DSC_3566
Nov, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo has been taken in the Ortler-Cevedale group, a big massif between Lombardy and Trentino Alto-Adige, Italy, at 9 PM. The Rifugio Casati, 3269mt. high, was behind me and in front of me the last light is still visible.Time
The pic has been taken the last year, at the beginning of May: it was so cold that no one would have thought it was May. The big rock shows the artic temperature of that night, but the landscape heated my heart, and the full moon reduced to about 40 seconds the exposure time even if it was completely dark.Lighting
The full moon saved the shot. I shot with a non-full frame digital camera and with an amazing but also threshold lens. The light in the foreground is the last flash of light of the sunset, and i think it's pretty cool: it offers to the photo a dramatic hue. Every time I spend more than five seconds to think about this shot, I realize how nature amazing can be: I already ate and my front light was totally useless, but the sun light was still here, in front of me.Equipment
I used and I still use an amazing Nikon D300s, die hard, with a Nikon 12-24mm f/4 practically fixed on it, I never put it in the bag. The tripod is delicious: Manfrotto 190XPROB serie 190, and every time I grab it I feel proudly italian. No flashes and no filters, but I'm pretty sure I have to test someone.Inspiration
The landscape oozes memories of the WWI. One century ago on these ridges Italian and Austrian people fought a thug war, and to me, an insignificant person on the face of this planet, means a lot to be able to touch this trench and to portrait it, adorned by this amazing sky full of stars, as the mark of all the soldiers who died on the massif.Editing
The process has been exhausting: I spent probably some days to define how really was the scene, the temperature expressed in Kº was not correct when I imported the photo on the computer and the shadows were too pronounced and the trench was a big black shape.In my camera bag
I cannot leave home without the tripod, even if I have to go to do some mountaineering. I practically fixed the 12-24mm f/4 on the camera, it's a polivalent lens great for portraits and naturally big landscapes during the day, with the sun rising in the sky.Feedback
Be prepared. The night photography requires determination and patient. Download "Photopills" or "TPE", you will know the perfect spot or hour to portrait the sun or the moon in the right position. If you love mountains be careful, go out from your tent or your hut prepared as you prepare yourself to reach the summit, and be conscious that the light pollution is everywhere: I was at over 3,000 meter of altitude, with a big glacier between me and the first town.
