sigma 24 mm in luskentyre soul of the bluemarco dadone

During my pilgrimages around Scotland, found one place which is a special canvas for the light.

the elements melt together in a unique way, showing gold, grey, green and endless shades of blue.

Since approaching this area in middle-west Harris, Outer Hebrides, it's clear that we are not goin' to an everyday place

It is like landing on another planet
 

...and find a slice of heaven

approaching marco dadone

So it's with blue in my mind that I was back, impatient to see the turquoise of the Hebridean sea, the dark blues at dawn with Harris hills emerging from the night, the pale tones of a dull morning and the vibrant match between a flaming sun and the ocean at sunset.

What I did not know was that this time, Luskentyre would have revealed its soul to me in a special way.

Time to take my SIGMA SDQH and try the  SIGMA 24 mm f1.4 DG HSM   by SIGMA FOTO ITALIA .

Three dawns in Luskentyre, that's a wide area of dunes, hills, ocean and islands, do mean a lot of beauty.

There is  a special luminescence, even with bad weather. 

First shoots as the light illuminated the scene, that came straight from the land of dreams to my eyes:

the mystic connection, Luskentyremarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

the mystic connection

(Sigma SDQH + Sigma 24 mm Art)

then from my nest, the show began

from cold colors to the typical hebridean tones

There's little more words to use.

I shooted all these images with the SIGMA 24 mm Art, trying to squeeze it in every conditions and use it in an "ethereal" and more sperimental way, to empathize the feelings of so much magic that was everywhere.

So wide open at f1.4 to capture the "scene into the scene",

and often with Intentional Camera Movements (ICM),

together with long exposures to achieve more depht.

Here, before the first dawn in Luskentyre.

The silhouette of the photographer is melting with the immensity of the sea, sand and sky changing from night to day, his soul is emerging amongst the wild elements of nature as in a dream, a spider at the corner of the heavens web

photographer's dreaming marco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

the photographer in dream

(Sigma SDQH + Sigma 24 mm Art

0.9 soft ndgrad and 0.6 hard nd grad, single shot at f/16, 13 seconds, iso 100, i.c.m.)

Luskentyre feel 1marco Dadone Sigma 24 mm art

Luskentyre feel I

Luskentyre feel IImarco dadone Sigma 24 mm art

Luskentyre feel II

Luskentye feel IIImarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm Art

Luskentyre feel III

Or simply letting the movement of the wind free itself, to reveal something like a presence...

spirit of the dunesmarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

spirit of the dunes

the placemarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm Art

take me to the place

call of the seamarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm Art

sea's calling

windswept heaven marco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

windswept heaven

lossmarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

loss

Inside from the dunes, another word of discoveries

luskentye heightsmarco dadone SIGMA 24 mm art

and, when going away, one last goodbye from the sky

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so, just some soulscapes.

thanks to the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, to have awarded this image

Thanks to Lea Tippet and Willem Eelsing 

(the shot up there is Willem while shooting in Luskentyre, captured from the highest sand dunes),

we made a true adventure team this time

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THESE ARE ALL SINGLE-SHOTS,

TAKEN USING SIGMA SDQH WITH SIGMA 24 mm ART

(except the very first one with SIGMA DP0Q).

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a blog by

MARCO DADONE (click on name for the full website)

https://www.facebook.com/marco.dadone.landscape.photography

https://www.facebook.com/marco.dadone.marcodadofoto/

https://www.instagram.com/marco_dadone_photography/?hl=it

All items used by SIGMA

SIGMA 24 mm ART lens provided by SIGMA FOTO ITALIA at https://www.m-trading.it/sigma-m-13.html

Got the smallest full frame of them all from Sigma Foto Italy (here) and squeezed it my own way on the landscape side.

It was a nice travel, until I met the phantom of the catfish of Venice. 

The camera was surprisingly good.

-------

It all started here,

in that white house south of the big lagoon

that was a nice occasion to try the SIGMAfp first, this really small full frame camera (35 mm full size effective 24.6 millions pixel bayer sensor in 370g of weight).

Went fast and furious since the beginning of course! a 200 seconds exposure at iso 20 (yes ISO 20!) and the image of my peerie home of dreams came out extremely clear, permitting me to capture all the movement of the clouds between the sunset and the incoming night.

It was very dark at the time of the shoot, and the effect -no photoshop added- was exquisite, like the aurora lights displayed in the wetlands' sky.

(SIGMA fp + SIGMA 12-14 art at 13mm, 20 sec. at iso 20)

The same house half an hour before, permitted me to test the "freshness" of the capture capabilities of the camera.

That is a non-techincal profile, yet essential to me. It expresses how the look and feeling of the image compares with the scene You are witnessing, so not only resolution and depth of field, but also accuracy in color rendition and the overall look.

That was a pleasant surprise as the image was very "crunchy", that marvellous sunset was shining indeed

(SIGMAfp + SIGMA 12-24 Art at 12 mm, f/11, iso 100, 1.33 sec)

I felt I had to go

a call from the north was everywhere

in the cry of the seagulls in the winter winds,

in the slow movement of the waters around me.

So I took a last look at my well known bricks

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 art at 14 mm, f/14, iso 100, 1/2 sec)

and in a moment I was in the sky

flying like a bird upon the water canals of that flat land

heading north.

Oh the pleasure to shoot with a "true" 12 mm on a full frame body... it's really wide!

By the way, the SIGMAfp has a dedicated COLOR button with interesting feature, as the "sunset" mode which gently enhances the pink and reds. You can also choose the intensity of the color mode itself. That is a precious feature specially when You like to shoot the images ready for any use.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12 mm, f/9, 920 100, 1/5 sec)

I first landed amongst frozen blades of grass for a little rest, in the fields between Emilia Romagna and Veneto.  

That was the occasion to try one of the best lenses from SIGMA, the 28mm Art with its smooth bokeh here at f2.2.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f2.2, iso 1.600, 1/1250 sec) 

when I reached the liquid valleys

I did hide between lost relics from time to time

to speak with my companions the windswept seabirds

as the travel was long

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 13mm, f/11, iso 8,  6 sec)

I've always loved the still seafields

in their shine for the yellow of the sun rising from the water

what a capture it was with the SIGMA 12-24 Art, at f/22 all the sun rays display

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 24mm, f/22, iso 6, 20 sec.)

Then I met the open sea,

the wide Adriatic with all the colors of the incoming sunset.

Here I tried a very long exposure of 200 seconds at iso 6: ISO 6 is incredible ! The colors popped out, the sea, sand, clouds, melted in an unique way, and I did not have to use a heavy ND filter

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12mm, f/11, iso 6, 200 sec.)

It was on those shores I found a boat

apparently waiting for me, between the mists of the following morning.

I went onboard

the boat leaved without a sound.

Being so tired I could not help to fall

in a deep sleep

High ISO rendition with the SIGMAfp is great. Here's a shoot at ISO 1600 without any tripod help, which means freedom to shoot in almost every conditions of light.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12 mm, f/5, iso 1600, 1/200 sec)

While I was sleeping we floated amongst weightless waters

I woke up where the little ship leaved me

by a stone ladder

rising from the green and blue water of a canal

in the village of glass, Murano.

The sharpness, expecially with a master lens as the Sigma 28 mm Art, is very good.

Here I lowered ISO till 50 to achieve my 50 seconds exposure at f/16. The possibility to adjust ISO range to lower values, under 100 and till ISO 6, means great possibilities.

(SIGMA fp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f/16, iso 50, 50 sec.)

It was clear I was in the big lagoon now

and moving from a little island to another

I reached the most colorful village ever seen 

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 15 mm, f/4, iso 640, 1/250 sec)

(SIGMA fp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12mm, f/4, 120 1250, 1/160 sec)

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 14mm, f6/3, iso 640, 3.2 sec)

Burano was incredibly shining

too for my little head

so I faced the day feeling high for the thin winter air

and drunk for all that beauty in a floating nutshell

(SIGMAfp + sigma 12-24 Art at 19mm, f5/, iso 400, 1/320 sec)

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f/6.3, iso 800, 1/320 sec)

this is one straight from jpeg, handhold at iso 1600, jpegs are really usable ready as they are:

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 21mm, f/5.6, iso 1600, 1/640sec, jpeg) 

that is too directly from the jpeg, and here's the joy to shoot on a full frame with an effective 12 mm wide, with scenes like this it's amazing

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12mm, f/8, iso 400, 1/8 sec., jpeg)

until the land of the island

did end.

Time to take my wee boat again, as it waited there,

and leave that place for my bigger call

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 art at 12mm, f/14, iso 100, 8 sec.)

Also this time,

when onboard, I felt asleep.

I ended somehow lying on the wooden jetty

in front of Rialto bridge at night.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f2.8, iso 400, 1/1000 sec., color mode: cinema)

No proper dawn came

but a black and grey tone covering everything,

I've been into too many colors

now the shades were claiming my sight.

The first one I met, was the stone Lion

welcoming me in an old Venice

eaten by the salted sea.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm art, f1.8, iso 640, 1/1000 sec)

The black and whites are very good, with a huge amount of choices for post production in the SIGMA dedicated software, to achieve exactly the result You want.

a town from times long gone

displaying all her decadence.

I had lost my colors and felt upside down

like this old Queen of the seas.

No winter winds and windswept seabirds,

just a sense of wandering without direction

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f/13, iso 50, 20 sec.)

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f2.5, iso 320, 1/160 sec) 

Behind the corner,

someone I knew

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f1.4, iso 640, 1/4000 sec)

  the phantom of the king catfish of Venice

 as he absurdly claims to be called,

was waiting for me from such a long time.

the eyes were into mine,

and then turned to a doorway rising from the canal;

all the colors,

as we proceed into the narrow way

began slowly to come back

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f2.8, iso 400, 1/1000 sec., color mode: cinema)

until on the other side of the passage

while deep tones of lights returned

my phantom disappeared into the open lagoon.

In his place

in front of me, the ship

with the golden comb

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 28 mm Art, f/4, iso 1600, 1/500sec, color mode: sunset)

"Get onboard when the last sunray makes the comb shine"

I heard in his last whisper before his voice melted into mine

So I did with a jump

and in a while we travelled though the night.

That's how the evening become a dawn and I approached, at last, 

the most enchanting view 

breathing all the colors in a crowdless San Marco square

and feeling the winter winds in my breath,

again.

All was found, Venice did shine.

Sometimes we just need eyes to see

and a right time to catch.

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 12mm, f/18, iso 8, 50sec)

-----------

and in front of San Giorgio,

after all, it was just the beginning of another

working day 

"the working day"

(SIGMAfp + Sigma 12-24 Art at 17mm, f/5.6, iso 500, 1/640 sec)

but where did the phantom go?

Sometimes, when I look at the mirror,

I have no doubt.

------------------------------------

ALL IMAGES REALIZED WITH SIGMAfp

using SIGMA 12-24 Art and SIGMA 28mm Art

by Marco Dadone

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SIGMA for ITALY: here (Mtrading) 

more about the SIGMAfp: click HERE 

more about me and the unbearable phantom catfish of Venice:

my fb page HERE

and HERE

(marco dadone landscape photography)

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thanks for visiting

three maids marco dadone sigma

enter the Dun and I will tell You a story

enter the dun marco dadone sigma

this summer dawn

the air is so weightless

that I believe to feel

inis meain dawn marco dadone sigma

and You can believe to hear this voice. 

So go on the highest Dun

sit on the top of the walls

wait for the distant waves to cease. 

Listen...

To be the one in the middle has never been easy

with these corridors of lives

that are my veins,

blue in the evening

pink in the cradle of daylight.

corridors, inis meainmarco dadone sigma

A few

I have known

and did not touch me.

They build strange nests on my slowly curved slopes

nest, inisheermarco dadone sigma

Colours

to keep away this greyness

colours, inis meainmarco dadone sigma

fences

to make a slice of immensity

of their own.

fence, inis meainmarco dadone sigma

Watch me little sister 

after sunset

before I get asleep

You always close

and never together.

sunset from inisheer to inis meainmarco dadone sigma

Once we were one

somehow.

Three sisters spending time

in search of wild berries

hiding ourselves, 

laughing

with little blackbird voices 

blackberry flower, inisheermarco dadone sigma

wild blackberries of inisheermarco dadone sigma

and walking through these carpets of stones

carpet of stonesmarco dadone sigma

in days

that still have no end

Even to spot the shy selkies

in windless evenings

was no surprise.

selkie sunset, inisheer marco dadone sigma

To be made of stone,

since those moments lost in time

was more than a destiny.

Yet shadows of memories approach me

when the sun disappears behind my shy sisters leaving for the fresh air of the night 

or in the sea whispers of some winter mornings

and in the splendour of a spring dawn

weightless dawn marco dadone sigma

I feel the connection

that brings us together.

Three sisters, three maids, three islands of stone

three maidsmarco dadone sigma

And You

dont even think to know us 

by walking on this pale cold skin on summer days.

You have to catch our glimp

within the changing of the seasons, it takes time. 

It takes lives.

So stay

wait for that dawn

to hear my voice

come to my perfect circle

dun, inis meainmarco dadone sigma

then 

enter the Dun and I will tell You a story...

----

marco dadone 

shot on the Aran islands, the three maids Inis Mor, Inis Meain, Inis Oirr, 

with SIGMA cameras and lenses

What I used here:

SIGMA SDQH - SIGMA DP0 Quattro -

SIGMA 24 mm f1.4 Art - SIGMA 10-20 mm f4.5-5.6 

for SIGMA ITALIA click here:

Mtrading SIGMA FOTO ITALIA

for SIGMA GLOBAL VISION click HERE

me on fb : MARCO DADONE (facebook)

and Marco Dadone www.marcodadofoto.com

me on instagram: Marco Dadone photography (instagram)

me on Twitter: Marco Dadone (twitter)