Bored Panda reached out to learn more about the Italian photographer and the captivating scenes he captures through his lens. Gianluca Rubinacci shared with us how he developed a passion for landscape and nightscape photography: “I have always photographed only landscapes: initially I only photographed night landscapes in the city. Until a few years ago, it was in fact difficult to cover the wide dynamic range of the night and I liked to merge different shots at different exposures to create night cityscapes with a wide dynamic range.
After some time practicing this type of photography, I started to get bored. The cities are beautiful but their landscapes are static and it is impossible to play with them. I then began to explore other more naturalistic places that allowed me to express a more personal vision of the images, and over time, evolving, I merged the love for the night with that for landscapes, getting closer and closer to wide-field astrophotography. I love being able to capture what the human eye is not able to perceive except in a light form.”
When asked about his preparation process for shoots, the photographer shared: “Almost all my shots are the result of careful planning: to organize them at their best I start by looking for images of the places I want to visit so as to get an idea of the type of landscape I will find. Then I use the Street View function of Google Maps to explore the area at 360 degrees, and finally, to best plan the sunrise and sunset times, as well as the positioning of the Milky Way, I rely on several specific applications, including quasi PhotoPills, Planit Pro and Stellarium. Every year, I prepare a list of the places I want to visit and the images I want to capture, then I evaluate the feasibility of each shot, and, when possible, I try to put it into practice. However, landscape photography is an unpredictable game: as much as you can plan for months, in the end it is always the weather that decides what will actually be achievable, so you also need a good dose of luck.”
Gianluca also kindly shared with us some of his favorite locations to shoot, as well as dream destinations he hopes to capture in the future: “At the top of my list of favorite places are definitely Iceland and Norway: I love the very variable climate of those places and the possibility of chasing the Northern Lights.
Among the trips I have in the drawer are:
- Atacama Desert
- Argentine Patagonia
- Namibia
I have not yet undertaken these trips because I think that the European continent still has a lot to tell and I would like to continue doing so.”
Lastly, Gianluca Rubinacci shared some valuable words of advice for aspiring landscape and nightscape photographers: “If I could give someone advice, I would tell them that studying thoroughly is essential because photography is not limited to owning a lot of equipment but requires the ability to use it at its best. Furthermore, I would tell them that following your own path with determination and letting yourself be guided by your own vision is fundamental: accepting failures and repeating the process over and over again allows, little by little, to transform what you imagine in your mind into a photograph.”
