When I got my iPhone 4 (that’s part of my transition to the Apple world, since now I use the iMac as my main photo processing machine and the MacBook Pro for everything else) I eventually started using its 5-MP camera, and soon I got the Hipstamatic 185 app. I was instantly amazed – this thing does all the darkroom work I’d do, and it’s like it’s reading my mind every time. It started as a game sort of but I think it’s now getting “serious” – I think the Hipstamatic is an incredible vision machine, and it gets me exactly where I want – the grainy and contrasty BWs, the halos and “films defects”, the heavy vignetting, it’s all there where I’d like it – even ghostly and faded nuances of color in monochrome shots.

The Hipstamatic gallery is now featured on my website http://www.lucalacchephotography.net; a selection is also on my Art Limited gallery  http://lucalacche.portfolio.artlimited.net.

It’s a portfolio of seventy-five images taken in Venice, Italy over the days of 2010 Carnival.

Some tech – Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III and 5D Mark II, Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L-is with EF 1.4 extender, Lensbaby Composer with plastic optic.

Per quelli di voi che sono a Treviso (e dintorni…) i miei foto-libri Veneziana e The Japanese Haunting sono esposti alla Galleria Spazio Paraggi (Via Pescatori 23, Treviso).

A Mid-winter Sea Dream has been shot in sea locations in Veneto and Friuli regions of Italy like Jesolo, Punta Sabbioni, Lignano Sabbiadoro – long sandy beaches, with the unmistakable mood of sea at winter. Besides the 70 200 tele lens and the Composer with plastic optic, mainly the ultra wide lenses (14 and 15 mm fisheye) were used for this series.

Xmas In Treviso was shot in the Piazza dei Signori area of Treviso, around a vintage carousel and a giant Christmas tree – those were “framed” by the very nice castle-like buildings  around the square. The 35 mm and the Composer + plastic optic were chosen for this series.

Pioggia has been shot in Treviso, Veneto, Italy, only using the Canon 1Ds Mark III and the Canon EF 35mm 1.4 L lens at full aperture. Urban details in my opinion change under the rain – the lights sort of make the city “bleed” and that brought me to an unusual choice – developing in over-saturated color.

Venezia – una sera includes images taken in Venice. Same approach and equipment as the other series but different results – this series is mostly monochrome, that as usual suggested by the location.

Turkish photo-magazine Fotoritim featured an article on my photography and a selection of my works from my monochrome selective focus (Lensbaby photos) portfolio on their July issue:

http://www.fotoritim.com/yazi/luca-lacche–kentin-kokusu

Also the English version is included. Many thanks to Sebnem Aykol of Fotoritim.

Datacolor Europe included two of my works from ‘The Japanese Haunting’ portfolio in their “Real Colors Of My Life” book:

http://news.datacolor.eu/en/archives/2009/02/how-beautiful-t.html

These two photos have been selected (even if they are monochrome…):

The book is currently available on Blurb.com:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/750811

As stated on the page, “Buying this book, you will support the HOPE FOR CHILDREN organization and their Children’s Village in Chile, “Las Mariposas”! “

Many thanks to Larisa Bolli and the Datacolor staff.

27 images, all taken in Piedmont, Italy (Torino, Venaria, Superga) around may 1st 2009.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, EOS 5D mark II – Lensbaby Composer with plastic optic, Original Lensbaby – Canon EF 14mm, 15mm fisheye, 35 1,4 L, 70-200 2,8 L.

Thanks for checking it out – as usual, comments are welcome.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/614752

Large Format Landscape (13 x 11 inches, 33 x 28 cm), 80 pgs, Premium Paper with Hardcover and Dust Jacket.

Intro from back cover:

During these years of photography I made myself used to always catching the immediate atmosphere of a place – my photo approach and technique are expression of an instinctive attitude, I like to let the eye and the mind run free when spotting the subject, framing, composing.

Such point of view makes Venezia a particularly easy task because this one-of-a-kind location is so incredibly rich, like a goldmine of details suggesting infinite variations – even subjects not anywhere else worth of consideration in Venezia become peculiar, unique. It is perhaps the subtle feeling of decay, corrosion and neverending motion that give soul and life to stones, walls, bridges – there is no escape from imagining and telling stories, and using the obvious like gondolas and masks, poles and seagulls doesn’t feel for once wrong because they are still a basic ingredient, key elements of the atmosphere, and in most cases the catalyzers of the composition. It is of course never easy to concentrate in the continuos flows of mass tourism, which especially in Venezia is like a plague – but, as in most cases in my experience, photography helps in getting into the mood of a place even in “distracting” situations.

A tech note for those of you who may be interested… All the images in the portfolio have been taken in Venezia on February 2009, over the days of the Carnival, with my current double-camera setup in what I call “double view” – The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III handling the “regular” lenses (in this case mostly the Canon 70-200 2.8 L-is with the 1.4 extender which makes it a 98-280 f/4) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark II handling the selective focus view via the Lensbaby Muse fitted with the “yellow single optic” and f/2.8 aperture – I actually consider it the updated version of my favorite selective focus lens, the Original Lensbaby, which I have been extensively using over these last two years.