Who is Roberto Moiola and how did you approach landscape photography?
I was born in 1978 in Valtellina, in the Alps, an environment that shaped my sensitivity to nature. When I was younger, I began to spend time exploring mountains, lakes and valleys, and this connection with the landscape inspired me to want to capture that beauty. I started with a film reflex, but with the advent of digital, I had the opportunity to deepen the technical and creative side of photography. In 2010, photography became a job, transforming what was a passion into a sort of freelance career that allows me to tell the world through images.
ClickAlps has become a reference point in Italy for landscape photography. What inspired you to found this agency?
ClickAlps is an agency born from the desire to create a community of photographers who share the same passion for landscape and nature reportage. We wanted to offer a platform capable of promoting the work of those who, like us, are dedicated to immortalizing the beauty of lesser-known places. Today, we represent many good photographers, allowing everyone to tell their own visual stories. Landscape photography requires a constant commitment and ClickAlps aims to enhance this work through international publications.
How do you manage to reconcile your career as a photographer with family life, considering the many trips you take?
It's not always easy, it's essential to find a balance. I still live in Valtellina with my wife and two children, and I try to take my family with me whenever possible (or maybe they are the ones who bring me!!). My photography adventures are often challenging, but sharing some of these experiences with my loved ones makes the journey more meaningful. Being there for my family, without sacrificing my passion for photography, is a challenge, but also one of the greatest satisfactions.
Your photographs are often taken in remote and cold places. What are your favorite destinations and what attracts you to these landscapes?
I deeply love cold and untouched regions such as Norway, Finland and the Faroe Islands. There is something unique about the isolation of these places: some of these places are far from tourist routes and offer a tranquility that is hard to find elsewhere. Here I can completely immerse myself in nature and capture the purity of the landscapes. The cold and extreme conditions make these experiences even more intense and fascinating. The silence and vastness of these landscapes make me feel alive, and that's why I keep returning to these places, even accompanying my customers.
How would you describe your approach to landscape photography? What drives you to explore the world and capture it through the lens?
My approach to landscape photography is guided by a deep respect for nature. I try to tell stories through images that capture the authenticity of the places I visit. I am attracted to the most remote and lesser-known regions, those that often escape the common eye, because I think they hide an even more precious beauty. Each photo is a visual journey, a discovery that goes beyond simple aesthetics. Exploring the world, discovering new horizons and experimenting with light and composition are what fuel my passion.
You have collaborated with many high-profile brands and your images have appeared in numerous international publications. Which collaborations have marked you the most?
I have been fortunate to work with some of the most prestigious brands in the world, including National Geographic, Apple, Lonely Planet, Count Nast, Samsung... Each collaboration represented a growth in my career, allowing me to expand my vision and reach an international audience. Every new publication nourishes this great passion, in many years I have never felt tired of exploring nature and of telling the world through a shot.
In addition to being a photographer, you are also a travel guide and pass on your knowledge through workshops. What motivates you to share your knowledge with others?
Accompanying, sharing and teaching give me enormous satisfaction. Sharing my knowledge is not only a technical matter, but also a way to transmit respect and love for nature. In my workshops I try to guide participants not only in photographic technique, but also in understanding the environment in which they find themselves. The importance of planning, the observation of light conditions, respect for the landscape: these are the pillars that I try to convey. Watching the participants grow and develop their style is one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. One of the things that most gratify me is seeing customers come back.
What's the essential equipment for a landscape photographer like you?
My main equipment today consists of a Sony A7R V, which I use for its versatility and image quality. For landscapes I use a couple of wide angles, normally I don't go below 14-15mm, a distance we say perfect for capturing wide views with precise details. A good tripod is essential to ensure stability, especially in windy conditions or extreme cold. But equally important is technical clothing: working in cold environments requires specific equipment to ensure comfort and safety, allowing me to stay in the field as long as necessary to capture the perfect scene. I must thank all the brands that have accompanied my growth over time by continuously providing me with new materials.
In your landscape photography, how crucial is the development of the RAW file?
The development of the RAW file is absolutely essential. RAW preserves all the information of the captured scene, then allowing us to optimize every aspect of the image: from white balance to the management of shadows and lights. In difficult light conditions, such as sunrises or sunsets, RAW allows me to achieve a rich tonal range and accurate colors, while maintaining the naturalness of the landscape. I work a lot on the color profiles to ensure that the shades faithfully reflect what I saw in the field and then with the luminosity masks to better refine the final result.
Working in extreme conditions, you need accurate color control and rapid development. How has TheSpack affected your workflow?
TheSpack has revolutionized my workflow, especially when I am in extreme conditions, such as in Arctic or Alpine regions. Thanks to the customized color profiles and LUT dosable, I can obtain high quality results very quickly. This is essential when I have to deliver images to international agencies with tight deadlines. TheSpack allows me to maintain complete control over colors and saturation, optimizing every step of the process, without compromising quality.
People often see amazing photos online, but then they don't find the same beauty live. Is it only the result of post-production or is it the result of being in the right place at the right time?
It's a combination of factors, but the most important thing is definitely to be in the right place at the right time. Often the beauty of a landscape is not immediately revealed, and it requires patience, planning and effort to find the ideal light and atmosphere conditions. Post-production serves to perfect what has already been captured, but to obtain unique shots you have to wake up at dawn, stay until sunset or face difficult weather conditions. These perfect moments only last a few minutes, and that's where the real challenge lies.
Can we say that TheSpack, together with technical equipment and experience, helps to create the images you want after so much effort and sacrifice?
Absolutely. TheSpack is a crucial tool in my post-production process, and is part of a set of elements that include photographic equipment, technical clothing and, of course, the experience gained in the field. Let's also try our luck!
Landscape photography requires much more than a simple shot: it is the result of long hours of waiting, sacrifice and the search for perfect conditions. TheSpack allows me to translate that beauty experienced in the field into a final image that maintains fidelity to the colors and details that I perceived. These color profiles help me to control the development of the image without distorting it, making the most of what nature offers, after whole days spent in often difficult conditions.
Leica Q (Typ 116) - Profile comparison
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. On the left, a photograph taken in an environment with obvious lighting complexities, developed with the Adobe Color profile; on the right, the same image, but with the TheSpack profile. For this comparison, second-generation profiles were used, optimized in 2021, so they are still far from subsequent progress. This image is particularly critical because of a nuance in saturation, which, if not properly normalized, generates irregularities. Often, the result obtained with the Adobe profile leads to a negative judgment on the quality of the file and the camera itself. While using a similar tonal curve for contrast, the TheSpack profile produced a much better result. There is greater chromatic consistency, extension of detail and legibility in all areas of the image. Noise and granularity, evident with Adobe, have been reduced thanks to the structure of the TheSpack profile, designed to correctly balance the output channels. This limit in Adobe profiles often causes a drop in quality that is wrongly attributed to the technical medium. The best detail, superior tonal rendering and the absence of irregularities are not the result of post-production corrections, but of a carefully studied and developed color profile.
Panasonic S1R - Imperceptible defects
We are often used to looking at the whole of an image, losing sight of the detail that defines it. This reflection, in itself, might seem out of place, considering that photography is based on visual perception, on the impact that a subject, light, interpretation and dynamics of a scene transmit to us. It would therefore be natural not to focus on the details. And yet, here comes a great paradox: we invest in expensive lenses, glorifying their performance. We try to correct aberrations, chase resolution, apply textures and contrast masks to emphasize details, and yet we often forget one fundamental element: the color profile, which can destroy all this work. Now looking at the enlarged detail of a photograph developed with the Adobe Color color profile and the same image with TheSpack. The choice of how to intervene on a color profile, which parameters to consider and how to optimize the rendering of a sensor inevitably leads to consequences that impact the final quality of the image. This can even frustrate the work of engineers and designers who have created the highest quality optics. In the image developed with the Adobe Color profile, the light of a neon is dispersed, leaving an obvious halo around the light source. This phenomenon reduces texture in highlights, compromising texture and detail, and altering the overall quality of the photo. A small defect that, however, has a heavy impact on the performance of the lenses and is manifested throughout the image, regardless of the lighting conditions. Obviously, this consideration stems from the fact that a color profile can be generated taking into account different parameters, including those that determine the variation of hue and saturation as the brightness changes. For this reason, we have chosen to divide our system to make it effective in a wide range of situations. We have implemented specific solutions for each individual camera, so as to obtain impeccable results, regardless of the shooting conditions. This approach allows us to guarantee a consistent and accurate color rendering, minimizing deviations that may compromise image quality.
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