Here we are my final post of the year, my annual photo composition. Also this year I created a personal photo manipulation obtained with all top elements of this year. In this photo composition every thing, object and person you see has its own meaning, its importance, its memory for me, a moment that I want to remember and keep with special affection in this 2019
This is a personal representation of my 2019, here we have places visited, travels, personal goals and all that was dear to me. This image has meaning for myself but I like to think that this image is beautiful even for you who look at it
I really hope you will appreciate the work, I always love to ear this from you! I want take the opportunity to thank you all for the support on my page and socials during this year, I want to wish you happy 2020 to all!
In the previous post I show you one of Busan spots that really impressed me and it is the main center activity of the city, but it is not the only one. Busan has also another very interesting city heart near the harbour
This is a view from the Busan Tower a a 120-metre-high tower at Yongdusan Park. I like very much the view from this tower because it benefit from a great view over the sea and from the proximity of other buildings
When I take this shot I come before the dusk and go upstairs still with sunlight, I cecked my favourite view and waited the right mix between golden and blue hour (i really love this kind of lights mix), usually during this time the citylights starts and at the same time the sky offers beautiful colours
I took this photo through the glass of the Busan Tower windows, using a suction cup to attach to the glass to avoid internal reflections, I captured some bracketed shots that I used to blend the final frame especially for what concerns the highlights
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
I blended two shots for this image, I worked mainly on a shot and I used a underexposed exposure to decrease the highlights using digital blending with TTS Pro, after this I straighten the horizon and fixed color cast
I still decreased the highlights using color range funcion and applying the selection to luminosity masks. I removed some dust spots over the window using clone stamp tool, after I increased details and colours vividness
Using hue/saturation I decreased the blues on the left part of the sky that was originally too much strong. I set contrast and shadows as fnal touch
I really hope you will find this usefull. Love to ear this from you!
Busan is a very cool city, its alternating Korean traditions, beautiful temples, beaches with the modernity of the buildings. Thanks to the advice of a friend, I managed to find this fabulous spot of the Busan towers right in front of a bay that is a dock for boats
I reached the location in the late afternoon, I arrived much earlier than the blue hour and started taking some pictures on the pier with some fishermen and a beer I had taken at a nearby bar
It was nice to stop and shoot from this location while waiting for the best lights in the city while I watched the boats go by the pier and the sky changes faster and faster
I took many interesting photos during the sunset, including this one below which is a blending of a couple of photos to get the Gwangalli bridge on the left into the frame
I captured shots from the golden hour until the blue hour and I created the photo above from an interesting blending between the two moments but what struck me most was the impact of the reflections and the lights as soon as the twilight began, beautiful reflections that could be seen even in the puddles around me on the dock of the port
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
To make the night shot I made a blend of 3 exposures with different timing essentially to cover all the dinamic range of building lights. The main goal was to create a final frame to fixed lights
I blended the shots using TTS Pro and with the help of luminosity masks I made the final adjustments to the lights using color range
I increased details removing the effect on the water, I applied more blue colours to the shadows using a cold filter. With the glow tool I pushed up some lights in the water and in the sky, with the help of dodge and burn I decreased some spot in the frame
As final step I increased the sharpness of the photo removing the effect on the water
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 Yonggungsea 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!
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 andTTS 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!
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!
During my last visit to the island of Capri it was wonderful to be able to admire and photograph the island from the sea. A seascape and a simple view but that struck me for the enchanting view of the island in the middle of the sea surrounded by the colors of the low lights of the late afternoon
You can see the faraglioni on the left side of the island, the main attraction of Capri, which appear from afar with small rock formations not far from the coast
I made this with a single shot, so there are no bracketing and I did not any digital blending. This time without too many technicalities I simply taken a handheld shot from the boat that took me to the Amalfi coast
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
I jus used the luminosity masks ,to fix the lights around the island… I decreased the highlights and increased contrast to better put in result the island in the middle of the sea
With TTS Pro panel I increased the cold mood using a cold filter, later with the help camera raw filter I intesified the blue/purple colours just a bit.
I created a orton effect to increase the glow of the image. I increased the lights behind the island to give more impact to the subject using luminosity masks.
I alway hope you will find this usefull. I’m happy to ear this from you!
Also this year I decided to take a tour of the Amalfi coast, it is one of my favorite places to spend a few days capturing great landscapes, visiting important UNESCO sites and eating very very well 🙂
This photo represents a spot that I really like and that every time I come to these places I take it Every time I find something different and it’s never the same, from the sky to the vegetation, to the colors of the sea… I love it!
This time I took the shot with a long exposure, since the area is always very windy I took a few minutes before the precaution of saving the leaves from the wind
The moment of the shot is the one that anticipates the nautical twilight so the moment immediately before when the sky begins to pull out the blue
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
This time no digital blending was necessary, so I used the exposure I captured for the leaf to manually mask them with the main shot
I fixed lights, contrasts and details using TTS Pro effects, than I fixed color cast and created a soft warm atmosphere using a warming filter
I increased the vibrance to have more vibrant colours and with dodge and burn I fixed some darker areas inside the caves of the coast. As usual I also used a soft orton effect orton effect to create a more soft and dreamy effect
I reduced the highlights and I created a strong vignette to increase the dark mood of the scene and give more prominence to the central scene
Last step was to increase the sharpness on the edges and in particular on the mountain to increase the viewer sense of detail
I hope you will find this usefull. I love to ear this from you!
Second picture from the Vernazza, I made this photo by changing the frame during the blue hour. This picture is the result of two images blend, in particular I blended the sky shot that had visible colors in the sky with another bright exposures that had more movement on the water
In this case I did not use filters since the light was very low, I used the Pluto Trigger function that allows you to make long exposure bracketing shots going over 30′ seconds. I really appreciated all the locations of the Cinque Terre but this one of Vernazza is certainly one of the best that can be found in this area, hope to have the chance to come here next time soon!
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
I blended the images using auto blend function of TTS PRO creating a new frame, I increased details and I fixed contrast always using my panel with luminosity masks contrast effect. I applied a warm filter on the highlights and I created a soft light bleeding to intensify the sunset colors and lighting
I made some adjustment using dodge and burn, especially in the darker parts of the town (where i pushed also up with curves and darks masks) the darker parts of the frame. After a highlights fix I created a small vignette. As final adjustments I increased the color vibrance, the yellow look of the image and some lights adjustments on the plants in the foreground
I hope you will find this informations usefull. I Love to ear this from you!
Here’s again another shot from Riomaggiore that goes to close this mini series shot in this beautiful italian town. Together with the previous ones are all photos are taken in the same location, the small and pretty harbour of Riomaggiore, in this spot I moved a few meters to change the angle between the 3 photos that composed this series
Unlike the other images where I captured only sunlight in favor of greater framing of the town, this time I shot directly into the sun, I captured a series of exposures including some very long ones the idea was to have as many shots possibles to blend togheder
WORKFLOW EXPLANATION
I started from two exposures and I start blending the images using luminosity masks. The blend was between a long exposure and a normal exposure this creates a soft effect that I like for this picture. I increased yellows using a warm brush and giving the main color in the direction of the sun. With TTS Fast Panel I increased details and contrast using luminosity masks applied to curves layer
After recovering som shadows and fixed the highlights I increased the luminosity over the buildings using luminosity masks. Increased vibrance with hue/saturation, same like the latest picture I added a soft glow effect with color efex pro. Last touch was to decrease luminosity just a bit 🙂
I hope you will find this usefull. I love to ear that from you!
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)
