Last Day

Today was the conclusion of our workshop.  We started with our group photo and then walked to the nearby Duomo square.  Some of our group climbed the Duomo while the rest of us roamed the square for interesting things   An old bike caught my eye which lead to some detail shots I later turned for our final critique.

One of our tour guides managed to get us admittance into the church ten minutes before it was opened to the public.  This avoided a wait in a line that wrapped around the church.  It is a truly spectacular church with the beautifully decorated dome at the front.  Well worth a visit.

We were released to pick photos, eat lunch or tour around a little more before our final critique.  A small group of us walked to Sante Croce, another major church in Florence that is the resting place for some pretty famous Florentines including  Galileo, Dante and Michelangelo.  Carved stone crypt covers were scattered across the floor of the church.  Another major site, I would suggest taking time to explore it.

This afternoon we gathered for one last critique.  It was really amazing how far the class had come during the course of the week.  Everyone had nice photos they had submitted for review and Joe was very complimentary.  The staff had worked magic on our technique and it really showed.  Joe and his assistant, Cali, then walked us through their workflow to give us an idea how they cull photos and what post processing they do before releasing a photo to a client.  This is something I really need to get better at.

Our final slide show, some of the photos we've submitted during the course of the week, served as the start of our final evening together.  As always, it's great to see what we were capable of producing with the right instruction.  We walked to a few blocks to dinner.  A multi-course affair over a couple of hours of socializing and toasting our efforts.  More singing ensued before departing for our final night in Florence.

We made new friends and renewed old acquaintances during the course of the week.  Promising to reunite soon, we parted ways much richer for the experience.

Tomorrow: Back to Rome and home

Bye Bye Tuscany

It was time to leave the lovely hillsides of Tuscany, but we had one more stop to make before arriving back in Florence.  Siena (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena) sits atop a hilltop with an ancient wall visible on the walk up into the main part of town.

The Duomo which seems to sit at the very top of the hill, is clearly visible in the distance giving us a landmark to head towards.  We made our way up into the main square which is lined with restaurants, stores and a tower you can climb if you need a little extra exercise.  We continued our way on up to the plaza in front of the Duomo. A large group of nuns were touring the sites along with their tour guide.  It was the largest group we had seen since coming to Italy.

Back down the hill we found a restaurant to featured fresh seafood and other specialties from Naples.  I had a braised rabbit that was absolutely wonderful.  We also shared what had become one of our standard salads, a caprese(tomatoes and mozzarella with fresh basil).  I'm really going to miss the beautiful produce we've had on this trip.

We boarded our bus for the drive back into Florence to the Milu Hotel.  We had a few minutes before heading to an apartment that overlooked the river on one side and Sante Croce church on the other.  All the major sites of the city could be viewed from this vantage point.  Our hosts were a prominent Florentine family that knew one of our Italian tour guides and they asked us to join them for cocktails and hors d'oeurves.

We were treated to some genuine Italian hospitality, starting with special Procescco to toast the evening  and moving into wine and eventually a liquor to finish out the evening.  The food turned into our dinner.  The prosciutto wrapped melon,   caprese salad, panzenella salad, pate, and thinly sliced veal with tuna sauce complimented the evening well.  To make sure we didn't leave hungry, pasta with a fresh tomato sauce was served too.  Overtaken by the evening, we soon found ourselves singing songs (including a rendition of Oklahoma) together.  Our host was persuaded to sing an opera chorus.  It was a special surprise capping a memorable trip.

We had one last gelato before retiring for the evening.

Tomorrow: Last class and good-byes

Food and Wine

We started our day with our third critique session.  It gets harder as the week progresses both because there’s an expectation that our skills our growing and we have fewer photos to choose from since we’ve already and two previous sessions. 

We went directly to the restaurant for a pasta making demo.  Joe had previously scouted the location and the hotel had set a beautiful scene for the demo.  We again got a chance at the lighting equipment Joe uses to photograph the shoot.  Afterwards, we dined in the restaurant and had a little time before leaving for our afternoon appointment.

We visited lovely winery located somewhat near our home base that produces both red and white wines along with olive oil.  They have close to 1000 acres under cultivation.  The facility dates back hundreds of years although the ownership has changed hands a few times.  We were given complete access to their aging facility.  A variety of oak casks are used in the production both large and small.  The large ones have a longer lifespan because they can actually be cleaned by hand from the inside.  The smaller ones are used for about 5 years before being replaced.  It is exactly as a winery should look with brick arched ceilings and rows and rows of dark wooden barrels. 

We finished with a wine tasting of four of their wines, one chardonnay and the three reds.  As often happens, after a few glasses of wine it seems like a wonderful idea to have some shipped home to enjoy later.  Several of us will have Tuscan wine to enjoy after our return home.

Finally, we stopped in one of their vineyards to photograph the landscape.  The rows of grapevines makes for a graphic photo opportunity.  We boarded our bus for the short journey back where a buffet dinner awaited us in a trellised courtyard.  We really had a lovely day in the Tuscan hills.

Tomorrow: Sienna and return to Florence

Tuscan Hillside

After breakfast, we gathered for our first critique session with photos from the trip.  Submitting 8-10 images, Joe reviewed each and gave suggestions for improvement.  From the outside this might seem a little bit of an ego buster, but we all paid to improve our photography and constructive criticism is what we needed.

We departed for Montelpulciano (Travel Guide) for lunch on our own.  We ate at a lovely little café on the road leading up into the town.  Two Canadians we finishing up their lunch and offered us the outdoor table they were using.  We chatted with them a little and found out they had ridden their bikes across Italy.  Some of our group turned this into a photo shoot with the girls and their bikes.

Pienza (website) is a small town situated in the Val d’Orcia in the southern part of Italy.  There were two churches we walked through along with a town square where both locals and tourists gathered.  We engaged with a couple of groups of locals for photographs before departing for our countryside shoots.

Our first roadside stop was to photograph a lovely little church off in the distance along with a tree lined road.  Natalie again offered her modeling services and we all got in practice at placing and directing a model.  

When everyone finished, we moved on to a grove of cypress trees where Natalie demonstrated her dancing skills, posing in front of the trees and also the open landscape. 

We returned to a late dinner and then spent time reviewing the day’s pictorial bounty.

Tomorrow: Tuscan wine and pasta

Into the Tuscan Hills

This morning, we checked out of our hotel in Florence and boarded our bus to journey out into the Tuscan hillside.  There was a slight kerfuffle with our bus driver and all of our luggage, but we worked it out in the end. 

Our first stop was in the lovely town of San Gimignano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano).  There was no mistaking the origins of this village what with all the medieval towers which this city is known for.  The cobble stoned streets led from the outer village through an arched entry into the heart of the fortress.  All sorts of windy alleys led off the main path to doorways to personal residences.  The main square was lined with shops, including “The Best Gelato in the World”.  Well, with a claim like that, we just had to try it.  While very good, I think their PR firm might have hyped it a little. 

Our home for the next three nights was a lovely La Torre Di Gargonza (http://www.gargonza.it/) in Castello.  This lovely bed and breakfast sits atop a hillside with expansive views of the countryside below.  Several of the buildings now serve as guest rooms.  We started our stay with a tour of the facilities which ended Prosecco and hors d’oerves on a patio. 

Natalie donned a gorgeous red dress for a photo shoot and lighting demonstration on a terraced garden.  Joe showed how he would approach an assignment, looking for placement and lighting to add interest to the photo.  We next each got a chance to use his lighting equipment to take our own shots.  While this sounds like a pretty easy assignment, the thrill of the moment quickly overtakes the care needed to a proper portrait.  It was a great demo for us.

Dinner for the next three nights would be on property.  The food here is wonderful and accompanied with regional wine.  Served family style, we quickly filled up on the offerings before retiring to our rooms to choose pictures for tomorrow’s class.

Tomorrow: A full day in the country 

Workshop Day 1

We started the morning with a shoot in front of our hotel with the model that's on our trip.  Joe explained how he looks at a location and chooses a spot to work with.  He then showed us a starting point for camera settings and added lighting.  I know I'm going to learn allot from this workshop.

After our breakfast on the rooftop, we had our first critique.  Since we hadn't actually had a chance to shoot much in Florence, we could show images we had taken at home that we felt represented our work.  It always interesting to me to see everyone's work.

We had lunch at La Grotta Guelfa again since it was close and also very good.  Our friend ordered the steak and shared it with the group since it must have weighed 2 pounds or more!  We had the same waiter from yesterday and he took good care of us.

This afternoon, we walked as a group to the Ponte Vecchio and then spread out to try to find some great photos.  Our assignment was to find big Florence and small Florence.  We ended up at the Duomo because of the band we saw heading that direction.  It turns out Florence is hosting the world archery championships and this was their opening celebration.  Teams from around the world lined up to march out of the square.  There was a lot of  national pride represented by the participants.

We met back at the hotel to take taxis up to the Piazzale Michelangelo (Pizzale Michelangelo) where we had a panoramic view of the sun setting over the city.  This is a waiting game since you need to get up there a couple of hours before the sunset in order to stake a position on the railing.  To fill the time, Joe set up a couples shot with our model and his assistant, who happen to actually be a couple. While not the classic sunset shot in other cities, this one isn't bad a worth a try.

For dinner, we opted for gelato at Gelataria Santa Trinita (website) .  There was a line out the door which was a very good sign.  The servings were quite generous with a good variety of flavors available.  We ate our 'dinner' on the bridge looking out towards the Ponte Vecchio.  It was a lovely end to a great day.

Tomorrow: Off to Tuscany