Iced Bulwark

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Iced Bulwark

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I always liked to photograph the frozen lakes and when I find one I never stop circling around looking for some rift or some interesting spot to shot 🙂

This is exactly what happened in this lake, where in my previous post, I talked about this represents one of my favorite photography locations

The surface of the lake was covered with transparent ice and below it you could see the vegetation, in some parts it emerged from the ice

I made this photo lying on the ice with the technique of focus stacking with bracketing to capture the two different points of focus, in this way I got 5 shots of different exposure per point

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I selected 2 shos to focus stack than with luminosity masks : I launched curves tool to fix lights around foreground and sky

I launched luminosity mask contrast using TTS PRO, after a color fix I pushed up the blues and yellow colors increasing in this way the violet tones

The next step was to increase detais, especially over the mountain, than with dodge and burn I give more prominence to the cracks on the ice

I reduced the exposure of the image and as final step I increased the highlights to give more enery to the sky

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (–1; 0; +1)

ISO: 100 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS PRO

Bubble Crack

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Visiting Lake Braies is always beautiful, since I’ve been here other times, on my last visit I wanted to see it in winter. Usually in winter the frozen lakes lose part of their fascination, especially due to the absence of reflections, but in my opinion they gain on the colors and the pov where it is possible to take some pictures and Braies is one of the best on this

I found a very interesting point under the famous pier overlooking the mountain, under the snow could not settle and so remained only the ice, here the view towards the mountain in the background was perfect and the ice with all its variations did the rest

Photo aside this pov was definitely very uncomfortable, I had to shoot quickly because the place was very slippery and my tripod keep slipping away 🙂

I captured the images with two different focus points for focus stacking in order to obtain a unique focused picture of lake Braies 

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

As I mentioned above, I captured all my bracketing exposures first focusing on the ice below and then focusing to the mountain.  Once at the computer I uploaded all the photos between them and started this process to have 3 final images focused near and to infinite

At this point I started using my TTS PRO panel, to make a digital blending between images using auto blend functions. I started removing some people in the scene with clone stamp tool, than I raised the detail levels and adjusted the contrast with the luminosity masks

I used the dodge and burn to give more impact to the bubbles below, then adjusted the colors by increasing the purple and applying a colder filter to the frame. With the glow tool I adjusted the light intensity of the sky and lightened some points of the photo.

Finally I launched a slight orton effect and created a vignette effect to emphasize the central scene

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Three Exposures Focus Stacked (-1; 0; +1;)

ISO: 50 at f/6,3

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

Jewel on the Hill

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In my latest post I talked about Civita and why it is also called the dying city. The morphology of this area has been caused by erosion and landslides, that has brought civilization to abandon in the past this place in and which has led to its total abandonment by the inhabitants. Today, only very few people live in Civita, mostly owners of restaurants and small bars that are located inside and offer service to tourists

Civita can only be reached via a reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge. The bridge can only be walked on foot but the town of Bagnoregio, meeting the needs of those who live or work in this place, issued a circular stating that, at certain times, residents and authorized persons can cross the bridge on board of cycles and motorcycles

I took this photo in the hill in front of the town, is one of the best views of the ancient city of Civita, compared to the previous photo this is taken before in fact the color of the sky was more typical golden hour, from here you can admire the beautiful progressive setting of the sun over the town

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I selected a couple of shots (brighter and darker) to blend them using auto blend function inside my panel  TTS PRO

After this I selected luminosity masks to make other changes over the sky and over the darks to fix them better. The main difficult of this picture was to manage the lack of brightness of the shadows, in fact my goal was to clear them but without losing the natural look of the photo

A great hand provided me with my panel with the color masks function, I was able to intervene simply on the yellows going to increase the color on the part in the shade illuminated by sunlight, with a single click I got an effect very soft and natural, I repeated the same operation instead on the contrary on the town that had bright yellow colors

I applied a cold filter applied to luminosity mask to the sky and I launched orton effect to give a soft look to this image, I love the effect that orton effect generate on landscapes.

The final touch was to add a bit of sharpen and handle the contrast between the highlights and shadows

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

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

ISO: 50 at f/10

Software: Photoshop CC2019

Plugin: TTS Pro

 

My 2018

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Here we are my final post of the year, my annual photo composition. This is a 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 2018

This is a personal representation of my 2018, here we have places visited, travels, personal goals and all that was dear to me.  This photo composition 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 it from you! I  take the opportunity to thank you all for the support on my page and socials during this year, I want to wish you all a happy 2019!

 

Vernazza Sunset

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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!

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Two Exposures

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Pro

 

 

Vernazza Sunset

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One of the most significant sunsets of the Cinque Terre is located in Vernazza, from this incredible spot you can portray the town of Vernazza with all its characteristic elements … the vegetation, the sea, the sun and the coast as well as the town that extends towards the sea

When I decided to travel the Cinque Terre I had this shot among my main objectives and that day I fortunately found a great light with a beautiful colored sky

I go to this spot several minutes before sunset armed with beer and chips to deceive the time once the tripod was placed 🙂

I did all long exposures in bracketing mode since I was shooting directly into the sun direction if I had not had many shots to blend would have been difficult have a non burned sky

Even the long exposure is a requirement that I love in the maritime locations like Vernazza where the water that breaks on the rocks always creates that typical silk effect that I really like. I shot 7 exposure brackets shot with longest on 48 seconds with ND64 filter

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended the exposure taken starting from the darkest images, where I gradually move frame to the brightest. With my brand new panel TTS PRO I used luminosity mask contrast function to fix the contrast on the various areas of the picture having great control of them

I make a light bleeding over the sun and on the plants in the foreground and after I removed all the lens flares in the image using eyedropper tool with paint brush in a brand new layer with soft light fusion mode.

With dodge and burn tool I fixed the remaining spot of strong light caused of lens flare, after this always using my panel I launched warm highlights funcion to give a touch of more yellow on the frame reducing the opacity to decrease the effect. After giving to the image a stronger look with more details, I increased a bit the vibrance and I give more light to the shadows for not having them too dark

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

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Seven Exposure ( -3; -2; -1; 0; +1; +2; +3)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Pro

 

 

Dreaming Riomaggiore 2

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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!

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 17mm)

Two Exposure ( Regular shot + 61′ Long)

ISO: 100 at f/11

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Fast Panel – Colo Efex Pro

 

Dreaming Riomaggiore

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Second post in the beautiful village of Riomaggiore, the view of the small port is a view that strikes and captures. I dedicated an entire shooting session at sunset in this location and did not betray my expectations

Those days were very hot days with a clear sky but during the evening  luckily  🙂 it often happened that the sky was covered always leaving clouds interesting in the sky

Also here I captured a long exposure,  like so much the movement of the boats on the flat sea, I captured several shots to have different exposures to stack images into layers and be able to do a controlled blending on the frame

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I take two exposures of the port of Riomaggiore, I made a blend using luminosity masks only in some part of the image, after this the first thing I do is to clone stamp some spot and a half boat that was on the bottom. The first thing done was to increase the yellow lights using a warm filter and dodge and burning the light over the leafs and main building

Using my panel I increased details and I applied contrast using curves adjustment layers applied to luminosity masks, always using curves I fixed lights in the sky and I recovered some shadows too darks.

I applied light bleeding to the left part of the sky and over the building reducing the effect decreasing the opacity. As final step I fixed colors using hue/saturation over the sea and I added a soft glow effect using color efex pro filters

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 17mm)

Long Exposure for 91′

ISO: 100 at f/13

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Fast Panel – Colo Efex Pro

 

Coast to Coast

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With this post I connect last week image, Nightlight to show you another picture from the beautiful Amalfi coast, in particular this was taken the following day on the road that leads  Amalfi to Atrani town. The colors and the landscape that you can admire in this spot is very interesting and I never lose the opportunity to take this picture every time I’m here, the most attentive of you will in fact know that I took the same picture in the past 🙂

Even here the road certainly does not give easy moments to take pictures, being a very tight road you must always pay attention to cars moving on the road (especially buses).  Is a very nice place but not really quiet to stand in the middle of the road with the tripod. Fortunately, the road is always very busy and cars are often in traffic, this not allows to the cars to go faster

In this Amalfi spot I captured several long exposures, I wanted to have the effect of movement of the sky and the sea, I did some test shots before without filter to set the values and to save the leaves in the lower left corner, the strong wind of this spot moved them all the time and I wanted to make sure I could intervene later

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

I blended the long exposure with the normal exposure to save the leafs on the left. The wind moved the leaves and in the long exposure them results blurry, with this method I have limited the damages, not easy to edit because on the back there was the smooth sea but I managed something. Anyway I used luminosity masks to fix the lights and darks, I reduce the strong highlights on the back of the mountain and I pushed up the darkness of the foreground rocks

I incrased contrasts and I used dodge and burn to darken the middle rock and to lighten the sea breaking on the coast. With TTS Fast Panel I launched high details and orton effect to smooth the effect and to create a soft dreamy look. To begin edit the colors I started fixing color cast reducing the opacity on the result, than I increased the yellow colors using this techniques, reducing again the highlights in the sky. Latest passages was to darken a bit the whole frame and add a small purple look using camera raw

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

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

Long Exposure for 30′

ISO: 100 at f/13

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: TTS Fast Panel

 

 

 

Nightlight

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I founded an exciting twilight light that day in Amalfi, together with a very strong wind on the cliff where I was to photograph the city. Amalfi coast view is one of the most beautiful in Italy and the city is located in the heart of this location, although it is not easy to move and walk along a very narrow road crammed with vehicles of all kinds (it is the only way to get there) with patience and paying max attention you can walk some paths in the rocks or on the coast that allow you to find beautiful views to admire

The whole area of ​​the Amalfi coast is subject to many sudden changes of the weather, probably due to the fact that the mountains above the coast are very close to the sea, the currents are often strong and sun and clouds and rains are very easily alternated, but it is easy to find very interesting skies like this

About this picture I take some long exposure shots, to try to have the sea softer but at the same time I did not want to lose the sky of that color so dark and mysterious. I shot several long exposures with various time from shorter to longer exposures, although I had taken all kinds of precautions I could not avoid that some photos being moved… anyway I stayed a while and in the end I managed to capture several shots that I could use for what I had in mind

 

WORKFLOW EXPLANATION

Since I use the digital blending on my photos I have combined the exposures of the sky with those of the sea, in order to obtain from that images what I needed. I applied contrast to luminosity masks to control midtones, darks and light contrast individually. All my use of luminosity masks here was applied to curves to fix lights and darks around the sky and sea

I applied details using TTS Fast Panel and with the same plugin I launched  dodge and burn to increase luminosity on the darker parts of the rocks. I launched  a slightly orton effect with a low percentile opacity is an effect that I always like to put in my images when I can. I also use sharpening tool in my panel this time because I wanted to notice the edges on the mountain and best details on the houses. As final passages I darkened the image a bit on the sea adding a small vignette to the frame.

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

 

TECNHNICAL STUFF

Camera: Nikon D-800

Lens: Nikon 14-24mm f/2,8 (Shot at 16mm)

2 Long exposure shots

ISO: 100 at f/8

Software: Photoshop CC2018

Plugin: 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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