Francesco Chiot - Photoblog

2010 CALENDAR

it's been a while since i did a calendar.. And i thought i really wanted to do one.. So this year's theme is : no theme! Yes! For just 17�, 25$, 14� or so you can have 13 months with some of the best photography by your favourite photographer. Ordering more than 10 copies gives you a 15% discount.
What else to say? just click here to order!

Berlin mon amour

I've been in Berlin 3 times now. First in 1999 with my family. We toured by car the eastern part of Germany til Berlin. I found myself pleased and amazed by the reconstruction done in eastern germany and by the cranes in Berlin (i was pretty naive back then). I'll try to find some of the shots i did back then (i enjoyed mostly travel photography and didn't start yet takin the art this [little] seriously).

Next, i've been there on 2008's new year's eve. Cold, snow and fireworks flying around me. Wonderful. It seemed like an happy, partying city.

This september i've gone back in Berlin, full of memories and expectations, just to find myself in front of a different scenario.
I spent the first two days without shooting, being unable to feel what happened around me, since i was so full of memories of a total different city. Then i started realizing, feeling and shooting again. I did the most of work with an Olympus XA from the 80s, a kodak color and a fuji superia films, both 200iso. Both films have suffered from passing 4-6times at x-ray security checks, so photoshop was needed to bring back some shining color.

I AM LAZY, and have a lot of dayjob to do here so i won't upload all the stuff on this site. Just click on the photo here if you want to see the album on facebook (you don't need to be registered to see it).

Sorry guys. Want me to post the pictures here and to make a brand new website? Send money .

Miss&Mister Trieste - Final night

Well i might be a little late blogging about this since it's been like two weeks but really, i had such a busy month shooting !!
First, i've won the 1st prize in the Black and White category at the Miss&Ursus photo contest with this photograph of Alexia's legs

Next, the main event. The final night of the beauty contest Miss & Mister Trieste took place at the ancient castle of San Giusto on the 13th of August. Beautiful weather, beautiful night.

Lazy me, i did some facebook albums with all the photos, and i'm sorry if i missed somebody but i had to erase some shots due to my dumbness. Sorry guys.

So, the albums!

Various

Intro, Bandomat and Ikki and Daspe exibitions

Miss & Mister, casual dress

Miss & Mister, interviews

Miss & Mister, swimsuit

Miss & Mister, the end

Enjoy!

Miss & Ursus

(Backstage is mostly in the links so don't forget to click)

the "small" backpack i had for that afternoon

This sunday i had the chance to shoot some of the Runner Ups of Miss Trieste, aboard a huge historical crane called Ursus. It was a contest, The Beauty and the Beast, organized by Triestin photographer Claudio Micali.
The hot hard sun (started 4pm, expected end at 8pm) prevented me from shooting outside with flashes and stuff (here's me annoying Alessandro Pangherz with some light test)... and since i'm not that natural-light guy and was already feeling awkward from being the youngest and the least active photographer in the melee ( 30 photographers, 7 models, no rules), i decided to go down in the engine room and search for some spots to light (i think i've lost some liters of body water, it was around 40�c inside the steel monster).
First i noticed the stairs... The whole industrial feeling the room had called for some hard light (ok, i'll admit i had no stands nor umbrellas but i could have the light bouncing for some softness if needed). Single speedlight camera left, fixed with rubber chord (something like those ball-chords they sell for strobists but longer, belongs to sailing world and we call them "spiders") on a 50cm pipe.
I asked the captain of the crane for a test shot, he was more upset than me :-)
Then Larissa came for the real deal, here's what we've done

After that i went for the crane control panel but i spent almost 30 minutes trying to light it without succeding.. shooting without knowing in advance the location sure sucks.. in the meanwhile some other photographer went in for some close ups . It took me half an hour to realize i was loosing body mass through sweat without shooting anything good so i went back on the stairs setting up a simple two 45� side light scheme

(uff.. fresh air.. let's find some suitable model)
Alessia agreed to spend some time in the oven and we had quite some fun doing the shoot, indeed a quick one because of the hoooot temperature (notice the sweat in the last shot, poor girl).

Fresh air! The sun was a little softer (5:30pm maybe?) and i scouted around for some pretty shady corner to fill with a flash. It happened in front of my eyes this small, white'n'rusty passage with sea view.. The official models were all taken for some group shot by Claudio (Hey! Thief!!) so i asked Nicole to help me out. She seemed to enjoy the shoot and i'm pretty happy with the outcome (fill flash for nikki, 540ez).

I had the chance to exploit the location with Larissa (i love the red hair!) for two quick pictures before leaving.

Oh yeah, i was waiting for 7pm to shoot but all the other 29 photographers decided to call it a day at 6pm so i didn't have the chance to do the shoots i was planning for. Too bad but i'm still very happy of what i've done!

Some fun at the studio

You maybe read me in this post blagging about some sort-of-shooting-room being made at my house.. Well i'm making improvements (i guess). I am lucky having friends who has a lot of fun being shot and we did a couple of fun nights at the studio, as well as a couple of more serious sessions.

Some random headshots, playing around with the toys and accessories i've provided

Also, after a couple of shots i started getting interested in portraiting people with tattoos... I love them :-)

Last but not least, last session with Dorina. We produced some images later labeled as "Dark Pirates of the Caribbean", here's some samples.

That's it! It was just a short post to tell you everything's fine, sorry for not having time to write longer :-)

Val Cavanata - Aggiornamento

In this previous post i was saying that i may not have taken the competition theme seriously enough. Good thing the judges had sense of humor.

This first picture won the 4th price (and, really i'm happy and honoured, i have no experience, background on wild animal photography - i don't have any lens more than 85mm ) , the last won a special jury price for the idea and developement :-) Thanks guys!!

-Un Freddo Inverno - A Cold Winter -

- Difesa dell'Ecosistema - Protecting the Ecosystem -

Studio under developing

Never been good at planning, staging and shooting a photo. I usually capture what i see and feel, something with its own life. That's why i decided to study lighting, strobes, studio life and work, because i'm very bad at it and i want to improve very badly. I did in the past stage a photo and we had quite great fun so why not finding some space to fit a small studio?

I moved some forniture and could arrange some free space to move around.

First tests were fun but showed me i needed more space and more attention to the background. And to study and shoot more with artificial lighting (Strobist Strobist and more Strobist).

I did a lot of self shots, much more you and i could ever want to see here, but luckily i also have some friends who're not afraid of the camera.

First victim of the DIY studio and lighting : Martina

This was way before i even tryed to build a background holder and stuff , i'm very grateful to Martina for the great experience and great fun we had that day!

Right next in time appearence i have to thank Elena Venier, photographer and friend who decided to give a test of the studio with her friend and model Bruna right after i put up an emergency backdrop holder.

I managed to steal some photos of Bruna during theyr photoshoot and i'm quite happy of the pics (i would be happier if i didn't forget the ISO on 1600 the night before :) )

The studio is still under work, as my skills so..

To be continued...

Una giornata in Valle Cavanata

(a day at Valle Cavanata) or, how hangin out with friends turns out great for photo competitions.

We like to hang out on weekends making photos, a good company always turns out fun and good pictures even on the worst days. On a weekend in february we decided to head to Valle Cavanata (www.vallecavanata.it) a local natural reserve based on an old fishing valley. The site is actually perfect for bird observing and shooting (camera shooting of course :-) and being a humid place it's also perfect for waterscapes and infrared photography.

By the way there was this photo competition going on at the reserve, another good point in being there getting things done .

(here's another amazing video by Stefano Radin)

We started taking things quite seriously, birds landscapes and everything nice, even though we didn't succeed in entering the reserve without a guide.

(photo by Giacomo Petronio)

We moved then to the observer's nest to have some inside fun

Somebody sayd i didn't take the competition theme seriously, i frankly don't see the point but you can judge yourself looking at the photos and video :-)

Here's the three pictures i submitted:

The winners will be announced on 24/04/09 17:30 at the Reserve's lodge.

Il Pescatore e altre oziose storie

The book by Cecilia Deni is finally out on Lulu, order or download it from here .Written between 2003 and 2006, it's a collection of poetry and short stories that dig into human's life deeply, on the thin line between life and death, sanity and denial.

This is the photo on the cover, i did it for the book after hearing from Cecilia, some time ago.

I hope you'll like the book, she's an awesome writer and woman.

It's about how you feel

Sometimes (by Martin Stranka)

I've been involved in some unrelated conversations about photography and feelings. I like what i do, even if i'd like to do it more, better and to spread my message all over the world. Photography is about feeling and telling.
I don't have a single favourite photographer, rather i have a bunch of great photographers i like to take inspiration from. A lot of them use to express theyr art through waterscapes, still waterscapes, mostly in black and white. Those pieces of art makes me feel like a child, lying on the beach on a starry night, alone, one of those nights you just stay still and watch the world revolving and staying the same. It's, somehow, comforting.

Stairs to nowhere (by Michel Rajkovic)

Relation (by Dariusz Klimczak)

Bugio's lighthouse (by Pedro Inacio)

Center pier (by Alain Etchepare)

Love (by Xavier Rey)

I wish i was able to transmit half of the emotions this pieces give to me. And i hope i am and will be able to put in a photograph even a small part of the emotions i feel every day and be able to share that with you all.

About the cranes and the life of the megalopolis

There's something about the cranes. There's something about those riggings and cages surrounding a building, about the pillars rising to the sky. If the city was a living being wouldn't those building yards be the sign of its metamorphosis, like healing wounds or newly born limbs? Everytime i see a crane it looks to me like a sentient part of the great city being, healing the wounds of old buildings, creating new vitals into its body.We're nothing more than small parasites, sometimes simbionts. I'm influenced by Tsutomu Nihei's vision of the metropolis and it's inhabitants.

Musically driven

Being in need of a music-themed picture we got the chance to put up a set. The first part was all about jumping and having fun, without an actual idea in mind.

Then we moved to the core theme and developed the image i had in mind in the back garden, ending the day with some more jumps with a twisted "SPARTAAA" look in them :-)

Gabriele by ~kilit on deviant ART

This is the "final cut"