Fall and winter roses

Tonight I discovered that I have never taken pictures in October, at least, since I have a DSLR camera (May 2005).

The only “October shot” I’ve been able to find on my computer is the following:

October 2005. 4 years ago. That’s crazy… Looks like I need to take pictures in October too! ;D

That recalled me that when I was born an aunt called me “little rose of May”. I knew it was due to the fact I was born in May (don’t need to be that smart to understand it) but I asked her (after a few years of course! ;P) why “ROSE of May” and she told me that May is the months of the roses, and I was small and cute as a rose… very nice of here, but…

Now, the question is: Why, on my balcony, I can take a picture of a rose in October (as above) or

in February? (The coldest month here!)

Should I tell her about these crazy roses blooming in cold seasons?

The bending sunflower

Today I worked on 2 pictures, one was an “HDR” work (well, not properly and HDR , but probably close enough…):

(well, not properly and HDR , but probably close enough…)

This picture has been taken on July 10th 2009, as the following 3 pictures, that I edited on July 13th.

And this:

The second one I edited today.
It reminded me that in the following days it fully bloomed and… I just ignored it because I just become unable to take any other pictures.. seems like this last sunflower knew its destiny and started opening in a way that it already can seem dead or, just bending in front of something it cannot control…

And, except for a picture, I don’t take so “colorful” and “detailed” pictures since that day. It’s weird, so weird!

Escape for a living...

Too many thoughts or just the desire to fly away. To where? Dunno.

Unplanned shot. Enough lucky shot.

“Escape for a living”, the title that I gave to this picture.
I do love this shot. I put this in my mp3 read as background, more than an year ago. It’s still there.

The birds take off if there is a suspicious noise or shadow getting too close, they survive this way.

My imagination or desire to smile “take off” when a too sad thought or situation is getting too close…but sometimes I cannot catch my own thoughts.

Little sparrows “work” best

And it’s so weird to discover that this picture has been taken on March 30th 2008, just an year before I did the first part of an exam that is slowing down my studies a lot. Looks like someone is trying to mock me, or just to make me smile.

Seeking for the "hidden" light

(For a while I will post here what I post in the other English blog... might happen that there I won't post something that will be put here that is supposed to be a more "informal" blog).

Going out carrying my camera means a lot of things for me.

One of these is: forcing myself to look at this world, to focus my mind on what is around me in order to avoid to lose a detail that might enrich my day or, if I am lucky, my life in general.

This picture, that someone likes, that someone commented saying:”It looks lit from inside”… wasn’t shot in a studio (I have never been in a photography studio), I didn’t take it with “special” instruments. It’ just a picture of a (small) rose of a plant on my balcony in a little city on the East Sicilian cost. Nothing more.
That light isn’t a post production artifact, I just “helped” it with a little light level adjustment, it’s natural. It was the sun shining on it… the same sun that all of you know.

A simple detail, a definitely unnecessary picture… it reports nothing, nothing important.

It can just testify that someone, somewhere, a day of a certain year, has gone out on the balcony, just after lunch, holding a camera in the hope to be able to find a reason more to smile, to find a reason more to make someone smiling, to find a reason more to remember that even the smallest and simplest thing (or person) can shine with the Light that is necessary for our lives.

Taking pictures, for me, is a good exercise to practice my eyes to seek for that Light, to learn to find it.

Next step?
Being able to understand why God created mosquitoes that keeps me awake at night ;D

P.S. New pictures: "Flowers-->Roses"

And again, Beauty makes things work out :)

Few minutes ago I had written a really bad post, something like a complain.

When, later, I opened the picture I want to use for the post..
I changed my mind.
I thought:"Oh boy! How could I waste this present with such a bad post?" :)

The bad post was anyway necessary, due to it and the picture I understood that even if life has its "imperfection" alike the flare in this picture (that, despite the flare, turned out as I wished) it's life, a present, something to love given by Love.

Ok, there's too much sense in this post (mebbe).
I have to go to sleep, tomorrow might be a really bad day of "fighting" with classmates. HELP!

Have a wonderful Monday!

P.S.
A question for, both English and Italian speaker, or for just English speaker if they can understand why I am surprised by the sentence: "to get on like a house on fire".
In the dictionary I've read this sentence is the translation of "andare d’amore e d’accordo"... I am still trying to fully understand the reason. House on fire is an house that it is going to be destroyed, isn't it? House aren't supposed to love to be on fire!.

Ahaha, I do love learning these idiomatic expressions! :)

To my friends

It’s weird. It’s about 20 minutes that if I want to write down something I start thinking in English… well, in a weird English, but surely not in Italian.

That’s weird. It’s not a particular day today. I mean, nothing “special” related to American or English friends happened today… Well, I guess is quite useless to try to figure out the reasons of this unusual situation.

I think it’s more important to focus on what this situation made me to think about: friends.
I know, I know. I have been talking about friends a lot of times, but they are pretty important in people life… or at least, I think they are.

In these days a lot of my friends are dealing with pretty complex and difficult situations. Some are dealing with health problems, someone is trying to fix family situation, others have problems at work, and so on...

I wish I could do something more than just praying. I know, praying is important, but…I wish I could do more. Even hugging them, or just have a cup of hot chocolate (tea or coffee are fine too) with them.

I cannot do it.

The only thing I can do more… Is it probably keep talking to you through pictures?
Most of you have "met" me through my pictures... I hope you will enjoy if I keep showing my "works" ;D

I could start with this one…a kind of sun set “at the sea”. Ok, that’s not exactly a sun set at the sea, but this is the sea at sunset time at least. I already talked about the place where I took this picture.
And I know that, at least some of you like the sea because you live pretty far from it.

Or I could just show up this man at the sea, in what I think it’s a canoe.

Sincerely, when I took this picture I wasn’t thinking about its possible “meanings”, I just liked the aesthetic aspect of that situation.

Tonight, instead, when I saw the picture thumbnail on my computer desktop I thought that this could perfectly represent how I “see” most of you.
You may look left alone in the “middle” of the sea, but most of you have a lot of friends.
Where are the man’s friends in this picture? Nowhere, they are just on the right, in a building on the coast (of which you can see a part on the right in the sunset picture).
I am glad that most of you can count on your families and/or friends.

I wish all of your problems will be solved (in the best way) as soon as possible.

Oh... This doesn't mean I don't think about those friends with no "big problems" or that are going to get married in few months, or that are enjoying their first grand baby ;)

Looking up

Thinking about today... only this picture comes up to my mind... ...of a little bird that is looking up to the sky, just few instants before taking off. Do I feel this way? I guess that, at least, I would like to feel so!

Or probably it's due to the fact I recall with pleasure the moment I took this picture. At that time I was studying Analysis I, well that wasn't really pleasant, but I remember that in those weeks I used to study in front of the window, with my camera ready to take a picture of what these young birds were doing.

A day, just for coincidence, I had the chance to take this picture. I think pretty few people would think it has been took inside a kitchen of an apartment, belonging to a building located in the middle of a city.
This little guy was standing on the pine (the Christmas Tree in vacation) that there is on my balcony.

I think that, if there's something of good that I had the chance to do, often unintentionally, is to be able to catch the positive and unusual/unplanned aspect of the reality, of that reality that surrounds us but that, for some weird reason, we are not observing with pleasure...

But it's fine, if we start again to observe our world,we can be surprised and we can cheer up.

Fleck of dust

"I, being but a fleck of dust into the world, I am bigger than the world itself. ".

(Catania, Saturday 17th January 2009)

The sentence is a translation of a Father Giussani's sentence, that i read in a book some years ago.

Lazyness or activity?

Today it's rainy, as it has been rainy for the last month... but Saturday 17th January it has been a great day, with almost no wind and a sun shining in a cloudless sky.
That day I took the picture of the previous post (19th Jan) and many other as this one:


You should know that I live in Catania, it's a town on Sicily east cost so you can understand how it has been surprising for me to see the sun reflecting on the sea at sunset time. (Even if it isn't exactly a sunset at the sea! :D ).

How it possible? The dock is linked to the north part of Catania gulf so I had the chance to see this amazing show.

Saturday morning I woke up without knowing where I was going to go, I just I was going out with my boyfriend for a walk. Than, close to lunch time, we decided to not came back home and have a quick lunch somewhere close to the sea and than come back to take picture. As soon as we got out from the fast food, we saw a lot of seagulls flying all over the sky, so we decided to follow them till we reached the port. There were thousands of seagulls! We spent something like 3 hours at that dock.
Three amazing hours where I had the chance to discover amazing scenarios of my town. I am a little ashamed I didn't know them before, but... when, after sunset we left the dock i did take a last look to that panorama I have been looking at for ours and I thought:
"Wow, Sicily, I will probably have to leave you to improve my life but... COOL! How amazing you are! How much I will be missing you if I leave!".

What about the picture I am showing here?
I was at about on the dock at almost 1.3 km far from the starting point, there were structures floating on the sea that were occupied by seagulls that were probably getting ready to get some sleep.
While I was shooting picture, a group of seagulls, coming from don't know where, started to fly all around and I... just took that picture :)

A screen shot just to show you were I was (more or less). I intend to come back there soon. I want to take some pictures at sunset again (with charged battery... I run out of energy just for the most amazing moments of sunset) and I want, if it's possible, to reach the end of the dock...

The Real always wins

B: "In this picture it looks like a star"

N.O.: "What's new? Isn't the Sun a star?"

M: "Looks like it was night!"

N.O.:"It wasn't, have you ever see such a thing at night?"

M: "well, actually... to be the moon is too luminous..."

N.O.: "And that line of light at centre..."

M: "Yeah!" 

Peeking Kitten

The 16th September 2008 I went with my boyfriend to take some pictures to the ruins of a roman amphitheater that there is in Catania... well, I guess that the first lesson of that day is: "Taking pictures to monuments isn't something you should keep doing".
Indeed, I enjoyed more to take pictures to some kittens that had their "house" there. These little cats gave me the chance to take a lot of pictures and of different kind: from the happy to the gloomy type.

Today, I choose a picture, that, according to me, belongs to the second group... or at least, it seams so to me and I feel kinda of "represented" from this kitten.


This little guy used to be peeking from its home t to see if it was safe to get out, its siblings did alike but this one was probably the most prudent kitten.... then, I set with my camera a little further and I started to watch and wait.

All the kittens came out 3 or 4 times, giving me the chance to take some nice shots. Later, alas, came a numerous group of tourists that scared the little cats a who run to their home

After few minuets my boyfriend showed me that there were grinds on the floor, from these grids you could see part of some tunnels... the cat of the picture was watching us, at a first moment I thought to take another picture of this cat but the kitten behind the grid seemed in prison so I gave up the idea to take this picture and I went away in order to leave at peace that little cat.

The sun shines less, it's getting cold outside, but...

It’s probably me unable to do it, but I don’t use to take pictures in this period of the year because it’s often cloudy (so no good lights) and it’s wind.

The period I prefer is spring-summer when the sun often shines and this allow me to take colorful pictures alike this one:

I took this picture the 15th April 2008, that day it was warm outside and the and the shining sun helped me a lot taking this picture.
The flower in the picture is a Passiflora (Passion flower), it’s among my favorite ones.

By the way, when I bought this plant (in March) the information I read about this said that it used to bloom only in a period of the year alike “late spring” or “summer” according to the plant… if it works really this way my plant isn’t well informed! It has been blooming from April with almost no rest. ;)

Yep, Thursday had been a great day, full of new events: joining SOL group and finding a lot of wonderful people, my boyfriend did an important test and I had also the chance to see such an unusual but amazing event that made my day looking nicer, a lot nicer.

So… even if I was tired, I was in a hurry and outside it was windy and cloudy I wanted to try try to take a picture to the brave (or reckless?) flower that bloomed on Wednesday (I think) and was going to close… fortunately mom showed me in time!

This isn’t surely alike the picture I took on April, colors aren’t vivid, I couldn’t play with camera settings to get the black background (this was due to the flower position too) but I think that, despite all, I am satisfied by this picture.
I think it’s AMAZING that a flower blooms in the period when the whole nature is going to sleep for some months, don’t you?
I hope that this won’t kill the plant, though! Outside it is getting colder!

Well… that day someone probably didn’t enjoy my presence on the balcony:

Here you are who was observing me, standing on the gate of the balcony of the apartment that is above mine, I guess they were waiting me to go in order reach the little dish where we leave some food for them.

As soon as I noticed them I wondered if they were thinking something such as: “This one has to annoy just at lunch time?”

Nostalgia is... missing the chance to take pictures.

In these days I have been sick, so I didn't go out, I missed almost a week of lectures and I didn't go to the Mass too. I did nothing of what I usually do.
Despite this "bad" situation, something nice happened: I had the chance to talk more with my friends, and to discover new-old ones and this made me turn back into a positive mood.

This positive mood makes me willing again to do thing alike going out to take pictures!
Alas! In the next months I have to study a lot so I won't be going out for a very long while and this makes me feeling a big sweet nostalgia for shooting.... but I am happy!
Why happy? It's a long story, just know that for a while I did want to do NOTHING, absolutely nothing, and I reached the pretty annoying (or worrying for friend) point that I didn't want to care about my passions too...

Everything is fine now, so... I am going to show you one my last work... hum, these words make the picture seeming an important one and it isn't... but I cannot think of other ways to express the concept that "this the last picture I shot".

I took this picture at my country house on 19th October 2008. It was a really cloudy day so light wasn't the best one and everything looked monochromatic, all the same... but I knew it must have been something of interesting so I forced my eyes to find something that was nice, and after few minutes I found this grapes.
I took some pictures at the standing grapes, later my mother asked me if she could picked the and I said to her smiling: "Only if you allow me taking the pictures to you while you are picking them!"... she agreed of course and here your are the result!

Yeah, those are my mother's hands, aren't them amazing too?! :)

Later I have been able to fin a couple of interesting things... I may post these pictures in the next days.

Today I just wanted to show you one of the reasons that make me love (and miss) "photography" so much: the fact that this is a way to force yourself to "look for beauty" and "to not just stop at a the first impression of the reality you have".

Wouldn't you miss such a joy too?

Against Darkness

It was a Monday in late November. You had come to the university even if you hadn’t to. You wanted to spend lunch time with me because you knew I would have been alone, you knew I needed you.

In those days, too, I used to go to the university with my digital SLR camera because I wanted to catch something for a university photographic contest.

That Monday, after lunch, we had a free hour or so before I had to go to the laboratory for a couple of hours and you offered to be the subject for a picture.
I have spent one of the most amazing hours in my life, I was spending time with you, I was taking picture and you were a perfect model! You did everything I said you to do… “Go there”, “look on the right, not that much”, “now look toward me”, “no, no, no, turn on the page too, don’t be so steady!”.

Here the best picture I shot that Monday…

It’s among the best pictures I ever shot. This picture means a lot for me.
There is you, the person I love since March 2007 [well...that's the "official" date but... :)].
This is the final result of a series of tests I did to learn a new photography technique.
This is also a post-it of a great lesson I should never forget: “Love taking picture, love what you are taking picture at”. I realized this rule only after few months when I understood that one of the common elements of each picture I am “proud” of is the mood I was when I shot that picture: being glad. Yeah, usually I take pictures I like only when I really love the reality that is surrounding me at that moment, when I am glad to have had the chance to see that beautiful aspect of this world.
And in that Monday it was you, holding the “Bible” for physicist that study matter and listening to my “orders” and doing something you had never done but seemed so “natural” for you.

You know that this picture is also shown in an article written on another blog about photography, and thanks to this article I had found at least 3 new friends.

I didn’t win that contest but you are beside me, I have learnt a new technique and probably one of the “golden rules” to take pictures and I had met new friends.

I think I have received from that hour of “work” not what I wanted but much more than I expected! :)

P.S. My flu and some annoying people tried to ruin this 3rd November, but we won't let them down us ;)

A couple of reason to go ahead...

Even in the darkest places there is Light.

Yesterday I went to my parents little country house, it's a pretty nice place if you want to observe an almost undisturbed nature.

It wasn't that late when we reached it, I was pretty sure I was going to shot some pictures but only there I realized that in that places sunset come early (due to an hill on the west) so I had only few minutes rest of direct light and than I had just to "be creative".

It's cold there now and there aren't the typical autumn signs yet... but there was a group of lilies (at least I think they are lilies) that fascinated me.
I think it is a strange period time for blooming but they were there and so fascinating, I decided to try to shot them some pictures even if sun was already gone and they were in a pretty dark side of the yard.

I am enjoying the result.

I love this weird situations and their result!

I am probably crazy and visionary, but when I notice this little beautiful shows in the places and in the time where I would not expect, I start thinking if it is just "a coincidence" or if it's something else.

I love to think that it's something else, that this little shows are more like post-it left for us to remind us that "it's not as dark as it seems", "it's not as impossible as you think"...

Forcing myself to keep my eyes opened!

I already wrote this post in a previous blog where I used to write posts both in English an in Italian, I am closing the English side there and "moving" it on PhotoN Message.

In a previous post I told you how some of those friends and relatives were surprised to "discover", through the picture I was showing them, that there was something of beautiful even where they didn't notice any beauty.
It was very pleasant to see their smiling faces and their surprised eyes. I loved this!

It was during the following months that I realized how easy was to "lose" those "beautiful" details of our reality, an example?

It was the 16th or 17th July 2004, when I was walking in a park in Rapallo (Genoa) and I heard a loud twitter. I looked around for some minutes and at the end I found a very little bird on the street...so I bended on it an tried and after I got surprised by the fact that it was "so small" I tried to take some pictures...It was too dark there so I hadn't been able to take "good picture" but this little bird made me able to notice something else...

As soon as I bended down, the passersby turned curious too and at the sight of the little bird they smiled and went away smiling... I was surprised, because during those minutes I spent to find the source of that twitter I had seen no one else trying to find the source of that sound...
It seemed like, for those people, it was a "too small" detail of the reality to care about.

That day I realized that the simple act to just focus my attention on something, made some one else want to focus on it too and appreciate that detail of our reality.

Reflecting on this event I realized that what happened to those passersby could happen to me too! This scared me a little, I didn't want to be blind, to close my eyes in front of reality!
In order to avoid, as much as I could, this behavior I tried to do my best in forcing myself to look at the world that surrounds me... I am not sure if I can do it often enough, but I am sure I am still trying...

That day, I understood that taking picture was a good way to "force" myself to look for the world (even smallest and hidden) beauty!

Ciao bello!

I haven't wrote yet the post where I explain the title and the goals of this blog, but as I said previously one of the main topics I am going to talk about is: "what makes me loving this life despite all its bad aspects".
Therefore, I guess, there's nothing of strange if I am going to talk about the people I love for their birthday because it's the day in which they joined this world. :)


The "lucky" one today is Allyn from San Francisco, CA, whose birthday is on September 23rd... but, ssh! He doesn't want to make a big deal of it! :P


Who's Allyn? Difficult to define a person in few words...


I started talking with him in April 2008, this make him one of my "newest" friend... I know,
it is only 5 months ago when we started to talk, but it feels like it was 5yrs ago because we had the chance to talk and argue (difficult to avoid arguing with an annoying person alike me) about a lot of things.
I guess that, despite the little time passed since our first chat, he is a really good person who really loves life (yeah, even if he doesn't enjoy birthday! :P )
You can see his good hearth not only from how he talks with people but also from how he talks about his wife and his daughter who he loves so much!


I am really glad to have met this man. (What a news! I wouldn't define him a friend if he wasn't such a pleasant person! ;P).


Last but not least, I have to say that he is very skilled at photography. If you don't believe me you can see and buy (!) some of his pictures visiting this site.



I want to wish him a (belated) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, using this picture of his... despite it's a very good shot it's not one of his best shot... but I am sure he is going to understand why I am posting this particular sunset picture of his. :)

Loving the rain

I used to hate rain, I also had a couple “good reasons”:
- a couple of days before it starts raining I often star having a lot of pain for some days,
- if you look for the chance to take pictures filled with sun light… a rainy day isn’t that helpful…

It’s September 20th, 1.40 am and, I don’t know when, it has started to rain.
I realized it because I heard the typical noise that cars do moving along the nearby road, now I can also hear the noise of the falling drops. I love these sounds and this moment.

I am in my home, in my room listening only to water sounds (I guess I have to thank my silent iMac).
My leg hurts a bit, but it’s OK. I am fine.
Online there is a friend from Texas talking with me, he agrees that “rain is a good thing, in moderation”.

All this makes me think about another friend, from Iowa, who loved rain too.
I still remember our “friendly” arguments about rain, he loved it while I hated it.. and what great laugh we had those days that it was sunny in his town an rainy in mine! :).

I am smiling now… I am glad to have known this man… He did a lot for me…beside sharing with me one of the biggest friendship I ever had, he taught me a lot of things, he gave me the greatest chance I ever had to make real one of my biggest dream: being able to understand and speak English. I have a lot to do but he really helped me.

Tomorrow (the 21st) should have been his 57th birthday… “Should have” because he died in June 2007.

All this is making me really thoughtful, I cannot stop thinking about the strange coincidence happened during the night of the 21st Sept 2006. It was his last birthday, it has been one of the last time we talked, but at the same time I talked for the first time with the boy that now is my boyfriend and that I love so much!

I am also thinking about what rains means for me now, it was February 2008 when I first thought “seems like Randy has come to blow away my sadness”. It was a night similar to this; I was really thoughtful, and I understood it was raining in the same way…I heard that noise made by car motion on the street.

The following morning I had the chance to shot this picture. It’s probably not a great picture but you can understand why I love it.

Since that day, each time it is raining I like to think that he is a step closer to me, I don’t care if it is a stupid thought but the important thing is that thanks to our friendship I love something that I hated and shouldn’t be hating (if it falls in moderation of course).

Wonder that moves

I already wrote this post in a previous blog where I used to write posts both in English an in Italian, I am closing the English side there and "moving" it on PhotoN Message.

"You look like a paparazzi! Why do you take so many picture?!". That's what usually people I know (not friends) say to me when I am shooting some pictures. I always try to explain them why I don't just "shot one picture"but it's very difficult, for me, to explain the reason of that behavior in such a little time to such not really "interested" people.

In order to find an explanation I decided to write some posts about "what makes me loving photography". I actually don't know what I am going to say, and if I will repeat myself... I guess a good starting point is trying to explain HOW I have fallen in love with photography.

Despite the fact I got my first camera for my 6th birthday, I started taking (really) a lot of picture of what I could see around me when I was about 14. In that period I got my first compact camera and I started talking with people from all over the world, I wanted to share with those distant (but so close) friends the wonderful sights I had the chance to see day by day.

I started showing them some sunsets pictures, the Etna eruption (Fall 2002) effects on my town, and how the volcano looked like in those says. I also shoed to my friends some pictures I took during short summer trips on the Dolomites (Summer 2002).

Usually people who saw those pictures commented them in a very positive way...well, probably most of them were just being kind friends, they were being nice with the "little girl" but I hope that some of them really appreciated the "beauty" I tried to "record" on my pictures...

Sometimes I have also shot some flowers pictures, those flowers were usually in some parks or just in some pots on on my balcony. It was amazing to discover, almost each time I showed those first pictures, that people who lived in my town or in the same house (as my brother) couldn't believe that those flowers were just under their noses but they hadn't been able to see such a beauty.

Their smile caused by a pleasant surprise really made me happy! :D OK, I have to admit I was happy also because they were appreciating my "work" but, please, believe when I say that in those days I started to discovere what became one of the first reason that makes me taking "so many" pictures...

The "wonder" that a detail of our reality arouses in me.

I think that without this wonder, I would take no picture and probably I would be a little more "blind"...

Here you are some of those pictures. Etna Eruption during October-November 2002.

This picture was shot the 3rd November 2002, from my country house.

For a better understanding, considere that Mt Etna is about 3,000 meters high and the place where I shot this picture is about 800 mt above the sea level.

The ash clouds coming up from the Volcano is made up of what some people in Catania call "Etna sand", it covered all city, the surrounding town and if I am not wrong wind brought part of it in North Africa.

The picture on the left shows the city panorama during the Eruption, on the right you can see a normal day sight. (I shot both picture from the "Cittadella Universitaria").

This is how the beach looked like those days...I guess it's enough if I say that it's 33Km far from the Volcano.