Sunday, September 8, 2013

Return to Hell Valley




This week I managed to find a few hours to get up into the mountains.  Time was short so I decided to do “Valle dell Inferno” or Hell valley on the Cerreto Pass.
 

Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE
Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE

This is a quite strenuous two hour each way walk due to the fact that the last half a kilometre from Bivacco Rosario rises up 200 metres  at the head of the valley.  I was exhausted when I got to the top.

The weather was very changeable, so I did not find much worth photographing on this trip. The view down to La Spezia is always super, with the sea shimmering in the distance.

Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE
 At the top of the mountain I found myself  in the middle of swarms of flying ants and a swarm of swallows hunting them down.  The climb was worthwhile  just to watch the acrobatics of the swallows.

Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE
By the time I had returned to the car, all the cloud shrouding the mountain tops had disappeared  as is usual towards the evening. 
Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE

Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE

Valle dell Inferno, Cerreto, RE
I have been playing around with a Samyang 7.5mm fisheye lens  for the last couple of weeks.  One of the reasons why I bought it was to photograph  the insides of a series of medieval castles near to where I live.

Monte Lucio, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Lucio, Quattro Castella, RE
 
Monte Lucio, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Vetro, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Vetro, Quattro Castella, RE
 
I have used stitching software for the same purpose, but it falls apart when there are a lot of tree branches.
The fisheye gives the same results without stitching when careful  framing takes into account the lens distortion.

Monte Zagno, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Zagno, Quattro Castella, RE

Further software magic using Panini projection to remove some of the inevitable distortion  is getting me close to the results I want.

Monte Zagnoo, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Lucio, Quattro Castella, RE

Monte Lucio, Quattro Castella, RE




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