I've added new photos to the galleries: Macro - Trebbia Valley and Macro - other places II.

The layers are one of the most powerful and flexible tools of Photoshop: I use extensivly layers for selective adjustments of color, contrast, noise reduction, ect, and for particular techniques as blended exposures. The layers are like paper sheets placed one upon the other. You can hide part of the content of a layer, or make it semi-transparent to see the...

The new article, rewritten and updated, is now online: Layers and Layer Mask

I've added new photos to the galleries: Carnivorous plants,  Flora- Upper Nure Valley, Orchids Of Italy II, Macro - Upper Nure Valley.

I use only five lenses for my photos: with this lineup, I can photograph almost every nature subject, from landscapes to macro and wildlife. This is not the perfect lineup for everyone - the right lenses depend by your necessities and you personal preferences - but this is what works well for me, and it gives an idea of a good "all around" lineup...

The new article, rewritten and updated, is online: Five lenses for nature photography

I have added new photos to the galleries: Orchids Of Italy and Macro - Trebbia Valley II.

Sandisk (www.sandisk.com) is my preferred brand of memory cards - it offers a wide lineup, excellent quality and very competitive prices. I have many Sandisk CFs and I've compared the write speeds on my SLRs, the Canon EOS 350D and Canon 20D...

I've added the test to the Miscellaneous lens reviews and other tests page.

I was wandering in the grassfields of Mt. Lesima (Upper Trebbia Valley), when I saw this beautiful specimen of Clossiana euphrosyne (a bit thanks, as always, to my friend Paolo Mazzei for the ID!). This butterfly has an intense orange color and blue eyes - a beautiful subject, but unluckly it was posed very close to the background. Even with the 180 + 2x teleconverter, it was not possibile...

The new essay is online: Merging photos for extended DOF

I've added new photos to the galleries Flora - Trebbia Valley II, Flora - other places and Macro - other places II.

Many of these photos had been taken with the Sigma 180 with Sigma 2.0x teleconverter.

The Sigma 180 Macro is a true jewel: even though I have it in my bag since more than two years, it always amazes me! After using it for some time with the 1.4x TC, I tried the 2.0x and I immediately bought it - it helps a lot with working distance and background blur, and the image quality is still extremely good. Coupled with the Sigma 2.0x EX...

The new essay is online: My Sigma 360mm f/7.1 Macro

I've added new photos to the galleries Macro - Trebbia Valley and Flora - Trebbia Valley II. Many of these photos had been taken with the Sigma 180 + 2x - the sharpness of this combo is impressive!

I've recently bought the excellent Manfrotto 410 gear head, for macro work: I've updates the Tripods and heads page with some info about this kind of heads.

I've been so satisfied by the result that I get from the Sigma 180 + 1.4x that I bought also the Sigma 2x TC. Combined with the 180, this teleconverter gives a 360mm f/7.1, with 2:1 macro capability - amazing! What is even more amazing, is that the image quality is still very, very good...

I've added tests and samples of the 180 + 2x in the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro HSM field review