NOTE: FLICKR OVERSHARPENS EVERYTHING. LOOK AT IT IN 'ORIGINAL SIZE' TO GET IT RIGHT

Hi everybody,

I've been pretty busy these last weeks so I couldn't upload anything sooner.
This comes from my second sunset on the Islas Cies, it was shot next to the southern lighthouse. I had to jump over a little wall and place my tripod right on the edge of a steep cliff,
I could easly see the sharps rocks about 50m (150 ft) below. I was almost giving up (no sun on the rocks on the right) when suddently the sun broke the lowest clouds and those rocks started
glowing red! I would have loved more clouds, but I think the color gradient in the sky works well even without any.

I'm writing this from my new notebook: I'm really pleased by the processing power the new i7 processor and 8gb of DDR3 ram deliver.

I hope I will have some more time to process some files on the archives: at the moment I'm mainly doing infrared test shots with the 5d2; you're gonna see these results in the next weeks, so stay tuned.

Since Alice is getting her degree on tuesday, September 28th, I will be spending four days in Paris (October 10-14th). If anybody's around, please let me know.



Details
- CANON 5d Mark II, EF 17-40 @ 17mm, f/16, 1.6 s, ISO 100
- Mirror Lockup, Phottix TR-90 Remote Shutter
- Lee 0.9 (3 stops) soft GND
- Tripod

The shot
Shot on Islas Cies, close to the southern higher lighthouse.

The Processing

Camera Raw

-Tuned White Balance

Photoshop:

- Switched to LAB to improve tones and contrast;
- Removed a slight vignetting (which comes from using the filter holder tilted when shooting at 17 mm)
- Added a Color balance to improve tones;
- Erased a dust spot using the healing brush;
- Resized for the Web (1200px);
- Applied an Unsharp Mask to slightly improve contrast;
- Smart Sharpen + More accurate (On luminosity 'blending mode' with the sky masked off);
- Framing and Signature.


Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :
Second sunset at Islas Cies, on Black


@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!


Have a great weekend, my friends!!!

Tags:   5d2 canon luca_eos spain holiday sunset lee filters 0.9 no HDR

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EXPLORED!!! Highest position: 152 on Wednesday, December 2, 2009

I usually don't appreciate shallow DoF in landscapes, and try to get all in focus, especially when I'm shooting with my 10-22.

This time, thou, I really wanted to focus on the remainings of this corn field. Tones were really special, and
those colorful trees in the distance provided a special background.
I was lucky enough to get some nice clouds above, too, and the abundance of water granted great reflections.

I decided to process it in colors, desaturation would have diminished the impact for this image.

In my last shot I wrote I will be in Germany next friday, I actually meant from December 4th!

Wishing you all a splendid week!


Details
- CANON 400d, EF-S 70-200 @ 70 mm, f/6.3, 1/100 s, ISO 100.
- Tripod

The shot
Shot 5 kms from where I live.

The Processing

Capture One:

-Slight Exposure adjustment and highlight recovery
- White balance tuning

Photoshop:

- Switched to LAB and added two curves to improve contrasts and colors
- Multiplied the sky at 40% opacity and added a gradient mask
- Back to RGB, improved tints with a Color Balance layer
- Resized
- Sharpened (SS + More Accurate, foreground only)
- Framing and signature.

Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :


@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!


It has been a pretty 'unusual' processing: it took me just 2 minutes, far less than what I'm used to!

Tags:   landscape field autumn fall colors crop trees canon 400d luca_eos EF702004IS

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EXPLORED!!! Highest position: 178 on Sunday, October 17, 2010

So I'm here, back from Paris.

It's been really great being there, I love the mood of the city and just walk around is a pleasure.
I actually had some nice 'landmark' shots and good infrared captures.
I still have plenty of files in the archive (from August-Octobre), hope to have time to process them 'all' soon.


My only regret in Paris was about my photographic bag (Lowepro Slingshot 300AW), which made the whole experience less enjoyable by creating a lot of stress in my upper back and neck,
(I walked from 6.45 in the morning until after dinner).
I'm actually thinking about getting a new one (with two shoulder supports instead of one) which can also carry my almost 4kg tripod.
I realized I shot a lot less than I could just because of the bulk I was carrying around!

If you have suggestions, I'll be glad to hear your opinions. It's important I can carry it on an aircraft as hand baggage (about 55x45x25cm in size), too.
I would love to stay with Lowepro's.

Back to the shot: yesterday I decided to process this self-portrait. Temperatures are going down, mist has already shown up and we already said goodbye to summer!

The five minutes required for this processing really made me feel a lot better, I could clearly remember those fantastic moments shooting sunrise in the beautiful A Coruña!
I actually got a bunch of this, and I think this is the best as for composition and exposure. I can't clearly remember if I used a GND here, but I think I didn't.


Details
- CANON 5d Mark II, EF 70-200 f/4 IS @ 70 mm, f/16, 1/15 s, ISO 100
- Mirror Lockup, 10 secs self-timer.
- Tripod

The shot
Shot at A Coruña, after a 'sunrise session'. Beautiful.

The Processing

Camera Raw

-Tuned White Balance and exposure

Photoshop:

- Switched to LAB to improve tones and contrast;
- Added a Color balance layer to improve tones (grass masked out);
- Added an Exposure layer (slight 0.25 EV) with an horizontal gradient mask to give some more directional light effect;
- Resized for the Web (1200px);
- Smart Sharpen + More accurate (On luminosity 'blending mode' with the sky masked off);
- Framing and Signature.


Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :
Staring at the rising sun [ @A Coruña, selfportrait], on Black


@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!


Hope you're having a great time, my friends!!! Will be checking your streams out really soon!!!

Tags:   selfportrait landscape 5d2 luca_eos canon Coruña ocean spain holiday

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DON'T MISS IT Large on Black

Dear friends,

These last two weeks have been extremely busy with work! Yesterday I have finally decided to take a small break and process a couple of frames.
I have decided that from now on I will be uploading almost only black and white, since I am trying to concentrate just on monochrome.

I am pretty excited about my new purchase, an Eizo 22' display. I should get it next thursday, then I will probably start reprocessing a few captures and produce a few prints.


Back to business...
This image comes from my only shooting session in Cannes, on June 4th. The cloud movement was pretty interesting, and I have a few frames I'm pretty happy about.
Unluckily I didn't turn the Long Exposure NR on, and some typical long exposure noise is visible.

As usual, I have loved Cannes. I also had the opportunity of finally meet Yannick Lefevre, who has been extremely kind and nice.
In fact he suggested me this really special spot.
Thank you again, Yan!!!


Details
- CANON 5d Mark II, EF 17-40 @ 25 mm, f/9, 136 s, ISO 100
- Mirror Lockup, Phottix TC-501 Remote Shutter
- B+W ND110 (10 stops ND filter)
- B+W Kaseman Circular Polarizer
- Tripod

The shot
Shot in Palm Beach, Cannes (FR)

The Processing

Photoshop

- Converted to Black and white using SILVER EFEX PRO 2;
- Multiplied the sky at medium opacity (with a soft gradient mask);
- Added a few Soft Light layers to adjust light;
- Cloned away a little rock on the upper left part;
- Run a pretty strong noise reduction using Noise Ninja;
- Resized for the Web (1200px);
- Removed a few dust spots with the Healing Brush;
- Applied an Unsharp Mask to slightly improve contrast;
- Smart Sharpen + More accurate (On luminosity 'blending mode' with the sky and sea masked off);
- Framing and Signature.


Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :
Palm Beach - Cannes, on Black

@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!

I Hope you all are doing great, have a super weekend!!!

Tags:   france cannes palm beach long exposure bw sky motion sea rocks

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EXPLORED!!! Highest position: 49 on Friday, October 16, 2009

Today I decided to process the first image I captured last weekend. I still have many earlier shots to process but I'm proud
of my latest works and I want to hear what you think about it.

I started using my B+W 110 ND a lot, I love its ability of providing the opportunity of long exposures in full daylight.

I hope to have the opportunity of getting some nice sea long exposures soon, I fell in love with them.
This would also mean other splendid weekends with Alice, another good reason to do that!

EF-S 10-22 @ 10 mm ISO 100, f/8, 15&20 secs


The shot
Shot saturday late morning, pretty close to Sestri Levante.

The Processing

Camera Raw

- Basic White Balance

Photoshop:

- Merged two exposures (15 and 20 secs), added a gradient mask
- Rotated the image to make the horizon flat
- Cropped to remove the 'out of the frame' areas
- Converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro
- Created 6 Overlay layers to adjust light
- Corrected the distortion in the upper right angle
- Applied some Gaussian monochromatic noise, then blended it using soft light
- Added a slight vignette
- Resized
- Sharpening (Smart Sharpen + more accurate, rocks only)
- Framing and signature.

Take a look at it, LARGE on Black :


@ You all
Comments, faves and critiques are always welcomed!


Let me know what you think about it, my dear friends! Hope you like it!!!

Tags:   motion sea holiday vacation liguria mare waves b&w bianco nero luca_eos canon 400d EF-S 10-22mm landscape clouds grey water long exposure B+W 110ND 10 stops ND

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