Slits

“Slits”. Masua, southwestern Sardinia. A stretch of coast that shows the rugged and wild side of the island, where the rocks, compressed and pushed by the immense forces of the Earth’s crust, have emerged assuming elongated and oblique shapes. The gaps, partially filled by long waves, generate shiny mirrors that contrast with the twisted shapes and rough surfaces of the rocks. On the horizon stands the solitary islet of Pan di Zucchero, right in front of the barely visible building of Porto Flavia.

The composition of this shot highlights the shapes of the rocks in the foreground, which lead the eye to the islet of Pan di Zucchero; it follows that both planes must be sharp and detailed. To avoid the focus stacking technique, which would have required multiple shots with different focus points and subsequent editing in postproduction, it was sufficient to apply the hyperfocal technique: closing the diaphragm very much, but not so much as to incur in diffraction, it was enough to focus a few meters away from the foreground. By doing so, the entire scene is included into the depth of field, with the foreground in perfect focus and the elements in the background in sufficient focus. The long exposure was done with two ND filters, one solid 9 stops and one graduated 3 stops for the sky.