MATERA, Basilicata, Italia
Aperture f/3.9 ISO 200 Shutter 1/1000 Focal Length 62500/1000 
Aug, 2018Views
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Awards
Zenith Award
Fall Award 2020
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was made in MATERA which also includes what is known as the SASSI area in the Southern Italian region of BASILICATA. This area is a plethora of cave dwellings dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and including many others. Its' inhabitants were evacuated in the early 1950's due to lack of sanitary and working conditions. It is experiencing a modern comeback. I am fascinated by the history of the Southern Italian regions.Time
Early afternoon with an incredible storm about an hour away. The light. being very subdued brought out all the gritty beauty and I could almost hear the voices of history in the wind.Lighting
I love natural light and try to shoot when it is my my advantage. If i am shooting manually, i will stop down the lens to underexpose but basically I use normal readings and change the look at home on the computer.. This image was essentially unaltered however.Equipment
I used what I basically use now since my teaching days are over and traveling a lot means I need to streamline. I believe this was taken using a CANON G 12 at the longest focal length to complete the look and feel. I imagined that people lived here in cramped tight quarters and compression due to focal length choice helps to recreate that feeling.Inspiration
Being in Matera brings one back millennium. I love my culture and try to promote it at every turn. If one reads the history of this area I believe one would feel the same way. If one knows something of the area or the person one wants to photograph, I believe that knowledge gives you an advantage.Editing
I like TOPAZ STUDIO but basically all I did was tweak the contrast a bit. The weather conditions on that particular day gave me what i wanted.In my camera bag
Recently I gave my "big guns" to the photo program I started at Middle School 51 in Brooklyn NY. I now carry a Cannon G11, G12 and my G1X...That's it save for extra batteries and a charger and memory cards. I firmly believe cameras don't take pictures, people do. I prefer natural light so, against my own advice I rarely carry a flash.Feedback
Survey your situation meaning look around you.. Think of what your images would look like from different angles, after you pass a potential subject looking BACK at it for example. Know the weather conditions because you may get a different look as the weather patterns or time of day change. ALWAYS take more than one image at varying exposures and focal lengths if possible. I always told my students,"When you take a great image, no one is going to say, That's a great image but how many did you take to get it"! "Keep shooting and have patience" are two of the bits of information the great Alfred Eisenstadt once gave me to pass on to my middle school students. The last was at the time digital was just starting to overtake film in sales. In a jocular fashion which was sooooo EISIE, he said, "And stay away from that digital sh_ _ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
