paolo de faveri

Thanks all for your comments on this one, that's greatly appreciated.

Zsolt, actually it's not a big deal, you only need to process each frame with exactly the same parameters of WB, exposure, contrast, etc. If you do that, the stitched image will come out consistent pretty easily. I use Canon DPP for pre-processing the frames, and to chose what set of parameters is the best one I try many times and not only on one single frame, but on all of them. When I feel I found the right set, I save it and simply apply it to the whole batch. I suppose you can do the same with Lightroom, ACR or whatever RAW converter tool you're familiar with.

Cheers,

Paolo

PLEASE VIEW IT LARGER, THANKS

Valle Stretta is a short and narrow valley of the Western Alps in

Piedmont, right at the border with France, and it's doubtlessly one of

the best alpine environment I know. Beautiful peaks, huge vertical

rock walls, streams and an incredibly rich and varied vegetation that

includes most of the species you can find elsewhere in the whole Alps

range, such as larches, maples, aspens, scots an swiss stone pines

among many others.

I went to the valley last Wednesday looking for some good fall picture

but couldn't imagine I would have found such a caleidoscopic palette.

As the ice on the cake, I was also blessed with some nice warm light

at sunset to top everything else off. Here's what I came out with.

This is stitched - as usual - from five vertical takes, each double

processed for better dynamic range. As compression hurts a whole lot

here, a click on the larger file is definitely required.

Your C&C are as always greatly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tamron SP 28-75 f2,8, GND 4x, tripod 1/5 f11 each frame

Thanks for viewing an commenting.

Paolo

We're about peak fall colours here in the Western Alps. Grabbed this

one in Valle Stretta, a beautiful narrow valley in Piedmont, right at

the French border.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Details: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod

A soothing sunset over Campese bay, after a day of strong winds and

storms. Taken about two weeks ago at Isola del Giglio, a small island

part of the Tuscan Archipelago, Italy. This is stitched from four

vertical takes.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, GND 8x, tripod. 1/13 f16 each

frame

PLEASE VIEW IT LARGER

The sun has just set behind the mountains of Corsica far in the

distance and over the calm, still waters of the Thyrrenian Sea around

Isola del Giglio, a small, wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago.

Here's the rough rocky coast of Punta Faraglione in the northern part

of the island, dotted with junipers and small bushes of strawberry,

just the ideal nesting area for sparrows and seagulls. Not a cloud in

the sky - just like most of the days I spent on the island - but a bit

of mist in the distance was quite enough for spreading the light and

tinging everything with beautiful warm tones. This is a mosaic of 10

horizontal frames, disposed in two rows of five frames each. It can

really print huge, as big as your living room longest wall... a click

on the larger file therefore is really a must ;-)

Your C&C are as always highly recommended, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod, GND 8x (on the upper

row). 2.5" f16 each frame

A view at dawn of a small bay just off Giglio Porto, one of the only

three villages of Isola del Giglio, a small island part of the Tuscan

Archipelago, Italy. This is stitched from seven vertical takes, each

of them double processed for better dynamic range.

Thanks for viewing and commenting, please VIEW IT LARGER

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, GND 8x, tripod. 0.5" f16 each

frame

A view at dawn of Punta Cappel Rosso, the southern tip of Isola del

Giglio, a small wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago in Italy.

This is stitched from 4 verticals of 60" @f11 each.

This must be seen larger to really appreciated the subtle colour

nuances and details it can offer.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time. Paolo

Wow, I love the crystal clear quality of this picture. This place is wonderful, and you did a great job with blending and stitching.  Awesome!

Paolo

PLEASE VIEW LARGER

A twilight view of the tower of Campese at Isola del Giglio, a small

wild island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It was built at the end of XVII

century as a watchtower and a fortress, it was used to alert the

population from sea invaders and it was at that time armed with a

dozen of cannons. Nowadays is a tourist residence

Taken about 30 minutes after sunset, this is stitched from six

vertical takes.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciatd, thanks in advance for your time.

PLEASE VIEW IT LARGER

The sun has just set behind the mountains of Corsica far in the

distance and over the calm, still waters of the Thyrrenian Sea around

Isola del Giglio, a small, wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago.

Here's the rough rocky coast of Punta Faraglione in the northern part

of the island, dotted with junipers and small bushes of strawberry,

just the ideal nesting area for sparrows and seagulls.

Not a cloud in the sky - just like most of the days I spent on the

island - but a bit of mist in the distance was quite enough for

spreading the light and tinging everything with beautiful warm tones.

This is a mosaic of 10 horizontal frames, disposed in two rows of five

frames each. It can really print huge, as big as your living room

longest wall... a click on the larger file therefore is really a must ;-)

Your C&C are as always highly recommended, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod, GND 8x (on the upper

row). 2.5" f16 each frame

A view at dawn of Punta Cappel Rosso, the southern tip of Isola del

Giglio, a small wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago in Italy.

This is stitched from 4 verticals of 60" @f11 each. This must be seen

larger to really appreciated the subtle colour nuances and details it

can offer.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Paolo

A sunset view of Cala del Gesso, a small bay om the northeastern part

of Giglio, a small wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod. Double exposure blending

The top of Poggio Verdello, one of the many hills of Isola del Giglio,

covered with a beautiful wood of maritime pine trees, and dotted with

huge erratic stones.

This is stitched from seven vertical frames, it's really to be seen

larger ;-)

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod. Double exposure

blending and stitching.

A glorious sunset behind the mountains of Corsica in the distance and

over the calm, still waters of the Thyrrenian Sea around Isola del

Giglio, a small, wild island part of the Tuscan Archipelago. Here's

the rough rocky coast of the Faraglione peninsula in the northern part

of the island, dotted with junipers and small bushes of strawberry,

just an ideal nesting area for the sparrows of the island.

This is a mosaic of 10 horizontal frames, disposed in two rows of five

frames each. It can really print huge, as big as your living room

longest wall... a click on the larger file therefore is really a must ;-)

Your C&C are as always highly recommended, thanks in advance for your

time.

Details: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, tripod, GND 8x (on the

upper row). 2.5" f16 each frame

Thank you Joe, I'm glad you like it. The only enhancement on the waves are curves and levels to increase the contrast.

Paolo

Wonderful composition and colours, I really love how the green/cyan in the water nicely contrast with the warmer tones of the rest of the scene. I would just clone off that contrail and call it perfect.

Paolo

Well, this is just an exercise of "day for night" techniques.

I took this picture at the beach of Camogli in Liguria, Italy, more

than a year and half ago but I've never processed it before. It was

taken in broad daylight (4pm) with a strong ND filter (6 stops) and

another GND, probably 8x.

Your critiques and suggestion are highly appreciated, thanks in

advance for your time.

Taken a morning of April a few minutes after sunrise at the park of

Stupinigi in the outskirts of Turin, Italy. Stitched from nine verticals.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tamron SP 28-75 f2,8, tripod, no filters

PS: this really needs to be seen larger... ;-)

Taken a morning of April a few minutes after sunrise at the park of

Stupinigi in the outskirts of Turin, Italy. Stitched from nine verticals.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks in advance for your

time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tamron SP 28-75 f2,8, tripod, no filters

PS: this really needs to be seen larger... ;-)

Thanks all again for your comments, that's appreciated.

Erik, actually it's the contrary. When you expose for such a long time - 30 seconds in this case, but the longer the better - you can highly increase the sharpness of the reflections. The long exposure evens up the ripples, and it turns the water into a smooth, highly refelctive surface.

Thanks all for commenting, it's always great and helpful reading what others think of your work, and I'm just glad that this picture has met the liking of so many of you.

It's been indeed a very special moment, it took me an early wake up at 3am, one and half hour driving and one more hour hiking to get there well before dawn, it only lasted a few seconds but it's one of those memorable, rewarding moments, a good reminder as to why I (we) do what I do. ;-)

Paolo

Exactly - well, more or less - the same composition of my previous

post, but 20 minutes later. The sun rose from behind the ridges just a

few moments after the shutter closed.

This is lake Rosset with the Gran Paradiso range in the background.

Your C&C are as always highly appreciated, thanks for your time.

Techs: Eos 50D, Tokina ATX-Pro 12-24 f4, B+W 110 ND (1000x), GND 4x,

tripod. 30" f11

P.S. PLEASE SEE IT LARGER!

What a place!! I really love the cold colours and the luminescence of the water. I like it how you presented it, but I think that the composition could benefit from a crop from the bottom that gets rid of the shore. I think it would increase the mysterious look of this amazing picture.

Congrats,

Paolo