That lovely Italian light
A gorgeous sunset over the River Arno in Florence, Italy…
Ah, fair Italy, such a gorgeous country. This was a sunset in Florence looking over the River Arno. I just stood on one of the bridges and waited for that boat to get into the right spot. Easy!
Sunset in Firenze
A lovely sunset in Florence, Italy…or was it?
Sometimes you just don't get the light that you want.
It happens a lot. You are going somewhere special, and you have a vision in your mind of what a stunning sunset will look like from a specific vantage point that you have never visited. So you plan ahead, get there with plenty of time, have all the right gear, and the light is crap. Totally boring.
Sadly, it does happen and there is nothing you can do about it at the moment. But part of the fantastic fun of post-processing for me is that you can interpret the scene artistically later if you want to. I don't do this much, but sometimes it a great exercise for crafting a photo that fits the vision you held in your mind for so long.
That's what I did with this photo. The light was totally boring, and although the view was incredible, the photos I took were underwhelming. So I went into Luminar and added a lovely sunset sky to replace the boring one I witnessed. I think that is totally ok to do, as long as you let your viewers know that it's an artistic interpretation and not exactly what you shot.
If you are interested in how I created this photo, you can find the video I did about it below:
Aimless in Firenze
Side streets in Europe always draw me in...
Wandering the back streets of Florence, Italy - such a treat!
When we were in Florence, I made it a point to get out and just try and get lost. Not really lost per se, but you know, sort of wandering aimlessly without a care in the world. That's a great feeling, and one we don't get often in life. So I jumped on it.
We were staying just south of the Ponte Vecchio (their famous old bridge) and that part of the town seemed less crowded to me (the main draw of the town, their Duomo Cathedral, is on the other side). So when I was out I was less intruded upon by the tourist hordes, which was obviously a good thing for me.
I love little European street scenes, so just about every time I turned a corner I fired off some shots like this one. I love the lines in this sort of shot, hence I took a bunch of them. If you find yourself in a crowded European city, consider staying slightly off the beaten path so that your photo pursuits can give you a little more room to move.
Sunset in Florence
A gorgeous sunset in Firenze...
Ah, I sure miss lovely Italy!
I love Italy, it's really an amazing country and the people, food and of course scenery are all fabulous. On our trip there, we spent just over a week in Florence. We explored it high and low and of course I took photographs all along the way.
On several evenings I found myself out shooting sunset, and in today's shot this was from a bridge over the River Arno, going right through the middle of town. The sunset light was beautiful and I used my 10 stop filter to get a long exposure, which smoothed out the water and clouds.
A bit of this and that from Florence
Here's a collection of shots taken in Florence, Italy as I wandered aimlessly in search of anything that caught my eye. Turns out, a whole lot of things caught my eye. :-)
I have so many photos of Florence! Here's a bunch of them.
When we visited Florence, Italy I felt like I was on a mission to photograph it from top to bottom. We spent about 9 days there, and I was out every day firing away happily. Now to be clear, I wasn't looking for the cover of National Geographic with any of the shots you will find here today. These were just somewhat random snaps that I took as I wandered this incredible town.
I do that a lot - wander and snap. Sure, I like to set up and plan out important shots, and I did that plenty in Florence as well. But I also love the pure joy of just wandering in a city and firing away at bits of this and that. No real destination, no real plan, and no real attempt at creating "amazing" photos. Just walking and shooting and enjoying the hell out of it. So, here are some of those results from my time in Florence. Enjoy!
The butcher shop
Just a butcher shop I found while wandering in Florence, Italy...so many little details to look at!
Just something I came across in Florence, Italy - it just called out to me!
Stuff like this is just super interesting to me, I guess because we don't really have butcher shops in the US anymore (do we?). This was in the Mercato in Florence, which is a big building full of a LOT of stalls like this one. Yeah, you could say I took a few pics that day!
Sunset in Firenze
Sunset over the Arno River in lovely Florence, Italy...
Ah, lovely Florence - such a gorgeous town!
Florence, Italy - known to Italians as Firenze - is the birthplace of the Renaissance and one hell of an amazing city. I loved our visit there last year, and was lucky enough to have some pretty nice light a couple of evenings there. Good light always makes a trip more memorable. ;-)
I was set up on one of the many bridges that span the Arno River, waiting for sunset and pretty much just enjoying life. It was busy but not overwhelmingly crowded. I could easily get a nice spot to shoot from, so I moved around a little bit in order to try different compositions.
Mostly my target was in the other direction from this photo, which is the Ponte Vecchio, their famous "old bridge" that crosses the river. But for this photo I walked to the other side of the bridge in order to capture the beautiful sunset that was happening behind me.
It pays to move around and experiment when you are out shooting. If I had been just focused in the other direction, I would have missed this, and that would have been terrible. :-)
Night in Fiesole (with a view of Florence)
A lovely view of Florence, Italy from a nearby hill-town known as Fiesole. So worth a visit!
A gorgeous view of Florence, Italy from lovely Fiesole!
We went to Fiesole for pretty much one reason - dinner. My wife found a restaurant online that she wanted to visit, so we made a plan to go check it out. It was AWESOME, though I will admit I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. But it offered up this lovely view, and once darkness descended, I had to run over here and shoot a bit. Can you blame me?
Bits and bobs from Florence
A group of photos from lovely Florence, Italy, showing the beauty of this amazing town.
How about a collection of shots from Florence, Italy? Great!
The Duomo
I have so many photos from our trip to Italy, and in particular from Florence, where we spent 9 days last year. When I got home, I hurried and cranked out a bunch of them, but since then I haven't had much time for going back into the library to edit more. I'm overdue.
Today's shots are a group that I edited a few months back, and they have been sitting on my desktop ever since. Time to get them out into the wild, right?
Technically, these have been displayed here on the blog, because when I first edited them it was to add to the list I was creating, which is the Top Photo Spots in Florence list. It's a list of the best places to take photos in Florence. I have quite a few lists like that here on the blog. Whenever I visit somewhere and feel like I have enough material to add some value, I create one. It's fun for me, and I get a lot of questions, emails and comments from readers who seem to enjoy these lists and frequently use them for their own trips (which is why I create them).
Evening in Piazza della Signora
Piazza della Repubblica
Inside one of many markets there
The famous pig at Mercato Nuovo
Santa Croce Cathedral
Piazza della Passera
Personally, I research the heck out of a place before I go there, to make sure I can get all the shots that I want to get. This always involves a bunch of Google searches, Flickr searches and more. Then I make a list on my phone so that when I arrive, I have a good idea what I want to shoot.
When I return home, I like to make a list to simplify this process for anyone who may be doing a search such as I did. It's actually fun for me, and apparently helpful for others, so I keep doing it. Anyway, enjoy these slices of Florence and let me know if you have any questions!
A long look at the Ponte Vecchio
A 3 minute exposure overlooking the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy...
This is a 3 minute exposure overlooking the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy at sunset.
Last year sometime I started using the Vu Filter System with my Sony camera. It's a collection of filters with a drop-in system that attach to the front of the camera, and allow you to get extended exposure times with your shots. You can read about them here and see sample images.
My favorite filter in the kit is the 10 stop, which is basically a solid black piece of glass. This causes you to have to really extend the exposure time because otherwise no light would get through, and you wouldn't have a picture.
I have found that once I start taking these really long exposures, I want to take more of them. There is something that is just so fun about it. So when we went on our trip to Italy last year, I used that filter a number of times and came back with some memorable images, too.
Today's photo was taken a little while before sunset in Florence, Italy while standing on a bridge and photographing their famous old bridge, the Ponte Vecchio (which literally means "old bridge"). The 3 minute exposure time allowed me to get really smooth water and nice smooth clouds too, which is a key benefit of such a long exposure. Thanks for looking!
Although this is a single exposure, I edited the photo in Aurora HDR 2017 by Macphun, which gave me great control over crafting my final look. You can download a free trail by clicking the banner below if you want to try it out. It's a great product and one I have used on countless images.
The San Lorenzo Market
A quick snap from the San Lorenzo Market in Florence, Italy - something different but fun to shoot nonetheless!
A great place to shop in Florence - and it's pretty great for photography, too!
While I am not much for shopping - except at camera stores, of course - I do seriously enjoy wandering in the San Lorenzo Market in Florence, Italy. While we were there, after exhausting ourselves in museums and gorging on gelato (the best in the world!), we spent some time walking. It's always good to walk after these things.
In addition to being a great place to pick up leather goods though, I found the photo opportunities to be pretty awesome, too. It's a busy place so it's kind of like street photography, at least in terms of the fluidity of the scene and the human element. Call it market photography, I guess. Either way, it's quite fun and though a departure from my usual fare, I had a blast firing away there.
Michelangelo's David
Michelangelo carved an impressive statue of David out of marble. It's imposing, awesome, and well worth a stop if you are in Florence, Italy.
When in Florence, this is a must see!
I can really appreciate what it takes to sculpt something so fabulous. While I have never tried sculpting, I can just imagine the precision, skill and patience it requires. I mean, I can't even whittle something out of wood that is recognizable - it's just incredible what Michelangelo was able to do with a piece of marble.
I've been here a few times and it's still a bit of a jaw-dropper to me. The imposing size, the stare, and the details in the sculpture are just fantastic. Make it a point to see it, at least once. It's famous for a reason.
This sits in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, Italy. If you are planning to visit, book your tickets in advance because the lines get really long, especially in the summer. While the rest of the museum is nice, this is clearly the highlight of a visit there. Enjoy!
Nocturnal wandering
Out in the streets after dark in Italy - always a recipe for good photography opportunities!
I love to wander the streets of foreign cities at night. I always find interesting scenes to photograph. This was taken one evening in Florence, Italy on our recent trip over there. We had been out all day and were making our way back to the apartment we had rented. We had a good sense of which direction to head in, although we weren't using a map or anything. We just sort of meandered, and that means I was stopping about every 10 feet to shoot it. ;-) Good times!
The back streets of Florence
Today's pic is a quiet and empty street in Florence, Italy, shot during a lovely sunset. Oh, and I share a link to a webinar I recorded showing how I process the image - enjoy!
An evening wandering the back streets of Florence...
I love to wander when I travel. Sure, like everyone else I also make long lists of places I want to shoot. You have to have a list or else you will forget stuff. But I always build in time for some wandering - and it's usually some of my favorite shooting.
I shot today's images one evening in Florence, Italy. We were staying in an apartment just south of the River Arno and the Ponte Vecchio - literally, just a 5 minute walk. It was a great location. One evening I just wandered around our neighborhood and took a bunch of street scenes like this one.
I have a crazy thing about street scenes, I just absolutely love them. I guess it's the lines and the architecture that draw me in. I'm not really sure. I just know that I seek these scenes out when I travel. It's my thing. I know people aren't really going to line up to buy this sort of work, but I don't care. I just have to shoot them. Do you have a subject like that?
Oh, and if you want to see me process this top image, I used it as one of my images in my recent Aurora HDR 2017 webinar I did with Macphun. You can find that video below. Thanks!
Chasing Botticelli
One evening in Florence I wandered over here to The Uffizi, which is an incredible museum and a place that I love to visit. Thankfully the crowds were (mostly) gone. Have a look and enjoy!
A night at The Uffizi in Florence...
I love Florence, and as the birthplace of the Renaissance, it's got a lot to offer. In fact, I created a list of the best places to shoot in Florence, which you can find here. Have a look - I think you will like the list.
Anyway, I was out and about in Florence one evening, firing away at a lot of great things, because the city is full of them. I wandered the streets taking in the amazing street scenes and eventually found myself at The Uffizi, their incredible museum, after darkness had descended upon the town.
During the daytime, this place is incredibly crowded, with tourists milling about, waiting for their turn to enter the museum, or just hanging out. Owing to the popularity of this museum, you can see that you could never get a shot like this in the daytime. But that's ok, because that's what the night time is for - avoiding the crowds.
So I made sure to get here that night so I could wander a bit freely and fire away. While it's not a huge place, I find it beautiful but then again, I'm a big fan of architecture. Oh, and it houses the best collection of Renaissance art in the world, including several famous pieces by Botticelli, such as The Birth of Venus, which you would surely recognize if you saw it (some call it Venus on the Half Shell, ha). Be sure and visit if you are here!