Emanuele Guadagno
Wedding | Last Updated: February 10, 2024
Hey there!
We’re Emanuele and Federica, a couple in life and in work!
We’re photographers specializing in micro weddings and adventurous elopements in Italy, and we’re looking to expand to Europe and, why not, the world to combine our two great passions: travel and photography!
We’ve been doing this full-time since 2019, when we closed our photography shop in the small town near Rome where we lived and embarked on this adventure.
We discovered photography on the other side of the world in the Dominican Republic, where we were working in a hotel, and due to a lack of staff, we were offered the opportunity to try our hand at using a DSLR camera.
Since then, it has become an extension of our arm. We love nature, and the surrounding environment heavily influences our style.
We are not the type for luxury hotels or formal attire but more for backpacking, mountain huts, and ceremonies in the heart of the forest!
Our gear is exclusively Nikon, and we’ve been using it forever. We love it and have learned to understand its behaviour before and after taking a shot, depending on the available light. It has always been reliable, never missing a beat.
We have several camera bodies and only this year, we sold our fantastic Nikon D5. It was a truly loyal companion that was always in our bag.
We loved it for its speedy burst mode and never-ending battery life. The only drawback was its weight, which was one of the reasons why we decided to make the big leap to a mirrorless camera.
We now have a Nikon Z6 II, and it’s been fantastic. It feels like a whole new world has opened up for us. We will probably get another one in 2024, the same or an even better model.
Another indispensable companion in our backpack is the Nikon D750 (not shown in the gear photo because we used it for taking that shot).
It’s probably our favourite, one that we will never sell. It’s a versatile workhorse that always does its job. It produces marvelous warm tones, perfect for our presets.
Lastly, we have a Nikon D700, which we keep in our bag for emergencies or use with a specific lens like our Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN, which we only use for capturing a couple of specific shots.
We are huge fans of prime lenses. They are more precise, sharp, and satisfying to use.
We have a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art DG HSM, two Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, a Nikon 85mm f/1.8, and a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN.
And for the Nikon Z6 II, we have a Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8, a fantastic lens that’s versatile and precise. However, we’re almost certain we’ll also switch to prime lenses for our mirrorless camera for the upcoming season.
We have two flashes that we mostly use in low-light situations. We are such big fans of natural light.
For post-processing, we rely entirely on Lightroom. We’ve created our own presets and learned to adapt them to different lighting conditions. When taking a photo, we already know how it will turn out in the end.
We also use Photoshop, which has become a great aid with the advent of AI. We use it exclusively to remove unwanted objects or people from photos, and it’s a tremendous help.
In our camera bag, you will also find many other special items.
We’re true fans of vintage and analog photography. We use two Super 8 movie cameras to create unique videos – a Canon Autonomo 518 and a Nizo800s. They were bought for a few euros at a vintage market and turned out to be real treasures.
We also have two analog film cameras – a Cosina CX7 and a wonderful Nikon L35 AF – a true classic.
We’re increasingly incorporating analog photography into our repertoire and hope it becomes more popular among our couples.
We have a drone for aerial photos, a DJI Mini SE, and an Instax Square for Polaroid-style instant photos to give to our couples.
Oh, and we also have a tripod, which we use specifically for one purpose: we LOVE GIFs! Whenever we have the chance, we capture infinite bursts of photos, which we then combine to create marvelous GIFs. A tripod is a fantastic ally for this.
Last but not least, lanterns! They’re an essential item that we always have with us. We love lighting them up when the natural light fades to create some unique shots. They’ve become our distinctive feature and our signature.
That’s more or less everything that’s in our bag and reflects who we are.
Through all these items, we tell stories as we drive for kilometers, sleep in different places, walk, and climb under the rain or the sun.
We’re incredibly grateful for being able to do the work we love. It is perhaps the greatest privilege of all.
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