“Dawn at high elevation”. View from the summit of Rocca Calascio, Abruzzo, at 1460 meters above sea level. The twilight reveals a snowy mountain range under a clear cloudless sky. Below, the villages are still illuminated by street lamps, waiting for the first rays of the sun.
Watching the horizon in south western Sardinia, Italy. The harsh and serrated outlines of a rocky cove stand out against the polished and clear surface of the sea, during a vivid twilight.
In winter, finding heavenly coves to capture the beauty of sardinian sunsets is an amazing experience. Every stretch of coast hides a treasure, giving endless possibilities.
To capture this view, I’ve used an ultra wide angle lens with just one filter attached: a 2 stops gruaduated ND, aligned with the horizon, which darkened it and balanced the overall brightness of the scene. Differently to what it could seem, it was very dark: infact, the sun was set more than half an hour before. Therefore, there’s been no need to use a full ND filter to reach 30 seconds of exposure time.
Carved pond. The sun has finally set, after a long and hot day of summer. The last light diffuses in the warm and humid air, painting a soft gradient of colors that mirrors on the still and shiny surface of a pond, inside the ancient punic quarry of Pixinnì, guarded by a watchtower.
The elements which I’ve wanted to put in relation one another in this photograph are the clean sky, whose delicate colors are mirrored on the polished surface of the water, and the harsh rocks of the quarry, whose rough surfaces have been carved first by the hands of men and then by the action of the wind and the water. As a result, there’s almost a sense of harmony between the opposites.
To capture this view I’ve used an ultra wide angle lens and two filters: a 6 stops ND which extended the exposure time to two minutes, smoothing out in this way the surface of the sea, and a 2 stops graduated ND filter, which darkened the sky just enough for better balancing the brightness of the scene. Then, with a fairly straightforward post processing, I’ve adjusted the local contrasts and the color balance of the scene, with the use of the luminosity masking.
In the stillness of an hot midsummer day’s end, the twilight graces the sky with a pale and delicate gradient of colors. A lighthouse silently guards the calm sea. This soothing atmosphere, which seems to be timeless, lasts in reality just some minutes; however, the feelings conveyed by it last much longer in the eyes and the spirit.
To capture this fleeting moment, I’ve used a medium telephoto lens with two filters: a 3 stops ND which extended the exposure time enought to smooth out the water, plus a 2 stop graduated ND filter which darkened the upper portion of the sky, balancing so the brightness of the scene.
Full moon rising over the island of Serpentara: a few minutes after sunset, the soft colors of twilight began to darken and that brief period of time coincided with the rise of an amazing full moon. The humidity of the air and the very low angle above the horizon gave the Moon a vibrant yellow color with shades of orange and a slightly flattened shape. Watching the Earth’s satellite rising over the island’s profile has been an almost surreal sight and an exciting experience.
In order to take this shot I’ve used my longest lens, a 135mm (which is equivalent to about 200mm on full frame) and, to avoid even the slightest vibration, I used the “mirror lock-up” function on my camera. Nature did the rest
