Friulan Dolomites, sunset
Aug, 2016Views
143
Likes
Awards
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 3Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this phot from Giaf refuge, a refugees nestled in a green valley crowned with peaks of the Friulian Dolomites, famous for being the wildest of Italy.Time
With my father we usually do a trekking route every summer in the Italian Alps. Just come to a refuge, I usually take my camera and start to explore the surroundings. And so it was that July 23, 2016. I did not take long to find the glimpse of the photo: between two groups of trees the valley opened, leaving enough space to admire the peaks. After a few attempts, I decided to wait a few hours to get a softer and more directed light. I waited until 7 p.m. so the sun was low enough to give life to the game of shadows which I thought was excellent. I had to take the series of photos which then formed the panorama without tripods because of small and disconnected space where I was stationed. Fortunately the light was enough to let me to use a quick shutter speed.Lighting
When you're in a narrow valley it is difficult to predict the behavior of light. In fact, for this photo At the beginning, I decided to use the exact moment of sunset to capture the magic of colors that it gives. But after I was stationed I noticed that was not the right choice, because of the position and morphology of the valley. In fact i decided to use a "fake sunset", the moment when the sun disappears behind the mountain peaks on the other side of the valley. So the colors are not those of the sunset, but the alternation of light and shadows is still impressive; it is also why I decided to convert the photo into black and white, to give even more prominence to the shadows on the irregular slopes of the mountains.Equipment
I used a Canon 1100d and a EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II, with these settings: - Focal lenght: 48mm - Shutter speed: 1/100s - ISO: 200 - Aperture: f/11Inspiration
The inspiration to take this photo was visceral and immediate; in fact, during our wild and surrounded by nature holidays, I let my photography is more spontaneous and natural as possible, making me transport almost entirely by instinct and mood. So it was for this photo: the emotions I felt observing this cutout of mountains was such as to make me hold the camera and capture the moment;I think the clouds have enriched the sky in order to give the photo an atmosphere of daydream that I like to give my landscapes photos. I try every time to capture my mood and to make it come alive in my photos.Editing
The photo is made up of four vertical shots merged and processed entirely using Lightroom. Specifically, I used the B&W converiosn and local corrections such as graduated and radial filters. What made the difference was the good dose of clarity, that gave vibrance and has accentuated details.In my camera bag
I am a "true" amateur photographer, just because my equipment is extremely simple and basic: what I always take with myself is my Canon 1100d with the Canon 18-55: it's the basic kit but i defintely love it because of its versatility. In addition, in my bag there is always a cheap tripods, an ND64 filter and a remote shutter release to shot long exposition photos.Feedback
As an amateur photographer I am not able to give specific advice on photography, especially landscape; I am the first that have still to learn a lot, so what I would say is that to capture a beautiful landscape photo you need to be emotionally involved. The shot can be both programmed and spontaneous, but surely it become one of YOUR shot only when you put into it a little bit of yourself, a little bit of the moment that you are living, a little bit of the emotions you are feeling. When attempting to trap the nature in camera you must be prepared to be fascinated by any episode, just as you have to know how respect it.
