Milan Cathedral, Italy
Aug, 2020Views
278
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Zenith Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 22
Spring 21 Award
Fall Award 2020
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo of the Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) was taken while kneeling in Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) located in Milan, Italy.Time
After visiting this magnificent Cathedral during the day, I returned in the evening around 9:30 p.m. in the rain. My hope was to have fewer people in the photo and get a reflection of the Cathedral on the wet surface. I was excited to see both of these hopes come to fruition.Lighting
Obviously, the lighting only came from the Cathedral itself, but the reflection in the rain seemed to brighten the entire area. In order to take advantage of this light, I set the shutter speed to 1/10 sec @ 4.0, with ISO set at 800. Since I did not have a tripod with me, I carefully placed the camera on my camera bag on the ground as safely as possible. I used the camera's self-timer to reduce camera shake. A huge thanks to my wife who was patiently holding an umbrella over the camera and myself for several shots.Equipment
In October of 2019 (when this photo was taken), my go to travel camera set up was a Sony Alpha 77 Mark ii with a DT 18-300mm F3.5 - 6.3 lens. I did not have a portable travel tripod then, but I do now. Today, I would use my Platypod for the same shot. I did not use any flash due to the distance of the subject.Inspiration
My wife and I were touring in Milan earlier in the day and heard the Milan Cathedral was beautifully lit in the evenings. Always on the lookout for creative shots, along with the luck of having a light rain that evening, we took the chance we might get lucky. We were pleasantly surprise (actually, we were excited). I rarely go anywhere without my camera on these trips. Don't want to miss a thing!Editing
My post-processing routine always starts with downloading to external drive, moving into Lightroom, and then letting my eyes tell me what I saw when taking the shot. This usually involves any straightening of the photo, white balance adjustments if needed, highlight and shadow adjustments, tweaks to whites and blacks while watching the histogram (trying to avoid blowouts), and finally texture, structure, or sharpening adjustments (again, as needed.) I will occasionally adjust the exposure if I feel it needs more or less light.In my camera bag
Today, I have gone with a mirrorless camera. I carry the Sony A7R iv. My lenses include Sony FE 3.5-6.3 24-240 mm; Sony FE 5.6-6.3 200-600 mm G OSS; Canon EF 16-35 mm f4L IS USM; Canon Zoom Lens 100-400 mm 4.5-5.6 L IS; MC-11 E to EF Converter (these allow my Sony camera to use Canon lenses); 2 Flash HVL-F43 AM; Sirui Waterproof Carbon Tripod 70.8 inches; Jobu Jr.3 Gimbal Head; Aodelan Wireless Timer Remote shutter Release; Odin TTL Flash Trigger Transmitter for Sony; and 3 Lexar Professional 256 GB 250 MB/s cards.Feedback
I think it is most important to (1) know your camera, (2) ask questions when you are in unfamiliar surroundings, (3) be prepared to improvise things that don't go as planned (i.e.-no tripod-use a bag or box, no remote trigger-use self-timer, etc.), and finally, research the internet for interesting places to photograph. I'm not an expert, but I enjoy photography as much anyone possibly can. Have fun!
