Andrea Monti

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  • Autumn,  Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo

    The Compelling Power of Photography

    September 22, 2022 /

    This is a picture taken while a storm was coming. The wind was expected to blow at about 80 km-per-hour. It turned the sand into a myriad of micro-bullets, pricking all exposed body parts and filling the lungs. Nonetheless, a man took his chance, went to the shore and shot a picture with his smartphone. He is no professional, nor had a particular reason to do that. He just wanted to freeze a moment. This is the power of photography. p.s. Pentax K II and the DA* 50-135 2,8 went through the sandstorm brilliantly and survived without consequences.

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    Andrea Monti

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    A Lonely Table

    March 8, 2015

    The Silent Dialog

    August 31, 2013

    Lost In Barcelona’s Beauty

    June 13, 2014
  • Autumn,  Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Photography

    Not AI-made…

    September 17, 2022 /

    The colour rendition of a photo taken with a Pentax (camera and lens) is unique. Taste is personal, and so is this opinion. One thing, however, is sure: the pictorial look of this photography is not made by an ‘AI’.

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Way Out

    October 20, 2013

    The Expired Film Series – Episode 2 – Ilford XP2Super 400 – Nov. 2017 shot in May 2023

    July 25, 2023

    Negrita’s Cover Band

    September 19, 2013
  • B&W,  Beach&Shores,  Daily photo,  People

    On Photography and Self-Delusion

    September 4, 2022 /

    Only travelling abroad gets exotic photos. No need to travel overseas to get unusual images. Shoot digital is the only way ‘to stay in the moment’. Going retro with film is the only way to stay ‘in the moment’. Get the latest gear you can find. No, use the cheapest stuff because photography is about the man, not the machine. Do not post process, do post process. Shoot colour; no shoot B&W. Use Midformat, no full-frame, no APS-C, no smartphone-size sensors… The list of advice coming from (self-professed) experts, journalists (most often, web content editors with no editorial clearance), and ‘seasoned’ (wannabe) photographers could grow forever.More often than not, these…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Bulbs

    January 12, 2015

    Different Paths

    December 26, 2012

    She Died Alone

    February 15, 2022
  • B&W,  Beach&Shores,  Daily photo,  Winter

    Beach Party

    January 22, 2022 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    One Shot (Plus One) Story – All That Lasts

    April 19, 2025

    Shoes’ Meeting in Corso Vittorio

    March 12, 2014

    A Sad Cat in a Neko Cafè

    August 5, 2018
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Sun Worshipers

    January 3, 2022 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Access Denied

    June 1, 2015

    A Zen Garden?

    February 22, 2014

    London in Motion: A Night Ride in a Single Frame

    October 26, 2016
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Seasons,  Winter

    Gliding Away

    December 21, 2021 /

    I caught this shot as the gull moved past me, wings stretched in an elegant curve, pulling away from the frame almost as quickly as I brought the camera to my eye. Tracking birds in flight with the DA* 50-135 on the K-3 II is always a test of reflexes and technique, especially when the background is a shifting plane of textured water. The lens handled the contrast well, keeping the bird distinct enough from the muted greens and greys of the sea, though the fine detail in the wingtips fell just short of crisp — a reminder that a fractionally faster shutter speed might have been the better choice.…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Access Denied

    June 1, 2015

    Pipes in Colour

    May 1, 2015

    Pillars

    January 29, 2015
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Seasons,  Winter

    Waiting for the Fish

    December 18, 2021 /

    There’s a particular kind of pleasure in using the Pentax K-3 II paired with the DA* 50-135mm f/2.8—a combination that rewards patience much like the fisherman in this frame. The lens’s rendering and microcontrast gave me exactly what I wanted here: a clean separation between subject and background without the look feeling forced. The weather was brooding, the horizon hazy, and the colours naturally muted, so the camera’s sensor, with its well-known dynamic range, had plenty of tonal nuance to work with. The man in the red hoodie became my obvious focal point—a striking colour contrast against the cooler palette of sea and sky. His posture, hands clasped behind his…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Yet Another WDISF Post

    May 5, 2024

    Between Two Sets

    May 15, 2014

    Waiting For A Customer To Come

    July 27, 2014
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Seasons,  Winter

    Should I Seat?

    December 15, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Next Time, Maybe…

    January 12, 2014

    Waiting for the Shinkansen – 2

    June 30, 2017

    A (Tokyo) Taxi Driver

    June 17, 2018
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People

    Man in Trenchcoat

    November 20, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Chess Players

    October 10, 2013

    Good Idea

    January 31, 2014

    Deadly Bored

    January 6, 2020
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Lines

    Barbarians At the Beach

    August 30, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Beach Party

    January 22, 2022

    Dark Omen

    December 31, 2021

    Too Noisy

    May 24, 2013
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    A ‘Trabocco’ on the Adriatic Sea

    April 20, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Shooting an Outdoor Volleyball Match

    June 19, 2025

    Trespassed

    May 3, 2015

    A Modern Orpheus

    November 24, 2015
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  People,  Technique

    Using a 1960 Leica Elmarit 90/2,8 on a Fuji X-T3

    April 5, 2021 /

    In short The Leica Elmarit 90/2,8 works flawlessly on a Fujifilm X-T3, also with third-party adapters having no electronic connection with the camera. It provides excellent results, notwithstanding its age. Using this lens for street photography requires using focus-peaking or zone focus. In this latter case, proper training is necessary to correctly assess the distance from the subject. Image quality On the X-T3 the lens preserves its unique identity. Its colour rendering gives pictures a distinctive ‘retro’ character. The Elmarit shows an excellent resolving power: thin lines are visible and well defined. Chromatic aberration is visible at F2,8. It disappears from F4 and ahead. Anyway, the lens profile is well…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Waiting Chairs

    May 21, 2015

    The Lost Church

    July 16, 2014

    Footprints

    May 19, 2013
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  Technique

    In praise of ‘cheap’ lenses for ‘pro’ works

    April 4, 2021 /

    Full disclosure: I have no relationship with Viltrox. I purchased the lenses with my own money and did not receive any request to write this post. I have recently discovered Viltrox, a Chinese manufacturer of lenses for the Fujifilm X-system. I am using the AF 85/1,8 II XF and the AF 56/1,4 XF and I am very satisfied by their performance. They are very good for ‘professional’ sessions, however, there are many online reviews that snobbishly rate these lenses as ‘amateur’, ‘non-professional’ or ‘first time portrait photography enthusiasts’ grade. I think that these reviews are unfair and here is why: What does ‘better’ mean? It is a known fact that…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Inside The Clocktower

    August 22, 2015

    Mir-20 20mm 3.5 on a Pentax K1-II – A Field Test

    January 18, 2025

    The Sorcerer’s Shop

    November 1, 2016
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Seasons,  Spring

    Footprints

    March 27, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Evening Chat

    July 30, 2013

    Tesla Coils@Boston Science Museum

    July 4, 2023

    Quis custodies

    January 26, 2013
  • B&W,  Beach&Shores,  Daily photo,  People

    Zombies

    March 4, 2021 /

    It was one of those winter mornings where the fog doesn’t just obscure — it swallows. Standing on the shoreline with the Nikon D610 and my trusty Nikkor 105mm f/2.5, I could barely see ten metres ahead. Figures emerged slowly from the haze, walking towards me in silence, their features lost in the grey void. The effect was unsettling enough that, reviewing the shots later, I couldn’t help but think of a scene from a low-budget horror film — the title wrote itself. Technically, this photograph is a study in embracing limitation. Autofocus in such conditions is almost pointless, and it wasn’t a problem since the lens is full-manual; I…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Belgian Chocolate – Neuhaus

    November 16, 2015

    Avid Readers

    November 19, 2014

    What a odd couple of bipedals…

    February 26, 2013
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Uninterested

    March 2, 2021 /

    No glance. No nod. Just two people moving through the same space, as if the other didn’t exist. This was taken on a beach that should have felt wide open, maybe even freeing—but something about the moment made it feel small, enclosed. The boy looks down at his phone. The girl walks past him, eyes fixed forward. Neither slows. Neither turns. They’re metres apart, yet orbiting separate worlds. I didn’t ask for this scene. It unfolded on its own. A brief choreography of disconnection. Their postures say enough: one drawn into a screen, the other into her own stride. There’s no hostility here—just absence. A quiet kind of loneliness, the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Hanging Clothes

    February 18, 2014

    The Driver

    August 8, 2015

    The Quest for Belgian Chocolate…

    April 11, 2017
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Pensive

    February 26, 2021 /

    Manual focus needs practice. This photo would have been better if I framed also the top of the cabin and focused better the person.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Counter-intuitive Focus

    February 9, 2020

    Framed

    November 26, 2015

    Just a soccer match…

    May 15, 2013
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Travels,  Winter

    Hope after the Storm

    January 8, 2020 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Common Fate

    November 15, 2013

    Empty Spaces

    May 23, 2014

    Footprints in the Snow

    December 25, 2012
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Summer

    Learning to Fly

    August 23, 2018 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Yes, We…Can

    May 16, 2014

    Italy, Landscape Photography and the Law – Part Two

    February 23, 2014

    A Puff of Smoke

    August 29, 2013
  • B&W,  Beach&Shores,  Daily photo,  Winter

    The Flying Dutchman… a sort of

    March 19, 2017 /

    I made this shot standing at the edge of a small harbour after midnight, the kind of hour where everything becomes abstract unless it’s lit. The boat, isolated and slightly listing, sat in complete stillness, half-moored, half-abandoned. It wasn’t moving, but it didn’t feel settled either. That in-betweenness is what caught my attention. The frame leaned heavily on underexposure—on purpose. I wanted the boat to emerge from the blackness like a memory, not an object. I metered for the faintest highlights and let the rest fall into noise and void. What the image lacks in tonal range, it gains in atmosphere. The blacks are thick, the shadows granular, and the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Falling Tree

    May 8, 2014

    Running On The (Oslo’s) Docks

    September 28, 2014

    The Way Out

    October 20, 2013
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Landscape,  Winter

    Settled in the wrong place

    January 11, 2017 /

    There’s a jolt in seeing something so deeply tied to heat and aridity draped in snow. The prickly pear cactus, its fleshy paddles dusted white, looks almost embarrassed – as if caught wearing the wrong clothes for the season. This is a photograph about displacement, but not in a melodramatic sense; rather, it’s a quiet document of the absurdities nature sometimes hands us. From a compositional standpoint, the image benefits from its layered structure. The cactus dominates the foreground on the left, its irregular shapes and textures pulling the viewer in. Mid-ground, a smaller shrub offers a softer counterpoint, while the horizon – faint and blurred – separates the white…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Red Cross

    October 26, 2017

    Saturday Night’s Ice Cream

    August 19, 2013

    Who Can It Be Now?

    February 18, 2016
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Winter

    Where Are Skilifts Supposed to Be?

    January 7, 2017 /

    I took this photograph on a surreal winter morning when the Adriatic coastline had been transformed into something closer to the Alps than a seaside promenade. The skier, moving steadily away from me, became the anchor for the scene — his posture calm, almost resigned, as though he knew full well there would be no skilifts waiting for him ahead. From a compositional standpoint, I wanted the perspective lines to work hard here. The lamp posts, the pavement edges, even the faint ski tracks converge toward the centre, guiding the eye deeper into the image. The figure is positioned just off-centre, allowing the street to breathe while still holding the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Gas Station Attendant

    November 11, 2013

    The Elders’ Council

    June 29, 2013

    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Italian Anthem (and a primer on sport photography, part 1)

    September 22, 2015
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    Happy New Year

    January 1, 2017 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    An Intense Conversation

    October 9, 2013

    Is AI-generated art actually killing ‘real’ Art?

    September 16, 2022

    The Coach

    December 9, 2018
  • Beach&Shores,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    Unkempt

    December 4, 2015 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Interplay

    December 22, 2016

    The Photo I Didn’t Shoot

    June 8, 2013

    Hi-Tech Temptation

    June 27, 2015
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