It was a late afternoon in late Summer. Clouds were gathering in the sky and I was well aware of the chances of a photogenic sunset, so I prepared myself and preemptively went to the Laral pastures, where the woods leave room to sweet rolling fields and the sky opens wide upon you*.
Arguably it was not the most amazing sunset I have ever seen, but you cannot have everything, especially in these cruel, cloudless, scorching hot last Summers. However, in a sense today's sunset is the most precious one, isn't it?
As the fires of the sunset deepened and subsided into flickering embers I kept shooting, trying to capture the whole story, the slow demise of the day. The woods were shivering at a light breeze, breathing arcane words that sank in the most unexplored lands of my soul. The sky was gleaming and glowing with apparently meaningful shapes and colours that went well beyond my understanding. Yes, I was there and then, and the world was giving me a wondrous gift. Yet I could not help but feel like a tiny sparkle lost in "the ebbs and tides of things" **.
For a variety of reasons that would be too long to tell - and too uninteresting for anyone to justify the effort - I have missed the feast of Autumn and the magic of Winter. Alas, not a single shot. So I am here with another shot from far too many months ago, convincing myself that it is always better than nothing. I am waiting impatiently for the earliest buds to blossom, since I won't miss the renewed beauty of Spring, at least. Until then, my friends, content yourselves with my archive...
Explored on 2024/03/03, nr. 56.
I have obtained this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-1.3/0/+1.3 EV] by luminosity masks in the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal exposure" shot), then I added some final touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4. I have taken advantage of the residual layer of a wavelet decomposition to give a slight, natural-looking glow to the foreground, which I felt rather crude. Raw files has been processed with Darktable.
* Here there are some other photos I took in that most pleasant location:
Just Here & Now, or The Unbearable Togetherness of Being (Alive)
Nightdreaming of other worlds
Lo, the day is fading away...
The pillars of the heavens
A whisper in the breath of the universe
** I owe these words to the streaming thoughts of Mrs. Dalloway, that I am currently reading.
Tags: Italy Alps montagne mountains pastures pascoli Laral Costa Serina sunset afterglow tramonto crepuscolo creation woods dusk boschi Nikon D750 the Gimp Darktable Nik Color Efex Pro 4 golden hour twilight evening clouds walnut tree tree noce albero harmony light glow warm luminosity masks Orobie grass silence lifestyle inspiration beauty delicate exposure bracketing feelings emotion fading embers cabin lodge baita mountain hut hut stone walls walls muretti
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Tags: #MyFlickrYear2023
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I was in Messina, Sicily, for a convention - Messina, the city of the Strait. The city of the two seas, the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian - not two whichever seas, but the very stuff of myths and epics. Scylla and Charybdis haunted these narrow, deep, perilous waters.
As you would expect, I had tried to leave my camera at home (it was work, after all...), but it nevertheless jumped into my backpack, along with my Samyang wide angle lens and my tripod. Unfortunately neither of them told the remote shutter, so it stayed safe and cozy within my gear bag at home. Oh my gosh! What was the use of having a tripod while lacking a remote shutter? I just hoped that enabling the Delay exposure Mode would be sufficient to compensate for my awkward finger actually pressing the shutter release button.
So I began my Sicilian days with just as many sunrise sessions. Wow.
The weather was consistently unstable - an ever changing sky enlivened by an endless turmoil of clouds (sometimes benign, sometimes threatening and ominous), sudden showers followed by warm sun, and then again. There was at first a peculiar ambiance - a stormy mood, I would say - an epic character reminiscent of remote ages, when the gods and Cyclops trod these lands and monsters haunted these waters. I could understand the sense of awe the ancient dwellers of these places felt while contemplating such views. I could feel the presence of the gods of old just before me. Just all around me.
My last Sicilian sunrise was the tipping point of the experience, since I ventured as far as Capo Peloro, where the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas swirl into each other. Directly above the beach stands the mammoth electricity pylon of Messina, that was one of the tallest in the world. It is disused now, but it still stands proudly like a sentinel on the very northeasternmost tip of the island - a modern giant guarding the place once haunted by the monstruous Charybdis. The dolphins and swordfish that frequent these waters in Summer were gone, but the magic of the place was fully there. It was a windy, almost but not quite cloudless morning and the blooming light at the horizon, pouring from the rugged coastline of Calabria glowed fiercely, announcing the fiery chariot of Apollo. I have been tryng to tame this kicking bracketing for more than one month. The processing of the sky has been very challenging, due to the fast motion of the clouds, that was very noticeable in every shot of the bracketing, and their changing shape. And the light was harsh on the clouds, making them translucent in a way I do not love at all. Maybe the gods were trying to forbid a mere mortal to show their private path to the world. The myth of Prometheus stealing the fire from the gods to give it to the mankind should have taught them that they simply cannot stop mortals to get what they want to know. I am hoping that my own punishment for my blaspheme deed is somehow smaller that Prometheus'.
Explored on 2023/12/10, nr. 42.
I have processed this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-2.0/-1.0/0/+1.0/+2.0 EV] by luminosity masks with the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal" exposure shot).
As usual, I gave the finishing touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Raw files processed with Darktable.
Tags: Italia Italy Sicilia Sicily Messina Strait of Messina Stretto di Messina Greek myths mythology epics myths miti mitologia sea water clouds morning early morning dawn sunrise daybreak Apollo Helios chariot pink rosy sun sky seascape mountains hills Calabria mainland alba mattina gods ancient gods Olympian gods Nikon D750 luminosity masks Samyang 14 mm Darktable the Gimp wideangle Nik Color Efex Pro 4 beach spiaggia dark Prometheus Prometeo challenge sfida glow glowing fiery leading lines wind windy
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I was in Messina, Sicily, for a convention - Messina, the city of the Strait. The city of the two seas, the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian - not two whichever seas, but the very stuff of myths and epics. Scylla and Charybdis haunted these narrow, deep, perilous waters.
As you would expect, I had tried to leave my camera at home (it was work, after all...), but it nevertheless jumped into my backpack, along with my Samyang wide angle lens and my tripod. Unfortunately neither of them told the remote shutter, so it stayed safe and cozy within my gear bag at home. Oh my gosh! What was the use of having a tripod while lacking a remote shutter? I just hoped that enabling the Delay exposure Mode would be sufficient to compensate for my awkward finger actually pressing the shutter release button.
So I began my Sicilian days with just as many sunrise sessions. Wow.
The weather was consistently unstable - an ever changing sky enlivened by an endless turmoil of clouds (sometimes benign, sometimes threatening and ominous), sudden showers followed by warm sun, and then again. There was at first a peculiar ambiance - a stormy mood, I would say - an epic character reminiscent of remote ages, when the gods and Cyclops trod these lands and monsters haunted these waters. I could understand the sense of awe the ancient dwellers of these places felt while contemplating such views. I could feel the presence of the gods of old just before me. Just all around me.
My second Sicilian sunrise was kind of a bipolar one: gentle and serene, bathed in a soft light when looking Southeastwards, additionally sporting the elegant, graceful shape of the Amerigo Vespucci, the renowned training ship of the Italian Navy, in the distance. If you are wondering about the gentle side of this sunrise, you might have a look at Definitely NOT Ulysses' galley... and An ominous glow from the forge of Ephaestus.
However as soon as I turned my gaze directly Eastwards... Well, the rising day was dark and ominous, and the heavy clouds looming over the strait and the rugged coastline of Calabria were pierced by a fiery glow - the glaring eye of an angry Cyclops. Yet there was some nice material for a good foreground - the usual boats, you'd say... Well, nothing is just what it appears at the first glance there: there always might be hidden layers of the stuff that makes myths and legends. And the apparently innocent sign painted on the side of a boat - the name of a girl - hinted at a new entrant to the Nymph of the Strait Annual Contest, Angela Rosa, announced by the voice of a satyr as gods and demigods tingle with anticipation to behold that new beauty.
I have processed this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-2.0/-1.0/0/+1.0/+2.0 EV] by luminosity masks with the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal" exposure shot).
As usual, I gave the finishing touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Raw files processed with Darktable.
Tags: Italia Italy Sicilia Sicily Messina Strait of Messina Stretto di Messina Greek myths mythology Cyclops Cyclopes Ciclopi epics myths miti mitologia sea water clouds cloudy morning early morning dawn sunrise sun sky moody drama dramatic seascape ominous mountains hills Calabria mainland alba mattina gods ancient gods Nikon D750 luminosity masks Nikkor 24-120 mm Darktable the Gimp Nik Color Efex Pro 4 legend beach boats wavebreakers spiaggia barche dark bloom sunbeams sunshafts raggi di sole contest beauty contest concorso di bellezza nymph ninfa foreground primo piano silence quiet peace peaceful glow glowing
© All Rights Reserved
I was in Messina, Sicily, for a convention - Messina, the city of the Strait. The city of the two seas, the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian - not two whichever seas, but the very stuff of myths and epics. Scylla and Charybdis haunted these narrow, deep, perilous waters.
As you would expect, I had tried to leave my camera at home (it was work, after all...), but it nevertheless jumped into my backpack, along with my Samyang wide angle lens and my tripod. Unfortunately neither of them told the remote shutter, so it stayed safe and cozy within my gear bag at home. Oh my gosh! What was the use of having a tripod while lacking a remote shutter? I just hoped that enabling the Delay exposure Mode would be sufficient to compensate for my awkward finger actually pressing the shutter release button.
So I began my Sicilian days with just as many sunrise sessions. Wow.
The weather was consistently unstable - an ever changing sky enlivened by an endless turmoil of clouds (sometimes benign, sometimes threatening and ominous), sudden showers followed by warm sun, and then again. There was at first a peculiar ambiance - a stormy mood, I would say - an epic character reminiscent of remote ages, when the gods and Cyclops trod these lands and monsters haunted these waters. I could understand the sense of awe the ancient dwellers of these places felt while contemplating such views. I could feel the presence of the gods of old just before me. Just all around me.
Explored on 2023/10/07 nr. 97
My second Sicilian sunrise was kind of a bipolar one: gentle and serene, bathed in a soft light when looking Southeastwards, additionally sporting the elegant, graceful shape of the Amerigo Vespucci, the renowned training ship of the Italian Navy, in the distance. If you are wondering about the gentle side of this sunrise, you might have a look at Definitely NOT Ulysses' galley... and An ominous glow from the forge of Ephaestus.
However as soon as I turned my gaze directly Eastwards... Well, the rising day was dark and ominous, and the heavy clouds looming over the strait and the rugged coastline of Calabria were pierced by a fiery glow - the glaring eye of an angry Cyclops. The Cyclopes (= Circle-eyed) were giant one-eyed creatures from Greek mythology, especially associated with Sicily and the nearby Aeolian Islands.
According to Hesiod's Theogony the three primeval cyclopes were the second brood of Uranus and Gaia - after the Titans and before the monstrous Hecatoncheires (= Hundred-Handers, also called the Centimanes). Troublemakers all the way from such parents, apparently! ;-) Anyway, eventually the Titan Cronus castrated his own father Uranus - a brilliant idea, considering the deteriorating quality of his offspring - and overcame him as the ruler of the cosmos, officially solving the issue - for a while, at least, before being overthrown himself by the Olympian gods.
There are many different traditions and myths about the Cyclopes, none of them flattering in the least: wild, solitaries, lawless, gross, rough, irascible, proud, violent, and ignorant of navigation, agriculture, and many other arts the gods had gifted the humans with. Homer's Odyssey features Polyphemus as the mightiest of the Cyclopes, and I expect that he is the best known individual among his most infamous progeny.
So, I was standing in awe before that incredible sunrise, as the glaring eye of the fierce Cyclops was inspecting the lands that were his in ages past, claiming them again. All I could do in such a situation was to make myself small and smaller and, hopefully, pass unnoticed while capturing the wild, powerful beauty of the Sunrise of the Cyclops' Eye.
I have processed this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-2.0/-1.0/0/+1.0/+2.0 EV] by luminosity masks with the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal" exposure shot).
As usual, I gave the finishing touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Raw files processed with Darktable.
Tags: Italia Italy Sicilia Sicily Messina Strait of Messina Stretto di Messina Greek myths mythology Cyclops Cyclopes Ciclopi Homer Hesiod Polyphemus Odyssey Uranus Gaia epics myths miti mitologia sea water clouds cloudy glare gaze sguardo anger morning early morning dawn sunrise sun sky moody drama dramatic seascape ominous mountains hills Calabria mainland alba mattina gods ancient gods Olympian gods Titans Cronus Nikon D750 luminosity masks Nikkor 24-120 mm Darktable the Gimp Nik Color Efex Pro 4 eye legend Polifemo reflections beach boats wavebreakers spiaggia barche dark Amerigo Vespucci bloom sunbeams sunshafts
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