Italy Travel Photography — Part 1– Mobile Photography

Mobile photography, that’s just a fancy way of saying “taking pictures with your phone.” So recently my wife & I took some time off and traveled to Italy, the land of espresso, art history, pastas & fine wines. How amazing is that? Experienced all of our favorites in one vacation.

Since we were backpacking, hopping from one city to another, lugging a camera with a variety of lenses would be the last thing my body wants. So on the photography packing list, it came down to the following:

1 x Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 18-200mm VR II
1 x Extra battery
4 x 8gb SD card
1 x Samsung Galaxy Infuse (camera phone)

Apps: Camera Zoom & Pixelmatic

 

And That’s it!

Today I won’t dwell on the D7000/18-200 combo, albeit it is today’s best camera/lens combination. A package that gives you the advantage of size, weight, superb optical quality and flexibility — but we’ll save that for another conversation. As much as I took hundreds of photos on my Nikon, but unless I bought my laptop with me, there will be no way for me to keep my social media up-to-date. And even if I carried a laptop, I still have to transfer file from my DSLR to my computer, re-sized, then share. There is no way I’ll trade my time in Italy and be stuck behind a laptop. And the Obvious solution — Camera phone. Needless to say, most if not all camera phones today will shoot, edit, and share your photos with just a few clicks away. Like what Chase Jarvis says, “the best camera is the one that’s with you.”

Here are some samples from my not so fancy camera phone:

 

The leaning tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa). Tourist to local ratio — 100:1

We stayed at Florence for three nights, and everyday when we walked by this Duomo — Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, we can’t help but pause and be mesmerized by this spectacular architecture.

Why we love Italy. Ham, cheese, wine, espresso, pastas, arts, histories.. Need I say more?

Ponte Vecchio — “Old Bridge”, Florence.

Colosseum at dusk, Rome.

The Trevi Fountain, largest Baroque fountain in the city.

Inside the Vatican, Rome.

 

Narrow cobble stone street.

Arco di Constantino: Contantine, the emperor who legalized Christianity, had a vision of a cross in the heavens and heard the words “In this sign, thou shalt conquer.”

Venice, Italy

The best thing about Venice is not Venice, is to take a 45 minutes water taxi to this colorful little island — Burano.

Bologna

Ducati 916, arguably the single most significant motorcycle design in motorcycling history.

Merry-go-Round at the Piazza della Repubblica in Florence Italy.

Montalcino, Italy. Home of the finest Italian wine, aka Brunello. I had to stop my spirited drive and get out from my little Peugeot to snap this pic. The best way to experience Italy is to get away from the tourist filled city center and head towards the countryside.