Italy- WOW!

[deckcadet]

I just returned yesterday from the trip of a lifetime. Along with 5 other students and 6 adults, I spent this spring break in Italy, traveling to Florence, Pisa, Venice, Rome (and the Vatican), and of course Pompeii. What an amazing country. I'm about ready to pack up and Move!
I took about 3500 pictures with my D70, while managing to drink in all the effects. I kept 2,901 of these pictures....3.99 gigabytes.
I had so much fun that I barely noticed the fact that the only time we ever sat in a vehicle apart from trains to the other cities was traveling to and from the airports.
It certainly made me appreciate my D70. my choice of lenses turned out to be acceptable, but reinforced my need for a 2.8 short lens, especially in churches. If I had been using my old coolpix, i doubt I would have gotten most of my pictures.
Definitely one of the most profound moments of the whole trip came on the final day, when we descended into the old Forum. When I stepped into the Senate house it was like a different world. I was standing in a building, which if the marble covering was restored and the benches replaced, would be just as it was over 2,000 years ago. this was a building from which the world was ruled for hundreds of years.
Pisa was beautiful. We received preferential treatment because one of our group's parents is a friend of the Mayor of Coral Gables, which is the sister city to Pisa. We had a complete tour, and saw not only the tower but also the beautiful church that is seemingly overlooked by the hype.
Florence was an amazing city.

My recent acquisition of an 80-200mm f/2.8D AFS was wise. I used it a rather large amount, and I lugged it to the top of most of the towers we climbed. I've attached one picture I find striking. It is a crop of a picture I took from the top of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. My teacher and a parent who had injured her ankle badly stayed down in the center of the square. The picture was taken at ISO 200 at 1/400 sec f/8, zoomed in to 200mm. You can clearly make out my teacher and the parent sitting circled in red.

Well, I hope to post more of the pictures I took after I've sorted them out. I hope you all have the chance to see that beautiful country!
Harrison

[DownByFive]

Actually, I've been to Sicily...But hey, it's technically part of Italy...I wish I would have had way more time to spend there, especially since the weather sucked...it was snowing on Mt. Etna when we were up there. I really wish I would have had my D70 back then...

[natefromri]

Nice! I wish I had taken more pictures when I was living in Rimini, Italy. I lived there for 1 year while in the US Air Force. In fact, during one excursion to Venice, I actually fell into the canal during a, shall we say, inebriated state of being. It was not too cool. Word of advice...don't stand on the stairs near the river...they're covered with moss and it's very easy to slip right in. LOL

--Nate

[ontario_slacker]

Italy has to be one of the nicest countries around. I went there a few years ago with my parents and went to pretty much all of the same places as you. However instead of pompeii we went to these five little fishing villages known as cinque terre. They were the most beautiful place I have ever been. They are situated pretty much on the cliffs next to the meditteranean sea and you can walk along the cliffs between the villages in the olive fields. It was amazing sadly I had not been into photography at the time and no good pictures came of it. The cities were all bright coloured and almost looked like the picture from down by five except the houses would have been on the hillsides. Anyways beautiful place and looks like you got to go to some of the best places. Did you get to walk up the leaning tower to the top? Its cool how as you walk up the stairs are worn down on one side because of how the tower leans and when you keep moving around they are worn on the opposite side. Venice was amazing as well.

[Franglais]

Italy has to be one of the nicest countries around. I went there a few years ago with my parents and went to pretty much all of the same places as you. However instead of pompeii we went to these five little fishing villages known as cinque terre. They were the most beautiful place I have ever been. They are situated pretty much on the cliffs next to the meditteranean sea and you can walk along the cliffs between the villages in the olive fields. It was amazing sadly I had not been into photography at the time and no good pictures came of it. The cities were all bright coloured and almost looked like the picture from down by five except the houses would have been on the hillsides. Anyways beautiful place and looks like you got to go to some of the best places. Did you get to walk up the leaning tower to the top? Its cool how as you walk up the stairs are worn down on one side because of how the tower leans and when you keep moving around they are worn on the opposite side. Venice was amazing as well.

I just spent a month in Rome - working. I did 18 days in a row, 8am-9pm with only one weekend free to explore. But the project was a success and the client was pleased.

The problem with Rome and area is that there is so much history and the ruins are just vast. Walk around the Villa d'Adrien or Ostia Antica and it turns out to be the size of a small town. But I loved the Villa d'Este in Tivoli. I got there at 8.30am when the sun was rising over the house, slanting through the early-morning mist to the sound of 500 fountains in the gardens.

Sure I only had my Olympus Stylus Epic with me but when you have to make do with just a 35mm lens you have to be inventive and the contact sheets look fine.

Charles