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02
May 2013

The Heart of Rome | Italy

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It’s amazing to think that for centuries, the Roman Forum was the teeming heart of ancient Rome and the center of Roman public life. Every time I stand here, gazing out on the ruin of architectural fragments, I feel a profound sense of wonder as I try to visualize the way it looked during its prime, at the peak of the Roman Empire. It’s no wonder why the Roman Forum has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world.

On my last evening in Rome, I spent a bit of time here enjoying the sunset and waiting for the lights to come on. Thankfully there were also some soft and beautiful clouds to work with.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 42mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets (-2,-1,0,+1,+2)

Location: Shot in Rome, Italy – April 2012 and post-processed in Vernazza, Italy – May 2013

Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom 4.4, Photoshop CS6, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, Nik Color Efex Pro 3

Technique and Details: All 5 exposure brackets were blended using HDR Efex Pro 2 followed by some cross processing with Color Efex Pro 3. The sharpening was applied using a simple High Pass Filter in Photoshop.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro, my all time favorite roast.

The Heart of Rome - Italy -

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Rome, Travel
29
Apr 2013

Roman Dreams | Italy

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I know I say this often but Rome is absolutely one of my all time favorite cities. With a profound mixture of excitement and anticipation, each visit makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning and with the gift of awesome weather, this visit was one of the best ones yet.

Ponte Sant’Angelo has long been one of my favorite photography spots in Rome and even though I’ve shot here many times, I’ve never seen the Tiber River level quite like this. It was absolutely perfect for capturing colorful reflections and combined with such beautiful clouds, it was an absolute joy to be a photographer.

Thank you Rome for the gift of such a beautiful moment of time.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 14mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets

Location: Shot and post-processed in Rome, Italy – April 2013

Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom 4.3, Photoshop CS6, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, Nik Color Efex Pro 3, Nik Sharpener Pro

Technique and Details: Nik HDR Efex Pro did a wonderful job of combining the 5 exposure brackets together. After that — using the Photoshop Clone Stamp — I painted out all the mud and muck near the river bank. From there, minor color and detail adjustments were applied using a combination of Nik Color Efex Pro and Nik Sharpener Pro. The wide angle distortion was removed using the built in tools in Adobe Lightroom.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro brewed with Roman tap water.

A perfect moment of beautiful cloudy twilight over Ponte Sant Angelo in Rome, Italy.

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Rome, Travel
18
Apr 2013

Atrani By Night | Amalfi Coast

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I’m very excited to say that tomorrow I’ll be flying from Japan to Rome to kick off a 2 week photography adventure with my good friend and fellow photographer Ken Kaminesky. Together, we’ll be traveling through some very beautiful areas of Tuscany, Cinque Terre, and Venice, scouting locations for our upcoming series of Italian Photography Workshops.

While we’re on the road, I’ll be working on a project with Fujifilm, using X-E1 mirrorless cameras along with an arsenal of Fuji lenses to help scout and document the countryside. I’ll also be traveling with a kit of filters by Formatt-Hitech, to aid in capturing long exposures of the beautiful and rocky ligurian coast. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

With so many awesome countries to visit this year, It’s hard for me to pick a favorite destination but with Italy, It feels as though my heart is returning home. Sometimes I think I could spend my entire lifetime exploring and photographing Italy and who knows… someday I just might. :)

Atrani By Night

With thoughts of Italy consuming my mind as of late, I felt inspired to process another photo from my 2012 visit to Atrani, an incredible little village on the Amalfi Coast.

This was shot on the last Sunday in August marking the end of the Italian vacation season. With so many cars and motorbikes zooming around the coastline, conditions were perfect for long exposure light trails. As I enjoyed capturing the beautiful scene below, I raised my glass of local Limoncello and made a toast to this beautiful and unique part of the world. Salute Italia, grazie per la costante ispirazione.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 16mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-23 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets

Location: Shot in Atrani, Italy – August 2012 and post-processed in Fukuoka, Japan – April 2013

Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom 4.3, Photoshop CS6, Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Nik Sharpener Pro

Technique and Details: 3 of the 5 exposure brackets were blended manually in Photoshop using painted masks. Contrast and color corrections applied using a combination of Nik Software and Photoshop adjustment layers.

Espresso: 8 shots of Lavazza so far today! Zoooom!

As I photographed this twilight scene in Atrani, I raised my glass to toast Italy and the incredible Amalfi Coast.

Filed Under: Amalfi Coast, Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Travel
26
Feb 2013

Follow Your Heart | Positano

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Lately, I’ve had some pretty bad luck with the weather. In the past 2 weeks for example, I’ve only seen the sun come out twice. It’s unfortunate but it’s all part of the game of full time travel and destination photography. Sometimes you win with epic skies, and sometimes you lose with solid grey overcast and rain. There’s really nothing to be done about it but accept it – or in my case, use it as an excuse to take shelter in my little hotel room and catch up on some much needed photo editing.

Since the constant grey sky has been so persistent, I wanted to edit a photo that would help lift my rain drenched spirits. So of course, the first Lightroom Catalogue I browsed was from Italy, specifically my summer visit to the beautiful Amalfi Coast. It instantly made me feel better when I remembered an entire trip of warm and perfect weather.

In my opinion, Positano is one of the most photogenic Italian cities and certainly one of the most beautiful along The Amalfi Coast. With it’s southern positioning, it can be equally beautiful at sunrise and at sunset, with each time of day providing unique and interesting lighting scenarios. On a clear night after the sunset, the blue hour can also be extraordinary. In that case, my recommendation would be to find a restaurant with a nice view and enjoy the scenery with a good bottle of local Italian wine… On second thought, make that two. :)

After the sun sets in Positano, one of the most beautiful towns along the Amalfi Coast.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo || Before and After

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 28 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-24 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
7 Exposure Brackets

Location: Shot in Positano, Italy - August 2012, and post-processed in Yangshuo, China - February 2013.

Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Color Efex Pro 4

Technique and Details: Manual Exposure Blending using Luminance Masking

To blend 5 of the 7 exposures together, I used a new Luminacne Masking Technique that I’m developing. Once I finish fine tuning the process, I’ll create the video tutorials.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro! Zoooooom!

Filed Under: Amalfi Coast, Architecture, Before & After, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Landscape, Night Photography, Travel
29
Nov 2012

Amalfi Dreams | Italy

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It’s no wonder why The Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy is such a famous tourist destination. It’s simply breathtaking and it’s one of those rare places in the world that deserves every bit of praise and admiration it receives. From the high mountain village of Ravello to the pebbled beaches of Positano, each portion of the coast is an entire experience in itself.

Pictured here is the town of Amalfi which shares it’s name with the entire coastline. As I watched the sunrise on this particular morning, the mountains became engulfed in strong golden light. As the tide rapidly came in, it brought with it beautiful streaks of white water. Save for a few noisy seagulls, I seemed to be all alone here, enjoying the beauty of this special moment in time.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 16 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-24 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8 / 50 at f/22
4 Exposure Brackets at f/8 (-2, -1, 0,+1) / 1 Manual (0.6 second) exposure at f/22

Location: Shot in Amalfi, Italy – August 2012, and post-processed in Chiang Mai, Thailand – November 2012.

Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Color Efex Pro 4

Technique and Details: Manual Exposure Blending and Luminance Masking

In Adobe Photoshop, I manually blended the 4 exposure brackets together using a combination of hand painted masks and luminance masks. The water is made up of a single .6 second exposure shot at f/22. Since the scene was naturally vibrant, very little color correction was applied.

Espresso: Pellini (which I’m not too fond of but wanted to give another chance)

 

Filed Under: Amalfi Coast, Italy, Sunrise and Sunset, Travel
15
Nov 2012

La Bella Vita | Atrani And The Amalfi Coast

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One of my very favorite destinations of 2012 was Atrani, a small town on the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy. We spent 10 days exploring and photographing La Costiera Amalfitana while using the beautiful town of Atrani as our home base. It really is a little slice of paradise.

Early one morning, while I was walking to the town of Amalfi to catch the first bus to Positano, I glanced over my shoulder and witnessed this lovely scene unfolding. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of the trip and thankfully, I had just enough time to grab the shot without missing the bus. It also helps that I’ve become quite accustomed to sprinting with my camera gear. ;)

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 15 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-24 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets ( -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 )

Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK HDR Efex Pro

Technique and Details: Digital Blending combined with NIK HDR Efex Pro

First, using NIK HDR Efex Pro, I combined the 5 exposure brackets into an HDR image. Then using Photoshop and hand painted masks, I blended in parts of the original exposures to soften the HDR effect and bring back some of the natural tones.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro (aka: Rocket Fuel)

Filed Under: Amalfi Coast, Architecture, Italy, Sunrise and Sunset, Travel