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.
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 best view of Florence
If you are looking for the best view of the skyline of Florence, Italy you can find that in today's blog post. But it's not a secret - I had to share it with a few hundred of my closest friends. :-)
The best view of Florence is at Piazzale Michelangelo, but this is NOT exactly a well-kept secret. ;-)
I love to capture skyline photos when I travel, but it's not always easy to do. Some cities just don't offer a good location for taking in the grand expanse of a place, but Florence Italy certainly does.
Prior to arriving here, I did some online research (as I always do before going somewhere) about Florence and it wasn't much of a time investment to figure out that Piazzale Michelangelo is the best view of town. It's a hell of a climb, but it's well worth it.
So I set off quite a while before sunset and clambered up the fairly steep hill to get here. My expectations were that I would find some folks here doing the same as me (or at least watching the sunset), but in reality this place is BUSY. It was literally jam packed. It's a big, wide plaza on the top of a hill, and there is a bar/restaurant and hordes of people. Of course, I was there in late summer so that is at least partly responsible for the crowds, but nonetheless it was a madhouse.
At first I was concerned I wouldn't be able to find a good spot, but surprisingly I did, and quickly. Once I got settled, I stayed there for quite a while. I was afraid to move actually, for fear of not getting another spot with a clear view. While most of the people there were of the tourist variety (no tripod, iPhone or point and shoot camera - though I want to point out there is nothing wrong with that), there were some others like myself that had all the gear set up and ready to go. I guess everyone got the message that this is THE spot for a skyline view.
While the sunset wasn't exactly magical, it's an incredible view of a beautiful city and one that I am very happy to have spent an evening capturing, even with my iPhone (yes, I still do that a LOT) and my point and shoot camera - not to mention my full frame Sony (which the above photo was captured with). I try and cover my bases by using several cameras, LOL. Besides, you can never take too many photos, right?
If you visit Florence, be sure and spend an evening up here catching the sunset. You'll be very glad that you did!
Street art in Florence
I found myself on a quest while in Florence, Italy - a quest to capture as much of the work by street artist "Blub" as I could find. I discovered 16 works by the artist, so here they are. They all feature either a famous work of art or a famous person (real or imagined), each fitted with a swimming mask. It's a fun diversion from all that other art in the city!
I found myself on a quest while in Florence - looking for street art by someone named "Blub". This is WAY better than Pokemon Go.
I'm a fan of street art (some call it graffiti, or urban art, or a million other things) and find myself photographing it just about everywhere I go. It's always interesting and beautiful. When I was in Florence, I found myself on a bit of a quest, chasing works by the artist known as "Blub".
You see, we spent over a week there, and while the town is amazingly beautiful and full of possibly the best art in the world, you can get "art fatigue" as they call it. You see so many historic and famous works that after a while your brain just wants to melt. Or you need a beer. Or gelato. Yeah, gelato. Florence has the best gelato.
Anyhoo, as I walked around the town I started spotting these works in all sorts of places. Generally they were pictures drawn of a famous person (William Shakespeare, or Santa Claus), or a famous work of art (Mona Lisa), all with a swimming mask on their face. Something about it just got me interested, so I took a photo the first time I saw one.
Then, I saw another one, and another one, and so on. The quest had begun. I ended up capturing the 16 photos you will find here today. And FYI these were all shot with my iPhone. It's always with me, and especially for a quick snap it's hard to beat. And these aren't great shots, just quick snaps of something interesting. I wasn't trying to create art here - it's already art, anyway - but rather just a quick capture of cool street art.
Sadly, in some cases someone had marked on these, or torn them, or otherwise defaced them. I hate when people do that. This is still art and should be treated that way in my opinion. Enjoy it with your eyes, take a photo, and leave it alone people!
So if you find yourself taking a trip to Florence, take a break from the famous art and go on a hunt of a different sort, chasing these also beautiful and interesting works of art, scattered on street corners and tucked away little spots all over the city. It's quite fun and a great diversion from the art browsing you will do in places like The Uffizi.
I sent one of these pics to some friends and told them I was chasing these all over the city, and they said it was like some "high brow" version of Pokemon Go. I don't play that game, but I get the reference and definitely got addicted to this quickly! And it was way more interesting to me.
By the way, I found this artist's Instagram page if you want to follow their work. You can find that right here: https://www.instagram.com/lartesanuotare/
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