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Small Emilian towns (part 1): Guastalla
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:41 am    Post subject: Small Emilian towns (part 1): Guastalla Reply with quote

First series of a macroseries.
This series shows the town of Guastalla.
Founded by Etruscans, it reached the maximum splendor under the domination of the Gonzaga in the Renaissance.
Today, it is the Emilian district with the highest number of extra-EU immigrants (Pakistani and Indians the largest communities).
The main piazza was used by director Bernardo Bertolucci as set for an important scene of his movie "900" (1976).

All photos here captured with M9. Lenses are detailed above the pictures.
Thanks for viewing.


#1 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#2 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#3 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#4 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#5 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#6 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#7 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#8 - Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1.5/50 ZM




#9 - Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1.5/50 ZM




#10 - Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1.5/50 ZM




#11 - Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1.5/50 ZM




#12 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#14 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#15 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#16 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#18 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#19 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#20 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#21 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#22 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#23 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#24 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)




#25 - Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 (L39)


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Usual brilliant series Orio. Are they to be published anywhere?


patrickh


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a lovely serie, I especially like the colours rendering and the perfect rainy day's atmosphere from your shots......may be a little bit underexposed on some images Question ...


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio's usual high standard with interesting subjects, and at difficult conditions.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing, Orio!.

I love the landscapes of the Emilia-Romana, those small villages, castles, hills...
I have to go back there sometime, there are plenty of photographic targets there Wink

Regards.
Jes.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice work, but I wouldn't expect to sell those pictures at the "pro-loco" (the local tourist board) Very Happy


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

patrickh wrote:
Usual brilliant series Orio. Are they to be published anywhere?
patrickh


Thanks Patrick. Yes, in my dreams Laughing Sad

pich900 wrote:
That's a lovely serie, I especially like the colours rendering and the perfect rainy day's atmosphere from your shots......may be a little bit underexposed on some images Question ...


Thanks Pascal. Rainy day images require some more care than sunny day images, but I think they're worth it.
Rather than underexposed (in which case the white would turn grey), I would say that many photos were exposed
for the lights, yes. That's part of my "rainy day style" if you would like to put it that way Laughing

Excalibur wrote:
Orio's usual high standard with interesting subjects, and at difficult conditions.


Thanks much, Excalibur!
I consider this type of day (rainy with high clouds in motion) a blessing for the photographer.

Jesito wrote:
Thanks for sharing, Orio!.
I love the landscapes of the Emilia-Romana, those small villages, castles, hills...
I have to go back there sometime, there are plenty of photographic targets there Wink
Regards.
Jes.


Thanks Jes. I'd love to meet you again, too. You know that you're always welcome here Smile


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice series, great colors under bad weather
personally, I prefer to have a white sky than a dark background
skopar need cornerfix to clean the magenta tint


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

poilu wrote:

skopar need cornerfix to clean the magenta tint


Actually, most of it is fault of my colour processing. I quite pushed the magenta in most photos
in order to obtain the kind of cold look that I wanted.
If you look at photo #14, there is no colour processing there, and you can see, that magenta in the corner
is not even discernible.
It must be there, of course (otherwise it would not show when pushed), but under normal condition,
it's not a problem.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

10, 11, 15, 16, 19, I really like.

Some of the early ones prior to 10 I find a little dark for my tastes.

Is the Snapshot-Skopar an old Voigtlander or a modern Cosina one?


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

orio your photos always makes me wanting to make a trip to northern italy:)


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow! what a great series--i feel like i travelled there myself. i didnt know you had the skopar...what a great FL for FF digital street shots. i'm curious about your thoughts on this lens. i really love it on digital, and while i enjoy it on film, i've been a little disappointed with my fiom results. i shoot it mostly hyperfocally on film and i just dont get the clarity i get from digital. its probably me, but i cant figure it out.
tony


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing series, Orio. Photos that recall memories.

I like it that you did not only show the "beautiful" sides, but also the decay which as such has a beauty in its own.

Thanks for sharing!

berraneck wrote:
orio your photos always makes me wanting to make a trip to northern italy:)


You should go there. It's definitely worth it!


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some marvellous shots in that series, Orio, but I am now getting paranoid about my monitor because they look a shade dark. Does this mean all the photos I have posted look washed out?


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing series.

The exposition looks just perfect for my eyes/monitor combo, it really gives the feel of these rainy days 'round here.

I'm looking forward to see next town.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

skida wrote:
Some marvellous shots in that series, Orio, but I am now getting paranoid about my monitor because they look a shade dark. Does this mean all the photos I have posted look washed out?


My monitor(s) are well calibrated, and I see these pictures dark, too; it's almost impossible, for instance, to detect in several points were ends the frame and starts the picture; BTW, looks obvious to me that it's a wanted choice, that adds mood to otherwise less meaningful subjects.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ultrapix wrote:
skida wrote:
Some marvellous shots in that series, Orio, but I am now getting paranoid about my monitor because they look a shade dark. Does this mean all the photos I have posted look washed out?


My monitor(s) are well calibrated, and I see these pictures dark, too; it's almost impossible, for instance, to detect in several points were ends the frame and starts the picture; BTW, looks obvious to me that it's a wanted choice, that adds mood to otherwise less meaningful subjects.


Colours, contrast and brightness are perfect here on my display!


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:


Colours, contrast and brightness are perfect here on my display!


Hopefully a screen capture is more useful than 1000 words Smile



I would say that the lower picture is "perfect" as usually said; do you see the upper one similar in exposure?


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with you, the lower one is fine but the upper looks quite dark.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

skida wrote:
I agree with you, the lower one is fine but the upper looks quite dark.


Yes, but it is supposed that it's the author choice Smile a little dark, but cool.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Guys,
thanks for the comments! I'll try to answer individually.

But first, about the "dark photos".
I have to say, that I am quite impressed by the amount of astonishment that is apparently caused by my photos;
It makes me wonder if for some this is the first time that they see a dark photo Laughing

Concern about monitor calibration is a good concern to have, so I'd like to reassure those who are concerned first.
In the guide to the galleries, I posted test images that are useful if you are in doubt
about the calibration of your monitor. I load them here too, for your convenience.
Let's begin with this first image:



In order to have your monitor decently calibrated, you must be able to distinguish all the different luminance boxes
of the image above. If you are not able to tell them all apart, you need to tweak your brightness and contrast settings.

The above image is a coarse one; enough to ensure a basic "workable" monitor.
Ideally, however, you should be able to distinguish all the levels of this following picture:



If you can't set your monitor to distinguish all the levels of the second image, don't despair: it's quite a torture test for most consumer
monitors, that do not have such a wide dynamic range. Just be content to distinguish as many as you can, and in any case
make sure that you see perfectly the first table.

About my photos: like I already said, I exposed them "for the lights". Which gergally means that I did care about the highlights,
and not so much about the shadows.
There is a main reason for that: I kept my photos dark, because it was a dark day! Wink
I don't like to artificially brighten days. I like to keep the mood of the moment, be it as it really was, or as I did feel it.

Average exposure creates average photographs.
Lapalissian? Perhaps, but also true.
Some photos benefit from an average exposure; some photos don't.
This is part of the aesthetical choices that every photographer has to make. I mean a photographer that wants to be in control.
Today's cameras are sophisticated enough to take control if you prefer them to: just activate the autopilot.
A good camera of today will give good average photographs.
If someone's idea of photography is that all photos should be average, then it's possible to go that way.
I prefer to take my choices. Smile


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first one is darker than the second one. But the subject is different, it needs to be darker to show the rainy condition.
And dark does not mean "vanished in black".

I can still see the whole tonality in the first picture of your screenshots.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio, in your diagrammes, the only thing I cannot distinguish is the 0% from the the 1% black in the second picture, third row from top on the right.
That's why I am really satisfied with my display.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

skida wrote:
I agree with you, the lower one is fine but the upper looks quite dark.


My design with photo #12 was to keep the focus (I mean the viewer's focus) on the church.
I exposed for the darker part of the sky; this underexposed by purpose the foreground, which is
not important.
Not being able to remove the cars, it was important for me that the church would stand out and
that the cars did not "take over" the church.
Exposing for the dark clouds allowed me to keep the foreground underexposed and subdued in colors,
exactly what was needed; I then used the adjustment brush in Lightroom to dodge the church.
Final touch was to add a very subtle vignetting - I didn't want it to be noticed, but it had to help the
oval structure of the composition by darkening the corners; this way, the viewer's focus falls even more
on the church.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LucisPictor wrote:
Orio, in your diagrammes, the only thing I cannot distinguish is the 0% from the the 1% black in the second picture, third row from top on the right.
That's why I am really satisfied with my display.


That's very good, Carsten. I too am able to tell all sections of picture 2 except the 0% and 1% white, third row from top Smile
I can't ask more from a 200 Euros Philips monitor, really Smile
One day I'll be able to afford a Eizo hopefully Rolling Eyes Smile