In Salerno for a congress

I've been away for quite a long time now, and it's time to tell you why.
Last month I went back to Italy, because I had a couple of conferences to attend. What I will tell you here is about the second congress, the GMEE annual congress, which was kept in Salerno this year.
GMEE is always a nice place where to meet old friends and scientist from any part of Italy and, moreover, a good chance to visit new places, since it is always located in very nice cities.
This, as I said, was the year of Salerno, and I was really happy with that: I had never been there before, and we would have also gone to Paestum, an archeologial site not far from the city.

I decided to get to Salerno the day before, so that I could spend a bit of time alone with my girlfriend, and that I could also be a tourist for one day (and tourist means... plenty of chances to take pictures!).

Unfortunately, the weather decided for me, I was not allowed to take pictures. It started raining almost as soon as we got there, and it just stopped when the congress began. What a pity... Not so many chances to take pictures as you can guess.
That's mainly why I had to wait for the tour in Paestum for the first shots around. Well... let's say: it was worth waiting!

Paestum used to be an old city of the Magna Grecia, devoted to Poseidon, Hera and Atena, which was founded in the VII century b.C., and then became roman in 273 BC.
In the archeological site, you can still see three temples, conserved in a quite good status:
- the Hera temple, on of the largest greek temples, built around 550 BC.
- the Athena temple (around 500 BC)
- the Poseidon temple, actually also dedicated to Hera, built around 450 BC.
More infos can be found on wikipedia.

When we went to visit this place, the weather was perfect, fortunately, great for taking photo. But this was a quite unlucky week, as I didn't really feel well that day. Good enough, this didn't prevent me from taking some shots of the place.

As soon as you enter the archeological site, you can see two of the three temples right in front of you.

The Temple of Hera is really impressive, and it really makes you wonder how they were able to build so magnificent constructions, capable of resisting 2500 years of history (someone might argue that today's building can't resist that well... and he he would be often right we have to admit).

The lines and the columns intersecting really offer some good chances for some nice pictures (provided there's not too much crowd around).

Just by the first temple, you can see the second Temple of Hera, mostly known as Poseidon's Temple.

This temple is in a bit better conditions with respect to the first one, and it's also more little.

The time of the day and the weather were perfect for this pictures: already quite late in the afternoon, sun at back, and some clouds to give the sky some texture.
Adding a polarizing filter added a bit of saturation to the sky, and I think the temples gained a lot from this, as they really stand out.

On the other side of the archeological site, you can find the last temple, the Temple of Athena.

This is situated on the highest part of the site, well separated from the others. It's fantastic to see it standing with all its majesty.

The same temple at sunset, with sun setting just behind the temple itself... It really looks like a fairy tale, doesn't it?

I wanted to take some pictures at night, but... as I told you, I didn't really fell well that evening, and after dinner it was the worst time of the day, unfortunately. Bad chance, since the temples illuminated at night might have been a really nice subject to take pictures of.

Back to Salerno, the day after the congress was over, but I still had some time before leaving. Perfect to profit for some more pictures. Guess what? Bad weather again! When you say bad luck...
I still didn't feel quite well also, but... I really wanted to take some pictures around, and I went around the city.

In a short while it started to poor with rain, and I had to recover in the hotel, but before, I got the chance to find a very italian icon:

An italian boat, in a very wide sense!
Here it is, again, in black and white:

Just on the seafront, where I was taking pictures of the boat, there was also a little shoe, probably lost by some child. While wishing he wasn't feeling cold to his little foot, I profited for one last shot:

I focused on the shoe, and closed the aperture enough to let guess the italian flag painted on the boat behind, and I quite like the effect I obtained!

Salerno was a very nice city, and I'm really sad I didn't have many opportunities to take some more pictures. I really hope I will be able to visit the city again, and... let a nice weather assist me if this will happen!

Cheers, see you next time!

With Silvia at Monte dei Cappuccini

Last week, I had a photo session with an old school mate, Silvia. I had not seen her for quite a few years now, so it was first of all a real pleasure to meet her again.
I decided to go again to the Monte dei Cappuccini. This is a very nice location on the hill over Torino.
At sunset time, this place is really perfect, as you have the sun setting just in front of you, with the city below.
We immediately climbed up the hill and reached the place in perfect time: sun was already getting low on the horizon, with a nice golden light, and the few clouds on the mountain were giving that mystic touch to the sky which looks perfect for a portrait background.
I set up my one-flash equipement while Silvia was getting confortable with the fact that, at that time, the place was not really empty as she might have wished.

As my set up was ready, we started shooting.
I wanted to profit from the still quite bright sunlight to give her that golden rim light which can really turn on a portrait.
Unfortunately, because of my still too little experience, I didn't pay much attention to the background, at the beginning. The place is surrounded by trees, and having them behind the model in these shots was not really a nice idea.

Silvia immediately found herself comfortable with shooting, and gave some very sweet expressions. The sun behind at 45 degrees camera left, and the shoot through white umbrella with the 580EX II at 45 degree in front of her, also camera left, added even more mood to her eyes. The trees in the background aren't really nice, I know, but the photo is nevertheless quite nice.

I also wanted to try a shot with the sun directly behind her.

The flash is again positioned at about 45 degrees on camera left, which gives the shot an almost "natural" light, with a lovely golden touch on her skin given by the sun itself.

Letting her holding on the balcony created by the brick wall, which looks on the city, gave me then a perfect pose for a more close up portrait.

The flash is again on camera left, in the white umbrella, but this time her face is more evenly lit up, with the sun which hits her skin on the left side.

The city from the high is such a nice background for some shots. Overall the Mole, which always inspires me a lot.

I decided to use the still quite strong available light to take a portait of Silvia with the Mole behind. The flash is again on camera left, with the white umbrella making it softer. I liked a lot this setup, as you can see, because it gives more the idea of the natural sun light (an effect that would have been lost by putting the light source at camera right, crossing the sun).

Finaly, it was time for a close up portait.

The flash on the left was a bit too low, giving an odd shadow of her nose on the face. Apart from this, I find this shot to be very nice, and this is also the reason why I choosed it as a conclusion for this post.

I hope you enjoyed this set as much as I enjoyed shooting.
Feel free to C&C my photos either here or on flickr.

Laetitia and Tiffany

Last week, a friend of mine asked me to take some portrait of her, and of course, I didn't say no to this gentle request. As I knew she had an older sister, I asked her to come together, so that she could maybe help me with my gear and, eventually, I could even bring some pictures of her.

As my friend arrived, she found herself a bit shy in front of the camera, so I decided to take some shots of the two sisters together, just to let her feel more confortable.

I set up my equipment (basically, I mounted my 580EX II on the stand, with the Cactus trigger and the white umbrella to shoot through) and started to take some pictures. The sun had troubles to shine through the clouds, but sometimes some ray of light came to us, and (as it was late in the afternoon) it was already quite low on the horizon, which gave me some nice cross light opportunities.

They were really sweet, together, and also pretty much collaborative, provided none of them is a real model.

When I asked them if they didn't mind lying on the grass, they didn't refuse at all, and this gave me the opportunity of taking this nice shot.
Flash was at 45 degrees on camera right, as you can guess. The light from the sun gave me some rim light on the hair, but nothing really strong.
I also wanted them to have some nice posing...

Again, they had no problem at all following my instruction.
The flash was at 45 degrees, left camera, and you can see some really low reflections of the sun light on the hair, again.
Also, the position of their hands gave me some light reflections on their faces (not so much, just a little bit).

Light went down pretty fast as clouds were covering the sky and becoming grey... that grey that can only mean it's-going-to-rain.

This gave me, anyway, the opportunity to work with a very dark background, which actually turned out to be completely black. Now I really had complete control of the light!
I didn't find it easy to work in such condition, but... with the help of this white stone column, I both had some natural reflector and a nice location for continuing my session.

As you can see here, main light is coming from camera right (through white umbrella) but the white stone is pretty well reflecting the light to fill shadows. Also, I had her sister Laetitia holding the silver reflector for even more reflections.
The only complain I have with Tiffany is about her dress: black is not really the right colour for such portraits... I would have preferred some white cloths, probably. The same of course for her sister.

Finally, I decided to play some Hide and Seek with Laetitia

Flash on the left, through white umbrella, creates some quite soft shadows on her face, with a final result that I liked a lot.

I really enjoyed this photo session. I asked them to train a bit on their smile, for the next portraits I will eventually take of them, but after all it was a nice evening, and I really have to thank both of them!

My first session: Flavia and her bags

This post is about my first photo session (at least, with someone who was not my sister).

My very best friend's girlfriend, Flavia, asked me to take some picture of her with the bags she produces at home. Of course, it was a pleasure to me.
We decided to meet us after work, as I thought the sunset time was certainly giving me a nice light to work with.

I also asked my sister to come with us, so that she could help me a bit, sure she would have enjoyed a lot.

While waiting for Flavia, I started taking some pictures of my sister.

I wanted to try some posing for later shooting with the bags, and my sister of course immediately found a nice way to do it!

We then went up to Monte dei Capuccini, a nice location on the hills facing Torino, and with a look to the West (yes, exactly... that's where the sun usually set).

When we arrived, the light was gorgeous, and we immediately started shooting.

I decided to use the still enough bright sun as a rim light from behind, and to overpower it with my flash, mounted behind an umbrella for a soft light, and positioned at 45 degrees of the model, camera left.

I didn't have to ask her to smile, as even her bag was doing the right thing.

Light changed pretty fast as sun went down, but it gave me time to take quite a few shot of her with this nice light condition.

As anyone taking pictures at sunset knows, anyway, the light changed faster than you can imagine, and, being my very first session of this kind, I had some difficulties in following it.

As sky was getting dark, I wanted to have a nice early evening background for her, with the magical addition of the Mole Antoneliana scraping the sky too.

Paying attention not to fall down, we took this shot of her with another of her very nice bags. The flash was positioned on camera right, through white umbrella, and with an amber filter on it to add some really warm tones to her skin. Also, I had someone holding a silver reflector on camera right for some filling.

As you can see, she was quite astonished we were still able to continue even with such a low light condition, but my flash was behaving really good! Not the same for me, as I lost many nice shots because of my yet too little experience....

Just before going back home, as light was getting now really too low, I took a shot of my assistant... oh, pardon... of my friend Ermanno.

He's really cool, don't you think? Using the same light set up I was using for earlier shots of Flavia, but with a much darker background now.

So, this is how my very first open air photo session went on.
We enjoyed ourself a lot, and I have to thank Ermanno and my sister for their help on that day!
I'm sure we'll organize again something together, maybe for some other "bag-session"?

The strobist lessons: Lighting 102, Unit 1.1

Yesterday evening, before dinner, I played a bit in my flat, and tried to take a self portrait, with far from excellent results.

I finally got at last at least one shot I liked, so I finally had my pasta and my salad, and of course an ice cream!

Then, after dinner (and after a stupid movie on tv) I decided to set up a bit of gear for the first lighting 102 excersise: Lighting 102: Unit 1.1 - Position (Angle).

I looked around me to find a good subject, as I didn't have any model to shoot at (the sad point of living alone).

Thus I grabbed my nice Dahu from the library (a souvenir of 2007 Universiade), and set him on a chair, with a black background, ready for some shooting.

Set my camera @ 1/200, f/5.6, and the strobe @ 1/128 of power, manual mode as usual.
I started to play with the flash around my subject, moving it in steps of about 45 degrees each time.

I started by setting the strobe at the subject level, from the front, then started to rotate around my teddy bear... oh, sorry, my teddy Dahu!

As you can see, rotating the strobe varies a lot the result. The light from behind (centre bottom) almost gives a mystical effect, the strobe from the front (centre top) is much flat. The absence of any other light, with the flash set so near to the subject (about 30-40 cm), gives very black shadows and a very black background, as expected. You might think it's not very well enlightened, but... this is an exercise, and a sort of experiment, after all, just to see what's the effect of such a setup on a certain subject.

The best light condition to have nice details and shadows, to me, is whit light source at 45 degrees in front of the subject (top left and right). The light from the sides (center left and right) looks really nice to, for some strange effects. The light form 45 degrees behind (bottom left and right) seems to be perfect for a second light setup giving some rim light to the subject.

After this first setup, I moved the flash to a higher position, pointing downward to the subject, and repeated the loop around my poor Dahu (he was really tolerant, I have to say).

The flash positions in the frame are the same as in the first shot
Again, I'm not a fan of the light from the front, while again I prefer the light at 45 degrees front. The light on the sides leaves on of the arm in the shadow, giving the impression that he's missing one. The light from 45 degrees behind gives the impression he's missing on leg, this time. I find nice the one from behind: as a second light for hair reflection (maybe on a real subject) can be very interesting.

Now, last setup, with the light positioned below the subject, and pointing upward.

The light from the front seems to be from an horror movie, don't you think?
45 degrees front looks perfect as a second light to fill some shadows in particular cases. Side light have a strange look, but I like it after all... even if it's probably leaving the top part too dark, as it finds itself in the shadow. The lights from the back are, to me, only good for rim lights in some situations where you might need reflections from the bottom.

So, these were my (poor, I admit) results. For other's results, you can always look on flickr, by simply searching for the keyword

• strobist
• lighting102
• position
• angle

or, easily, clicking here.

Now it's time to go, breakfast time. See you next time!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.
This is a blog about photography, and in particular about my photo equipment and my photos.
I will try to keep it updated in such a way that you will be able to follow what I do, when I do it and how.

Just to tell you something about me: I'm currently a PhD student in Grenoble, France, but I was born in Torino in 1983, and I've been living there until November 2008.
I have many passions and hobbies: music, sports, science, technology... and, of course, photography.
This latest passion started mainly back in summer 2006, when, with my family, we bought our first D-SLR camera: a Canon EOS 400D, together with its kit lens, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6.
I immediately fell in love with it, and started to try to get out of it all it could give me. I never followed any course in photography, I thought I didn't have time, but... internet, in that sense, is so helpful! I found any information I wanted, and, together with what I already knew, also thanks to my father's help, I started to play with this toy, trying to apply what I was learning by reading around the net: aperture, exposure time, ISO, white balance...

That summer I went to my beloved Sicily, near Messina... Where could I find a better place to try the camera, with nice sunsets on the sea?

I also had the opportunity to play with the Canon EF 55-200 f/4.5-5.6 USM, not a bad lens, which let me take some not so bad shots, at that time.

The sea was certainly the best subject for my first shots, as you can see.

Soon, that same summer, I added a new friend to the kit lens: the (in)famous Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM. A long range telezoom, with very low quality image... but at the time, I didn't know that, and I was so happy with it! With that equipment, I survived for a few years, by only adding some filters (a ND8 and a polariser) for some "special" effects, and improving the camera usability by adding a battery grip. My camera has, since, always been with me during my travels...

I've been in Paris, in summer 2008

I've been in Florence for some times.

Here's a shot taken in Gaeta

and here another one taken in Castel Gandolfo, with my girlfriend.

Summer 2008 was really plenty of travels around! Here's when I was in Provence with my friend Ermanno.

Of course, I always brought my camera with me when I went to find my Laura (yes, you've seen her in the shot of Castel Gandolfo!).

The Salento is a wonderful place to visit with her!

So, I was pretty satisfied with my camera and lenses, but... not enough! I wanted more!

In July 2009 I upgraded a bit my photo gear, by adding my now beloved Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM together with a Canon Speedlite 580EX II. With a light stand, a 5-in-1 reflector, a convertible umbrella and a very low price trigger, now I'm starting to deal with portraits, and I hope to expand my photo gear very soon with some more flash units and light modificators, and also, why not, some more lenses!
Of course, I will keep you informed on this! Just stay tuned