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  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Spring

    One Shot (Plus One) Story – All That Lasts

    April 19, 2025 /

    These three bags of rubble are all that remains of a ‘renovated’ building. By chance, though, I took a photo of the building as it was being demolished. The difference in the colours of the rooms caught my attention. I wondered why people had chosen to paint each room in different colours. Maybe the blue was for the children? And the green was for the kitchen? And what about the red and the yellow? These colours tell the story of a family, a story that just ended when their home was demolished. I don’t know if the inhabitants have simply sold the house and moved elsewhere, or what they have done…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Alex Britti – Live@Cinema teatro Massimo – Pescara

    April 3, 2016

    Tired or Fascinated?

    October 21, 2013

    Shooting an Outdoor Volleyball Match

    June 19, 2025
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear

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

    January 18, 2025 /

    Photographing with a 20mm lens is quite demanding on the eye, as the composition has to take into account many more objects than with a normal prime or telephoto lens. As a result, it is very easy to get meaningless ‘postcard-like’ images. Not having used such a lens before, I certainly fall into the latter category, so the following photos (possibly, but only one) only serve to show some of the optical features of the lens – Initially published on 35mmc.com Resolution Despite its age (the lens was marketed between 1973 and 1996), the optical resolution is not bad. In this image, apart from the chromatic aberration, you can clearly…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Smoke is everywhere…

    February 21, 2013

    The Teleferic de Montjiuc

    May 28, 2014

    Italy, Landscape Photography and the Law – Part Two

    February 23, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Streets&Squares,  Winter

    One Shot Story: Behind the Fence

    January 3, 2025 /

    There is nothing special about this photo in itself, but when placed in context, it changes the way we may look at it – Initially published on 35mmc.com The photo was taken in the fishing neighbourhood of my home town. Behind the fence erected by the developers were the fishermen’s small one-storey houses. Once a testament to the hard life they endured, over time the neighbourhood was abandoned and the houses gradually fell into disrepair. Now, for security reasons, it is not possible to look through the fence and see what the developers are planning to build in place of this small part of the neighbourhood. I could ask the…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Portrait of a (former) bike champion

    May 3, 2014

    @ Mediterranean Beach Games 2015 – Wrestling, Italy vs France (And a primer on sport photography – Part 5)

    October 9, 2015

    Snaps of a Flamenco recital…

    April 26, 2013
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Seasons,  Skating,  Sport,  Summer

    Portraits in Skating

    November 30, 2024 /

    In sports photography, portraits are as important as snapshots of crucial moments such as a win, a loss or an unpredictable event, for they are an excellent way to capture the humanity of the athletes, often and mistakenly seen – especially in high-level competitons and before the start – as soulless cyborgs. Initially published on 35mmc.com The very first moments after the game is over are a gold mine. Athletes are still full of adrenaline and eager to discuss their performance with their teammates. Before they shower, before they change into normal clothes, before they return to ordinary life their focus is on what went right or wrong. And when…

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    Andrea Monti

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    When Heroes Come to Town

    April 17, 2019

    Self-Defense

    July 27, 2013

    Galaxy S21 Ultra 5g. The difference between Marketing and Reality in Image Quality

    January 24, 2021
  • Artists,  Colour,  Daily photo,  People

    Another experiment, now with a Kodak Portra 400

    May 4, 2023 /

    This is a DSLR scan of an old Kodak Portra 400 roll of film shot during a 2015 concert by John De Leo Grande Abarasse. The editing with Affinity Photo was quite challenging, however, the result is a fair rendition of the film aesthetic.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Giorgio Pasotti – Racconti disumani@Teatro Marrucino

    February 28, 2022

    Real Time Update

    February 20, 2016

    Action shot

    January 7, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Spring

    Partner in Glam

    May 3, 2023 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Portrait of a Professional Boxing Fighter. Davide De Lellis

    March 8, 2019

    The Jewels Sale

    November 18, 2015

    Stand-up, Sugar!

    March 8, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Rome,  Technique

    Processing DSLR-digitized film with and without Pentax K-1 Monochrome Custom Image profile

    April 30, 2023 /

    Digital Camera Utility 5.0 is a pain to use on a Mac with Monterey. It is slow and laggy. Its only use is to get the photo as shot, with the custom image profiles embedded in a K-1 (and other recent Pentax DSLRs), and export it as a 16-bit tiff for further processing.One might wonder, however, whether editing a RAW file without going through the DCU —and thus losing the custom image profile— would produce lower quality results. We are about to find out.The test is quite demanding, as it starts with a shot from an Ilford SP2 Super 400 (note: this is not a true B&W film, as it…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Waiting for The Flight

    July 14, 2013

    Horizontal

    March 14, 2015

    Masters of Propaganda

    July 18, 2023
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  People,  Rome,  Spring,  Technique

    Tell me something I do not know…!

    April 23, 2023 /

    This hip shot is the result of a complicated process. It was taken with an expired Ilford XP2 Super 400, a Voigtländer Bessa R2 and a Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.4. Focus was at infinity. There was no time to frame it properly, so in post it was necessary to rearrange the composition with a generous crop.Digitising the film with my homemade rig required 2 stops of underexposure with plus or minus 1 stop of bracketing.The DNG was first processed through DXO Pure Raw, then adjusted and cropped in Affinity Photo, and finally adjusted for simmetry in DXO Viewpoint.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Belgian Macarons

    November 2, 2015

    Lightspeed

    August 6, 2015

    Hanging Heart at via Olmetto

    March 31, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  People,  Stockholm,  Summer,  Technique,  Travels

    DSLR film scanning: episode three

    January 24, 2023 /

    This is, by far, the most pleasing result I have ever had from digitising a film negative with a DSLR.Contrary to many suggestions found on Youtube, I did not invert the negative RAW curve by tweaking the Master RGB option. I did it, instead, channel-bychannel minding each clipping point. This approach allowed for a better reproduction of the grey tones, and in the end a fair result.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Light as Meaning Shifter

    December 11, 2019

    Sergey Krylov live@Teatro Marrucino

    February 21, 2022

    Parking Lot

    December 8, 2013
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Downtown,  Gear,  Stockholm,  Summer

    Another attempt at DLSR film scanning

    January 21, 2023 /

    Still trying.I digitised the negative with a Pentax K-1 and the FA 100 2.8 Macro lens using the JJC clone of Nikon ES-2. Postproduction is done in Pixelmator Pro. I used a Nikon 35TI and a Kodak BW400CN to take the original photo. Strangely enough, the JJC does not allow a 1:1 ratio with the Micro Nikkor 60 2.8.The instructions advise to mount the 62mm to 52mm step-down ring, the #2 52mm barrel-shaped tube and finally the film holder. These instructions are clearly wrong, as it is not possible to get 1:1 magnification with this setup.So I removed the tube and mounted the film carrier directly on the 62mm to…

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    Andrea Monti

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    Three of a Kind

    July 6, 2013

    A Tree through the Fog

    January 5, 2014

    Inside the Garrison

    May 14, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Docks,  Winter

    Ten Years Ago

    December 22, 2022 /

    Exactly ten years ago I started my career as a photograper.

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    Andrea Monti

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    Fast Bus

    October 26, 2016

    Bus Driver

    September 16, 2016

    Red Curtains

    August 28, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Docks,  Winter

    Fisherman’s Fatigue

    December 19, 2022 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Different Stories

    December 30, 2023

    Outdoor Aperitif

    April 7, 2017

    Same Seats, Different Lifes

    April 14, 2014
  • B&W,  Daily photo,  Parks,  Past&Relics,  Summer

    Three Lamposts

    June 11, 2022 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Forza Italia

    July 12, 2021

    Bicycle

    February 2, 2015

    The Lost Battle

    January 11, 2014
  • Colour,  Cycling,  Daily photo,  Seasons,  Spring

    Over There!

    May 29, 2022 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    It’s always the right time

    February 17, 2013

    Forgotten

    October 15, 2013

    Into The Cube

    November 18, 2014
  • Autumn,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Kite Surf

    Kite Surfers

    October 16, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Oslo Opera House

    October 24, 2014

    One Shot Story – Soulless Places

    April 17, 2025

    Blackfriars Train Station Banner

    September 22, 2016
  • 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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    The BatFire

    April 29, 2016

    Fast drivers in Via del Tritone

    October 31, 2019

    Superpila still rides…

    December 10, 2018
  • Buildings,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Gates&Fences,  Winter

    Open Interior

    March 14, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Breakfast at Rue Brisemiche

    March 25, 2014

    Portrait of a Politician – 2

    June 15, 2014

    Light as Meaning Shifter

    December 11, 2019
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Doors&Windows,  Winter

    Drying Clothes

    March 9, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    Creativity vs Originality

    March 11, 2024

    Close up of a chessboard

    September 1, 2018

    The Sentinel

    August 13, 2013
  • Bridges,  Colour,  Daily photo

    Lava Nails

    February 28, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    YANE – Yet Another Nepal Exhibit

    March 23, 2015

    The Three Musketeers

    October 16, 2013

    Boat Under The Bridge

    September 18, 2016
  • 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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    Pentax – In Praise of Usability of Cameras and Lenses

    March 3, 2024

    Vive La France, The Oslo’s Way

    October 7, 2014

    Generations – I

    August 6, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  People,  Streets&Squares,  Technique,  Winter

    A Skater

    February 23, 2021 /

    Framing the whole statue would have made this photo better. The mistake was caused by the necessity to shoot fast, the lens’ field of view and the distance between the subject and the focal plane.

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    Andrea Monti

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    YANE – Yet Another Nepal Exhibit

    March 23, 2015

    5 frames exploring the Sporting Gun Culture in Italy

    April 15, 2025

    Landed

    December 19, 2013
  • Bridges,  Colour,  Daily photo,  Winter

    A droplet

    February 21, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    A Broken Gearwheel

    August 27, 2014

    Fast drivers in Via del Tritone

    October 31, 2019

    Wrecked Hull

    February 14, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Gear,  Winter

    A Rudder

    February 19, 2021 /

    Pentax K-1/smc Pentax-A 135/2,8

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    Andrea Monti

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    A (Out-of-Focus) Break Between Lunch and Supper

    December 8, 2015

    Niccolò Fabi – Meno Per Meno Tour 2023 – Live@Teatro Massimo, Pescara

    May 7, 2023

    A Great Marketing Stunt

    May 27, 2014
  • Colour,  Daily photo,  Visual,  Winter

    A Mesh

    February 16, 2021 /

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    Andrea Monti

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    The Observer

    November 30, 2013

    The Doorman

    September 1, 2013

    The Road To Justice

    August 31, 2014
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