A Travel Photography Short Lesson

This is a page  I put together for my college roomie Penny who was visiting Florence and wanted some ideas about taking pix. It is for anyone who is interested in making their vacation photos a little better, a little more informational. Photos of big churches are very nice, but the only one who appreciates it is the photographer. 

Look for details that tell your story too. Scan through here and you will see what I mean. If you have been to Florence, Italy, my guess is that the photos here are very unlike the ones that regular American tourists take. I could be wrong...

Florence is a wonderful little city. Spent the whole week visiting churches, cathedrals, the Duomo, plazas. Did a cooking day too that was just out of this world. The countryside is beautiful here. Stayed overnight in Chianti in a tower that overlooked miles and miles of olive groves. 

 I bought my `Firenze`lithograph print from the vendor on the left (it was too early for some of them as their carts were still covered) I stayed at a BandB that was on the right side behind these stalls. These guys would set up at 5:30 am every day. My bedroom window looked over this street. Not great for sleeping in. It was like a CazBah. Or a Souk.

 Not much room for cars here! Definitely a walking kind of town. Good shoes a must! I could have taken a photo of the building...but it wasn't half as interesting as the pelos.

Overexposed photo, but very cool jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge that crosses the river. On the other side by the way, very good restaurants. Most people take a photo of the bridge. Yes, it's a nice bridge.  I did take one photo of it. But this was a lot more fun...the JOOLS! Wish I had my macro lens with me to take close-ups. But be careful if you do that - some shop owners are very possessive about their designs and will make you delete your photos. 

I have a better photo of this but all of the photos I am putting on here have not been processed yet. They are right out of the camera. Just wanted to give you an idea --- Don't be afraid to just turn around and snap a photo. Sometimes you will surprise yourself!

MMM  OK, I do take photos of strange things. But if you know anything about stonework, this has meaning! All hand hewn stone and older than dirt. It IS dirt. LOL

You will recognize this street when you walk down it. On the right is a chapel (forget the name, there are soooo many churches) It is the street that goes to the vendors. On the left is a "tent" looking shape - this is an outdoor restaurant, caters to tourists and the waiters are just adorable. (I'm not dead yet...)

Hi Penny! These photos are for you to give you ideas with your camera - It's a "quick" visit to Florence, the cradle of Renaissance painting. My favorite of course.

The main thing to remember is that you are trying to capture the "essence" of your locale. You want the "flavor" of Florence. You still want all the tourist photos too - but keep your camera in your hand, ready to shoot the details, not just the huge architecture. Pretty yes, but the details tell even more.

Don't delete from your camera unless you have an absolutely terrible photo (so blurry you can't make out details for instance)  Wait until you get home to make judgements about your photos. I'll help you with it if you want!

The David replica...just as good as the original. It's huge. See the head at the bottom??
Use people figures to show the relative size of something. A photo without a comparison is just a little thing. Put a person in it and the Duomo is GIGANTIC.

Very classy stores. VEry expensive classy stores. Nice to window shop. 

(ENJOY your trip! I am sooooo envious of you and Harry, Penny!!!!) Send me photos...