here are a few photos, I'll get the rest onto a website and link it here. Hope you like them!
Montalcino:
San Quirico:
hmmm, I forget what this was, can anyone help?
Venice:
This was from ballooning (if you couldn't tell!) and it is the little church in the Val d'Orcia which you will see depicted everywhere - postcards, calendars... except this is a back view of it.
I took two cameras (and let my Mom use my third one). Many of my photos I used my new Canon SD800 IS which is a wonderful little camera. It's got image stabilization in the lens which is so helpful.
I also took my Canon 30D with my new prime Canon 35mm 1.4L lens I bought just for this trip - I got the really fast prime lens for the church interiors... but after all that didn't carry it as much due to how easy the little one is to carry along.
My Mom used my other camera, the one I bought two years ago (again, for a trip!) which is the Canon SD500. Also a great little camera, I've taken many photos that I've shared here, with it.
here is another one:
Sant'Anna in Camprena from the air (ballooning):
and more:
In Venice - scary skull! How creative is this though? It was amazing, I took several photos of it from different angles.
to contrast, this is what was in the exact same spot last year:
and just some nice butts ar ar ar:
This is the Trattoria Sempione in Venice:
I took these from the balcony of our hotel, the Eremo Gaudio, in Varenna:
I spent ALL DAY last Saturday making the book for my Mom. I had it narrowed to 500 photos initially... then when I got started realized Kodak limits the pages to 80 (I thought it was 100) so I had to narrow it more and several of them were too pretty to print so tiny, so I had several one-page shots as well as many 2-per-page shots... long and short, I had to narrow once again to 268 photos (the final count) and let me tell you, that really gets to the nitty gritty of "which of your favorites are really your favorites?"
Then of course captioning everything which meant consulting my notes (almost like a trip report, except not nearly as wordy - just tidbits of details) and so forth.
Long and short - I ordered 2 photo books (one for Mom, one for me), 80 pages each, using 268 photos... for 141 bucks delivered! (70ish per book). They shipped them Thursday so I really hope to see them today?
My title page (which peeps through the cover) is a photo I took last Saturday - I hauled out my Samsonite... clustered around the Samsonite label are 3 postcards... my passport.. the boarding pass for the trip from Rome/IAD... a plug converter... a card for Taverna San Trovaso, etc.
She will love it!
The very last page of the book is this photo, and underneath it I wrote:
I have 2 questions: can you take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel now? Last time I was there it wasn't allowed, but maybe it's okay now. I was told the reason we couldn't take pictures was because the (Japanese?) company who had paid for the restoration had all film rights. Maybe it was for a set period of time. I hope to take some pictures next time we're there.
And question #2: How did you post more thanone phote to a single post??? I've only been able to post one! What's the secret?
thanks for the inof, altho if you can only take pics with a private tour that will probably never happen for me!
As for the pictures, I'm not sure I understand what's different from the way I usually post a photo as an attachment. Are you saying each image has to be on the internet somewhere already (rather than just on my computer), then I can post multiple photos per post?
Woodstock-I'm enjoying looking at your photos over and over. The colors are just great. I'd like to ask you a couple of camera questions. My husband is the photographer in the family. He has a Canon Rebel. I've decided that I want to have a camera too for our upcoming Sept trip. We have a Sony DSC-P7 I'm planning on using. Just looked at the Canon SD1000, but decided that I really didn't need to buy another camera since we've got the other two, and it doesn't seem to bother my husband to carry the Rebel with him along with the telephoto lens, etc. Do you find the SD800 so much better in quality, or is just the fact that it's smaller and more convenient to carry? Thanks for any feedback, as I don't want to spend another $300-$400 for a camera if not needed. Cindy
Wonderful photos. I love the clarity and composition of your photos. Thank you for sharing and the information on your camera. I have the Canon 20D (earlier model of the 30d) and I'm thinking of getting a small point and shoot. I've been looking at the SD800.
Barb, you can link and display multiple photos in post if the photos are on another website. Woodstock used Flickr.
To link to a photo on Flickr, - Click on All sizes link above the photo - Click on Medium size so it isn't too big for the board - At the bottom is "2. Grab the photo's URL". Copy this address url. - In a Slow Talk post, click the image icon on the menu (2nd from the right) and paste in the address url.
Posts: 9490 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
Thank you everyone, glad you liked them! Believe me I took many more.
Cindy Ruth, there is no comparison b/w the 30D and the 800IS - the 30D is a superior camera and the lens I bought for this trip cost just about as much as the camera itself did (maybe 100 dollars less!). I just happen to be pretty lazy. The 800 IS does a great job (but it has limitations) and it's also a lot lighter and easier to carry.
Had I been alone and not worried about making my Mom wait around while I set up the 30D all the time I think I would have carried it more. With the 800 IS, other than my tripod usage (in a few churches and at night) it was point, shoot and go.
Woodstock-Thanks for your reply. Can't wait to see a link to the rest of your photos. The photos you show us right now-were those taken with the 800IS, or were they some of the 30D photos. I am just amazed at how crisp they are and how good hte color is. As I mentioned earlier, I am just debating about whether we need another camera, or if I just need to get more practice with the Sony on special settings.
Woodstock, I was admiring your pictures last night and beautiful photography, and then sat down to draw a picture to paint from my recent trip to Venice and its a picture of the canal in front of Trattoria Sempione. I didnt even realize there was a restaurant there. Here is my picture. By the way, where is it? I think that was the day we were coming back from our Doges Palace Tour so is it in Castello?
Cindy Ruth, let me check to be sure. I think all but one or two were with my SD800. The Sistine Chapel ceiling may be with the 30D (I took both in with me) and one of the Varenna night shots may be, too. you can do a lot with a little point and shoot - you just need to set it correctly and use a tripod!
Llee - it was not far from St. Mark's, although I am not sure if it was Castello at that point. It was for sure on the edge, if nothing else. I'll look it up when I get home. Two years in a row I've taken photos of it.. and have yet to eat there!
Fantastic photos. Strange thing is that your photos of the Sistine chapel and the skull in Venice are almost the same as mine.
When we were in the Sistine there were many attendants trying to stop people taking photos which was a losing battle. I do not use the flash for most indoor shots and in most cases is no good as the flash on the average mini digital camera is not strong enough anyway.
I have a larger SLR type camera and my wife has a mini with 6mp and 7 times optical zoom. I eventualy gave up carrying the heavy camera around as the mini was taking excellent photos.
The next generation minis have around 8mp and 10 times optical zoom which is more than good enough for the amateur so for those wanting to buy a new camera don't rush in but try a good small digital
Posts: 386 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 16 January 2007
I love the photos - and the photo-books are a great way of showing off your favourites. I managed to fit around 900 photos into one I did, using some of my dodgier photos for background! I now do one for each trip I go on.
I'm really interested in your balloon trip - how did you arrange that?
Posts: 20 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: 07 July 2007
Robert and Liz are utterly delightful. I urge anyone reading this to try ballooning just once - you will be hooked for life!
Cindy Ruth, if you are still reading this, the only photos above that were taken with the Canon 30D are the Venice water/boats scene (7th photo down) and the panorama shot of Capella di Vitaleta.
Your photos are fabulous - just perfect. Made me want to hop on a plane just to be everywhere you were when you took those shots. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Posts: 425 | Location: Watertown, New York, USA | Registered: 22 August 2003
I never thought about making a photo book of my pictures. What a great idea. What sights do you guys like to use for making them?
The pictures are wonderful and I can't wait until my trip in September!! You mentioned setting the camera correctly. I want to learn how to use my digital camera before our trip. I have had it for a couple years, but pretty much just use the auto setting. I know there is so much more I can do, but don't know how. Any suggestions on how to learn? Any books, websites?
I use an Australian site - Momento - you can download the software to create the book. It's pretty easy to use, and I'm very happy with my first book, which was 150 pages long, with commentary about my journey and lots and lots of photos. It can be very addictive though! I can't wait until my trip to Italy in March next year - I love planning, I love being there and I love creating the book afterwards!
Posts: 20 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: 07 July 2007
Katinka, 150 pages, wow! Kodak limited me to 80 - I initally had 500 photos I wanted to use for the book but had to almost cut that in half, for 80 pages.
Kodak Gallery is a good site in general for books although I'd love to be able to make one 150 pages long.
To learn, I'd say a good place to start is to practice/experiment. Use different settings and see what happens. One big thing - I hate the flash and turn it off when I'm taking photos (for good or bad). If it's too dimly lit I either use a tripod and a longer setting (most likely) or the lens I bought for the 30D goes to 1.4 which lets in a lot of light - that helps too.
vkb - I'm a wannabee photographer! It's just something I like to putter with. I've got a lot to learn. It's a mix of luck and paying attention to what I'm doing, I guess. I need to branch out though - for instance, I'm rather shy about taking photos of people.
Woodstock- Thanks for letting me know which photos you took with each camera. And thanks for posting more photos. They really are truely amazing! Cindy Ruth
Woodstock, we could be meaning the same thing - Momento is limited to 75 actual leaves in the book (so 150 pages double sided). I used a landscape A4 setting, and cropped lots of the photos so I could fit more in. You can squish upto 24 photos per page if you're game and have good eyesight!
If you're interested, I can email you a link to the mini preview version so you can see what I mean. But my photos aren't anywhere near as good as yours! That group of trees under the blue, blue sky - I want to be taking that photo!
Posts: 20 | Location: Canberra, Australia | Registered: 07 July 2007
Jan - just curious. I wasn't sure if it was clearly visible. Had the shot been longer it may have disappeared (then again gondolas aren't very fast!)
Katinka - no, you definitely have more pages - kodak is 40 double sided, or, 80.
Cindy Ruth, thanks!
I will say two things - a tripod goes a long way - and so much of this is positioning. "Get closer" is what I always hear - luckily with the trees there wasn't much between me and the subject. There were actually about 15-20 other photographers there - but few were close enough to affect the photo. for the heck of it I took a few photos with them in it - but for the most part folks stayed back. (and these were real photographers, with big tripods and everything! my day shots are all handheld).
Woodstock-Just wanted to say thanks again for posting the photos and discussing your cameras. I just bought the Canon SD800IS and took it out this past weekend. We were out on our boat in Prince William Sound in Alaska, and got some great photos. Woke up at 5:30am to an amazing sunrise, and I was suprised at how well this camera captures the vivid colors. And that is without me learning a lot about the settings yet.
Your pictures are beautiful. I keep coming back to look at them since I can't get on a plane today to return to Italy! Your mom is going to treasure the book.
Posts: 117 | Location: Chicago | Registered: 18 March 2007
Oh thank you everyone! You are so kind. I can't dance, sing, draw, paint... but I love taking photos.
The book is absolutely beautiful. It really turned out well and Mom loved it. I made two, one for each of us.
Cindy, glad you like the camera, it's great isn't it?
I already have plane tickets for my next few trips - Colorado and New Mexico in October and then Portugal over Thanksgiving week! If anyone has advice on those places, that would be great!
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