August 17, 2016

Travel Photography with the Fuji X-Pro2

As well as loving portrait and wedding photography I also have a passion for landscape and street photography. I wouldn’t ever say I’ve got photography sussed as I feel this Art is a continuous learning curve even though my camera goes everywhere with me and I’ve been taking photos since I was 10 yrs of age due to my uncle having a photography studio in London.

This article is about one of my latest trips to Italy where I felt it would be great to take along my new xpro2, my Fuji 16mm 1.4 lens and my favorite 56mm lens.

These post are written mainly as a kind of person diary, not technically written but maybe you may find some interest in the images I’ve provided with this article and my travels around the beautiful Tuscany location, you may even find that you would quite like to visit this fabulous country with its art, culture and of course the Italian cuisine.

Pisa

Obviously after landing at Pisa airport the most natural place to visit is the iconic Leaning Tower, tilting when it was finished in the twelfth century with its 56m white-marble cylinder, then there is the bell tower of the Romanesque, striped-marble cathedral that rises next to it in the Piazza dei Miracoli, a grassy, walled square where hundreds of photos are taken, thousands of selphies with the hands placed against the tower.

The 16mm lens was just absolutely perfect for theses image’s, the low clouds on the opening image provided the fabulous backdrop, a little editing produced this shot.

Forte dei Marmi

The next day we arrived at the fabulous Forte dei Marmi which a sea town in the province of Lucca, northern Tuscany. This place is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Its a tourism location.

If you are into fashion this is the place for you, its the St Tropez of Italy, simply beautiful, the rich and beautiful strole around this resort and mix with the tourists checking out the latest fashions, window shopping as the prices are for the rich and famous!

Fantastic place for those street photos, capturing the cool and beautiful, also the fabulous window displays and shop fronts with magical floral displays that would look perfect at the most exclusive wedding.

Livorno

The magic of Livorno a stunning Italian port, a city that is located on the west coast of Tuscany. It’s known for its seafood, and it was here that I had a speciality dish, with the fresh, oysters, lobster, squid and shrimps, the Renaissance fortifications and gorgeous modern harbor with a cruise ship port, where the rich sail away to distant lands.

Its central Terrazza Mascagni, has a waterside promenade with checkerboard paving, the converging lines make for fantastic images, using the Xpro2 and my 16mm lens, capturing this marble flooring was fabulous, this area is the city’s main gathering place. The bastions of the 16th-century Fortezza Vecchia face the harbor and open onto Livorno’s canal-laced Venezia Nuova quarter.

The weather was holding out quite well just a slight chill in the Italian air however this was about to change on my next journey, I have always treated my camera equipment like its a child but the next trip was really going to help me see if the Fuji Xpro2 was really fully weather sealed!!

Siena

This place is absolutely incredible, The history of Siena was made on the Piazza del Campo, or maybe known beter as better, ‘il Campo’, this is how the Sienese call it. It was here the Sienese organized their spectacular and terrible ‘games’, later replaced by the Palio, where they celebrated and played games of risk (il Campo was the only place where the games were allowed). The market also used to take place here. Il Campo has witnessed the passage of memorable characters in the history of Siena: Santa Caterina, the mystic saint deeply linked to the image of Siena, and also artists such as Simone Martini or Jacopo della Quercia.

People sit around this fabulous square, eating and drinking coffee, the sun had vanished from the Tuscan skye at this point on my journey and it was time to test the weather sealing on the Xpro2, now this wasn’t just a light shower it absolutely chucked it down, the wind was blowing and I stepped out into the rain with my camera, holding my breath as I always keep my cameras safely hidden from torrential downpours but after a few minutes of holding my breath, my confidence was solid, it was fantastic stepping out into to the rain to capture these images, the camera was perfect, it was great to get close and personal with all that was happening around me.

Pietrasanta

Pietrasanta is a town and comune on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about 32 kilometres north of Pisa, its a beautiful bustling town with lots of little streets, many artists have their base here, incredible scenery and the famous Pietrasanta cathedral, with its marble walls, a perfect place to sit and people watch for hours in the wonderful Tuscany sunshine which had made its welcome appearance.

Montenero Italy & Santuario Montenero

This little hill top town was fascinating, if you visit you must spend some time in Santuario di Montenero, this is a place to for speculation, its here that people from all over the world place small hearts, paintings, and even children’s clothing as a heartfelt prayer to their God for protecting themselves from catastrophic accidents, very moving reading the thought of individuals that have escaped from some of the most terrifying events in their lives, when I visited, a catholic Mass was being held and the sounds of the choir was ringing out above the beautiful hills that are worth photographing from this wonderful hill town.

Lucca

I have visited this magnificent town many times and still fall in love with it each time I visit, with its imposing walls, Lucca is on the Serchio river in Italy’s Tuscany region, renowned for the well-preserved Renaissance walls which encircle its cobblestone streets. Broad, tree-lined pathways along the tops of these massive 16th- and 17th-century ramparts are popular for strolling and cycling. Lucca is also known for its olio d’oliva lucchese. If you want to take those images that inspire you, then look no further than this fabulous town.

The Xpro2 is a fantastic camera for your Travel Photography, take along the 16mm 1.4 lens and maybe the 56mm 1.2 lens and you’ll be in your element, its light, fast, produces stunning images and is most definitely weather sealed.