A farmhouse in Tuscany or why a photograph is never cheap
A dream came true
At some point, the dream came true: I married the most amazing woman in the world and we went on our honeymoon to Tuscany.
There were so many days of travel and stories to tell that they could fill a small book.
One of them has to do with how I took this particular photo, near the beautiful town of Pienza.
Of course, I'm not just talking about the "click."
The process before making the image
Behind every photo I dream of taking, there is a whole process that must be followed:
Researching the location before I even get on the plane.
Marking the exact pins on an offline map, with pinpoint accuracy. Printed map also in hand.
Using specialized apps, such as TPE, to get a feel for the shadows, and Windy, to get a rough idea of the chances of cloud coverage, rain, snow etc.
Deciding which day is best to go, combining as best as possible all the other -countless- places I want to visit and photograph each time.
The time "window" when I will take the picture.
The weather conditions for the day and time I plan to be there.
The route I need to follow to get to the shooting location.
Roughly the shot and frame I want to create. A sketch may be helpful.
The equipment I will use:
Camera
Lens
Tripod
Filters
Plan B, in case one of the calculations does not work out.
So, in this case too, after all this preparation had been done and the day of shooting had arrived, I drove to the exact spot I had planned in advance.
Things to consider under the clouds
Needless to say, I immediately encountered a small problem. Because I Cipressini is a fantastic place to stay (although quite expensive for my taste), on Friday afternoon when I got there, the parking lot next to it was full of cars. This would ruin the symmetrical frame I had in mind, so I had to quickly come up with a solution. The sun was already low, and the golden hour does not forgive delays. The solution I found, which in my opinion improved on the original idea, was to set up my frame so that the discreet nameplate would hide the cars.
Canon ready to roll.
You can see the cars just above the sign.
The first thing that needed attention was choosing the right aperture. I needed a relatively large aperture so that everything around my subject would be in focus, but not so large that there would be a risk of diffraction. Also, good bracketing was necessary to bring out all the details in the dark and light areas of the frame.
The other element of the photograph I wanted to include was the movement of the clouds, if there were any, or the lights of cars or people, if there were no clouds. Fortunately, the clouds were there, which meant that I would use a different exposure for the sky in order to capture the movement.
Finally, the hue of the setting sun needed to be visible. At that moment, the classic golden hour glow was intense everywhere for about 15 minutes, but the long exposure revealed a pink-purple hue on the moving clouds that perfectly matched the blue Tuscan sky.
*Tip: Always check the details of your image on your camera screen at high zoom. It's terribly disappointing to return to your computer only to discover that you were out of focus.
Culling and editing order in Lightroom
Once the shot came out the way I wanted it, it was time to edit. At the office, in front of Adobe Lightroom, I first selected the shots I would use for editing (the culling process is a whole new chapter when it comes to editing).
Let's take a quick look at the editing steps I took in this particular case and in which order.
Lens Corrections
Crop - Transform
Fix Temperature
Fix Tint
Exposure
Shadows - Black
Highlights
Saturation - Vibration
Tone Curve
Point Colors
Color Mixer - Grading
Calibration
Sky mask
Other Masks
Selective Edits (Texture - Clarity - Dehaze etc)
Details (Color Noise - Luminance)
Sharpening - Export
*Tip: It is a good idea to allow sufficient time to pass before you begin sorting and editing your photos. The excitement of traveling and visiting places you've been looking forward to, doesn't really help. You need to be as objective as possible for the culling and editing process.
“That’s my idea of heaven.”
In the near future, I will write many posts about the experience of being a photographer and wandering around the magical landscapes of Tuscany, not knowing where to stop first.
Having a specific plan and schedule helps with images like the one I'm showing you here, but spontaneity often helps too. Just 10 minutes earlier, I met this couple in love on the side of the road, enjoying the sunset...
This post is a good reminder to all those out there who don't understand why "photographers' prices are so high"…
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