Christmas is almost here!
It was a challenging year, tiring from every point of view but full of intense emotions.

With the holidays quickly approaching,  I want to wish everyone who is reading my blog a safe and enjoyable time with family and friends!
Hoping, as usual, that the upcoming year will be much much better!

See ya in 2014!

This beautiful long-eared owls (Asio otus) were spying on me while I was sitting on the balcony.

From dusk til dawn they stay there, perfectly camouflaged among high branches of the garden tree. They sit all day almost motionless and impassively and then, in the evening, begin their work and take flight in search of some food. 

It's a large family of seven-eight owls who are spending the winter on this tree, away and safe from humans.

The subjects were relatively far away, nearly obscured by tree branches but while I pointed the camera and tried to focus I was delighted to see this beautiful animals staring back at me through the viewfinder.

They watch me, too.

I've never seen them up close, through the view of a telephoto lens.

Thank you, Owls!

The Galilean thermometer on my attic desk

We are always surrounded by objects. In almost all cases are things that we have seen hundreds of times, and details that we know very well that belong to our ordinary world.

But how would apporoach these objects a person who did not know what they are and begin to study them, looking at them from every possible angle to understand their form and function? For sure he would find them strange, curious, maybe mysterious...

I try to simulate something like that with my camera, looking for unusual angles or particular locations: you can find interesting shots right inside your house!

"And all the lives we ever lived, 

and all the lives to be, 

are full of trees and changing 

leaves". 

                              Virginia Woolf

Last weekend I had some time to dedicate to photography, stolen from the rhythm of the working and family week. The weather was not so good but the desire to see the first snow of the season close to home prevailed. 

Just as I was about to start my return back home, the horizon cleared up, a thick blanket of clouds began to take shape, and one of the few last rays of sunshine of the day powerfully illuminated the Alpine foothills, filled with the recent snowfalls, before the night flattened everything once again.

For a moment, I really felt like I was...between earth and sky.

Dogs often tend to have a whole lotta shakin' goin' on. 

Ever wondered what all that shaking mean? 

Dogs shake themselves after a bath, when they wake up and even after you hug them or comb them.

Several studies have been performed about dog shaking and some fascinating facts have been revealed.  

Dogs shaking is very effective, they can shake themselves 70% dry in just a fraction of a second, they can generate centrifugal forces 10 to 70 times gravity during a shake and the shaking depend to the animal's size (smaller animals shake more quickly than larger animals).

The animal's head, body and skin all move during a shake; the body, though it shakes at the same frequency of the skin, cannot rotate as far.

The next time you see your dog shaking, pay attention and..learn how your home-washer works! :-)

Someone once said that "a beautiful sky with no clouds can be the worst enemy for your photos".

As the days slowly become shorter and shorter and temperatures drop, here comes a season in which it seems more difficult to take some photos.

For many of us, this is the time where the camera is idle for a long time and it can happen to opt to sit at the computer instead of going out to shoot, maybe because the weather outside is not so nice.

Yet in reality the bad weather, regardless of the season, is no enemy of photography.  
Cold, wind or rain can be a problem for the equipment and for the photographer but not for images: the harshness of the elements often creates interesting photo opportunities. 
So keep in mind that...there is no bad weather... there is only the wrong clothing! :-)

Do you know that low light that comes just before sunset, the warm one that produces beautiful long shadows and that define everything so magically?

It's the light that give us the "golden hours", those moments just after sunrise or just before sunset when the sun is low on the horizon.

During this time of year, so close to the winter solstice, these phases are getting longer and unlike summer when you only have a few minutes available, you can enjoy for a long time of this magnificent photographic situation. 
"Golden hour" is the new photo of the month on my website. Enjoy!

Wandering around small shops - Roussillon village ocre

Provence is known for beautiful landscapes of cypress and olive trees amid verdant fields, with medieval towns perched on hills linked by quiet back roads. 

Lavender scents the air and fruits, vegetables and olive oil are so fresh that you're convinced they should be picked or produced in that very single day. Splendid churches, medieval castles, abbeys and fascinating Roman sites along the way provide frequent stops.

From three-star Michelin restaurants to small bistros in the countryside, Provence is known also for having some of the best food in France. When looking for a restaurant, you can easily discover a hidden gem in a centuries old stone building in one of the little villages perched high up on a hilltop.

Just about every village in Provence boasts its own workshops and boutiques dedicated to the local speciality and in every outdoor market being held in a town you will find fragrant herbs, lemons, garlic, olives, artichokes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes, and tomatoes.

Everywhere you can find classic Provençal colors such as the purple of lavender, yellow of sunflowers, and gray-green of olive leaves, that made this area a muse for artists like Van Gogh, Matisse, and Cezanne.

Find bliss in Provence, with backroads, maybe on a bicycle!

Reindeer on the beach, Norway - North Cape 2000 Expedition - Scan from film

It's amazing the huge amount of images stored on hard disks of our computers.

In digital era lots of stuff, also bad stuff, is preserved and maybe in the end is not even cancelled.

It takes up terabytes upon terabytes but starting now I want to give me as a rule to go back and take a look at old snaps, rework them and consider them with new fresh eyes.

Maybe I can even find small hidden gems!

Autumn is a gorgeous time of the year. Nature gives us a spectacular show of colours, with its rich palette of browns, splashes of reds, hints of yellow and shades of green to enjoy before winter. 

The air is filled with the musky scent of burning wood, the days get shorter and colder but some of my favourite colours appear during this season. 

This is the time of the year where a photograph of a simple tree is a subject itself, can stand on its own, with its own colorful dress and the sun makes it even more brilliant.

Photography in the fall has a lot to offer to the photographer....so get out from the computer and...let's shoot!

As a photographer I can consider myself a sort of an artist, an observer and a lover of negative space.

The negative space is the area around the subject and, for me, it is just as important as the subject itself.

Some times negative space is useful if you want to create a mood or a secondary point of interest. Some times enhances or competes with the subject. Other times is an element that can reveal a sort of quiet harmony.

When I shoot, I always keep the negative space...in mind.

They have made ​​the history of road trips and, many years later, they are still very much in vogue: beautiful, elegant, remind us memories and famous movies, they are the most popular classic cars, from simple to super sports cars.

There are few, if any, pieces of hardware as emotive as the car: for the collector, every single vintage car is not only a car formed by electrical, mechanical and body components, but also a living being, with hearts, emotions, events that marked their life.

Have you ever thought about owning a TRUE classic?

"Unbeatable styles" is the new photo of the month on my website.

You see a picture, look into it, look for the main subject, you search for a story.
 
Often it is the story told by the main subject that attracts at first sight the observer, it is almost due to our nature.
 
But there are a lot of stories that permeate an image, there is for example the history of the place, the private history of the people in the shot, but the most important is the photographer one, how he made ​​the shot, what he intended to communicate.
 
Most of all it is our history that lies beneath our photographs, what brings us to achieve them, which leads us to express something, and it is the main reason that drives us to... take photos.

It's not so usual wandering in the streets of your hometown and find yourself face to face with an open-air museum made of dark huge sculptures with a church or an old building as a background.

Thats what happened to me some days ago, a pleasant and strange feeling walking in very well known places with this big presences from Fernando Botero, the figurative artist, famous for his sculptures with exaggerated and disproportionate volumetry, all with a sort of irony, humor and criticism.

The placement of two sculptures in the city streets announce a larger public exhibition of contemporary art entitled "Botero IN PARMA" which will be held from October 3rd to December 8th, at the Governor's Palace.

For more informations: http://www.boteroaparma.org/

Tech data: Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4 L
Model: Indy

The first time I saw a picture by David Hamilton I was impressed by the magic of lights and colors that manages to combine them in a truly unique experience and I was even more incredulous to discover that he did not use filters or a sort of manipulation as well.

If you are interested in photography, you might have already heard the term “the Hamilton look”. 

David Hamilton photography involves images that have a look that makes them resemble oil paintings rather than detailed crisp photos. He is perhaps the photographer who best symbolizes the hedonistic spirit typical of late 70s and 80s. At that time, his soft-focus images of young girls camped everywhere in posters, magazines, books and newspapers, becoming really a mass phenomenon.

Hamilton is as obsessed in finding a pure and poetic beauty, with innate elegance and formally perfect. Many have tried to steal the secret of his photographs, but he has always revealed that "there was no secret .... only the beauty, innocence and fragility". For him the "teenage girl" is the perfect symbol of pure beauty, not yet touched by the adult world, in which all the attitudes lose their spontaneity.

Moisture is still in the air due to the overnight thunderstorm. The water has soaked the grass of an intense green color. The mountain appears and disappears through the veils of a cool mist.

For a thousand years the bell tower reassure the landscape with its sound; between sun and rain, it offers the guarantee of a safe refuge.

"The safe harbour" is the new photo of the month on my website. Enjoy!

When you speak about photography in general, you select the elements that capture your attention and fix them in a canvas which is actually the photo itself.

Texture photography forces us to look at the world in a different way, can sometimes be challenging, since composition, light and depth work differently than in, for example, landscape photography. 

It's all about repeated forms, patterns, colors, and every single detail of a texture plays a significant role in the overall perception of the photograph.

Tomorrow try to pay attention to surfaces that normally surround you, observe them in interesting light and try to discover hidden shapes and interesting textures.

You will find out the everyday beautiful around you! :-)

My...slurpilicious Smoked Ribs Kansas City Style

The city of Kansas City is where barbecue ribs got their start.

The key of this style most comes down to the sauce. It's thick, sweet and the ribs are large, with the longer portion of the rib bone, minus the fatty tips.

After a very slow smoking-cooking process, the become sweet, sticky with a nice spice and great smoky flavour.
The secret, however, is in the dry rub, giving the ribs a wonderful, sweet crust that crunches with each bite.

Mmmm...you can almost smell the smokiness...

"Photography changes the way you see things".

This is a phrase that many great photographers have more or less expressed and it's a truth that every photo enthusiast knows very well.

What happens is that, at some point, the common experiences appear in a different light, you start to notice colors, shadows, details, people expressions, all kind of things that went unnoticed before.

Our world takes on a different visual appearance when Photography becomes part of you, and it can happens that, while you get stucked into a traffic-jam, you realize for some unexpected world within noise barriers along the highway...

Braies Lake - South Tyrol, Italy

I'm back from my summer holidays and a 2 week break from work, including all my internet stuff. 

Apart from a few Instagram updates, I haven't been checking the web, mainly due to the weak internet in my apartment, but I will admit, it was nice getting a break from it all! 

The weather was amazingly cool and, even with a little baby, we were able to do some hiking as well as enjoying the great food by the huts.

A very nice experience!

It's this time of the year once again, when we leave everything behind and try to relax a little bit from everyday working life.

This year I chose the freshness and the pure air of South Tyrol mountains. I hope to relax, have fun and make lots of shots, enjoying the company of my family, my newborn baby and my dog!

So take care of yourselves and have fun whatever you are planning to do!

See you at the beginning of August! :-)

Sometimes I find myself stopping and framing a small open slot in the wall, not taking care of the puzzled looks of the people around me.

I like thinking about cracks as something alive, that win against the hard material.
Perhaps it is exactly this idea that drives me to deal with this kind of pictures and maybe to develop also some photo projects on them.

I like cracks! :-)

"Don't play the saxophone. Let it play you"  - Charlie Parker

Summer is heating up, so what could be better to spend an evening, with a gentle breeze, a cold drink and good tuneful jazz music? What I really like in this kind of music is the use of saxophone... I love this musical instrument! There is something highly appealing about the sound of a saxophone and the mystery of a saxophonist.

I think that saxophones are popular to those who play and those who don't play them. They sounds good, they just flows, they add a little something to many of the pieces you like to listen to.
Long life to the saxophone! :-)

Golden wheat planted

amongst lowly grasses

Must learn to withstand

life's stormy weather.

(c) Christine Kysely

Light illuminates, shadows define. The light illuminates, but is the shadow that defines objects and gives them body.  

Taking advantage of the contrasts and catch them with the camera is an exercise that requires a little attention, the difference in brightness is a challenge for sensors and films, forcing the photographer to decide what to sacrifice.  

Keep the details in the dark areas, or mantain rich light areas with almost completely black and no visible details? One of the oldest dilemmas for those who are behind a camera. 

The contrasts are everywhere, always ready to challenge you with their emotional and symbolic meaning.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to see live, after ten years, the National Aerobatic Team "Frecce Tricolori" (PAN) and numerous performances of military and historic aircrafts, directly above the sky of my hometown.

In this exciting sunday, the dark and threatening sky has become so far an enormous canvas for pilots and their amazing maneuvers. 

The National Aerobatic Team, with ten aircraft, including nine pilots and one solo, are the most numerous aerobatic team in the world; they are best-known for their spectacular flying skills and their flight schedule, lasting about half an hour, has made them one of the most famous team on earth.

After the advent of digital, despite the enormous possibilities offered by the online sharing, too many shots remain unexpressed and stay into the hard disk as a sort of a limbo.

Digital photos often have a problem that is common to many photographers: they never go outside, turning into something tangible and accessible for all and tend to accumulate without being seen by anyone besides the photographer himself.

However it's really nice printing your photos, gives satisfaction and allows others to see them and touch them. You can decide to make your own photobook or try with some cheap printers on the go.
Have you never tried to make your own photobook?

"The Hammering Man" - Frankfurt, Germany

On the pavement leading to the Frankfurt fairgrounds stands "The Hammering Man", a large kinetic sculpture created by Jonathan Borofsky.

The black sculpture, erected here in 1991, seems to be hammering at constant pace and symbolizes the working man.

Jonathan Borofsky (1942) is an american sculptor and most of his famous works, at least among the general public, are his Hammering Men sculptures.
These sculptures have been installed in several cities around the world such as Seattle, New York and Seoul.
Enjoy the new photo of the month on my website!

There is one thing that often threatens our ability to take good shots.  

It's our life always on-the-go, that narrows the moments that we devote to our passions, which only during few occasions allows us to stop and look, seize and take advantage of the many photo opportunities that are presented to us.

But realizing this you can learn to slow down. 
Every time I go out with the camera I'll always try to take a more contemplative attitude, take more time to look for the shots and composition.

And once you've slowed down ... Slow down even more.  
Use a tripod, be happy to take less shots but better in quality. 
The photos will come out different, with something extra.

Tech data: iPhone 4s, 6x6 App, processed with Snapseed
Location: Frankfurt - Germany

Architecture photography is becoming more and more popular in my daily work.

Mainly I really like photographing modern architecture because I can get away with using a more modern and abstract style.

Moreover, as a huge fan of wide-angle lenses, it's quite easy to produce extreme perspective or unusual angles. A telephoto lens is always good for isolating particular elements of a building in order to create stunning abstract effects.

Light, contrast, color, B&W, post processing, play a huge role in this kind of photography.

In conclusion, architecture photography is a very versatile subject, that allows to express all the creativity that's in us...or at least...mine!

I put down my magazine to observe the details of the things around me.

It's a relatively small waiting area. Waiting passengers like myself are scattered all around, mostly absorbed in their thoughts, books or just watching their iPads.

There is something about airport and waiting: everyone seems to be thankful for this moment for themselves, like a time to calm down. In this place of transit they decide to not think about the rest and they love being in control of what they do in the hours of waiting.
They read books that they know they may not be able to finish once at destination. They decide to relax and sleep before they are forced to move again. They try not to think about jobs and responsibilities that are waiting for them.

Just like anybody else in a boarding area, I'm thankful to have this moment. And I know as soon as they call for boarding and the plane will land to my destination, I would have to face everything again.

Edgar Allan Poe, an American author whose cloudy personal life is a virtual legend, considered himself primarily a poet.

He was best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, such as The Black Cat (1843) in which a man’s maniacal hatred for a black cat consumes him and leads him to murder.

The Black Cat is one of Poe’s best-known short stories and looking at my shot I can feel the mood of this story...hope you have the same "noir" sensations too...

"Tribute to E.A. Poe" is the new photo of the month on my website. Enjoy!

In Provence, exactly in the Camargue region, there is a small village suspended between sky and the sea called Saintes-Maries de la Mer. 

Here amidst beaches, white horses who still live in the wild, pink flamingos and a rich artistic and cultural heritage, the journey becomes a fascinating adventure. 

But here, is Nature that shows all over its wild and fascinating face in the dunes and beaches that surround the old village.  Miles and miles of fine sand are home of the famous white horses of the Camargue.
 
This charming village has also many attractions worthy of note: not to be missed is the bird park Pont de Gau, with its rare species of bird, not-bloody bullfights that take place from Easter until the month of September and the colorful Provencal markets. Moreover, the excursion boats offer pleasant excursions to discover all of this very particular ecosystem and the fabulous bike rides through the beautiful landscapes that characterize this wild land.

You may feel so small on many occasions: when you talk to a person who shows confidence and experience, when you feel powerless against the events and life, or even when you discover something so beautiful that you could not grab the overall meaning.

I feel so small at the foot of mountains, from the bottom when I see that formidable mass of stone, earth, water and vegetation, and I think of those living hosts. 

 

I really like to think about the strength of the mountains like something powerful that resizes man's ego...

You came in on a rainy day,

and, like rain, get deeply

into my heart.

(April 5th, 2013)

Despite the calendar insisting it’s spring, sunshine, warmth and the cherry blossoms have not yet arrived... but do not worry, also for this year we will be wearing flip-flops, bbq-ing and playing outdoor.

Meanwhile, between one heavy rain and another, I am lucky to find in my garden some spring signs which hardly trying to make their way in search of the sun in one of the wettest March ever...

I think everyone really need to get out of the house, away from the computer, and just get some beautiful, fresh air!

"Where is Spring?" is the new photo of the month on my website. Enjoy!

Guatelli's Museum is located near Parma, in the village where I was born and raised as a young guy.

Ettore Guatelli, a local elementary school teacher, collected all the objects of the day-to-day life with the aim to preserve in our memories all things we tend not to use anymore.
Among the many definitions used to describe his collection, Guatelli often resorted to the "museum of the obvious things" or "museum of everyday life".

Toys, kitchen wares, musical instruments, thousands of tins, clocks and much more, cover the walls following simple geometric patterns, fill the shelves of the museum, creating a spectacular visual glance full of suggestions, that can evoke realistic daily routine of country life.

More than 60.000 artifacts are recovered in the museum: items are not rare or valuable, but things of common use, which still retain the imprint of those who, using them daily, have worn them, till becoming part of themselves.

For more informations visit the museum website: www.museoguatelli.it

Whether it be portraiture, fashion, commercial, abstract or still-life, great photography is a fascinating art form.

Horst P. Horst was one of the great masters of fashion photography.  

Its refined images of female silhouettes on a light background in pure black and white are its distinctive "trademark".

"I like taking photographs, because I like life. And I love photographing people best of all, because most of all I love humanity" (Horst P. Horst)

Aligned on a shelf and disposed to form a procession with brightly colored backs, they capture my attention every time nostalgia come back to my mind.

Can be spartan or with beautiful photos in a sort of National Geographic style: they are the guides that accompanied me during past years to discover all the countries I have been lucky to visit so far.

Sometimes it happens that I pick one of them and find myself absorbed in a journey full of memories; between the pages, just like a memory bookmark, entrance fees of a museum or a park explored at that time that has muted colors, hotel and restaurants business cards, some airline boarding pass that no longer exist.

You never stop travelling...even browsing through the pages of an old tourist guide.

Tech data: Canon EOS 5D, Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4, f/11, 5s, ISO 100 - Tripod

It's been almost 30 years since I started to take my very beginning shots. At first it was only during special events or travels with my parents and, once back home, I could not wait to catalog and be able to show all the slides of the places where I had been on vacation.
My preferred subjects, like all amateur photographers, were landscapes and every time I get out of the house and away from the computer, my first steps in photography come nostalgically back to my mind.

"Back to the origins" is the new photo of the month on my website. Enjoy!

Landmannalaugar, the valley - Iceland 1999

The Landmannalaugar area is one of the most amazing places and a popular tourist attractions in the southern highlands of Iceland.

The whole area consists of many geological elements and the very colourful rhyolite mountains and vast lava field surrounding it make this region quite unique.

The volcanic ash and debris covered in beautiful grass, and the moss that covers the land in a green and gold carpet combine together to make some amazing stunning view.

Weather can be quite poor at times but light changes constantly meaning never ending spots of wonderful photo opportunities.

Streams of geothermal and spring water come from under and mix to make streams and pools of just the right temperature for bathing.

The landscape is fairly rough, with many rivers to cross, so four-wheel drive and high-clearance is a must. The region is only accessible in summer and the dates that the roads open vary from year to year.

A mountain lodge, in operation since early 50s, can accommodate many people and has basic amenities. It is located centrally near natural geothermal hot springs, popular with tourists. You can found the spring within walking distance from the lodge and it's surely perfect for a quick dip!