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Colour, Daily photo, Downtown, Nagasaki, Osaka, Photography, Streets&Squares, Thoughts, Tokyo, Travels, Yokohama
Why You Should Only Shoot in Your Backyard (or ‘The Art of Belonging’)
What do these pictures have in common (apart from having been taken in various places in Japan)? No, they don’t have the same look and feel, composition or use of light, nor they convey a particular meaning. What they have in common is that they’re just dull and boring —meaningless, indeed. This picture of the Yokohama’s Chinatown Dragon is hardly different than the others available on the Internet. Initially published on 35mmc.com It shares a similar fate with this one, taken last Mid November in Osaka, and, as Google Lens mercylessly shows, with this one, shot in Omura, near Nagasaki. One can hardly say that this is a never-seen-before view of Tokyo’s Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens, or of…
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5 frames with a Voigtländer Bessa R2, a Nokton 35/1,4 and a roll of an expired Kodak Portra 160
Tevere, the river that divides Rome in two, is one of my favourite places. No matter how much chaos there is in the ‘high places’: walking along the banks of the river puts you in another dimension, where time has no meaning and the pace slows down – Initially published on 35mmc.com Anchored boats stand still, in stark contrast to the fast-moving streets, crowded with cars, bicycles, pedestrians and tourists who have returned in droves once the pandemic is over. This is obviously a mirror image, but it looks as if it has been projected onto a digital screen. And here is what was mirrored: There are a lot of…
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The Expired Film Series – Episode 6 – Kodak Portra 400 – November 2016 shot in Sept. 2023
This is the sixth episode in a series documenting the use of expired film in various contexts. Episode 6 features a Kodak Portra 400 shot with a Nikon F4 and a Nikkor 105 F2 defocus at the dock of Pescara. The film was not overexposed, was processed with Affinity Photo 2.
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The Expired Film Series – Episode 5 – Kodak Tri X 400 – September 2015 shot in Sept. 2023
This is the fifth episode in a series documenting the use of expired film in various contexts. Episode 5 features a Kodak Tri-x 400 shot with a Yashica Zoomate 105 at the Marina di Pescara. The film was not overexposed, was processed with Darktable’s Negadoctor module and finalised with Pixelmator Pro. The results are not, by far, definitive.
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5 frames with the (much awaited) Ferrania P33, a Nikon F3 and a Nikkor 50 F2
I managed to grab a few rolls of the very first batch of Ferrania’s brand new P33 film, so I wasted no time in putting it to work with a Nikon F3 and the glorious Nikkor 50 f2. I won’t go into the technical details of this film, firstly because I can’t claim to be an authority on the subject, and secondly because Ferrania’s website has plenty of information. There is only one thing to know: the canister is not DX-coded, so shooting is only possible in full manual mode. This may change in the future, but for now this is the state of the art. Finally, a transparency note:…
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A Hellish Look
It is quite common these days to see images of various kinds using the facade of a building as a screen. In the case of government or state buildings, a flag appears out of nowhere after dusk.The overall effect is quite spectacular, especially in Italy where the palaces of power are beautiful works of art. However, when photographed with a narrow field of view, the result can be disturbing, as in this case, where the building looks more like some sort of hell embassy.It wouldn’t be strange, though: doesn’t the Pope live on the other side of the Tevere River?
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5 (improbable) Frames with a roll of Ferrania Orto and a Nikon 35TI
The photographer is a peculiar type of social being, characterised by a ‘rules are meant to be broken’ attitude in the search for the perfect exposure. So, sooner or later, all the dogmas about composition, hyperfocal, zone system, rule of thirds, etc. will be put aside to try something ‘different’. This is what happened with these five images, taken at night in Piazza Venezia and Via Salaria in Rome with a Ferrania Orto on a Nikon 35TI; a rather strange choice given the inherent limitations of an orthocromatic film and a 2,8 35mm lens of a compact camera in this scenario. Against all odds the 35TI performed well (especially in…
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Iphone 15 Billboard in Via XX Settembre
This is an attempt to exploit the limitations of an orthocromatic film. Shadows and highlights were deliberately pushed, as was the contrast. This isn’t about the billboard. Not really. Yes, there’s a giant child smiling over Rome, her face stretched across several metres of vinyl, captured “with an iPhone 15,” if we’re to believe the tagline. She’s luminous, playful, part of a campaign you’ve probably already seen before you’ve even looked at it. But the photograph is something else. This was shot on orthocromatic film—intentionally. Shadows are carved in deeper than they should be. Highlights flare and collapse detail. The tonal scale isn’t flattering, and it isn’t faithful. It’s limited.…
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A jam in via Alessandria
Taking pictures with a fully manual camera is a way to keep practising the basics. Honestly, I would not use a film camera for a professional assignment —at least, not as the main one— but it’s worth doing it in a less challenging condition.As per the technicalities, waiting for the next batch of Ferrania Orto to arrive, I resorted to a Kodak Tri-X 400 roll, which is my favourite film at these ISOs.
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Red Beam
Night photography has always been an exercise in restraint and patience. The camera sees differently than the human eye after dark — more unforgiving, more literal. This frame, taken with a Fuji X-T4 paired with the Viltrox XF 85/1.8, is my attempt to balance that literalness with the suggestion of stillness. The subject is minimal: a breakwater crowned by a small red beacon, its reflection trembling down the harbour water. Compositionally, it’s brutally simple — the light dead-centre, symmetry imposed on a chaotic environment. There’s an honesty to the stark framing; nothing distracts from the red flare and its molten trail on the surface. Technically, the exposure was a delicate…
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A Lighthouse
Another example of how the Viltrox XF 56/1.4 performs in very low light.To be honest, the Fuji X-T4’s X-Trans sensor played its part.
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Modern Moai?
Still pushing the Viltrox AF 56/1,4 XF on a Fuji X-T4.The limit has not been reached just yet.
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Floating
Another shot taken with the Viltrox 56/1,4 XF and a Fuji X-T4.
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Sailing Home
The quality of the Viltrox 56 1/4 XF never ceases to amaze me.This image was taken with an X-T4 at ISO1600, so the quality of the sensor plays a significant role in the overall result. However, as the lens is not supported in Affinity Photo 2, the image is wysiwyg in the sense that no profile-based corrections have been applied.
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From Waltham to Boston
‘From Waltham to Boston’, an offshoot of a bigger project on documenting Boston’s pulse, is now available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book.
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Hidden in Plain Sight. A Japanese Journey
Although I have a lot of pictures from my various trips to Japan, organising them into a book is a challenge. The photos themselves are good enough to deserve publication. However, most of them are affected by a ‘déjà-vu’ effect. People on the subway, crowded crossroads, striking contrasts between modernity and the past, or between rural areas and highly urbanised ones, pop culture vs. business culture… no matter how hard I try, every single photo gives the feeling that someone has already done it. I am neither an anthropologist nor an expert on Japanese society, so I have no reasonable explanation for this feeling. Perhaps it is simply a matter…
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UnortORTOdox (Ferrania)
This is an unorthodox use of an orthochromatic film (namely, Ferrania Orto.) It is not supposed to be the first choice for reportage or travel photography, but rules are made to be broken, aren’t they? As per the photo, it was taken in North End, Boston’s Little Italy.
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A Maserati GranTurismo
Another piece of Italy in Boston…
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A Ferrari 812 GTS in Boston
Amid the urban thrum of a bustling boulevard in Boston, a Ferrari 812 GTS rests with theatrical poise, like a tenor waiting for the curtain to rise. Its rosso corsa bodywork catches the sun like a blade, slicing through the cluttered backdrop of imitation, of diluted Italian flair printed onto shirts, menus, slogans. But here—here is the real thing. This image captures more than automotive power. It embodies the burden and brilliance of authenticity in a world obsessed with mimicry. The Ferrari’s uncompromising lines, forged in Maranello, don’t shout. They assert. In contrast to the busy street and distracted passers-by, the car is still, composed, sovereign. It doesn’t need motion…
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A Cornhole Board – Independence Day Edition
I took this photograph in Boston on July 4th, and for me, it captures a small but telling fragment of the day’s celebrations. No fireworks, no parade—just a simple cornhole board dressed in the American flag, surrounded by scattered red and blue beanbags on a sunlit brick pavement. It’s an image that speaks to the quieter, more tactile traditions that sit alongside the grand spectacle. Compositionally, I let the board occupy the upper right of the frame, its diagonal placement adding a sense of movement and inviting the viewer’s eye from the legs toward the target hole. The wooden box in the foreground balances the frame and anchors the bottom…
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Tesla Coils@Boston Science Museum
Capturing a Tesla coil mid-discharge is less about speed and more about timing. The arcs of electricity, chaotic and brief, demand an intuitive trigger finger and a dose of luck. I didn’t want the image to become a science illustration; I wanted it to hold some tension between spectacle and control, between the purity of mathematics and the danger of raw power. The coils themselves form a natural anchor in the bottom third of the frame, giving structure to what would otherwise be an abstract burst of energy. I shot through a safety mesh, letting it subtly ghost across the image, a reminder of the physical danger involved in what…
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Powermeters
This photo was taken with an Ilford XP2 Super 400, a Voigtländer Bessa R2 and a Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4 II lens. The film was digitised using a Pentax K-1 and a Pentax FA 100/2.8 Marco mounted on a custom-built rig. The resulting raw was processed in Affinity Photo. In Develop Persona, first the image was turned in black and white, then the master curve was intverted and finally exposure, contrast and other parameters were tweaked.
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Editing a photo taken with a Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar and a Fuji X-T3
A vintage Carl Zeiss Jena 135/4 Sonnar whose RF mount has been replaced with a Fuji X mount by Adriano Lolli (https://www.adrianololli.com).Coupled with a Fuji X-T3, it delivers pleasant results. Post production is highly subjective, so the final outcome might no be ‘acceptable’ to some taste. Still, the lens is very good.
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Floating
This image was born out of a fascination with stillness in the midst of implied movement. The mannequin — suspended, curled, caught in an almost foetal position — seems to drift within a capsule that looks as though it could be orbiting somewhere far beyond Earth. The large, circular light behind it could be a porthole, a hatch, or simply a stage light; its blinding white obscures what might be beyond, giving the scene a surreal, detached quality. Technically, the biggest challenge was exposure. The extreme contrast between the brilliant backlight and the darker figure risked losing detail on both ends. I chose to protect the highlights, letting the shadows…
