Lazzarini Cave Shoot

This was a job for Lazzarini, a company producing designer radiators for the home. Working with the graphic studio Treid and stylist Laura Pozzi, we created a series of room sets in a prehistoric cave in the north of Italy. 

Tech: working in a dark, damp cave with no power and having to light these sets was a fun challenge. I used a total of four Elinchrom Quadra heads and power units which stood up to a full day shooting without needing to recharge. We obviously couldn't mount the radiators on the walls so they were either suspended or propped up in place. I then made two shots - with and without the radiator - and then combined layers in Photoshop to remove the supports. The lighting was created mostly using 2-meter Photoflex panels each with two 400-watt Quadra heads, then a couple of Nikon speedlights to add detail in some of the darker corners.

Valore Alimentare - Cooking School

At the end of last year I spent a couple of days in Milan with the chef, Giovanni Allegro, producing 12 vegetarian recipes for Valore Alimentare magazine here in Italy as part of their cooking school series. Here's the first part which has just been published. There are three more issues due over the coming year.

Tech: with this kind of shoot the challenge is to work quickly, following the action and getting light in the right place at the right time. I shot with a Nikon D3s setting a basic exposure for the available light and then adding flash with the Quadra to highlight or freeze action when necessary. As the light faded towards the end of the day I shot just with flash using two softboxes to give a more natural feel, ensuring the images would work alongside the daylight shots.

More Venice Interiors

Here's another pretty amazing property I've just finished photographing for Views on Venice.

Tech: this was quite a challenge. I wanted to get across something of the atmosphere in this place but the available light was really difficult to work with. So again a mixture of HDR and flash then blending layers in Photoshop.

Venice Interiors

Here I am on a very cold morning in Venice heading to an apartment on the Grand Canal. I've been asked to produce new images for Views On Venice which represent a number of exclusive properties for short-term rental around the city. Here's a small sample from a beautiful palace on Dorsoduro. I'll post some more from other locations as I shoot them. Thanks to Alessandro for this shot on the boat and for doing a great job assisting.

Tech: as with all my interiors I'm using a mixture of natural light, flash and HDR. My aim is to create an interesting light while keeping the effect as natural as possible. I'm using Elinchrom RX600s and Quadras plus a range of panels, light boxes and reflectors.