View allAll Photos Tagged diffuser
The Val d’Orcia (in English: "Valley of the Orcia") towards the volcanic mountain of Monte Amiata, seen from the elevated town of Pienza, Province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Some background information:
Monte Amiata (in English: "Mount Amiata") is the largest of the lava domes in the Amiata lava dome complex located in the southern Tuscany region of Italy. The volcanic mountain is standing at 1,738 metres (5,702 feet) above sea level. Its trachytic lava flow, 5 km (3.1 miles) long and 4 km (2.5 miles) wide, extends to the east. Radiometric dates indicate that the Amiata complex had a major eruptive episode about 300,000 years ago.
For the last time Monte Amiata erupted about 180,000 years ago. During the Holocene no eruptive activity has occurred, but thermal activity including cinnabar mineralization continues at a geothermal field near the town of Bagnore, at the southwestern end of the dome complex. Geysers and hot springs in this area are used for geothermal energy generation and there’s even a geothermal power plant in the town of Piancastagnaio.
The main economical resources of the Amiata region are chestnuts, timber and increasingly also tourism (with ski resorts including the peak area). The lower areas are characterized by olive trees and vines. Other vegetation include beech and fir. In ancient times cinnabar was extracted there.
The Val d'Orcia, or Valdorcia, is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its endless gentle, cultivated rolling hills, which are covered with grain or sunflowers in the summer and vineyards, olive groves, cypresses, beech or chestnut trees all year round alternate with medieval habitations, rural villas and castles boasting impervious towers – all of which is diffused in a tranquilly-isolated nature. This is the scenario that is laid out before the eyes of the visitor to Val d’Orcia.
In 2004, the Val d'Orcia was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. According to UNESCO the valley is an exceptional exemplar of the way in which a natural setting was redesigned during the Renaissance (in the 14th and 15th centuries), reflecting the ideals of good governance in the Italian city-state. Additionally, these splendid localities were celebrated by the painters of the Sienese School, which flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The Val d‘Orcia is often described as the perfect combination of nature and culture, but it is also an ecosystem which bears witness oft he rural population that has cultivated and farmed the ground since the Middle Ages. However, also five-million years of geological history have left their mark on this territory that, today, is abundant in plant and animal species. Even the deposits of lava from volcanoes no longer active – such as Mounts Radicofani and Amiata – have contributed to the delineations and details of the area; the lava, hardened, gave form to those dark stones known as trachytes.
The valley is not only traversed by the river Orcia, but also by the rivers Asso, Formone, Vellora and Vivo. Furthermore the historic road Via Francigena and the Roman road Via Cassia pass through valley that covers and area of altogether 61,188 hectare (151,200 acres). Occasionally the landscape is broken by gullies and picturesque towns and villages such as Montalcino, San Quirico, Pienza, Castiglione and Radicofani. In the northwest the Val d’Orcia borders the Crete Senesi landscape while in the northeast it is flanked by the Val di Chiania.
Until 1250, the Val d’Orcia was under the rule of the noble family Aldobrandeschi, but subsequently noble families of the nearby town of Siena took control of the valley. They were attracted by the continuous transit of men and commerce along the fundamental pathways Via Francigena and Via Cassia. The most notable of these families was the family Piccolomini, which also provided several popes, among them the famous Pius II. It was him who commissioned to transform the little village of Corsignano into the town of Pienza and hence into a place which he thought is the "ideal town". However, after the mid-1500s, Val d’Orcia became a valuable part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and thereby of the Florentine orbit – solely for its agricultural aspect. Thus, it was the family Medici that improved the valley’s infrastructure in the years that followed.
Within the Val d'Orcia is a strip of land following the Orcia river that is used as a wine-growing area between the DOCG zones of Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Here the Sangiovese and Trebbiano-based wines are produced under the Orcia Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status. The DOC red wine is composed of at least 60 percent Sangiovese with other local varieties, such as Abrusco, permitted to fill in the remainder of the blend. The dry white wine and Vin Santo style DOC wines are composed of at least 50 percent Trebbiano with other local varieties filling out the rest of the blend. All grapes destined for DOC wine production are limited to a maximum harvest yield of 10 tonnes/hectare with the finished wines required to have a minimum alcohol level of at least 12 percent.
But the region is also very rich in other high quality local products such as the "Pecorino" cheese of Pienza (a typical cheese made with sheep's milk), the genuine olive oil, saffron, mushrooms, (including truffles), sweet chestnuts, honey and a lot of other specialties.
High up on the moors near Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. The warm light from the rising sun was diffused by the early morning fog rising out of the valley below.
Don't use without permission.
Please contact me here before using any of my images for any reason, including blogs!
All images are copyright © John Finney photography
Constructed from 340gsm paper, sticky back plastic and some silvered foam. Front panel is .3 mm clear plastic with packing foam stuck to the inside.
Diffuse sunlight in Thanet Lee Wood, Towneley Park
Burnley, Lancashire, UK
©SWJuk (2024)
All rights reserved
A half moon night with thin clouds diffuse the moonlight giving some nice soft lighting on the red rock in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
www.facebook.com/bunleephotography
Prints available at:
I spotted Charlie and her boyfriend walking across the road and I loved her style so without hesitation ran over to say hello and ask for her picture. I wanted to shot the image under the bridge in Camden as there was some amazing light falling in a natural and diffused way.
Charlie was super excited immediately and told me she runs a fashion blog and goes out weekly to do the same sort of thing as I was doing - I think she was thrilled to be asked instead of being the one asking this time! I asked her not to smile and she told her boyfriend to tun around as he makes her smile - which was super sweet!
A lovely encounter and a joy to meet. I was really pleased with the shot despite having no reflector, shooting in jpg medium by mistake and having a general off day.
To see more of my portraits sand keep up to date follow me on Facebook at my [UrbanScot] Photography page.
Inspired to take portraits of strangers? Check out the wonderful work of the other contributors to the 100 Strangers Group on flickr!
something tiny, something weedy,
something for my little sweetie....
Please don't use my image's on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
insta polaroid fujifilm mini90 classic polaroid originals setting at L :: athens location penthouse Patisia
New South Wales, Australia
52 weeks of 2022/week 34
Light modifiers are devices that can improve or redirect the lighting in photos. You can use a modifier to change the ambiance of a scene, flatter a subject, soften harsh light, or produce split lighting...
The focus this week is on unusual modifiers
During the last days, sunlight seems to have found its way back to Iceland. Shown here is Bessastaðir in front of Mt Keilir, which is located on the Reykjanes peninsula. The afternoon sun cast the mountain and the entire peninsula into a beautiful, diffuse, golden-warm light that felt like a first promise of the summer to come (although it is way to early for thinking of summer). I especially like Keilir for its highly symmetric shape and the way it dominates its surroundings.
To keep out the nasty mozzies, we got this to diffuse the aroma of lemongrass oil.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
He’s so much happier now. I spent a magical weekend with him, brainstorming about philanthropy.
It was off the record, to allow for unfettered speech, so I can’t dive into details, but I can share my overall impression: he is incredibly well read, his fanatic intensity has diffused out to a wide circle of empathy and scope of influence, and he happily dives deep into random topics we raised — from astrobiology to atheism to Africa.
And then we went to see Waiting for Superman.
Photo by Omar Wasow