Treppignana, Valle del Serchio, Toscana, Italy. 9-7-2000.

When I was attending a workshop on harmonic analysis in Hotel Il Ciocco, which is close to the town of Barga (LU), in July 2000, the weather conditions were extraordinary-early morning fogs, rainbows, spectacular sunsets. This particular evening, when I noticed that things looked promising, I interrupted my dinner and rushed outside for photography. At some point I saw this interesting cloud moving at a good pace in the northwestern direction. I always try to visualize cloud formations positioned above some natural or man-made silhouette at times like this ever since seeing Galen Rowell's "Split rock and cloud."

I ran to the hotel's roof, set up my tripod and waited until the cloud was above the tiny hamlet of Treppignana, located on the slopes of Serchio Valley. The outcome was the juxtaposition of the cloud over the hamlet's silhouette. I am not sure if it turned out to be as visually pleasing as I hoped it to be. I missed quite a few dinners during those two weeks in Il Ciocco. Needless to say, best photo opportunities arose when I was too hungry to take my camera with me.

Contax RTS III, Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8 MM, 1/15 sec, f/8, Fujichrome Provia 100, Polarizer