Uploads from The Round Peg, tagged stockcategories, with geodata

Epiphany

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:53:39 -0800

Sometimes it takes an external viewer’s eye to define something that is under our own vision. Sometimes putting together some keywords and giving them a position in a sentence is a very important step to self development...

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The Artist

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:25 -0800

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I don't really know why I have the impression that this man is an artist. Maybe it us because of the way he is dressed, maybe it is because of his bag, or maybe it is just an impression and nothing else. Maybe it is the truth, who knows?
In our wandering around New York we were quite impressed by how the people responded to having our lenses pointed towards them. I don't think this man saw me, but generally the response is much less scared than in London. People seems to see cameras not like dangerous instruments of threat. Few people, when they saw we were photographing them, dodged the shot, but this is something I expected, what I did not expect, however, was the many smily, pleasantly patient faces. This is highly rewarding as street photographer.
So, what do you think? Is he an artist?
I like to think so, I like to think that in that bag there is something beautiful painted with those hands... and btw, I wore a hat very similar to his own that day! :)

The Big America

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:31:27 -0800

The Round Peg posted a photo:

There are many things that hit me in the US, and for a while I will write about it as I am still deep into what we found in New York. I am writing something about the people we met there, but still I am not happy about what I have until now, so I will take some more time to dig into my words before publishing them. Meanwhile I wanted to show things that I usually don't capture with my camera, and not only because in the UK I would be shot on sight if I had taken a photo of a train station...

You can read teh entire post in The Round Blog or you can follow us on Twitter!

NYC

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:35:21 -0800

The Round Peg posted a photo:

New York, for our first visit, left in our souls something deep, something I would have never expected. Everything started with a very strange feeling when we landed and we moved into the Big Apple: the feeling of being at home. Obviously it was not logical, it was not something reasonable, but it was what Fabiana and I felt when we walked for the first time in New York. There are so many thoughts, so many things I would like to say about this short break in America, that I feel only a tiny part will end up in these words, but it is not hard to know where to start: people.
When we planned this short break in New York few months ago, I kept in touch with a good contact on Flickr, a contact whom I had promised we would have met one day. Knowing I would have been in the USA I tempted him to join us in New York, and we were lucky he could. Fabiana and I met a very kind person and his wife, two people that gave us, in few hours, much more than we had ever expected. I know he is going to read these words and I would like to thank him once more for the attitude, the words and everything they gifted us: it was simply fantastic. Thanks!
I can really say that he is not a simple "contact" any longer right now.
Life in NY is so much different from the one in London and so similar at the same time... People are warmer, more "easy going" if you allow me to say so still the city gave us an incredible vibe, the idea of energy, passion, freedom. In the coming days I will post some photos from this trip!

BTW: I uploaded the WRONG version before, this is the edited one! :P

Honeymoon

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:46:26 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Last month has been really special. I married the woman of my dreams and I went with her in our fantastic honeymoon: the time of my life. I could not have asked for more and now, on the verge of returning to work, I would really love to start all over again, from the wedding to the travel.
We took a lot of photos in this two weeks around the world, but we realized that this one is the only one we took of ourself. Yes, we photographed a lot of things, trying to get under the skin of the culture we met on our path, but we did not take some good self portrait of ourselves. Well, this is us! :)
This honeymoon underlined once more the similarities between Fabiana and myself. It has been incredible to share the same desires, the same need for calm and chaotic streets at the same time. After nine years we still amaze each other, and this is priceless.
I will publish some photos from our honeymoon, but I must warn you that many of those will not be the typical "honeymoon photos". For this reason, and to underline what has been so important in this period: my Beautiful Wife and I.
This photo was taken at the Rocky Resort in Koh Samui, the place where we spent the last seven days of our honeymoon. It is a small piece of paradise we loved from the moment we were welcomed.

Katie Ridges' Shoes

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:12:23 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Katie is a young, very talented up and coming shoe designer. We met her few months ago, knowing she was looking to take some photos for her new designs. Her shoes are really good, and I wanted to publish this photo because these are the ones that I love more. They are called "Lotus" if I do remember well!
If you are interested in Katie, you can follow her on twitter. We really wish her all the best, as she is talented and she is doing the right things to move her career further!

Fabiana and I had the possibility to take photos of the shoes in studio, having then a session with some models on the street of London. It was fun, interesting and something that taught me a lot. Fabiana took some amazing photos and was able to convey a lot from her shots. I tried my best, maybe a little too much careful to the technical side than to the composition. Well, you live, you learn, you fail, you learn. There is a phrase from Samuel Beckett that I love:
Fail, Fail Again. Fail Better.
And in the last years I have followed it, both for my entrepreneurial vision and for my photography. Clearly it does not mean that I want to fail, but it means that failing I learn, and the next attempt will be better.

Family ties

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:28:59 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

It is funny the fact that the preparation of our wedding is going "almost" flawlessly. Things have been prepared well in advance, enjoying them and living the time with happiness. Details have been sorted out always with the smile on our faces. It is funny that the only issues are coming from those who should support us blindly: our families. Lately they have been the sources of every new challenge and it seems that the fact that the big day is only one month away (thing that is not affecting us) is pushing them ballistic! Every few days we need to revise things we have already decided months ago, always rearranging priorities and explaining things over and over again.
"Hey, please gentlemen, get a grip and enjoy, would you?"
This is something I need to remember very carefully for the time we will have children and it will be their time to get married! For now the only thing we can do it to remain calm, going on enjoying the mounting thrill and excitement and sorting out all those small things that suddenly got the highest priority...

"C'est la vie!"

Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me...

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:14:05 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I consider myself an organized person. In my work I have a list of things I have to do, usually prioritized and planned. I like to write them on a piece of paper, it takes more time, a little bit more effort, but it is visual. In the last period I am trying to be as organized when I have my camera in my hands. I like to know where I am going, what I want to do next and so on. This enhances my fun, because it allows me to see "What's Next"[1]. In my path I have done mistakes, I have learned and done some other mistakes, but for now the path has been great fun.
I know that I want to become more confident in directing people and in placing the lights where they can give me more intensity. The pleasure of shaping the lights to create something more intense from a scene is something I like and I will pursue further. Moreover I am very lucky to have Fabiana always on my side: it is a pleasure tenfolded to work with her supporting me and vice versa.
What about this photo? When I saw during a break from my coding, it immediately reminded me of the U2 song Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and I let my mind go on whatever was in there!

[1] Those who watched and loved "The West Wing" may understand my statement a little deeper.

Discovery

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:05:41 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I have always thought that whena couple is not able to play, it lacks one of the most important tools to make a great relation. Playing and having fun gives you different perspectives, and it may be everywhere, in the daily routine as in the bedroom.

It is a matter of perspectives

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:51:15 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Yesterday's comments to my photos has been very interesting and made me understand few things. One that I already knew is that it is extremely hard to reproduce those set of emotions that can be candidly captured on the streets. Staging a set inside a small studio and giving just a couple of hours to the models to get used to the camera, the instruction and everything else is not something easy, nevertheless it has been really funny.

Pushing Boundaries: the human factor

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:44:22 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Last week we went in the studio to exercise a little bit, and I wanted the session to be focussed on "Couples" and "Emotions". I wanted to reproduce those shots I so much love on the street, but I underestimated the power of human relations. We had the luck to work with some great models (Miranda and Jacques in this photo), but the limit were not our models this time, the limits were set by me. I realize that directing some particular photos requires more than preparation, more than self confidence. It requires to push some psychological boundaries.
I did not reach exactly what I wanted in that session, not the level of interaction I was looking for, but it has been a very important lesson for me. The learning curve in photography is interesting and it is always new, especially when you work with models. The human factor is something that cannot be forgotten, as it is possibly the most powerful I have met since I have started to take photos. It does not matter if you are on the streets of your city trying to capture that moment that flies away in an heartbeat, or if you challenge the eye contact with a complete stranger you want a photo of, or if you are in a studio with models you have to direct: the human factor is the most powerful element in portrait photography!
Take a perfect photo of a non interesting person, or publish the perfectly exposed image of a model that does not trust the photographer, and you will never be able to reach the power of a badly exposed, composed and taken photo of a strong and real emotion!
In the studio I have struggled quite a while before being able to have the models' trust. I have probably removed the first fifty photos, as I was able to feel the stiffness of the lack of trust, but then the models started to understand our directions and they started to relax. This is probably one of the first shots where Miranda let herself go,
I have some very interesting images, but the session we had has been much more than simple photos, it has been a psychology lesson!

Let the spirit go

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:50:37 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I have always proud of my learning curve. Normally I study (a little), I try, I fail, I try again and I succeed. I learn from my mistakes and I am proud of those I have did in the past, because I will not repeat the same mistake twice. At least generally. In photography I have not changed my personal style and I have added that crazy need to try new creative things from time to time.
This time I wanted to try some settings with some lights, aiming for a very strong result on the model. Moreover I wanted to add some movement to the scene and the result is a 7th wave: you love it or you hate it!
I set a soft box on camera left, trying (an failing) to limit its power, in order to fill the huge shadows I would have created with the main light: another light camera right very high over the model with a snoot pointing directly at her. The two lights were set almost 90 degree in order to give a much more "strong" effect. I personally like the result, but still I would have loved to control the filling light a little better, as I would have loved less highlight on the left part of the photo.

Intellectualise My Blackness/Spawn

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:47:32 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Are you really wondering why I decided to title this photo with a song by Skunk Anansie? Or are you wondering why Fabiana suggested the second title?
I would strongly suggest you to listen to the song I suggested while watching this photo, just for a while... not the faint hearthed though!!

Street and Studio

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:32:31 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

In the last months I have gained experience in studio, an experience that I still need to work on. Directing models and shaping the lights on them is very different from what you can find on the streets. The challenges are different, the results are different, but in a certain way both these experiences are shaping me as a man behind a camera.
Or photographer if you like.
The two games you play, one with complete strangers and the other with people you have to gain trust from, are both interesting. Photographing people is much more social and psychological than technical. There is much more behind the right expression than behind the perfect settings. This is the real fun behind it: find another challenge and become someone better to overcome it.

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The Fountain of Summer

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:37:28 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

For the second summer this nice fountain has been opened on the South Bank Centre. I have seen it already and I thought I had enough of photographing it, but I was wrong. Indeed I am not very interested in the water bringing its walls up or down; the real fun is provided by the people that do not get bored of it.
It is fantastic to capture the expressions and the movement of the people who get caught in the middle of it, the excitement and the fun in their faces. I love the way the people are scared of becoming completely wet. The children run through the walls of water having fun, but you know that if you have a camera, taking a photo of a child is always a risk nowadays...(!)
This is another sign of the summer approaching. Sun, heat... and the fountain on the South Bank of London!

Fabiana's advices

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:42:10 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I usually show Fabiana the photos I have taken. I usually underline those I like and I tend to quickly pass over those I am not particularly fond of. Generally we agree on the quality of the photos, but there are moments when I quickly move from one shot to another and she say something like "Hey, stop right there! Go Back! That's gorgeous!"
Usually those are the photos that people love.
I have learned to trust Fabiana's judgement and I usually edit those she likes first. Am I wrong?

My Sun: my Wife-to-Be

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:55:52 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

The past few days, Fabiana and I were in Italy. We took few days off to finalize all the details of our wedding and we did almost more than we expected to. Few final touches are still required, but I am happy of the results.
Italy was under an enviable warm sun, even if we met some rain here and there. It was while walking away from the town centre to attend a party for us that the sun cracked the rainy clouds and Fabiana candidly asked if I would have loved her to step in the middle of the road for a good shot. Lovely woman, my wife-to-be!
The wedding is much more real than ever right now. The days are flying and today the countdown is exactly at 2 months. I am over the moon to be one of the luckiest person in the world. My significant other is the perfect half of my apple!

Sweetest Thing

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:37:28 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

I have in my mind a song from U2 every time I look at this photo. Sweetest Thing. They were in Covent Garden in a sunny Saturday. The sun was warm and the day was lovely and they acted sweetly and so naturally that I waited a little bit looking for the real kiss, but then I realized that the moment before it was much more powerful.
If only we were less scared of showing what's good in us, if only we were able to be jus a little less envious and full of rage in our day to day life...

Follow me on twitter or have a look at more of my photos in my posterous blog

Overlooking the Big Ben

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:36:29 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

A little break to the "kiss" stream. I have one or two more of them, but I am not entirely convinced by how they turned out, so I prefer to publish one I like.
Almost a painting in grainy pencils, this is what I expect from my city: a bench where to talk to a friend, overlooking the Big Ben. Sometimes it is important to remember where we are and why we can make the difference!

Follow me on twitter or have a look at more of my photos in my posterous blog

Passion in Trafalgar Square

nobody@flickr.com (The Round Peg) — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:20:02 -0700

The Round Peg posted a photo:

Third shot dedicated to the Passion in London. I was absolutely astonished by the number of people publicly displaying more than simple affection the other night. In a single evening I photographed three couples displaying passion and love with some fantastic kisses.
In the other photos I have seen many of you suggesting them to book a room or similar, but I like when it happens, I like when people are not afraid to show their positive emotions. Every day we are used to see people showing the worst of them; we see anger, we see rage and negativity freely shown, so why shouldn't we be free in expressing everything that is positive?
It is a good vibe for me! Another strong black and white, rough, grainy, real. Another shot where people pass by while the emotion is going on.
This is why I take photos: emotions, strong, that binds you, that push you to know more.

Follow me on twitter or have a look at more of my photos in my posterous blog