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Editor's note: This excerpt first appeared in photographer and author Harold Davis' recent Focal Press book, Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Photography with Harold Davis.
The closer you...
The best pictures tend to be had during two hours around sunrise and two hours
around sunset. You might be able to get a "guidebook-type" photo when the sun is
high but you certainly won't capture any atmosphere or romance.
Buy your film in the US
Film is 50% more expensive in Italy than in the better NY mail order houses. I
recommend Fuji 400 negative film for street life and people, Fuji Velvia (ISO 50
slide film) or Kodak Royal Gold 25 for landscapes. Fuji Sensia (ISO 100 slide
film) would be my choice for general purpose photography on a bright summer day.
See
photo.net for more detailed film recommendations.
Process your film in the US
Listen to a Fiat rattling on its way to breaking down altogether. Look at the
chaos of a neighborhood soccer game. Contemplate the seriousness with which the
average Italian in the service economy takes his job. Then try to imagine a
people more temperamentally unsuited to the demands of consistent day-to-day
operation of a photo lab. The one positive thing that one can say about film
processing in Italy is that it is cheap, about 4000 lire for E6 develop and
mount. This alone should cause you grave concern; everything else in Italy is
wildly more expensive than the US. Four thousand lire won't even get you a Coke
in a lot of cafes.
I once took a roll of Fuji Sensia (E6 slide film) to one of the best pro labs
in Rome. It came back with a brown cast and with a bit of emulsion flaked off of
one frame. Considering that C41 (regular negative film) processing and proofing
is vastly more difficult than E6, I was afraid to even try one roll.
Don't try to copy art treasures
Film is cheap but not so cheap that you should be taking copy photographs of
paintings. Most of the art treasures you'd like to photograph are behind glass or
in places where you are forbidden to use a tripod or flash (not that on-camera
flash used as a primary light source ever made for a decent picture anyway).
Buy postcards and/or tourist slides that were taken with the work lit optimally.
Copy photography is hard work and requires specialized equipment. That doesn't
mean you shouldn't take any pictures in a museum. Just use your film, talent, and
energy to get images of people interacting with the art. Capture the experience
of being in a place in a way that a coffee table art book does not.
Consider a perspective correction lens
If you are
taking a picture of a building and the back of your camera is not perpendicular
to the ground, you are projecting the lines of the building onto a tilted surface
(the film). The vertical lines will converge and the building will appear to be
falling over backward. If you are seriously interested in faithfully capturing
the architecture of Italy then you must bring a perspective correction lens (or a
view camera). These lenses allow you to leave the film perpendicular to the
ground, i.e., parallel to the building, and shift the lens itself up. They cost
about $500 to $1000 depending on the manufacturer and are hard to find except for
the Nikon and Canon 35mm SLR systems. The Canon lenses are much more convenient
to use and also offer tilt, which is beyond the scope of this article.
You can sometimes cheat by using a 20mm lens. Hold it level, back up far
enough from the building that the whole thing is somewhere in the frame, then
crop out the parking lot, street, or whatever else is unwanted in the foreground
when you get home.
If you are interested in more of my thoughts on photography, check out my
on-line photo magazine,
photo.net.
Good News from Italy ! About 2000 years after the last Roman Emperor and only 500 years after the first trip to America of Cristoforo Colombo we are pleased to inform the World that we are definitely able to develop colour film, both slide and negative . An handful of courageous men were able to get the "Secret of the Photography" out of U.S. Labs and , most important, to implement and reproduce the process on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (YES, there is life on this side !). It seems now that also Multinationl Company such as Kodak and Fujifilm are thinking about to open branch office in Italy to take advantage of such situation. That's a great day for all the Italian photographers that can have they rolls developped without the frustation to wait for several months their baby' snapshot. At this rate in the next five years we will be able to release our first motion picture, probably in colour !
Stay tuned for additional news !
Even if the autor said:
"I once took a roll of Fuji Sensia (E6 slide film)
to one of the best pro labs in Rome. It came
back with a brown cast and with a bit of emulsion
flaked off of one frame."
I can assure that HERE IN ITALY (yes, I am
italian) there are MANY photolabs that are able to
work very very better than others. The secret is
not to enter in the first photolab near our hotel.
I had the opportunity to see some work of a Napoletano photographer, by the name of Pippolino or something similar. In Napoli he is a real famous artist in Wedding photography. No proper wedding without him. His prints are faboulous. Sorry to disappoint you but i'm dutch not italian.
I hope this artist opens a web-site on short terms so you can all enjoy his art.
I have been all over Italy too, and upon seeing this photo essay, almost fell out of my chair! I have almost identical shots of a lot of the images posted here. I have found, as I'm sure that anyone who has been there, that it's hard to take a bad photo while in Italy. The natural light there is stunning! there are so many sights, so much historical architecture, galleries, and varying landscapes, that you'll find yourself burning film like never before.
My only critique (if you could call it that) about this photo essay is that I didn't see any shots of Milan. If you haven't made it there yet Phil, you're in for a big treat when you finally do. You seem to have really enjoyed your Italian experience, and to round it all out you need to go north. Milan has the Doumo -has to be seen to be believed!; La Scala, -the world famous opera house; the Stazione Centrale, -a triumph of Mussolinian archetecture, the castle Sforza, as well as zillions of galleries, shops, and friendly people.
Italy is my favorite travel destination, and having been there I'm sure you can see why. The only place I haven't been to is Sicily, but that's coming up this fall!
I love photo.net but...the review of Italian labs sounds a bit naive (should I say that's bs?). Most of the labs offer decent quality and the pro labs are usually very accurate. You obviously should know where to get your films processed but this is also true in the States. I couldn't manage to find a good lab here in Chicago and, as a result, I have to mail my rolls all around the States (btw Mystic Color works just fine for me).
Some good labs (check the addresses on the Yellow Pages):
Milano: New Reversal
Como: ColorPress
Roma: Fotoservice, Autenticolor
Anyways, from a tourist point of view, doesn't make any sense having your films processed in the place you're visiting. Just my two cents.
I was in Pittsburg few weeks ago and I found that the price for films is very close to Italian one, maybe a little higher. In Italy (I'm Italian) you should choose carefully shops: the ones for tourist are VERY EXPENSIVE.
Elia, that's great advice, and not just for photo processing. I just returned from a two-week (way too short) tour of Tuscany, and probably the best advice I could give is to stay away from tourist areas as much as possible.
Ask the friendly Italian locals where to eat/stay/visit. Not only will you get the best advice and learn the local secrets, you will meet great people (like my new friend Mauricio in San Gimignano) and get to know the best of Italy. By taking time to meet and interact with the people, we can avoid some of the misperceptions and generalities the tend to offend.
If I've learned anything in my trips to Italy and Europe, it's that there are terrific, special people in every country. Take time to meet them. As for Italy, if I had to choose one country to travel in for the rest of my life, it would be Italy.
I was recently in Italy for two weeks in June (2001). During the trip I shot all 27 rolls that I had brought from home, plus another single roll of Kodak Something-or-other-ISO100, that I ended up purchasing on Via Corso in Rome on my very last day there - and for that I paid far, far, far too much for!!! Don't even think of buying film in any of the tourist route cities (Florence, Venice, etc) as it's hideously expensive and the selection is not great. Anyways, I figured that anyone who was reading this thread might find my Italy shots interesting, so here they are:
My wife and I were in Italy Sept 2001 and took a lot of pictures (70 rolls total). We were in Napoli, Palermo, & Roma. Everywhere we went we got very good c41 processing & printing in the Agfa minilabs. Cost was about $8 per 24 exp roll with a free replacement roll.
I didn't try any E6 or B&W processing. These we brought back to the USA (I do my own B&W processing, and we didn't bring any E6 film). It was nice to see our color photos as we went and we knew that we had good pictures before leaving for home. We put them in proof booklets and were able to show them to family & friends when we stepped off of the plane. Plus I didn't have to worry about xrays!
As with everithing concerning Italy this "Photography Tips" his heavily biased against everything wich is not coming from the U.S.: Films, cameras and lens cost more or less the same than in France and UK (ok, I'm italian but I use to buy magazines from all over the Old Continent and I've verified the prices). Obviously you have to avoid the shops in the most touristic streets and in the hall of the hotels. In the main cities of Italy you can choose from different facility to have your film developed ranging from minilab for colour to professional labs where you can have your B&W developed and printed choosing paper, contrast, toning and everithing else. We came out from the stone age many years ago (probably following the advice of our friendly conquerors in 1945). Photo.net has many contributors from Italy: do you think their film are developed in NY?
So I have to write. One of us all has to write, if this is going to get
told. Better that it be me who am dead, for I'm less compromised than the
rest; I who see only the clouds...
(Julio Cortázar - Blow-Up)
8/3/2003. It was my very first morning in Florence, Italy. I had got up very
early, so eager to be out already. I had packed my camera bag and by 8 o'clock
I was already in the streets. It was a beautiful spring morning. Here, the spring
was already in its full bloom, grass fresh and green, flowers opening their
petals. The air smelled of Spring and life. It was still early morning and I
found the street of Florence almost empty, except for random little groups of
Japanese tourists, mostly girls, who's clock probably was set so, that they
didn't need to sleep either, here and there. It was a paradise. I spent the
whole morning exploring the city and taking pictures. I was shooting slides
on Sensia, really enjoying it, with no stress, playing with composition, trying
different angles, changing lens, thinking of the exposure, depth of focus, carefully
underexposing by 1/3. It was a pure joy. Apart taking the obligatory pictures,
so that also my girlfriend would see, (my Letter to Jane) like Ponte
Vecchio or Il Duomo, typically me, I would be looking for pictures of shades,
exploring the very narrow streets and trying to catch the feel by photographing
the details of rust on the old bicycles, the curves of the door handles, breaking
my neck while flinging back for the structures and patterns of the walls and
archways and spans, then catching the ladies' faces and photographing their
legs, than again, trying to get more material to my never-ending project I would
be taking pictures of the figurines and doll-babies in the shop-windows, along
with snaps and details of lingerie, as well as with details of the curves photographed
from billboards and posters. I worked fairly the whole morning and enjoyed it.
Then, as I needed some rest and, having thought, that after taking some lunch
I would go to the park to bath in the sun and make notes, I went to the crossroad
in front of the railway station. On the green lawn, I sat down on the ground
and felt terribly happy in the Spring-Saturday morning.
It was just few moments later; I realized I had seen a sandwich shop across
the crossroad, so I crossed over this passing of the ways. With my backpack
on my back, my camera bag with everything in it (camera, battery pack, lenses,
sun shades, stock of film, but also my money, passport, and a PDA) on my shoulder
and my sandwich in my hand I left the shop and as I was out on the narrow pavement
of Via de Panzani, I suddenly realized how streets were full of people. I started
walking back towards Piazza Unita Italiana, having realized that the group of
men blocking the whole pavement in front of me suddenly stopped, I stepped of
the pavement into the street and tried to pass them. Here they were. A man suddenly
patted me on my left shoulder (he followed me into the street!) and started
speaking to me in Italian, needed to say, I speak no Italian at all. I thought
- a beggar. I tried to walk away, suddenly realizing another man was patting
on my right shoulder, speaking in Italian and pointing to my back. Still not
knowing what was going on, I tried to get rid of them. All of sudden I was surrounded
by a group of men, I understood now they were suggesting I had some dirt on
my back and I think they were telling me to look up and pay attention to the
birds. I didn't feel comfortable at all. I pushed my way to the corner of the
piazza, the men all around me. Only now I do realize I have felt something like
careful touches on me during that way. Here on the corner of the piazza, I put
my camera bag of my shoulder and put it on the ground between my legs and I
was holding it firmly with my legs so that it would be safe. I put off my back
pack and founded it covered with some sort of unpleasant looking dirt, than
I realized I had it on the back of my jacket, as well on my trousers. I felt
very stupid and now believing it was birds I started trying to clean my backpack
with the water from the bottle I had in my backpack. One of the men who were
watching me approached nearer and offered his handkerchief for cleaning. I didn't
care. Then, those were the two last seconds that I needed to understand at last.
Unfortunately enough, it was too late by now. The group of men surrounded me
even closer, in fact they were now pushing on me and squeezing me between their
bodies. They were tall enough and numerous enough and they were dark skinned
with black hair, no matter how decently they were dressed. I was scared as hell.
Then, as I was squeezed between them and horrified to death, someone violently
wrenched and took my camera bag from behind from between my legs, and I was
not at all able to hold it firm and safe any longer. The other men still on
me, were doing insolent and threatening gestures, I felt miserable, scared and
exactly what I was - unable of doing anything. After a few seconds, they left
me, some ran, others walked away. I was in deep shock, perhaps still unable
to believe that what had happened was real. Here I stood, robbed, dirty as a
pig, wanting to cry, the most miserable person in the world.
Here at the Piazza of Unita Italiana, these bitches united to rob me and make
my life miserable. This happened around lunchtime, mid-day, thousands of other
people round. I thought only thing I could do was to lie down and cry. There
was no one to help me. By the way there was not a single policeman hundreds
of meters around, but I am in no mood to tell you other disillusioning stories
of having had experience with Italian police afterwards.
Summary: I was robbed openly, being threatened, in a white mid-day, in public,
of the following:
camera CANON EOS 33, serial number 62004317
battery pack CANON BP-300
lens CANON EF 100/2,8 USM Macro, serial number 6500745C, plus lens hood
lens SIGMA AF 24-70/2,8 EXP ASP DG DF F/CANON, serial number 1008245,
plus lens hood
as well as
camera bag LOWEPRO NOVA 4, gray and black, textile and leather
film Fuji Sensia 100, 6 pc, 2 of them already shot
film Kodak T-MAX 100, 6 pc
film Kodak T-MAX 400, 3 pc
UV protection packs HAMA for 6 pc of film, 2 pc
PASSPORT, in my name
PDA Compaq Ipaq
money (500 EUR)
:-)
I am neither very stupid nor naive, but miracles can happen, This is then an
appeal to photographers in Italy, based in or around Florence, Tuscany, I do
not know whether these things travel. Just if you by coincidence should happen
to come across a possibility of purchasing the equipment as stated above, perhaps,
suspiciously cheap, well then, if this miracle would happen, I certainly would
offer a reward. Of course, I have a police report and purchase documents. If
someone would find the films in the two packages (which I can imagine were of
no value to those thieves and were thrown away), one was signed COLOUR and the
other B&W with a blue felt-tip pen, I would give a huge reward for the 2
shot rolls of Sensia.
I realize this is not probable to happen, so, perhaps this was to let my mind
finally relief...
... and I should probably get now to sorting my mind and perhaps resolving
it in an essay "what makes man a photographer", with underlying theme
whether there is something like a photographer with no cameras... .... ....
this is for my frustration...
best regards,
daniel.vinklar@ct.cz,
Praha, 15/3/2003
additional thoughts:
I have already settled down a little, and I am no longer sending a Mr.Bush-please-bomb-Italy-first
kind of a letter, and I am probably not going to condemn Italy either, the
Tuscany country-side was so beautiful! In addition, the very kind and very
helpful lady at the consulate of the Czech Republic (best regards to Aranka)
told me, that those were more probably Albanians or Armenians, she said that
gangs of those are operating in and around Florence...
Well, extrenely expensive lesson learnt, I have always been so cautious,
I just never imagined someone would in fact threaten me and make me disgorge
my things openly...
if I ever get to have such eqipment again:
I will not move with all of it around a big city alone
I will have only one camera with just one lens around my neck (actually
it will be difficult to chooses the non existing lens for all needs)
I will have adhesive labels on everything messages on everything saying
this belongs to... and contact
I will never ever get insured with Ceska Pojistovna again, by all means
stay away from those bastards, I had a travel insurance for personal things
and belongings, and they say they will pay me nothing as this was an exceptional
case and they do not care...
I will not play smart again and try do distribute things trying to minimalize
possibility of damage, in fact, what I had done was that I took most of my
money and didn't have in my wallet as not to be stolen, and I hid it in the
camera bag... :-(
