lens flare for the blend with other photos, in this way I removed all the lens flare from the final image

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended all the exposures using TTS Pro, I decreased the shadows and increased the highlights to push up the sunrise lights than, with the use of luminosity masks, I give more contast to the image.

After adding a warm filter to give a more yellow tone to the image, I added a orton effect to increase the dreamy look feel of the sunlight. With the use of dodge and burn I fixed some light and shadows spot around the picture and for the last I used a dark vignette around the picture

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)

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

ISO: 100 at f/22

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Last Afterglow

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Waiting for the possibility of being able to travel again through the Italian regions and I hope soon also in the rest of the world, I am dedicating myself to photographing my city in the early morning

The moment is certainly the right one because, as I wrote in previous posts, waking up early in the morning it is easy to find points of interest in the city that are usually very crowded and completely with no one

Here we are in the famous Piazza di Spagna, I wanted to give a perspective of the square starting from the famous “barcaccia” to portray the perspective of the Spanish steps with the church at the bottom, with a fantastic morning afterglow behind it

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured a bracketing series of 5 exposures to have all the dynamic range avaiable to blend the exposure with TTS Pro, after this I fixed the highlights using luminosity masks and contrast with midtones applied to curves adjustment layer

I increased the color vibrance and I added a warm filter to increase the yellow look of the sky, I corrected the perspective and I remove some spots of ghost birds flying into the sky

With dodge and burn tool I fixed all lights around the square, increasing the illumination over the light direction, I also increased the glow behind the church. I darkened the exposure just a bit and sharpened the details, as final steps I fixed contrast and lights with levels adjustment layer

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)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

Trevi

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In these days I have had the lucky opportunity to photograph the Trevi’s Fountain without all those thousands of tourists who are perennially around the square

For those who have never been here, to give you an idea of the amount of people just think that as soon as you enter the fountain square you must start making your way through the crowd… here every semi-panoramic photo of the fountain is impossible throughout all the day. Only in the very early morning is there any chance of succeeding and it is not even so obvious

In these days without tourists in Rome everything is easier and in the early morning the square is completely deserted, only the wonderful sound of water is heard and the magical atmosphere of the fountain attracts to you

Nevertheless to give an image of the Trevi’s Fountain that enhances the light of the sky I chose a vertical shot also to give greater dynamism to the scene, I took many photos here also horizontally but in my opinion this view includes many essential elements of the fountain having something different from the classic postcards of Trevi

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended all the exposure using TTS Pro and with the use of luminosity masks I lightened the sky and shadows. I added details selectively excluding the water of the fountain and the sky clouds

I increased the color vibrance with the filter inside my free panel here and I give a warm look in the highlights and shadows using a warm filter. With the help of dodge and burn I pushed up the light in the main spots of the shot

I correct the perspective of the shot that had a strong wide angle perspective and as final touch, I added a small dark vignette around the photo to give more attention to the viewer to the fountain and the sky lights

I really 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/10

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

A New Day

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Finally I have again the opportunity to freely go out to photograph and on the first day I decided to go to the most famous spot of my city. It was great to take advantage of the total absence of tourists and people in the area but despite everything to avoid any possible presence of people, I went there for the sunrise

The splendid sunrays of sun that at this time of year are behind the Coliseum were unfortunately covered by clouds but anyway with all the sunrise colours on the sky

Talking about composition I preferred a vertical shot with composition, they are among my favorites, to emphasize the coliseum in the background and a leading compositional line towards the monument

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I made the image with the focus stacking technique by shooting the bracketed image for each series of captured images. If you want to know more about this technique that I always use when taking photos like this, I recommend reading this guide

With the resulting expoures I digital blended the images using TTS Pro. With the help of luminosity masks I fixed highlights, shadows and contrasts. After adding details selectively I increased the color vibrance exalting magentas and blue colours

I added orton effect and with the use of dodge and burn I lightened the blacks around the Coliseum. With the glow tool I lightened some highlights in the sky and created soft light bleeding near the sun position. As final step I added a vignette to darken the foreground and to give more prominence to the central scene

As always 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 CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

The Crystal Veins

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I know, there are many photos that I am posting every week of this place and its surroundings but the situations I found with light, ice, colours and great points of view was very very interesting

Compared to last week’s shot I shot a few tens of meters but as you can see for yourself the main subject remains the same. Here too I benefited from large and interesting colors in the sky not quite the classical golden hour time, a sign that in the mountains there are many hours during the day where you can shoot with great colours during the day

Also here as for the previous shot I used the focus stacking technique with multi exposure, so I captured a bracketing series with a focus on the foreground and a bracketing series with the focus on the mountain subject in order to blend the “two series of shots” togheder

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

To use the focus stacking technique I digital blended the shots with foreground using TTS Pro than I repeated the same process for the shots with mountain focused, after this I merged the two series togheder using focus stacking function on Photoshop

I fixed the highlights using luminosity masks, than I regulated contrast and colours. With dodge and burn I regulated all the lighting around the mountain, the forest below it but also in the reflections of the lake and on the rock

With my glow tool and the use of a brush with warm colors I emphasized the colors on the rocks of the sun and on the ice around them

After this I increased details and sharpness removing the effect in the unwanted areas using a simple layer mask and a black brush

Also for this shot I applied two different kinds of orton effect: the first is the classic orton effect decreased to the opacity to 15% and the second is the orton effect dark, that emphatize the dark tones of the image this time reduced in the opacity by 10%

I also decreased a bit the whole exposure of the shot, to create more atmosphere in this view

I really 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 14 mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/14

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS Pro

Afterlight

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I have a beautiful remember of this afternoon when I went to this lake, the light was fantastic and the sun peeked through the clouds and the mountains

I have long been looking for a spot where I could take the beautiful reflections of the lake and I waited for the moment that the light filtered through the clouds, the colors of the lake that changed in the sunlight were beautiful and made the atmosphere warm and magical

The light intervals were really fast and I happened to lose some of them but I managed to capture this moment, the light coming from the left was much stronger than what is shown in the photo, I eliminated the lens flare using layer mask with the other expousure taken before

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

Although I captured the scene in different moments of light the result of this photo is not a digital blending, I used the other shots to remove lens flare and light imperfections of the main shot but basically I worked on a single shot

I started with a variation of colors increasing the warm tones, then I raised the details by removing the effect on the reflections of the water

With orton effect I increase the sense of softness of the scene to mitigate the strongness of details throught the trees and on the mountains, I raised up the light using dodge an burn and fixed the contrast using curves applied to luminosity masks

I darkened the scene increasing the purple tones, as last step I increased sharpness on the mountain peaks and on the branches of the trees

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Sigma 24-70 f/2,8 (used at 31 mm)

Single Shot

ISO: 100 at f/13

Software: Photoshop CC2020

Plugin: TTS 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

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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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