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!