Wandering northwest from the Castello Visconteo I came to the Piazza Sempione and the Arco Della Pace. I was early for sunset, so I took the opportunity to explore angles and viewpoints. The first image is a straight shot with the 24-70mm. I made adjustments in Topaz Adjust to make it pop and I’m quite pleased with the results.
As the sun headed down, I tried a panorama. Again, shot with the 24-70mm, 7 shots merged in Photoshop. The image was then tweaked in Topaz Adjust. I was impressed how Photoshop merged the frames, handling the geometric distortions of the converging lines in the stones in the Piazza very well. Topaz does a great job in dialling in contrast and colour adjustments, props to Trey Ratcliffe for turning me onto this program.
After the sun went down, the lights came on. This is always a gamble, as I can never be sure what the scene will look like or the quality and placement of the lights. Once the lights come on, it’s a challenge to adjust quickly and find a composition and shooting location that works. The Arco Della Pace was no exception. There are lots of big lights illuminating the Arco, spread all around the piazza, so it took a while to walk around and figure out the angles. Having a blazing light perched in an obvious spot that blows the picture is not fun and not fixable in post. I hate fixing things in post, life is too short.
This angle worked. I got foreground interest, the arch and some interest in the sky. I already had a cities project shot of Milan, but I like this for it’s unique feel and perspective. It’s not a Milanese icon, per se, unless you are familiar with the city, but if you are familiar with Milan, this is an icon with a small i.
More to come…………
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