This is day seven of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day six.
See day five.
See day four.
See day three.
See day two.
See day one.

All images by Elia Locardi.

About the photographer: Elia Locardi, a native Floridian, spent his childhood braving the electric blue waters and color filled reefs of the Florida Keys. This background helped engender his appreciation for the beauty of the natural world and no doubt contributes to his hyper realistic sense of color. Elia challenges the status quo by encouraging photographers to shed old-school stigmas and embrace new styles and techniques. With his quick wit and sarcastic sense of humor, he strives to enliven the field of photography and blur the lines between photography and art.

Armed with his camera, tripod, and an arsenal of caffeinated beverages, he travels the globe full time seeking out interesting photographic opportunities and the stories that accompany them. His unique vision of the world along with his impeccable eye for color and composition has helped gain him international acclaim.

I fall in love with each new place I visit, every time finding something unique and breathtaking. My goal is not only to photograph these places, but to truly capture all of their beauty, the way I perceive it, the way I want to remember it. With each photograph, I try to share my vision with others so they can see things the way I do, full of color and emotion, depth and texture. I hope to inspire people to travel for themselves, visit these beautiful places, and to fall in love with the beauty of the world.

My process: I’ve never loved the creative process as much as when I shoot and process photography. I hope that at least in some small part, that passion reflects in the final result.

 Keep in mind that even though I use many Post Processing Techniques, no new elements are added to these photographs. Once or twice I’ve fixed the moon but that’s all. Sometimes I paint things out like people, street garbage, power lines, Richard Simmons, and other elements that I feel are distracting from the scene. All of what you see is the pure and true result of old school photoshop voodoo, color correction, and a light application of HDR.

If you would like to know more about my Creative Process, I’ve written a detailed (and funny) series called: Technical Mumbo Jumbo, that outlines my entire work flow from concept to completion.

Elia remembers his visit in the Cinque Terre,

A few years back when I just started getting into travel photography, my wife and I visited our good friends near Florence. There, sitting in the living room was this amazing picture of colorful Italian buildings built into a seaside mountain. For me it had every visual element of a great photograph. At the time I had no idea that The Cinque Terre region even existed, let alone that it contained such unique and special beauty. I remember writing down in my notebook the word: Riomaggiore.

My wife and I travel full time, exploring and photographing unique places. Out of everywhere I’ve been, hands down, Cinque Terre was the most beautiful. The vista points blew our minds and we instantly fell in love. I’ve had a long love affair with the sea and for me, Cinque Terre embodied the perfect synergistic balance between civilization and the ocean. I instantly felt at home. To this day, my photos from Cinque Terre continue to be some of the most popular images in my portfolio.

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This is day six of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day one.
See day two.
See day three.
See day four.
See day five.
See day seven.

All images by Rechitan Sorin.

About the photographer: Rechitan Sorin is from Arad, Romania. You can view more of his photos from his portfolio and Shutterstock.

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This is day five of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day one.
See day two.
See day three.
See day four.
See day six.
See day seven.

All images by Jacinta Moore.

About the photographer: Jacinta Moore is a freelance photographer from Melbourne, Australia. She writes the blog bawkbawkbawk and you can find her photos on Etsy.

She writes about her trip,

Cinque Terre was all sorts of amazing, I only wish I had stayed for longer. Nonetheless, my time there (just 1.5 days!) was punctuated with endless declarations of ‘this is the best moment of all time’ followed minutes later with ‘ok no, THIS is the best moment of all time’. My first such declaration was made within a few minutes of my arrival in the first of the five towns, Riomaggiore, as I sat on the waterfront eating fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto and the worlds most delicious peach while my feet dangled in the Mediterranean Sea (I jumped in a few minutes later!), and the last was made around 2am while at a hidden cove, swimming in water sparkling with bioluminescent plankton. It was a good day.

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This is day four of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day one.
See day two.
See day three.
See day five.
See day six.
See day seven.

All images by Gary Arndt.

About the photographer: Gary sold his house in 2007 and has been travelling the world ever since. So far he has visited over 100 countries, 49/50 US states, 9/10 Canadian provinces, every Australian state and territory, over 100 US National Park sites and over 150 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Gary owns the immensely popular travel blog Everything-Everywhere where he publishes new travel photos daily.

On his blog Gary recounts,

The towns of the Cinque Terre are just beautiful. If you are ever in the neighborhood of Pisa or Genoa, you should consider making a trip there. You can visit the five towns by train, by boat or even on foot. It was the highlight of my recent cruise around Italy and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Italy. It might not be as sexy as some of the other destinations in Italy like Rome, Florence or Venice, but it has its own unique charm. Try to avoid arriving on a day with cruise ships or show up before 10am or after 1pm to beat the crowds.

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This is day three of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day one.
See day two.
See day four.
See day five.
See day six.
See day seven.

Above photos by Eric Kim.

About the photographer: Eric Kim is an international street photographer based in Los Angeles. He blogs, writes, and constantly shoots street photography. Check out his blog at Eric Kim Photography.

Above photos by Marina De Pian.

About the photographer: Argentinian photographer Marina De Pian spent a decade living in the Cinque Terre village of Monterosso al Mare. She has returned to Argentina but continues to share her photos of Monterossso on her blog Monterosso Nascosta.

Above photos by Lomoody Mo.

About the photographer: Hong Kong resident Lomoody Mo works in film and television as a computer graphic lighting artist. He shoots street photography, and snapshots and has a current fascination with landscapes. The highlights of his European travels are getting lost in the mazes of the small cities. He is always ready with his camera.

 Lo Moody recounts his trip to Vernazza,

Among the five villages in the Cinque Terre, I like Vernazza the most, so I chose it as the focus of my one day trip. These photos were taken this last summer, while I waited alone for the sunset from shore.

Enjoying the sunset is a must-do activity there. You can see how the dramatic sunlight shines on the sea, shading the colourful houses, painting an atmosphere filled with ocean & cliff, and filling the whole town with a romantic mood.  Brighten your heart with a sunset; it is free.

I can’t believe that a torrent of rain has come down to flood the town. Nonetheless, I won’t forget how nice it is and I pray for a speedy recovery for the town and its people.

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This is day two of a seven day series celebrating the Cinque Terre.
See day one.
See day three.
See day four.
See day five.
See day six.
see day seven.

All photos by Uta Theile.

Uta shares her stories of living in the Cinque Terre village of Monterosso,

I am married to a fisherman and have become fascinated by this work, this way of life, and by the relationship fisherman have with the sea (often a love-hate relationship). They love the freedom, the infinite depths that surround them, the challenge, the hunt—gifts that only the sea can offer, though the sea is also a source of fear, worry, melancholy and, of course, the envy they feel for their competitors

The fisherman’s life is difficult and full of sacrifice, an existence dedicated to fishing in which work lasts both day and night and a private life only barely exists.

Monterosso was once a fishing village, but everything has changed. The affluence that comes with tourism is pushing aside ancient traditions, and that’s why I decided to document this ancient profession through my photographs of “old-time” fishermen.

With my photographs, I want to tell the story not solely of the hardships that this work implies, but also of the fascination it holds: the faces of fishermen as they tell their stories of a life at sea, the beauty and tranquility of dawn as the nets are lowered or raised, the joy of a good catch that repays their exhaustion … the passion and the art of fishing.

About the Artist: Uta Theile is from Germany and has lived in Monterosso, Cinque Terre since 1997. She is married to a fisherman and captures the unique landscape and traditional way of life through her photos. Her book, The Art of Fishing: A Journey Inside Cinque Terre Fishing is available at stores in the Cinque Terre or online.

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