I participated with a series of images dedicated to the Italian life style. I chose to submit images showing the real life style, far from the crowded touristic spots where the landscape had been already modified to accommodate the expectations of the tourists.

I preferred to show real people in places where the soul of Italy is still present. Some places are little paradises, other urban environments affected by the decadence of the last years but all are still genuine.

Obviously the award is for images made with analog technologies. In this case all the images were realized on Ilford FP4 film with a Zeiss Ikonta from the 1930s.

Enjoy the pictures and check the Award page at www.analogsparksawards.com

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Usually for my Christmas photograph I follow the big events of the year, and you can see in this article what I did in the past, but this year I decided to stay far away from the world events. I simply decided that I had two choices: getting very upset with how the world is run and be very polemic and political or concentrating on my passion for photography. I chose the latter.

I decided to create an homage to film photography.

First of all in the last years I started to use again film for a lot of my artistic production. Second this year was a great year for film photographers; Leica produced again the film camera M6 and Pentax announced, just few days ago, that will again produce analog cameras.

It’s really a great moment for film photography because the involvement of big companies in the analog field means film is not dead and there will be a revival as there was in music with vinyl.

We have to remember we are analog creatures and sometime is fundamental for us to have analog experiences and spend our time far from the artificial digital world. We need it to remember we are able to enjoy infinite nuances, much more than a digitally converted world will be able to give us. We need analog experiences to remember that the human beings and our beautiful world cannot be translated in approximated numbers. We really need to remind to ourselves that the life must be lived in person and is not meant to be spend interacting with a computer.

I wish your 2023 will be full of analog experiences, in photography and in life.

Just kidding, but after I made the video you can check here, where I talk about the new trend of AI creating photography, this idea came to my mind… what if? lol

Let me know what you think about the use of AI in the creation of art!

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I made a test with two different negatives: a very soft flower subject lighted with painted light and a very sharp subject lighted with a very contrasted light. I wanted to see how this printing process deals with different subjects.

I proceeded with some step test to find the corrected exposure for my negatives. I did 2 seconds steps and as you can see in the video I was a little optimist with my first strip of 2,4,6,8 seconds exposure. At the end the correct exposure resulted of 11 minutes.

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You can see the tests I made in the video below.

I was expecting shorter exposure times ’cause I seen some other boxes made with the same LED giving short exposure times with other alternative processes.

Still I like the slow times when I work with film and so I kinda like to have time to think while I wait for the paper to be exposed.

The Arduino timer is working greatly and it’s a pleasure to use this box!

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I have to learn to pose the emulsion better on the paper. The thickness came out not uniform and there are spots where the emulsion did not spread at all on the paper. Still I have a lot to learn but as a fist try I’m quite satisfied of the results.

The LabOldTech2000 kit is very easy to use and complete.

See you next time with new projects!

At the origin of photography many technologies of printing required the exposure in UV light. At those time sun was the perfect source and the exposure was usually made outdoor. The quantity of UV light from the sun can vary a lot in different seasons or with different weather, plus, baby it’s cold outside now in winter! For this reason I decided to build a UV Box.

I was inspired by some similar projects videos on YouTube but I added a personal touch.

First of all I used an old wood box for wine bottles instead of a modern plastic box. The wood box was in my cellar, free, and wood looks better and more coherent than plastic with old techniques.

Second I decided to add a timer for a precise exposure instead of counting the seconds with an external timer and manually switch the lights on and off.

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Check out the video to know more about the UV Box and see how it works.

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I used very common components easy to buy online:

LED stripes: BTF-LIGHTING UV Black Light 5m 300 LED Strips, 5050SMD Ultraviolet 395nm-405nm

Arduino Nano

Arduino Display 1602A

Buttons: GUUZI 12mm

Switches: GUUZI 12mm, 16mm

LED: GUUZI 12V-24V 12mm LED

Power: MeanWell LRS-150-12 150W DC 12V IP20

5V Power: Greluma DC 12v 24v to 5v Step Down Converter 5A 25W

The 5V are derived from the 12V Power Supply with the Stepdown Converter.
The relays are on the 12V power supply going to the LED stripes and have the green LED in parallel.

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Here is the scheme of the circuit:

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Here the program I wrote for the timer:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include "Countimer.h"
#include <EEPROM.h>
Countimer tdown;
LiquidCrystal lcd(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7);


#define bt_set    A0
#define bt_up     A1
#define bt_down   A2
#define bt_start  A3
#define bt_full   A4
#define LCD_CONTRAST_PIN 11
#define relON LOW
#define relOFF HIGH

int time_s = 0;
int time_m = 0;
int time_h = 0;
int set = 0;
int flag1=0, flag2=0;
int relay = 8;
int relay2 = 9;
int buzzer = A5;
int power = 0;
int contrast = 0;


void setup() {
Serial.begin (9600);
//set some defaults


pinMode(bt_set,   INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_up,    INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_down,  INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_start, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(bt_full,  INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(relay, OUTPUT);
pinMode(relay2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);

lcd.begin(16, 2);
analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast); //set some contrast
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("   Welcome To   ");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" LB's Drunk UV Box ");
tdown.setInterval(print_time, 999);
eeprom_read();
delay(4000);
lcd.clear();
}

void print_time(){
time_s = time_s-1;
if(time_s<0){time_s=59; time_m = time_m-1;}
if(time_m<0){time_m=59; time_h = time_h-1;}
}

void tdownComplete(){
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print("  Done  ");
  delay(3000);
  lcd.clear();}
 

void loop(){
tdown.run();

//read power
if(digitalRead (bt_full) == 0){power=1;}
if(digitalRead (bt_full) == 1){power=0;}

if(digitalRead (bt_set) == 0){
if(flag1==0 && flag2==0){flag1=1;
set = set+1;
if(set>4){set=0;}
delay(100); 
}
}else{flag1=0;}

if(digitalRead (bt_up) == 0){
if(set==0){tdown.start(); flag2=1;}
if(set==1){time_s++;}
if(set==2){time_m++;}
if(set==3){time_h++;}
if(set==4){ if(contrast < 254){contrast=contrast+1; analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast);} if (contrast >= 254){contrast=254;};}
if(time_s>59){time_s=0;}
if(time_m>59){time_m=0;}
if(time_h>99){time_h=0;}
if(set>0){eeprom_write();} //EEPROM.write(addrCon, contrast); EEPROM.write(addrLum, luminosity);
delay(200); 
}

if(digitalRead (bt_down) == 0){
if(set==0){tdown.stop(); flag2=0;}
if(set==1){time_s--;}
if(set==2){time_m--;}
if(set==3){time_h--;}
if(set==4){ if(contrast > 0){contrast=contrast-1; analogWrite(LCD_CONTRAST_PIN, contrast);} if (contrast <= 0){contrast=0;};}
if(time_s<0){time_s=59;}
if(time_m<0){time_m=59;}
if(time_h<0){time_h=99;}
if(set>0){eeprom_write();} // EEPROM.write(addrCon, contrast); EEPROM.write(addrLum, luminosity);
delay(200); 
}

if(digitalRead (bt_start) == 0)
  {if(set==0){{ flag2=1; 
  eeprom_read(); 
  if(power == 0){
  digitalWrite(relay, relON);
  digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}
else {
   digitalWrite(relay, relON);
   digitalWrite(relay2, relON);}

  tdown.restart(); 
  tdown.start();
}}
  else {set=0;
  }
}


lcd.setCursor(0,0);
if(set==0){
  if(power==1){lcd.print("PW full    Timer");}
  if(power==0){lcd.print("PW half    Timer");}
}
if(set==1){lcd.print("  Set Timer SS  ");}
if(set==2){lcd.print("  Set Timer MM  ");}
if(set==3){lcd.print("  Set Timer HH  ");}
if(set==4){lcd.print("  Contrast:  " + String(contrast)+"  ");}
lcd.setCursor(8,1);
if(time_h<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_h);
lcd.print(":");
if(time_m<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_m);
lcd.print(":");
if(time_s<=9){lcd.print("0");}
lcd.print(time_s);
lcd.print("   ");

if(time_s==0 && time_m==0 && time_h==0 && flag2==1){flag2=0;
tdown.stop(); 
digitalWrite(relay, relOFF);
digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
tdownComplete();
eeprom_read();
}

if(flag2==1){
    if (power == 1){digitalWrite (relay, relON); digitalWrite(relay2, relON);}
    else {digitalWrite (relay, relON); digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}
    }
else{digitalWrite(relay, relOFF);
     digitalWrite(relay2, relOFF);}

delay(1);
}

void eeprom_write(){
EEPROM.write(1, time_s);  
EEPROM.write(2, time_m);  
EEPROM.write(3, time_h);  
}

void eeprom_read(){
time_s =  EEPROM.read(1);
time_m =  EEPROM.read(2);
time_h =  EEPROM.read(3);
}

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As you see it is easy to build, it just requires some electronic/programming skills and a lot of patience. Buying a full 6 bottles box and drink them during the building can help the morale, I’m not sure about the results!

I wish you a great Christmas, filled with joy and the right personal choices!

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This is a strange Christmas with too many people trying to cancel it, some for cultural reasons as the European Commission, others finding excuses in a virus that seem to spread only in specific situations.

It is always difficult to find a proper reaction to evil when it’s in charge of our lives, so I was wondering what to do and the question came natural: “What would John Galt do?”. The answer was very easy and so here’s my traditional Christmas image for the year 2021!

This year, more than ever, we are in a war, it’s not a traditional war at the moment but a cultural war. One side is the side expressing all the values that permit to appreciate and enjoy Christmas, the other side is the side that is not able to joy and wants to cancel it.

The premise of Christmas is the freedom to chose between good and evil, Santa made a list and only the nice ones receive his gifts. Christmas is the season when joy must be deserved, it is the season that celebrates the birth of Jesus, a man who taught us that we are all equal and free to chose, a man who at the end gave his life to eliminate the evil represented by the pretense of an original sin defined by evil people to impose their power on others using guilt as their main weapon.

No matter if you look at the Christian faith as believer or simply as an observer of human and political changes, in both ways the meaning of Christmas is clear. The reason why a lot of powerful people is trying to cancel Christmas is exactly to eliminate that meaning.

To be good must be a choice and as a choice we are good toward people deserving it. It’s a season to donate to other deserving people, the nice on Santa’s list. It’s the season to celebrate the fact that we as human are equal and none of us must be considered inferior or guilty for something other people did.

We are in an era when some people in powerful positions want us to believe the opposite of Christmas. They want us to believe we are guilty because we were born with a specific color of our skin, they want us to believe we are guilty if we do not chose to follow their stupidity of the moment also if we see it clearly and think it’s evil, they want us to believe is their right to rule us also when the rules are wrong, they want us to forget reason and substitute our believes in freedom with their believes in controlling us. They want to cancel the basis of freedom and cancel a popular tradition easy to understand by everybody as Christmas, it’s an easy way, much easier than debating the centuries of philosophy that created the western culture of freedom. They want us to forget our power to give to whom deserve, they want us to give them the power to steal all our money so they can decide who is worth of receiving.

In Christmas we can find all the words to express the best of the human kind: freedom, generosity, joy, equality, love, responsibility, choice, etc. etc. They want to substitute all with the new language they use to rule us: a limited freedom, fair share, guilty joy, equity, duty, settled science and so on.

It’s a war, and it’s a war we can win and are winning. To win it we have just to keep to ourselves our values and love for life and give nothing to them. They cannot enjoy Christmas, we can and we must not make the mistake to share it with undeserving people. To win we must not just chant “Let’s go Brandon”, we must deeply feel it and act accordingly.

On the technical side I had some fun using an 8×10″ view camera, a Black and White film, printing in the darkroom and hand painting the image. A video of that will come soon on YouTube… if my GoPro worked properly!

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The book can be previewed and bought here on Blurb.

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I kept the book very simple, with a short version of the tales and just location and camera used for each picture.

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See you with the new projects…

If you prefer a video version, just watch it here, but if you prefer to read go on.

I’m really glad in January 2020, before the shit hit the fan badly, I decided to start my Black and White Tales project. It was a great way to keep myself busy and stay in touch with the world and my creative mind while we entered the Covid jail we still have to leave!

That project taught me a lot about myself and my photographic style and preferences. I got even more involved with film thanks to the images I found in my archive and really loved.

If you followed the projects from the beginning I owe you a big thank you. If you did not just click here and enjoy it. If you do not click and check it out nothing will happen to you but you will make me sad and that will perhaps heavily influence your Karma!

Another success of 2020 was the publication of my book about fine art ink-jet printing. It is the English version of the one I published few years ago in Italian and contains some obvious updates. Check it out.

The Black and White Spider Award is one of my favorite awards, it always have so many beautiful photographs submitted and very high standards. I had three images nominated, one in the Fine Art category and two in the People category. Not bad at all.

Photography for me is always a great way to meet new people and hear new stories.

In 2009 while photographing Ginseng farmers I took a picture of Abe Vang, a Hmong farmer who was a refugee from Laos and passed away recently. I always loved that picture because I felt a connection with Abraham also if we spoke for few minutes.

Craig Thompson, a comic book designer contacted me to use the picture for the issue about Abe Vang of his comics series dedicated to Wisconsin ginseng farming. It was great to learn Abe’s story and create a new connection.

Even in a shitty year I manage to have satisfactions from my job! Not bad.

Now the projects for 2021.

First of all I will take a break until the end of January, to organize myself and to relax a little.

I have no idea what the year will bring, but the beginning already brought a lot of censorship on social media so I will start to upload my video also on Rumble and move away from FaceBook and other traditional social media. You can find me on MeWe, if you like to stay in touch.

Photographically I intend to produce 10 magazines and 10 fine art portfolios, about 10 different places. I will continue to make videos and talk about the pictures involved in the project… Rumble or Youtube I will find a way also if I expect some censorship due to my libertarian ideas I have no problem to express.

I will also continue the Gear Talk series, so expect more reviews of old film cameras!

It is all for now, stay tuned and see you at the end of the month.

A project that helped me stay alive in this crazy world.

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I hope you enjoyed it, now is time for me for some postpartum depression and I will be back in January with other projects to share with you.

This image is inspired by a Buzzati’s novel. Not the right book to read right now, being a little bit too much kafkian, but a book that came to my mind this week and inspired this picture years ago.

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See you next week… and we will see if the tide brought something useful…