SEARCHING IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE: mountains

It's in my blood.
Since I was given my first camera, when I was a little kid, I have always been fascinated by capturing in a shot what my eyes were seeing around me. The beauty of nature or the smile of a friend, an event or an emotion... Precious pearls to be framed in a photo. Whether freezing a movement or moving the stillness, looking at normality through a different angle or portraying the exceptional, I can choose different perspectives, I can catch reality. I think this passion is in my blood, I inherited it from my Grandpa and then from my Dad, and it has always had a great influence in my life. Come and follow me in my journey searching impressions of life.

Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Waiting for the Bearded Vulture

The Bearded vulture is a magnificent bird that is luckily regaining possess of the Italian Alps. He usually feeds on carcasses of dead animals, but rather than eating meat, his diet is mainly bone marrow. It lets the bones fall on the rocks down below to break them and eat the marrow inside.

Hoping to spot, and photograph, the Bearded vulture, Gipeto in Italian, yesterday I went with some friends to a location in the Piemonte Alps. Unfortunately the wind was extremely strong and that was probably the reason the bird of prey did not show up.

Wind was particularly strong, especially as soon as we arrived...

But the trip was not totally "useless": the location was great and while waiting we were able to spot other animals worth shooting with our cameras – not to mention the "polenta and spezzatino" we had as a late lunch, when we got down to the village.

Some Chamois were looking for grass on the rocks, where there was less deposit of snow, showing their ability to climb very steep areas.

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO500 +1

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1250 +1

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO2000 +1.33

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1250 +1.33

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO320 +1

800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO800 +1.33

Also, an Alpine chough kept flying over our heads to get down every so often, looking for food. This bird has a yellow beak and bright red feet and is very similar to the less common Red-billed chough, that has both bill and feet red.

294mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO500 +1

540mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO500 +1

And before we could even realize it, a large male Alpine ibex approached us from behind the big rock structure where we had stopped, and we were able to enjoy such a wonderful close encounter, for the few minutes the animal stayed in the area before disappearing from our sight. Both Chamois and Ibex are beautiful with their thick fur during the winter season; they will shed with the approaching of spring.

400mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1250 +1.33

381mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO500 +1.33

533mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1600 +1

533mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1250

381mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO800

Both the mammals and the Chough (this one especially) are pretty dark and taking pictures of them against the white of the snow requires compensation of exposure done in a proper way. Finding the right balance is key, in order not to have too much black for the animals and not loose all the detail of the snow at the same time.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Moulton Barn

I couldn't visit one more time the Grand Teton area without stopping to take a shot at one of the most photographed landmarks in the USA. It's been photographed thousands of times and pics of this barn are published in books, calendars, postcards and appear multiple times on the web. It is said to be the most photographed barn in America and has become a symbol for the nearby town.

The Moulton barn is not very far from Jackson, Wyoming, driving towards Grand Teton National Park and taking a right on Antelope Flats Road, until you cross Mormon Row. Everything started when Thomas Alma Moulton settled in that area in 1912 to work the land, and soon family members joined and a small complex of buildings where built around Mormon Row.

There isn't only one Moulton barn, and actually the one I photographed is not the most famous of the two, but I only made it shooting this... a good excuse to go back for the other one!

I drove there with Denise in the middle of the day, to see where the place was and we took a few shots, but of course the time and light were not the best ones. So I decided to go back at dawn for a more classical scenario.

I left the lodge early, when it was still pretty dark, but I noticed the Tetons were covered by low clouds... "Not good" I thought, "the background will not be ideal", but then I thought clouds were good to make the photo more interesting and I hoped they would rise at least a little by the time the sun arrived.

I got to Mormon Row more or less 15 minutes before dawn, when ten/fifteen photographers were already setting up their tripods, studying the best composition while waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon. The Tetons were visible through the clouds, so the situation was not too bad. I wasn't thinking of finding the definite shot, something different from all the others... first of all because the barn had been photographed so many times that that was almost impossible and secondly because I kind of preferred the classic composition that's chosen most of the times. But interestingly enough, while waiting for the sun, I thought of taking a shot opposite to everybody else and I photographed the barn against the rising sun. We can discuss about it being a good choice or not and if that is a good photo of the barn, rather than just a dawn shot, but I like what came out, and it is certainly different from the majority of the shots out there.

24mm f/20 1/60sec ISO 100

After walking back to the "proper"spot – not to miss the golden moment and not to make all the other photographers mad because I would have been in their pictures ruining the shot – I took different pics until the sun was lighting the whole area.

28mm f7.1 1/500sec ISO 100 +0.33

32mm f7.1 1/125sec ISO 100 +0.33

24mm f7.1 1/200sec ISO 100 +1

Panorama shot done with Photomerge in Photoshop CC 2015, stitching 6 pics

35mm f7.1 1/200sec ISO 100 +0.33

It's been a great experience and a lot of fun. Can't wait to get back!

Monday, March 16, 2015

One of My Favorites: The Crested Tit

I love the whole family of these little birds and it's often the case you see many species together as they move in group from tree to tree: it's a joy for the eyes when that happens. And if you have your camera with you, that's even better.

These birds are very fast and it's sometimes a challenge to capture good pics, but at the same time they are faithful visitors to feeders during the cold season, and that helps to concentrate their presence and be more ready to shoot.

A few species visit my feeders at home, but that is not the habitat of the Crested tit, one of my favorites, and so I really wanted to go to this site where it would be easier to spot it and hopefully take a good shot. After many planned times last year, all postponed due to heavy snow, this time I am finally going to Switzerland to photograph this little bird, accompanied by my friend Valerio who's been there a few times already. And this time Denise is with me, too!

Once we get there, we immediately spot some birds that fly from tree to tree and once we are set with our equipment we start shooting. Coal tits, Willow tits, Great tits and Nuthatches, but finally also the Crested tit comes to the site to "pose" for some shots. It looks like only one specimen is there, but that's enough for us. It's really a beautiful bird. Enjoy...