The Awakening

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The Awakening

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When I took this photo I was in a special place, a very special place that I found with after a bit of research on google earth in order to find waterfalls along my South Korea itinerary

This is precisely the first of my in trip researches resuls, reaching it was not easy but it was satisfying, together with this waterfall in the next post I will also show you another waterfall that is absolutely unique

However the light coming from the top of the waterfall was lovely, photographing it and capturing that light was my main goal since I reached the location

Behind me there were some tourists who take selfies in every way possibles šŸ™‚ A very strange thing, throughout the entire journey in South Korea I didn’t see half photographer or landscape photographer who had a tripod or a DSRL, never happened before in all of life

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured different shots in order to capture the best dynamic range, I blended 3 of them to obtain a final frame with the right light around the water and over the trees

I blended the shots using TTS Pro and luminosity masks to fix the lights around the rocks after the blend. Always with the use of my panel I increased the yellow colours of highlights and shadows using the warm colour filter

With the glow tool I incrased some lights over the main light spot and over the leafs on the trees, I decreased the luminosity in order to generate a more dark look and I applied a soft orton effect to emphatize this

I increased the vibrance of the colours around +10 using hue/saturation given more contrast using curves adjustment layer applied to luminosity masks

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 35mm)

Three Shots (-1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/16

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Cave In

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Back from Japan, on my lastest trip I visited Friuli region in Italy, during the course of my itinerary I have marked many photographic spots and this is precisely one of those. This famous waterfall in this area is named Fontanon di Goriuda that faces to a mountain recess inside a wood. It’s amazing to be near and feel the loud noise of water coming from it, in the area that is exactly behind there is a flow of air that brings a lot of water so the wash is assured šŸ™‚

During my days in those areas I found a really bad weather, the rain was strong beating most of the day, many roads were closed for collapsed trees and even the day I went to visit the Fontanon di Goriuda it was raining heavily,Ā fortunately the recess in the rock allowed me to take pictures in complete calm sheltered from the rain

Finding the exact position to make this shot was not easy considering the too much water Ā coming under the waterfall and on the other side the ground was sloping with mud … at the end with a little patience and getting muddy šŸ™‚ I could find this point of view, my intention was to portray an overview of what I was facing: the beautiful Friulian landscape with the Fontanon di Goriuda on the left

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I captured 5 exposure brackets to make this but I don’t used all the shots for blending because the tree on the right moved too much from one pictures to another, so I just used one darker and one brighter exposure to fix the main darkness inside the cave and to decrease the lights in the sky

I launchedĀ  luminosity masksĀ to made the main adjustments using contrasts and curves to lights and darkness, with the use ofĀ TTS PROĀ Ā I increased details and I launched orton effect to smooth the effect and to create a soft dreamy look around the waterfall. After this I used a white brush applied to a layer with soft light to intensify th glow effect selectively, you can see more of it here.

I little intensified the yellow look of the frame by applying a warm filter to the luminosity masksĀ and then I stepped up the full color scale through the LAB Coloring

I also used dodge and burn around some areas that I wanted to lighten, as a final touch I lowered the brightness a little while preserving the light on the waterfall

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

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

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

 

The Valley of Dreams Pt. 2

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Also this photo was taken in the same location of my last post. I’m still talking about the Valley of the Ferriere located near the beautiful harbor town of Amalfi. On the path that climbs through a valley full of all natural beauty there are many waterfalls Ā and this is one of those that I found along my way

In particular it was a very narrow stream that flowed down, it caught my attention. It was difficult to find a good position to capture the scene since I could not get too close because of the splashes of water came decided on my filter screen and not too far to not compromise the composition

I used a -6 stop ND filter to smooth the water,Ā compared to the previous photo where in all the shots I’ve done I never exceeded 30 seconds in this shot I had exposure times even longer than 2 minutes, I was in a dense thicket and the light that filtered was very low. Shutter speed for this photo is 120 seconds



 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I started using two exposure, not to made a digital blend but to save trees and leafs from movement. As always I used luminosity masks to decrease the lights around the water and softner the white effect of the long exposure. With my panelĀ I launched details to boost of all them, launched alsoĀ orton effect beacause I like this effect in all waterfall shots šŸ™‚

Using dodge and burn tool I lightened the darker parts of the wood and I increased light on the direction of the sunrays. With a yellow brush I colored some part of the rocks reducing the opacity and setting the layer as soft ligth, in this way I intensified the yellow color on the rocks with a softner effect. I fixed contrast with luminosity masks reducing the effect decreasing the opacity. Also here I created a small vignette but increasing the bright of the image

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 22mm)

Long Exposure for 120′

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Fast Panel

 

The Valley of Dreams

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That’s right, the valley of dreams! is not really called in this way but it is a dream place for all nature lovers here! I’m talking about the Valley of the Ferriere that is located in the town of Amalfi, it is reached with about an hour walk with a walking path Ā inside of the town. Inside the valley there are many small waterfalls, rivers of all kinds and above all many lemon trees šŸ™‚

Time agoĀ this area was full of mills as evidenced by the ruins in the valley,Ā It is a very interesting place to immerse yourself in nature and to add to the sea of Amalfi also a part of hiking.Ā During the path inside the Valley of Ferriere I found this small waterfall that although it was not very high had a considerable and very strong water flow

Using a maximum time of 30 seconds shot and with the help of an ND1000 I reached a very smooth water without using a very long exposure time. I made several shots even vertically but in the end I preferred this view that had less foreground but immerses more in the context of the context, do not you think?

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I used a single shot for this, I started using the luminosity masks action to reduce lights around the waterfall and to increase darks on the shadows. Ā I usedĀ TTS Fast PanelĀ to launch all my luminosity masks and to use high details to push up all the details in this frame. I launchedĀ orton effectĀ to create a soft look around the waterfall, reducing the darker effect on the darker area using layer mask

I increased the yellow colors using a warm filter applied to luminosity masks. Using as always dodge and burn Ā to fix some strongly darks areas and to darken some overexposed part of the water. Also used back luminosity masks applied to curves to fix contrasts and lights again

In the final steps I reduce the luminosity of the whole picture and I added a small vignette to create a dark mood look

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 20mm)

Long Exposure for 30′

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Fast Panel

Sunset Glow

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When I take this picture I was on the beaches inĀ Cilento valley, where one evening I stoppedĀ  for this at sunset. This area as I said in some posts ago, is characterized by a great variety of natural scenarios, including the sea and the mountains. In this sunset photo I have just portrayed part of this variety including the colors of the beautiful landscapes that this part of Italy can offer

Also here as in the previous post I have taken a natural glow effect that was created with the lights of the sunset, with an intense yellow effect that also came on the rocks.Ā It is a long exposure of 20 seconds made with ND64

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended two long exposures using luminosity masks, starting from the dark picture to brighten the foreground and the most black rocks.

IĀ  usedĀ Dodge and burnĀ  to made some adjustments on the rocks and on the water, using my panel I increased details and sharpen.

For the adjustments of colors I applied a warming filter to the lights masks and a cold filter to the darks playing with the opacity to create a mix between the two effects

As the final step I added contrast and fixed lights and darks

I will by proud if you will find this information usefull! I’m always happy to hear this from you

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Single Exposure (20 seconds)

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2017

Extensions: TTS Fast Panel

 

Nature Embrace 2

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Giuseppe Sapori - Nature Embrace 2

I found this shot between my shots of my trip near Bolzano and Dolomites and Lake CarezzaĀ  was a pleasant surprise that I met along my way.Ā I remember well that in that day my destination was not even lake Carezza but the Sass Pordoi, which is several kilometers furtherĀ from this lake

Unfortunately that day I found the cable car to go inexplicably closed, with any explaination on the website, so I went back and I stopped here to take some shots. It was almost a fortune to have found the closed cable car, I would not have discovered this magical place

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

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. I stepped up lights and darks in the foreground area then I increased contrast

With TTS Fast Panel I launched high details and sharpen over the picture, I also used the panel to launch LAB Color that give to the mountains a touch of gold. After applied a orton effect to darken a bit and create a glow effect the last touch was to darken a little more the frame

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-90

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8Ā (Shot at 15mm)

FiveĀ Exposures (-2; 0; +2)

ISO: 100Ā at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2017

Extensions: TTS Fast Panel

The Last Light

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Giuseppe Sapori - The last light

The beachĀ of Maiori during sunset, I took this pictureĀ in the few moments of light available before the sundown, it was beginning to be dark when I found a small pier lookingĀ out to sea, there was only a fisherman just ahead. I placed a few meters before him shooting towards the Gulf of Amalfi, the sea was very much moved and several times I had to clean the lens from a few sketches that even at a distance came on my lens.

However not being the owner of an ND filter I took this photo only using a slower shutter speed and a good exposure compensation, I have to say that I am very satisfied of the final results but all the credits go toĀ the sunsetĀ cause I was helped by the little lights remainings which allowed me the fog effect in the water. With Photoshop I tried to step up the contrasts, the details on the rocks and further blur to the water, specially in the central part of the image

 

TECHNICAL STUFFĀ 

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Five Shots (-2; -1; 0; +1; +2) with around -2,5 sec. exposure compensation

ISO: 100 at f/8

Software: Photoshop CC2015

The Heaven Mirror

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Giuseppe Sapori - The Heaven Mirror

Hello guys, first of all happy new year and lucky 2016 to everyone!! I decided to start this year with a series of shots taken at Gran Sasso during last autumn. It ‘a series of spectacular shots of all the magnificent nature that you can find those heights, including stars. I decided to start in chronological order from the first photo taken during sunset on the lake overlooking the tip of the big horn of Gran Sasso, a sight to leave speechless by the beauty, immersed in nature for hours it was also fun to see the wild horses and the oxĀ that occasionally approached the lake to drink.

I made dozens of shots of this part, from the golden hour to finally get virtually the blue hour. The photographs taken during the golden hour were definitely the most fascinating in terms of colors, but the bright light of this hour restrained me to choose these shots, while the exposures taken during the blue hour were much more attractive but less marked with reflections. So I decided to Ā choose a series of exposures taken in the mid point of time, as lights and reflections that were the right measure.

To make the shot more interesting I chose to portray most foreground, rather than making an image somewhere between water and sky. This difference needed careful focus of rocks below than the horizon. For this reason I made a focus stacking on the rocks on the bottom and then toward the horizon to better frame the mountains and have an image that was both elements in focus. Until the latest shots,Ā the top of the mountain was covered by clouds, only in the late clouds go away from Corno Grande. For this reason I show the mountainĀ “discovery” from the clouds with a exposure that I had made a few minutes later, masking it with those previously results obtained from focus stacking

 

TECHNICAL STUFFĀ 

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

ISO: 100Ā at f/11

3 Exposures (-1; 0; +1) stacked on the rocks

3 Exposures (-1; 0; +1) stacked on the horizon

1 Exposure for the mountain in the horizon

Software: Photoshop CC2015

 

Nature Touch

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This is the river that flows into the Bohinj lake, subject of my pictures in my previous post. The bridge you see, is the passage that leads to the pleasant village of Ribcev Laz with Stara Fuzina, as you can see the whole area is surrounded by inspiring nature reserve.

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Breathing View

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Giuseppe Sapori - Breathing View

The Bohinj Lake at sunset, just a wonderful view of a beautiful lake which I hope soon to see again. I think I have said enough in my previous post with a lot of shipping on the beauty of this place. šŸ™‚Ā To take this shot i put mytripod in the water but near the shore. When i shot this image the sun had just crossed the mountains, so when I edited this picture I used luminance masks to lighten the ducks and the lower part of the image that was quite dark in spite of the HDR

TECHNICAL STUFF

Lens:Ā Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 (Shot at 14mm)

ISO: 100 at f/11

3 Shots (-2; 0; +2)

Software: Photomatix, Photoshop

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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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