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Dear Your first name / Il tuo nome,
Welcome to my April Newsletter!
ON THE BLACK SEA
I have been living in Istanbul, Turkey for many years now, but interestingly enough I always planned my photographic expeditions abroad. While traveling the world is definitely not bad, I felt I have been neglecting Turkey, a beautiful country on its own right, so recently I decided to turn my attention to it. Last month, I went twice to the Turkish Black Sea coast, looking for images on the stretch of coast between Kerpe and Kefken: the coast was as beautiful as I expected from my researches; however, I have to say it was heartbreaking to see how the heavy hand of man ruined this beautiful stretch of coast. Beaches full of garbage, rocks defaced by writings and engravings, unfinished constructions right on the waterfront definitely put me in a somber mood and made me loose a bit of faith towards my fellow man's ability to preserve our environment.
Still, having the patience to look between and beyond all the garbage and defacing, one can still find amazing rock formations and stretch of beautiful landscapes to enjoy and photograph: the result of my wanderings along the Black Sea's coast are in my newly published portfolio ON THE BLACK SEA for you to enjoy.
Click to see The Eagle Rock, III (Turkey, 2014)
Click to see Geometries, I (Turkey, 2014)
Click to see The Pink Rocks, II (Turkey, 2014)
Click to have a look at my ON THE BLACK SEA portfolio to see the rest of the images, and indulge yourself with a beautiful Fine Art print, whether in signed, numbered and certified Limited Edition (starting from $195 US) or in Open Edition (starting from just $45 US) - or go all in with the new, exclusive Museum Exclusive Limited Edition (see PURCHASE INFORMATION for more details)!
NEW POSTERS
As usual, this month I published 10 new POSTERS for you to enjoy: offering image quality, longevity and color persistency not seen on any other poster on the market, my POSTERS are printed on Hahnemuhle Fine Art papers and are available in two different formats (Small and Medium), ready to be framed and hanged on your walls. POSTERS are for sale starting from just $30 US. Here are three of the ten new POSTERS I just added:
Click to see The Pink Rocks, I (Turkey, 2014)
SHOOTING THE PRINT OF THE MONTH
Shooting on the Turkish coast of Black Sea is a mixed experience; while it can be very rewarding on a photographical level, it has been hard to see how man ruined what was an amazing natural environment out of greed and, I am sorry to say, sheer lack of respect for nature and for our fellow man.
As far as preparation and organisation, the Black Sea's coast geology and weather require a few precautions to be enjoyed safely and comfortably. Due to the ever-present rains, its clay-rich ground can turn into very slippery mud which can be a problem both for driving on unpaved roads and for hiking. Its rocks are a mix of volcanic, basaltic black rock and sedimentary rocks; while the first are very sturdy and grippy under the shoes, the latter are much less to be trusted, are friable and crumbly and can give way under your feet. The weather can change very quickly, wind is always a possibility and in spring the temperature drops abruptly once the sun is gone. As always, I suggest you to dress in layers, be ready for rain and wear sturdy shoes or even better hiking boots with rubber, anti-slip soles. Last, watch for possible sudden bad weather and strong seas, both characteristic features of the Black Sea, which can surprise you when far from your car or hotel.
Now to the shoot itself. To get the composition I had in mind, I choose a wide angle lens to help me get all the basaltic rocks and the Pink Rocks in the frame:
Click to see The Pink Rocks, I (Turkey, 2014)
I thus equipped my Sigma SD1 Merrill with the 8-16mm (12-24mm equivalent) and set it to 12mm (18mm equivalent); I then calculated my focus distance & F/stop in order to get both the rocks in the foreground and the Pink Rocks in the background in focus; I then added a Grad ND to balance exposure between sea and sky, and finally a ND filter to lengthen my exposure to the 15 seconds I needed in order to get the mood I was after, rendering the fast-moving clouds as lines pointing to the Pink Rocks.
OK, this is about it for this month's shooting! If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to contact me.
OUT THERE ON THE NET
Let's see what caught my attention this last month on the net, outside of the usual photographers-only stuff which I'll spare you:
THE DAILY ROUTINES OF FAMOUS WRITERS
I am a big fan of working discipline: I think that no matter how much talent one has, without the help of a solid working discipline one will never amount to much in his or her field. Since I believe this to be true for people engaged in any activity, no matter what, being it any form of art or any human endeavour in general, I think that reading what people in fields different than mine or yours do or did can help us tremendously to improve our working discipline, saving us time and bringing us to express our to potential to the best of our abilities.
Writers are a really interesting bunch of people when it comes to working discipline and daily working habits: read all in this article on brainpickings.org: THE DAILY ROUTINES OF FAMOUS WRITERS
OK, this is about it for today, thank you very much for reading this far! Until next month,
Vieri
| VIERI BOTTAZZINI FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY | MY BLOG |
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