Cloudy reflection at the Lago di Dobbiago

Back to the Dolomites with another photo. As I mentioned, I did not have that much luck on the weather there, and only, towards the end of the trip, it was really nice. But this photo was taken earlier in the trip, so it was still very cloudy. Actually, it was raining a bit when this photo was taken.

This is at Lago di Dobbiago lake, around midday. There is this little waterfall, and you have a bridge right next to it. It was not the best place to put a tripod on. The moment I set up the shot and pressed the shutter, a car passed by. And since the bridge is wooden, that make it shake so much, I thought my camera will fall into the water. Since I was taking a long exposure, the shot was ruined.

And it was not once, it happened 4 times in a row. There were no cars around, I would press the shutter, and that moment a car would show up from nowhere. Like on purpose. I ended up taking the same photo over and over again until I got one I liked.

I took three exposures for this photo, but they did not align perfectly, so I used only one RAW here. The 12mm Laowa lens was used to get a really wide shot, but I still had to point it a bit down to get more of the water. That’s why the aspect ratio of the photo is a bit more of a square. I needed to do a perspective correction here, and that changed it. I also used a 10 stop ND Formatt Hitech filter, on a NISI holder.

The small St. Johann Church

Continuing with the photos from the Dolomites, today’s one is of the St. Johann Church (Chiesetta di San Giovanni in Ranui) in Santa Magdalena. This is a bit more typical view of this church. The area, while beautiful, is a bit limited on spots you can take photos from. That is if you want to follow the rules and only stay in the open areas. The whole field is surrounded by a fence, with one spot with a platform, from which you get this exact view.

This is a blend of three exposures. The sky was a bit bland and overcast at that moment, which did not help wit the photo. Because of that I pulled the detail out a bit more this time. Blended and finished in Photoshop.

Sunlit reflection

How about one more photo from Lago di Braies. This one was taken a little bit after the one I posted yesterday, in a different part of the lake. There are just so many beautiful views there. It was right about lunch, so the sun was very high in the sky, creating one very sunlit reflection. In my editing, I tried to keep the feel I had. A very bright view, full of sunlight.

This is a two shot vertorama, each shot from three exposures. I used a tilt-shift lens to create the vertorama here. Blended and finished in Photoshop.

Boats at the Lago di Braies

I’m back. We decided to end the trip to Italy a bit earlier than planned. The reason was partially bad weather, but mostly the huge amount of snow still in the mountains. We planned to hike, but that was not possible with the paths still closed or under a big pile of snow.

But I still got a few nice photos from this week, so let’s get to one. This one was taken yesterday at Lago di Braies in the Dolomites. I had a bit of luck here. People were going up to this pontoons to take photos but right as I got there with my camera, it was empty for at least 5 minutes. So I really quickly could take a few photos of the view. I really like how the boats made for a perfect foreground element for a photo.

This is a two shot panorama, taken with the help of a tilt-shift lens. Each shot blended from 4 exposures, blended and merged in Photoshop.

Afternoon clouds over Manarola

Let’s go back to Manarola in Cinque Terre, Italy with today’s photo. This is the most typical view of Manarola that everyone takes. And no surprise there. I was in the town only for one sunset, so I also just managed this spot. To back I did not have more time to try few more. Maybe next time.

Actually if you ever want to capture a sunset from this spot, go there early. I got there around 1 hour before sunset, and I almost did not find a spot. It was so full with photographers. And even more came after me. But you know, if you are nice, there will always be a spot for another tripod :)

This is a two shot panorama, each shot from three exposures, blended in Photoshop.

And here are few details: