Manarola, Italy (Cinque Terre) at sunset, a photo from La Spezia, Liguria

Photographer's Note

A view of Manarola, Italy, one of the five towns of the Cinque Terre. This is a very familiar viewpoint to anyone who's looked at pictures of Manarola, and with good reason. There is a trail that connects the five villages and it curves around the bay, giving this view back toward Manarola. It doesn't hurt that Manarola faces westward so it gets some incredible sunset lighting.

Like I always do, before my trip there, I looked on the internet to see what other photos of Manarola had been done. Most of what I saw was vacation snapshots. I didn't think many really captured all of the magic that Manarola has to offer. I went there determined to take the very best photo of this fascinating little village that I'd ever seen.

I waited for three days to get this particular shot. No, I didn't camp out on the trail, but I went out to this spot just before sundown for two nights in a row, but just didn't have very good light at all. On the third night, the sky was mostly clear with some interesting clouds and a beautiful lavender and indigo sky. The sunset light was just perfect, casting a golden glow over the village for just a few minutes.

As usual, I took several frames to make sure I got a keeper. I was also shooting on Velvia, probably the most unforgiving slide film on the market. Just a one third stop difference in exposure can mean the difference between a winning photo and an also-ran.

Of the ten frames I shot, this one really stood out as the keeper.

Coyotyto, rozy975, douille, anney has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Salocin51 (0) 2005-05-01 9:50

Superbe image, j'aime beaucoup l'exposition produite par ce beau coucher de soleil. Ca vallait le coup de patienter pour capturer ce beau moment, et quel bonheur pour les habitants de vivre dans un tel endroit !

dabri (1692) 2005-05-01 10:54

Hi Todd,
splendid image.

Congrats,
Davide

Coyotyto (1305) 2005-05-01 12:41

Hi Todd,

You really did capture the magic of that village !
Beautiful scenery of this astonishing village. That was worth waiting for that light !

The only thing I don't like sooo much is the dark upper left corner.

Regards,
Youssef.

summersun (4978) 2005-05-01 13:09

this village has a really amazing position, and the light gives a dramatic touch to it. nice contrast between the blue of the sea and the colorful houses. you have a great sky too. very good picture.
Vanessa

davido (1982) 2005-05-01 14:21

Nice sunset Todd. The view is just fantastic. The contrast between the sky and the sea is beautiful because of the different tones of blue.
Regards, David

rbcy1974 (20758) 2005-05-01 16:09

Hi Todd,
Great composition under a beautiful light,
Well done
Daniel

donluicu (24724) 2005-05-01 19:15

Todd*this view is a classic...but yours has something special..may be the clouds, may be the sea..i don't know. The colours and the compo are great!
congrats

loic

Gantry (20) 2005-05-01 19:24

I really like this photo. The contrast of the setting sun on the muiti colored buildings and the darkness of the water really makes the phot stand out. Nicly done (and worth the wait)

Gdouble (0) 2005-05-02 15:03

Fantastic shot again. Wow, what a light.
Your notes are lessons for me.
Thanks
Guy

maxman (62) 2005-05-10 4:14

Superb! I've took a similar picture, but.. i can't compare! Yours, is another thing!!

rozy975 (3047) 2005-07-29 19:27

Wonderful! All five towns of Cinque Terre, I love this one best. This is a very good photo indeed. Well done!

douille (85) 2005-09-08 7:19

A Very Nice picture of an ammazing village!

ccooper (840) 2006-04-29 16:48

Todd,
This is my favorite photo of Manarola and has inspired me to visit this town. I especially like the saturation and deep blues of the sky in contrast with the pastel buildings. Great photo overall.

Budapestman (82620) 2006-08-08 17:59

Hi Todd!
Fantastic mood and very good composition! Excellent POV, colours and lights! Great shot! Thank you, nice days,
George

anney (144) 2007-03-21 18:12

I've looked at a lot of Cinque Terre photos especially on this website, and I really like the lighting, colors and saturation in yours as one of the best. As always, sunset still is a great time for taking photos!