Tag Archives: photography

An image from the Italian Alps. Shots used for the work were taken during a short hike to a mountain cabin near home, in north-eastern Italy: rifugio Madonna della Neve (“Our Lady of the Snow”). There’s a small chapel nearby dedicated to her.

You can have a look at the beautiful view from near the rifugio here …this time I wasn’t the one that took the 360 image 😉

At the sunset…

…we’re near the end of the hike, a few minutes from the cabin. The sun is casting some interesting rays from behind the mountains:

MatericLook: MadonnaDellaNeve 00 by Francesco Perratone, Italian Alps Photography and art

 

Without the large watermark and in different (higher) resolutions, it’s also April 2017 wallpaper, for my Patreon supporters.

 

You can receive wallpapers or prints each month, by becoming a patron! You can also help me creating more works by buying one: MatericLook shop, or with a small donation:  .

Thank you!

Digital Art, Photography, wallpaper

Italian Alps art & photography: Madonna della Neve

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MatericLook: Sibenik 00 by Francesco Perratone, Croatia Photography and art
Hello!
 
A bit late, but here’s March wallpaper!

……Croatia, Sibenik

A very nice historical city, with narrow alleys and steep stone stairs, lovely for taking a walk in a warm summer evening!
The city itself has a turbulent but interesting past, it has been controlled by Byzantium, Hungary, Venice, then the Habsburgs and Austria, more recently Dalmatia, Italy, then became part of Yugoslavia and finally Croatia.
The ancient settlement became a city at least from 1066 AD, when a document from the most important Croatian ruler, Kresimir (Petar Kresimir IV) refers to it.
A note on the shot itself: the horizon line is difficult to spot, (you can guess it from the mountains far back on the right).
The coastlines from the city and the opposite shore are converging, so the overall impression is somewhat “unstable”.
However the mind clings to a vertical line, shaped by the reflection of the city in the sea water, the fortress up the hill and the cloud above….
I personally like it, but probably not everyone will!
 
The eligible patrons already got their download link 😉
As always here there are the available resolutions:
-For quad-HD monitors and the like: WQHD – aspect ratio 16:9 – resolution 2560×1440
-Full HD: FHD – aspect ratio 16:9 – resolution 1920×1080
-For 16:10 screens: WUXGA – aspect ratio 16:10 – resolution 1920×1200
-For tablets and 2-in-1: I see it’s now called FullHD+ on Wikipedia, so FHDp – aspect ratio 3:2 – resolution 2160×1440
-For “Traditional” 4:3: UXGA – aspect ratio 4:3 – resolution 1600×1200
-For 5:4 monitors: SXGA – aspect ratio 5:4 – resolution 1280×1024
If you want other resolutions or aspect ratios, just ask away!
If you would like to receive wallpapers or prints each month, or just support me with 1$, take a look at my Patreon!
Digital Art, Photography, wallpaper

Sibenik 00: patron’s wallpaper for March!

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So, it’s finally snowing here….

MatericLook: SnowyDay_v000 by Francesco Perratone, Italy Photography and art

until now there’s not much here. It will not last long, maybe more further up the mountains.

Let’s hope so, it will be good to do some late snowshoes hiking, always a good practive for taking some nice winter photos!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Photography, update

Snowing! :-)

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MatericLook: Celestial 00 wallpaper by Francesco Perratone, Italy Photography and art

Celestial 00

Hello!

Here’s this month multiresolution wallpaper for my patrons, you can find the original article on Patreon here.

You can see part of the ceiling from the basilica, from the Sanctuary of Oropa.  The Ancient Basilica is where the statue of the Black Virgin is kept.

The Sanctuary itself is a beautiful place, many of my pictures come from there or from its surroundings, you can see it depicted in some of my works. Plus, many nice hiking trails and walks start right from the Sanctuary, it’s situated on the Alps, near where I live.

You can see more images and find more informations on the Sanctuary here.

The church ceiling itself is interesting because of the decorations and the white “stars”. The painted plaster is dotted (I think it was “hammered”, small parts were removed to produce the starred effect). That, combined with the different hue paints and the lights creates a very nice effect.

As a wallpaper it’s nice because of the black space for icons and stuff, and because of the framing that suggests a window “peeking” on another place.

Enjoy!

Digital Art, Photography, wallpaper

February Wallpaper #11 – Celestial 00 – Oropa

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VR and 360° photography and art

Hello!

I’ve been absent for some time, mainly researching and testing in the fields of Virtual Reality (VR) and 360° photography… I’m now ready to share the first (decent) art experiment….

I took a 360 degrees picture of a nice sanctuary here in Italy (more images of the place here), from one of the top floor’s windows. I then applied some quick painting-like effects…. I had to modulate the type of strokes to retain more details where needed, mainly around the top church and its cupola.

In the image below it’s possible to look around by clicking+scrolling on a computer or by rotating your phone/tablet. The accelerometer permits to use the phone/tablet as a “window” through the portrayed place by reading its movements. The size of the image makes the file larger, it will take some time for it to load.

On the bottom right there should be an icon to switch to fullscreen mode, to better experience the view ;-).

Of course the best immersive result it’s obtained by using a (very cheap) VR viewer and your smartphone. A bit like being “right there” in the portrayed place. If you’re on a compatible device there should be a cardboard icon to switch to VR mode (also on bottom right)

The image and technique, something on VR and 360°

360° images, also called photospheres, have a high resolution because you must be able to “look around”, as if you’re inside the picture.

Each possible viewpoint has to be presented in a decent resolution. They’re also saved in a way that permits to retain all relevant information using standard image formats. It’s possible to do that thanks to a projection, that “deforms” the image and adapts it to a 2d space. Currently the main type of projection used is equirectangular.

This is what the saved image looks like (in very low resolution):

Floating_Oropa_Painted_01

This is a monoscopic image (no real “3D” effect, at least for now), but it shows the potential and possibilities in that direction (VR and 360°).

All these aspects must be taken into account during the elaboration and painting of the image.

Until now the software and hardware are limited, especially if you’re an experimenter on a tight budget. I’m partially working with DIY tools and using complicated workflows.

I’ll create some more similar content, using both photography and 3d graphics….. let me know what do you think!

Digital Art, Photography, VR

VR and 360° art – Floating in a painting – Oropa

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MatericLook: LightPath 00 by Francesco Perratone, Austria Photography and art

Here’s a new image of a sunset over Vienna.

The picture was taken a few days ago, on a cold 31st of December 😉

While the Sun was disappearing, those beautiful colors faded in…. the view is from the main bridge crossing Donauinsle , an island on the Danube. The area is mainly recreational, restaurant, bars, and nice places to take a walk or a run.

The church silhouette is from St. Francis of Assisi church, also known as Mexico Church or Kaiserjubiläumskirche. Unfortunately it was closed at the time, so I couldn’t take a look inside.

Looking in the opposite direction there was an equally magnificient view. A glass skyscraper was reflecting the light and colors, blending with the background.

Apart from the colors and contrast, I like the geometry and composition, with that nice slice of Moon peeking through the sky…

Enjoy! :-)

 

My eligible patrons have access to different high resolution versions of the above image, to be used as wallpapers. you can check the Patreon campaign post here.

 

As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited to 10) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet, you can contact me directly.

Here are some free works for download as wallpapers, as well as some animations to watch.

If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month, or donate something through Paypal:

Thank you!

Digital Art, Photography, wallpaper

Austria Photography and Art: LightPath 00

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MatericLook: Amaghu Valley by Francesco Perratone, Armenia Photography and art

A work from the Armenia Photography series, a sunset view of the beautiful Amaghu Valley, where Noravank Monastery sits.

The valley is named after the river Amaghu, in some places it’s narrow, becoming a real canyon. Located in the Vayots Dzor region, is not far from the city of Yeghegdnazor.

The valley’s peculiar features (apart from the fascinating Noravank Monastery) are its cliffs, whose bright red rocks emerge on their sides. The drive to the monastery is nice and pleasant. This particular view comes from the bottom of the valley, before starting the short climb to the religious building.

For this image I used first of all the usual techniques, like HDR, multiple exposures and a small bit of digital painting. Then I started experimenting a bit…

I intensified the light/shadow contrast by using harmonious curves, with a “rhythm” similar to those extrapolated from classic sculpture. Finally I combined the dark and light areas with the existing luminance details, before applying them to the work.

I would say the results aren’t bad. In this particular image I followed the pre-existing land profiles. As a result the influenced areas are fitting nicely without a strong distinction.

I’d like to do more experiments in this direction, probably with other kind of images, more abstract, where the contrast can be stronger.

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As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet you can contact me directly.

Here are some free works for download as wallpapers and some animations to watch.

If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month. You will receive exclusive works and participate to the creative process!

Thank you!

Digital Art, Photography

Armenia Photography & Art – Amaghu Valley

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