I know I say this often but Rome is absolutely one of my all time favorite cities. With a profound mixture of excitement and anticipation, each visit makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning and with the gift of awesome weather, this visit was one of the best ones yet.

Ponte Sant’Angelo has long been one of my favorite photography spots in Rome and even though I’ve shot here many times, I’ve never seen the Tiber River level quite like this. It was absolutely perfect for capturing colorful reflections and combined with such beautiful clouds, it was an absolute joy to be a photographer.

Thank you Rome for the gift of such a beautiful moment of time.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 14mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets

Location: Shot and post-processed in Rome, Italy – April 2013

Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom 4.3, Photoshop CS6, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, Nik Color Efex Pro 3, Nik Sharpener Pro

Technique and Details: Nik HDR Efex Pro did a wonderful job of combining the 5 exposure brackets together. After that — using the Photoshop Clone Stamp — I painted out all the mud and muck near the river bank. From there, minor color and detail adjustments were applied using a combination of Nik Color Efex Pro and Nik Sharpener Pro. The wide angle distortion was removed using the built in tools in Adobe Lightroom.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro brewed with Roman tap water.

Roman Dreams - (Rome, Italy)