Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

I have been to Erice countless times because it's very close to Castelammare so I take many who visit me there. On a few occasions, I have found the town bathed in fog and clouds and it becomes more magical.

Sometimes the light that is available can be made more interesting if one sees it's possibilities. Carpe lux and a prosaic scene can yield nice shots.

Nikon's system 1 seemed moribund but now with this camera it signals a departure, a new direction and some signs of life, Nikon has just announced the 1 AW1 as world's first rugged, waterproof mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. It has also engineered AW versions of its 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 and 10mm f/2.8 lenses that are  now both shockproof and waterproof. The Nikon 1 AW1 features similar  specifications to the J3, with a 14MP sensor that can shoot up to 15 frames per second with continuous AF (60 fps with fixes focus only), The camera waterproof  down to a depth of 15m (49ft) and shockproof from a height of 2m (6.6 ft). Some call these type of cameras "life proop;" good copy but meaningless; The 1 AW1 also has built-in GPS, altimeter and depth gauge, while the pop-up flash is also waterproof. The camera features three modes that can  optimize underwater photographs. This will cost around $800/£750/€799 with 11-27.5mm lens and $1,000/£950/€1019 ...

This famous hill in Paris, known as Montmartre, is famous for the Sacre Coeur church. However, the area is very lively and touristy. Here is a couple trying to earn a few Euros putting on quite a show.

In Sicilian there are called bummulari, they are commonly known as San Marzano tomatoes but those in Sicily have a tangier and more intense taste. They make excellent sauce. We call it salsa semplice or simple sauce in the sense that it is meatless. Enjoy.

Many swear by this raw converter. I have used it and was happy with the results but the interface seemed rather tedious. Now Capture One V 7,1.4 has been released. Phase One has released it's latest version of its Raw processing engine , Capture One 7.1.4. As it's customary, this update offers support for more  new cameras and lenses, and also claims improved performance when handling large numbers of files.  Capture One 7 now supports the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II, Fujifilm X-M1 and Olympus E-P5 plus many others, and adds 32 new lens profiles.

  Just some backyard flowers shot with the GX1 last June

I do not know about you but I need a viewfinder since I find using LCD's for composition totally useless.  Perhaps I'm old school but how do you compose  an invisible subject? Can they offer an external one at least. But then the total package would be  too high. Problems, problems.   FujiFilm brings out their cheapest X-series ILC so far:   The X-A1 FujiFilm has  announced their  new compact ILC, which is the cheapest  X-series interchangeable lens camera  offered so far: the new X-A1 . Although it comes in a very affordable package, that  includes the  FUJINON XC16-50mm F/3.5-5.6 OIS zoom lens, the X-A1 is still sports  many nice features and  high performance. Image and video capture employs an APS-C sized, 16.3 megapixel CMOS image sensor working with the powerful EXR Processor II. Fujifilm asserts that this combination not only yields high-quality photos and full 1080p HD video, but it also hints at dSLR-...

Paris is not only a beautiful city, but it's a city that works. Things function well from the public transportation system to the orderly ways that city life unfolds. I had forgotten this. Having arrived from today's Italy where all is total pandemonium and confusion and where traffic is absolutely impossible and made worse by an indifference to traffic regulations - stop signs are optional and traffic lights are deemed an evil best to ignore and  where a pedestrian puts his life in his hands if he trusts the the pedestrian crosswalks on the corners - I was pleasantly surprised at the very light traffic. Of course there's the greatest metro in the world where trains come every 5 minutes so there's no reason to use cars. The cars that one sees are all parked on the streets and none are on sidewalks and traffic is very orderly. There are also many bikes  and these tends to lessen traffic even more. There are motorini but not as many as in Italy where everyone who owns a ...

Panasonic DMC-GX1

This is the real deal. Nothing I can add state has not already been said before. So  I just post quietly.

Let's  face it the harder or more problematic the light the greater are the potential results. Be not afraid of so called difficult light. See the light and use it to it's full potential. Ah..the dying of the light...do not take gentle photos...if you get my meaning and plagiarism. A walk to the marina on an afternoon this past July in my beloved Castellammare del Golfo.