The town of Scicli in Southern Sicily has had quite a colourful past. From it's bronze age beginnings with the Sicels it was conquered by the Arabs, the Normans until becoming a part of the Kingdon of Sicily. Following that era, the town came under the control of the Spanish before finally becoming a part of the Kingdom of Italy.
The most interesting fact, however, was that in the earthquake of 1693 which devastated large swathes of Eastern Sicily, the entire town was rebuilt in a unique baroque style currently referred to as Sicilian Baroque.
Our party got to the town hoping to view it as the sun set without knowing the city well at all. While driving in, we looked at topo maps and photos taken by others but couldn't determine a good spot. Finally on arriving we spotted a hill that overlooked the town from the South and we set of to climb it. Despite difficulties driving the narrow streets and finding that the hill was actually privately owned and closed off we managed to find this spot from where we could view the town at Dusk.
This is how I spent the evening of my birthday in 2013 :)
Scicli, Sicily, Italy, 2013
Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
Tags: scicli sicily italy dusk square f:ultrawide city Canon1740mm
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Rain falling from a dark cloud goes a fiery orange hue as it traverses a narrow band of sky where the sunlight hits it at just the right angle. Buffeted by the coastal wind the falling rain resembled a dancing curtain of saffron sky.
We were in between legs of weeklong trip to Sicily and while on the drive to the Madonie National park were lucky to be somewhere scenic as the sun set. Initially it was a straightforward coastal sunset, but for a short period of time the clouds turned a vivid orange in parts of the sky.
While we took a few photos, we tried to figure out what exactly was causing the odd phenomenon. We decided that it was simple Rayleigh Scattering interacting with the rain as it usually does with clouds.
The sun is in the lower portion of the frame silhouetted both by the coastline to the left of it and the clouds above it, hence giving it an odd shape. The sight was far more impressive in motion and it was not unlike the aurorae we had seen a few weeks earlier in Norway.
Canon 5D Mark II with Sigma Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
Tags: sicily italy square waterscape cloudscape sky sunset birds camera:canon_5d2
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We arrived late on our visit to the town of Cefalù on the northern coast of Sicily. This meant that we had to park far down the coastal promenade which initially seemed a hindrance until we realised that we could walk to the old town along the beach. With the town glowing orange in the evening light in front of us and the Sun setting behind us, the sun-warmed walk along the beach with the town slowly getting bigger and more golden before us was quite the experience.
This was the view back along the coast into the sunset. I'll upload a photo of the town on this walk shortly.
Cefalù, Scicily, Italy, 2013
Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
Tags: italy sicily square sunset oceanscape beach walk cefalu Cefalù camera:canon_5d2
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On arriving at the hill town of Castelbuono in Northern Sicily at night, we initially thought the place rather dead. Through this ominously dark gate, however, we found where all the activity was.
This is a stitch of two horizontal frames shot handheld in the dark at f/1.4 with the excellent Sigma 35mm Art lens. I had to fix the exposure and focus in order for the stitch to work.
(If you can't see detail in most parts of the image, your monitor may not be calibrated)
Castelbuono, Sicily, Italy, 2013
Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
Tags: sicily italy gate dark lowkey desaturated blackandwhite square stitch madonie street arch chiaroscuro shadows camera:canon_5d2
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As much as I like making photos, what really gets me excited is the chance to see the world with some good friends.
This was taken shortly after the four of us finished taking photos of a lovely sunset on the North coast of Sicily. Getting to this point took some effort. When we finished up with our hike for the day we had to quickly decide where we wanted to be when the sun set. The clouds were looking good and we didn't want to be in the middle of a valley or something when the sky went colourful.
We had a look at the topological maps that we had, determined an area with the right elevation and some of the coast still visible out to sea and punched the rough location into our car's GPS. Some... energetic driving later we were in the right vicinity for a great view. When at the location, we made a more informed decision on where exactly we wanted to be and set about finding find a spot to park safely. With three trained sets of eyes looking out and a driver who had done this several times before, this was routine and soon we were hopping out of the car and getting our camera gear out.
After the photos were taken and the mission accomplished, we put the cameras down and simply watched a beautiful sunset, chatting quietly among ourselves. Spotting the opportunity, I stopped being social, ran a few paces back and took this shot of my travel companions and one of the vistas that keep us exploring our beautiful planet. This is what it's all about.
Sicily, Italy, 2013
Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
Tags: square friends sunset sicily italy seascape coast coastal car camera:canon_5d2
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