Lighting schemes

Lighting scheme for a radiant look that inspires calm and serenity

For a portrait look that puts the subject in an almost glowing light, I use two large rectangular softboxes.

Calm, serene, almost angelic

The subject is about 1 m in front of a grey background. I then place the two softboxes so that they are parallel to each other, almost to create a tunnel into which the subject is about to enter, but he stands just outside of it. I also incline the softboxes so that instead of an edge, close to the face, I only have a corner.

I used to 90×100 cm Elinchrom softboxes

To improve the overall look and adapt it to the softness of the light, I used a relatively large aperture: EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM wide open at 127 mm.

Food & Cuisine, Vents

il pane 🥖 fa bene

Il pane fa bene. Il pane fa male. Entrambe queste idee sono comuni ed entrambe sono vere. Ad aggiungere ambiguità, propria di qualsiasi affermazione che cerchi di stabilire la verità, al tema del pane 🍞 contribuiscono due cose: innanzitutto che esistono molti modi di fare il pane, anzi moltissimi, in tutto il mondo in generale ed in tutte le regioni d’Italia; poi, che la Scienza parla soprattutto inglese, ed il pane, dove si parla per lo più inglese, è molto diverso (più brutto e meno sano) da quello che per lo più si trova dalle nostre italiche parti. read

Italy, Places and Travel, Short photo essays

One day, one camera and one lens in Lucca

One day, one camera and one lens: this was what I did yesterday in Lucca (Tuscany), Italy. I was not very productive because I had to tend to Dafne as well, but I managed to shoot a little for iStock and overall I am satisfied. So this is the best of yesterday, all coming from a Fujifilm X-T1, a Fujinon XF 10-24 f/4, shot in RAW and processed to taste.

Quite a few images revolved around construction sites: net, work in progress, scaffolding, renovation:

Construction site: a building is wholly covered by safety nets
Construction site: a building is wholly covered by safety nets
Large construction site in Lucca, Tuscany
large rooftop where it is being built

Other images were simply cityscapes of this beautiful town in Tuscany, Italy:

two bicycles leaing against a tree overlooking Lucca. Early spring
Lucca (Tuscany) as seen from a canopy covering the passage over one of the several entry points to the city
tiled rooftops, old style, in Lucca, Tuscany. Early spring
wide view of Lucca’s cityscape. Early spring
green grass and bright colours on this facade

Of course, I am always interested in the graphical patterns that car parks bring with them, together with some parked stationary cars especially if intermixed with landmarks:

Car park and historical landmarks in Lucca, Tuscany
parking bays for motorcycles in Italy (Lucca, Tuscany)

Finally, a homage to what most international buyers think, when they think of Italy: a generic-enough pizzeria:

pizzeria in an ancient building in the old town of Lucca, Tuscany
Scuola di Video

La scelta del tema

Inizio con questo post una serie dedicata alla creazione di videoclip, dove cercherò di insegnare le basi tecniche (fotografia, ripresa…), gli strumenti necessari (videocamera, software per il montaggio…), i passi per publicarli (Facebook, YouTube…), nonché alcuni aspetti più filosofici (perché fare video, come utilizzarli al meglio per veicolare un messaggio…)read

Lighting schemes

One-light setup for wide portraits

Looking for a one-light setup that casts a beautiful set of shadows on the face, is sufficient to illuminate the torso as well (while keeping the right prominence on the face, and softly illuminates the background as well?

If so, I may have the right answer for you; the only caveat is that this setup is relatively expensive because it requires a large modifier (I used a 90x110cm Elinchrom softbox) and a stand sturdy enough to keep the light hanging above your subject (a boom arm then). It is otherwise easy to set and use and simply consists of a large softbox hanging flat, parallel to the ground or lightly tilted towards the subjects, hanging a few centimetres above the subject and a few centimetres in front of the subject (between subject and camera). The background is about 1 m behind the subject and the light creates a nice gradation on it.

The setup provides a nice catchlight in the eyes
In this case I further lowered the light down!
The setup is also very suitable to illuminate the table, while at the same time giving prominence to the face.

Durham, England, Italy, Places and Travel, Short photo essays

Ghosts of Christmas’ past cameras

I’ve shot some Christmas pictures in the past years, and now that autumn is approaching its end and winter is arriving, I thought of showcasing a few photographic memories of the most abused festivity of the year. These pictures are scattered in time, space and photographic medium (iPhone, interchangeable lens digital camera, film SLR).read

Bulldog, Photography

Un libro in inglese facile per bambini amanti dei cani

Era nato come un libro personalizzato per un paio di piccoli amici miei ma, vedendolo completo, stampato per bene e coloratissimo, mi sono reso conto che il libro che avevo preparato con le foto della mia Dafne potrebbero piacere a molti genitori che vorrebbero introdurre i propri figli a semplici letture in inglese… soprattutto facendo leva sull’amore per i cani che, per fortuna, ancora molti bimbi hanno.read

Photography, Pisa, Short photo essays

Photos of walls as backdrops

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Wandering through Tuscan villages is beautiful in itself and doubly beautiful for a photographer. The eyes may wander far away and meet villas, mansions, fields, nature, sunsets… but beauty can be found in close-ups as well and insignificant walls – old, stained, faded, weathered – can become an awesome background for text, illustrations, or even photos. I shot the following ones within a few miles from home (in Calci, Pisa), and I find them wonderfully diverse.

Tags: full-frame, weathered, textured, background, aged, faded, rough…

The latter image, in particular, I used it to replace the grey background in the following portrait.