May's newsletter is here, full of contents & new images: let's dig in immediately...
VIERI BOTTAZZINI FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY 2.0: A SUCCESS!
AND NOW, MORE CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS AWAIT...
The changes implemented on
VIERI BOTTAZZINI FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY starting last April 3, 2013 have been very well received, thank you very much for your positive feedback! After last month's changes on the business side of things, now one last step is left: improving the website's overall browsing experience. To help me do so, I am asking you for one more click: take this One-Question survey and let me know how you like your photographs to be displayed (survey ends on May 5th, 2013). Thank you!
NEW BLOG ARTICLES
April has been the month with the highest blog activity so far. Here the main articles I posted last month:
- F/4 OR F/2.8? THE NIKON 70-200MM LENSES COMPARED!
The 70 or 80mm to 200mm has always been one of the most important zoom lenses in the bag of professional and amateur photographers alike. Nikon recently released its 70-200mm f/4 VR to complement their legendary 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II. How does the new lens perform, and how does it fare compared to its faster sibling? Read MY COMPARATIVE REVIEW, full of images and comparison samples to find out all about the new lens and its performance!
The AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G ED VR
- SIGMA BREAKS THE f2.8 LIGHT BARRIER FOR ZOOMS: ENTER THE 18-35MM f1.8! SOME REFLECTIONS ON APS vs. FF
Sigma recently announced a revolutionary new zoom lens, the 18-35mm f/1.8: breaking the f/2.8 barrier for APS-sensor cameras zooms, this is as well the first constant f1.8 zoom lens ever designed for any camera system. Will this lens further close the gap between full-frame DSLR and APS sensor cameras? Read my thoughts in THIS ARTICLE to find out!
- STREET SHOOTING: GRIPS & VIEWFINDERS FOR THE DP MERRILLS
With the DP1, DP2 and DP3 Merrill Sigma offered a trio of fixed-focal length, ultra high-quality compact cameras that produce amazing results under certain conditions (controlled light shooting, landscape, fine arts). What if you wanted to put these great little cameras to a good use as street shooters? With the right accessories and using them properly, you definitely can. See my take on it in THIS ARTICLE!
V, Istanbul 2013
And now, enough with all these articles on equipment: let's leave some room to new images! Finally, the first Death Valley's artworks are ready and available; see the next two blog posts for more news on this wonderful location...
- 20 MULE CANYON, THE LESSER KNOWN DEATH VALLEY
Overwhelmed by the more spectacular locations that Death Valley has to offer, few people dedicate more than a passing look to 20 Mule Canyon. However, there is a lot of beauty hidden in there too, if you stop and look for it. Read my impressions and check out new artworks in THIS ARTICLE!
20 Mule Canyon, Death Valley 2013
- DEATH VALLEY: THE RACETRACK
One of Death Valley's most spectacular locations, hidden in one of its remotest spots, The Racetrack and it mysteriously moving rocks are an impressive sight and an amazing place to just go and see - let alone photograph. My thoughts and some of my images of The Racetrack are in THIS ARTICLE!
The Race, Death Valley 2013
NEW GALLERY
As you have already gathered from the news above, I created and published my long awaited DEATH VALLEY gallery, featuring 30 artworks already and counting. As always, these newly added artworks are for sale in all my regular series (starting from $119 US); personally printed and signed one by one in-house on wonderful archival acid-free Hahnemuhle paper, they come with your choice of paper (Matte, Glossy) and finish (Stand-Alone, Matted or Framed). No matter what size or finish you chose, they all carry my unique 6-POINTS WARRANTY and come with a signed hologram-based Certificate of Authenticity. Here a few more images from this new gallery. First, "Badwater's reflections, I":
Then, "Devil's Cornfield & Mesquite Dunes, I":
And finally "Crossing paths, III":
PRINT OF THE MONTH
May's Print Of The Month is online! Available for the whole month in the PRELUDIO, SONATA & SINFONIA series, personally printed and signed one by one in-house on wonderful archival acid-free Hahnemuhle paper, the Print Of The Month comes with your choice of paper (Matte or Glossy) and finish (Stand-Alone or Matted). Starting from $99 US, the Print Of The Month carries my unique 6-POINTS WARRANTY and a signed hologram-based Certificate of Authenticity. This month's print is "Prehistoric fires", out of my IRELAND gallery:
Prehistoric fires, Ireland 2012
Read below for the usual "behind-the-scene" of this image.
SHOOTING MAY'S PRINT OF THE MONTH
Ireland's wonderful landscapes and millenary history are incredibly fascinating to me, and the more so when they get together as they do in the Burren, a limestone desert that extends for various square miles on Ireland's west coast. Despite its very unwelcoming appearance, the Burren hosted life for millennia; signs of the various civilisations that followed one another here are still very visible in the abundant archeological and historical remains: Dolmen, passage tombs, dilapidated abbeys and churches, and so on. Among all these, Poulnabrone Dolmen is one of the most elegant and beautiful Dolmen not just in Ireland but all over the world. When I got there, as I always do, I started working by exploring the location in daytime:
The clouds at play and the elegant shape of the Dolmen made for a very good composition; after my first survey, I was hoping for something great when I came again around sunset. After setting up for the shot, I waited for the setting sun to paint the clouds and the Dolmen red. As often happens in Ireland, fast moving clouds were playing tricks on me, and they didn't give me the burning red sky that I pre-figured during my daytime exploration. They gave me something better, though. The sun painted just the clouds right over the Dolmen, as if it was on fire:
Prehistoric fires, Ireland 2012
When I pressed the shutter, I knew already this was my shot for the day. After bagging this image, I kept waiting and as the sunset turned to dusk I changed my composition and got one more image, much less dramatic: the pastel colours of dusk and a wider composition made for a much more peaceful, intimate view of this wonderful site:
Poulnabrone, Ireland 2012
Now to the technical stuff. How to approach a shoot like this? Well, first of all there is the (in)famous irish weather to deal with; even in July, evenings are cool (sometimes even chilly), and you should always be prepared for rain. Dressing in layers is always the best option if you want to enjoy your shooting experience rather than freezing off, as are sturdy, water-proof boots. Equipment: for this shot, I wanted to portray the Dolmen in a dramatic perspective, shooting it from a very low viewpoint. Therefore, a wide-angle was my lens of choice for the Print Of The Month, mounted on the fabulous D800E. A sturdy tripod and head, together with my preferred set of filters (Singh-Ray polariser and Grad-ND filters), did the rest of the job.
This is it for May's Print Of The Month: if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!
SPECIAL OFFER FOR SUBSCRIBERS
This month, to reward your patience in waiting for my DEATH VALLEY images, I decided to offer you an amazing 20% off on ALL images in my DEATH VALLEY gallery! Use the coupon below at check-out to redeem:
DVS@VBFAP$0513
(Offer valid until May 31, 2013 for ALL images in the Death Valley gallery. No limitations on repeated use)
OK, this is about it for this May's issue of my monthly newsletter, thank you very much for reading so far! Until next month,
Vieri
