ERICE - A SICILIAN VANTAGE POINT

I arrived in Erice just before noon. The weather was changeable, which meant very sudden, violent downpours and strong wind. For a while I was photographing a sunny view, and within 15 minutes everything was different and I was getting soaked in a cloudburst. The photograph at the top was taken right after one such downpour. The clouds offered me a truly unique play of light and dramatised the whole landscape to the fullest. This is the view towards San Vito lo Capo and the Zingaro nature reserve.

It was still raining, so I only quickly grabbed a few frames. That's also why there was no tripod and no long exposures. There was simply nowhere to take shelter, and the scenery of the clouds was changing so fast that there was no way to linger. The photograph was then edited a little. In particular, I darkened the lower part to accentuate the area where the sun is shining and to draw the viewer's eyes to that very spot.

Within a quarter of an hour it was beautiful again, and I set off to discover the charms of Erice, to have an excellent coffee – which you'll find on every corner here – and to photograph the Norman castle, which rests on a magical spot at the edge of the town. In the distance you can still see that storm which had been raging over me a moment earlier.

It really is quite windy at this spot. So if you want to make any time-lapse sequences, or shoot from a tripod, don't forget to set it up wide, weigh it down with your backpack, say, and above all place it in a sheltered spot if at all possible. Or at least stand on the side the wind is coming from, so the gusts don't hit the tripod and camera directly.

If you catch weather like I did, a rain poncho will definitely come in handy – something you'll be

to use to protect yourself and your camera. It gives you the chance to shoot even in the rain, with the dark clouds rolling all around.

Gear: As follows from the previous tips, besides your standard gear, keep a rain poncho on you – unless, that is, the sky is cloudless and there's no rain in sight :) Also remember that taking the photograph gets you only halfway; the rest awaits you on the computer or in the darkroom. The atmosphere of a shot needs to be reinforced, so the viewer focuses on the essential parts of the photograph and you manage to maximise its impact.