This is another photo taken in my recent trip on the Entella River, where I photographed many species of gulls. Photographing birds in flight is surely more challenging than photographing the classic "bird on a stick": it is easy to do something wrong, since there is little time to check the techs and the composition. One of the most common errors is to clip the tip of...

The new essay is online: Gull in flight

I've added new photos in the galleries: Larus melanocephalus (Mediterranean Gull), Larus michahellis (Yellow Legged Gull), Larus ridibundus (Black Headed Gull), Phalacrocorax carbo (Great Cormorant), Italy - other landscapes.

Many times the photographers forget or misunderstand one of the most important aspects of photography: the light. The "good light" is not the bright, while light of sunny days....the good light is the light of early morning or late afternoon, when the light becomes soft and warm. Whenever possible, I try to photograph at the edges of the day: this photo is taken few minutes...

The new essay is online: Gull in sunset light 

The last weekend of October I've come back in Roseg Valley (Engading, Switzerland) with my three fellow photographers: Daniela, Marco and Francesco. It was a dark, cloudy day, but as soon as we arrived to the Koncertplatz, we were greeted by an amazingly beautiful vision...dozens of tits, other birds and squirrels were all around us! As soon as I looked...

The new essay is online: The beautiful Crested Tit

It was a cold day of December 2005 when my good friend Luigi Ziotti invited me to join a trip to Roseg Valley, in Engadin, Switzerland. Luigi is a very skilled photographer and he knows well the best places to photograph birds and wildlife, so I was glad to accept his proposal. We arrived at Pontresina at 9 a.m. Pontresina is a small village (nearly 2000 persons) in...

The new essay is online: The friendly tits of Engadin 

The Upper Nure Valley, in the northern Appennine, offers many interesting photographic subjects, from macro to landscapes. Few weeks ago I made a two days trip with a couple of fiends, with the purpose of photographing the sunset and the sunrise from Mt. Bue. On wednesday morning, we meet in front of the Hotel Lago Nero (15 km from Ferriere, on the highway 654...

The new essay is online: Sunset from Mt. Bue

I discovered the Racconigi Park a while ago, when my longest lens was the Sigma 180mm Macro. Since then, it has become one of my favourite places for bird photography. The park was created in 1985 by the ornithologist Bruno Vaschetti and the LIPU (Italian association for protection of birds) to reintroduce the White Stork in Italy...The new essay is online: The White Storks of Racconigi

Other than that, I added new photos to the galleries: Ciconia ciconia (White Stork), Anas crecca (Green-winged Teal), Anser indicus (Bar Headed Goose), Cyanochen cyanopterus (Blue Winged Goose).

Torrile (near Parma, Italy) is a great place for herons, egrets, ducks and many other water birds: I was pretty surprised when Carlo called me saying that there were many tits at less than ten meters from the hide. We grabbed the lenses - I was photographing with his Canon 500 f/4 L IS USM, while he had mine 600 f/4 IS with 1.4x TC - and we quickly moved...

The new essay is online: The Blue Tit and the Canon 500 IS

I created a new section in the articles page: the Photo Essays, where I'm going to publish regularly short essays about the techniques that I used to capture my latest photos.

The first two essays are online: Dancing on water (November 17, 2006) and Grey Heron in flight (November 18, 2006).

I've added new photos in the galleries: Ardea cinerea (Grey Heron), Egretta alba (Great White Heron), Parus caeruleus (Blue Tit).

Other than that, I've published the short review of the 500 f/4 L IS USM in the Canon Lenses page, with a photo of the 500 and 600 side by side, and a sample photo that shows the difference of reach of the two lenses.

One of the great advantages of digital photography is the possibility to check the exposure immeditaly after the shot, thanks to the LCD preview and the new tools as the histogram and the highlights screen. To take a perfectly exposed photo, there is no need to to complex calculations: I take a test shot with the settings suggested by the camera, I check the histogram and, if necessary, I set the exposure compensation on the proper value and I repeat the photo...

The new article, rewritten and updated, is online: The exposure

The lenses are the basic elements of photography. To choose the right lenses and use them in the best way, you have to know their basic attributes: the sharpness, the angle of view, the depth of field and the perspective...

The new article, rewritten and updated, is online: The lenses

I've added some new photos to the galleries: Sciurus vulgaris (Red Squirrel), Parus cristatus (Crested Tit), Sitta europaea (European nuthatch).

I've added the review of the Sigma 50-500 to the Lenses page.

Other than that, my Manfrotto 190MF4 tripod has finally arrived. This is a high quality, but small and lightweight tripod that I bought for the most difficult mountain trips, when I don't need the much bigger Gitzo 1548. Overall, I'm very happy with the 190MF4, it is sturdy enough for lenses up to 1-1.5kg as the Canon 100-400 L IS, if you don't extend the legs, or with no more than one section extended (it is OK for me since I almost always use the tripod at the minimum height.) In my opinion, it is good choice if you want a lightweight tripod for travel and hiking.

I added a lot of new photos to the galleries: Podiceps ruficollis (Little Grebe), Egretta garzetta (Little Egret), Egretta alba (Great White Heron), Vanellus vanellus (Northern Lapwing), Sciurus vulgaris (Red Squirrel), Parus cristatus (Crested Tit), Nucifraga caryocatactes (Spotted Nutcracker), Sitta europaea (European nuthatch), Parus major (Great Tit), Psilocybe squamosa, Nure Valley.

Other than that, I've added a new photo to my portfolio: Sunset from Mt. Bue

The Sigma 12-24 is currently the widest rectilinear wide-angle for fullframe (35mm format): at 12mm, it gives an amazing angle of view of 122 degrees (by comparison, the widest wideangle of Canon and Nikon offers "just" a 114 degrees view). As if it wasn't enough, it has even the flexibility of being a zoom, and it is much cheaper than Canon and Nikon wideangles. Is it really that good?

The in-depth review is online: Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM field review