Now, after promising it for more than a week, I am starting to write about my recent Budapest trip.
Its been a quiet versatile week, which was good in many different ways.
The people I met, the photos I took, the time to relax I had.

The first thing that got my full attention after arriving at the airport were the Metro trains.
They are old, really old, but with a nice style to them. A photographer from Budapest whom I met during the week told me, that the only reason they are still in use is because the company that runs them wants to save money. They are a bit unreliable, and some even burnt down in tunnels, thats why most Budapesters do not really enjoy taking the metro, but for me and my tourist eyes, it was a wonderful sight.

The hostel that I chose to stay in was located at ferenciek tere, which is quiet central. Its close to the river that parts the city, the Danube, and had a metro stop directly in front of the door.

Budapest is especially famous for its wonderful bridges, of which some are even protected by the UNESCO . Very well deserved. I lived within 5 minute walking distance of the Elizabeth Bridge, which is nice but not really my cup of tea regarding its design.

Nevertheless, I used several different perspectives to shoot it, from which I liked a high view from the Gellert Hill best.

From the Elizabeth, the next bridge to the left was the Liberty Bridge which I personally enjoyed most.

It has a very interesting design, the Tram passes it, and it offers many interesting perspectives. I found that it was very beautiful during the day, but even better at night. The decoration light is not very special but still, its nice to shoot it.

For shooting at night, the most famous bridge of Budapest, the Chain Bridge, is the best. It has different kinds of lighting, some big headlights, and many many small light dots, that look like a light chain that is taut over the bridge.

Probably thats a reason for its name.
It makes for wonderful shots, but thats also the reason that about every nice perspective has been shot hundreds of times. So you will need preparation and creativity to really create something new.

Besides the bridges, you can see dozens of interesting old, historical buildings.

My personal favourite spot in Budapest definitely was the Fishermans Bastion, which is located next to the old castle.

From here you have an amazing view over all the interesting sights, often there are musicians playing, and you can relax and enjoy the incredible place you are in that moment.
If you are there at the right time, its even not too full of tourists.
In my experience most of them are gone before sunset, but nevertheless you are not alone then. Many many photographers meet up there, but shortly after the blue hour alsmost everybody is gone and you are by yourself (at least in winter with minus degrees )

Thats it for the first part of my travel review.

Keep followin’ for the second part that will be published soon!

Yours

Crazy Ivory

This is the second part of my Travel Photography Guide for the italian Tuscany.
If you havent read the first part yet, you can do this here:

Travel Photography Destinations: Tuscany – Part 1

In this second part I will highlight and rate Florence and San Gimignano from the perspective of a travel photographer. I also included Verona and Cinque Terre which are not part of the Tuscany but nevertheless interesting to see. Thank you to Dar for correcting me in this issue.

Here we go:

Florence

Florence is another of the “big names”, probably the biggest in Tuscany, and I could not wait going there. I expected a huge city, beautiful, with sculptures and amazing houses everywhere and tons of photo opportunities.

I was, to say the least, disappointed.
I am sure many people will disagree with me, but Florence was one of the most boring cities in Tuscany.

The biggest “no go” for me as a photographer was how awefully full this city is.
This may not be surprising, but still, this extent of tourism depth was unexpected for me.
Even though the architecture might be quiet nice, you hardly get a chance to shoot it in full beauty because of other people trying the same.(I have only been in Florence in daytime, it might be nicer and less full at nighttime)

To get away from the crowd, I wandered through the alleys and backyards (as I already did in  Pisa) and found them to be quiet nice. Nothing really unique and intriguing, but nice.

The riverside of the Arno is also pretty nice, the houses along the river are beautiful and certainly there are nice spots where street photographers will have good times. The row of houses or simply the colors of them are quiet useful as a backdrop.

All in all Florence definitely has got nice spots, but for me, it simply felt hectic, full and not authentic. If you are of a different opinion, please let me know in the comment section.

Thumbs down.

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre roughly translated means “five earths”, and is the summarizing term for five rather small cities along the coastline of Italy.
They all are consisting of small beautiful and colorful houses, that are perfectly fitted into the hilly landscape of this part of middle Italy.
There simply is no other way to put it than “postcard perfect”.

Even though the Cinque Terre is no insider tip and quiet touristic I had a good feeling being there.

I havent been to all five cities, but I believe I have been to the most beautiful ones.
I took the boat from La Spezia to Portovenere (a highly recommendable city that is not part of the Cinque Terre, but is very close to it) and then changed boats to one that passes all five cities. The boat trip is amazing, you get the chance to shoot the cities from a perfect perspective since most of them “open” towards the water. Landscape photographers will have a perfect time on the boat, so will almost any other photographer.
If you are lucky you can even see some wild dolphins in the area.

The fifth of the five, Monterosso, is where I left the boat.
Monterosso is an incredible place to be, unbelievably picturesque, with a perfect beach and surrounded by mountains.

You can hardly get away from the masses of tourists, since backyards are simply not existing and there is no suburbian not touristic area, but still, every corner offers a new perspective and creative minds can shoot incredible street and architectural details here.

After you are through Monterosso, you should take the hiking route to Vernazza, the fourth city. Unfortunately you have to pay for the route, but believe me its worth it. The view is incredibly and there are uncountable chances for landscape or detail shots. There are also several interesting flowers and plants growing along the way.

The route takes about 90 minutes, and even though its phycically quiet demanding, the view over Vernazza that you are getting at the end will heal your wounds quickly.
Vernazza is my personal favourite of the Cinque Terre and also of all the cities in Tuscany that I have seen.
In my opinion its the most photogenic and colorful of all five, the lagoon in the harbor is amazing and you can take all kinds of photos here. Landscape, Nature, Architecture, Night.
Everything is possible. Street Photography is rather hard to do though, since the streets are too full during an usual day and most people you see are tourists.
You will hardly see any real italian scene here.

I stayed in Vernazza for the night, shot it in blue hour and slept in the mountains under the beautiful starry night. Probably thats why I am a bit obsessed with this city. Nevertheless believe me: Its worth the trip!!

Definitely Thumbs Up!

San Gimignano

San Gimignano is another one of the more unknown places in Tuscany.
There are two ice cream stores that advertise that they have the best ice cream in the world. But is there anything else that you should come for?

The city itself is completely build of brown, mud-colored houses.
It almost looks monochrome which is a huge contrast to the bright and colorful painted houses of Cinque Terre.

The city itself was not really fascinating for me: One main street with one shop after the other, all selling “typically tuscanian goods” and loads of tourists buying like the world would end tomorrow.
With every step you are taking away from the centre its getting better and the tourism depth is getting lower and lower, but still I found it not too interesting to explore the city.

But what definitely made San Gimignano worth visiting for me is the incredible landscape surrounding it.
If you take a walk outside the city, you are away from any stress within only minutes.
There are dozens of wine producers in the area, and together with San Gimignano, situated on a hill above everything else, incredible perspectives are opening up.
The monochrome city in the middle of the colorful nature. This definitely qualifies for interesting landscapes.

I found this walking trip really special, and all the small creatures and plants living on the “roadside” can literally make you “wake up” after two hours of shooting macro. Incredibly relaxing.
I am sure this is not exclusive for the area around San Gimignano but for the whole Tuscany, but from San Gimignano you can easily manage to get out of the urban area within 10 minutes, something that I found impossible at the other touristic cities.

To sum it up, if you dont only stay in San Gimignano, then a trip there is definitely recommendable.

Thumbs up.

Verona

The city of Romeo and Juliette.
After the many bad experiences with the “Big Names”, I was careful with expecting too much from this city.

Like in any other touristic place you can easily skip the must-see tourism spots without losing too many photo opportunities.
But as soon as you discover the city behind the fascade Verona actually is…a nice place.

In contrast to the sights, the backstreets and alleys convey a decayed charme that I felt impossible to resist.
There are so many street scenes, there is happening so much on the streets, that you can really go image hunting for hours.

Especially when the sun is low in the afternoon, you get incredible lighting for whatever you want to shoot.

My personal impression was that there were many italians on the street, and this made it authentic.
If you have enough time to leave the old city and get out of the city wall ring, you are certainly one of the only tourists on the streets.
This part may not be as beautiful as the old city, but still its more beautiful than most cities are.

I found it to be a good way to see real italian life on the streets, and would recommend it if you have more than 2-3 hours to spend in the city. If you have less better stay inside the wall, that gives you a better surrounding for photography.

Verona is a city with many details that need to be captured, and a lot of street action.

So, do I recommend Verona? I would say, if you are in Italy and are within a 1 1/2 hour range of it, go there. Otherwise leave it out.

Thumbs up.

Thats it with the Travel Photography Destinations: Tuscany Article.
I hope you enjoyed reading it and probably it delivered some ideas on which cities to miss or dont miss on the next Italy trip.

Thank you very much for your attention!

Yours

Crazy Ivory

I just came back from a 9 day holiday to tuscany, the same trip I already did in September 2010, and while looking through my photographical results of that trip I recognized that a post about the different places I visited could be interesting for some people out there. Especially in terms of photogenity.

The tuscany is a rather big part of middle italy, including some of the “biggest names” e.g Florence and Pisa.

In this article I will give you my honest opinion on the places I visited, and will either recommend or not recommend going there for shooting. Please always remember: Its just my very personal view, if you are of a different opinion, I would love to discuss that in the comment section. Lets start with the first half of places:

Pisa

Pisa certainly is the name that the most people know when reading through the list of cities in tuscany.
I, and I think most people are that way, tend to believe that a city with a “name” is more interesting than one that I have never heard of before. I really need to part with that old-fashioned attitude.

Pisa for me was a huge disappointment.

The first huge turn off was how incredibly touristic this city is. In the area around the leaning tower, and that is a big part of the city, its hardly possible to find anyone of italian origin or anything tipically italian.

That might be true for any other touristic city in the world, but I felt that it was more here, because of the cities size.
Too much tourism would definitely rank high for the 10 reasons why a city is uninteresting to me, simply because it makes it impossible to calm down, and because it makes interesting photos almost impossible (that is true for me, but must not be for you).

I tried to get lost in the backyards and small alleys, something I always do when the fascade of city looks boring to me, but I did not find anything worth mentioning.
The photos I took were mainly average, I did not find anything really extremely interesting.

The city did not inspire me, or let me wish to stay there for longer.

Thumbs down.

Lucca

In many terms Lucca is different from Pisa.

Its not as touristic, its mostly unknown AND its incredibly photogenic and interesting.

Lucca does not really have any top sights, but the city and the historical buildings are the best sight they could have.
What definitely lets Lucca stand out is its authenticity. It feels real and not polished for tourists (even though it may be at some spots).

This makes it a paradise for street photography, but also for people shoots where a nice backdrop is needed.
The colorful houses and small alleys  paired with real italien faces wandering around really let my camera smoke and would not let me stop shooting.

In terms of street photography and authenticity Lucca is definitely my favourite of all the cities I am highlighting here.

Definitely a must for any photo tour through Tuscany.

Thumbs up!

Carrara

Carrara is a name that most of you may have heard yet, but its no big touristic city though.
Contradiction?
No, Carrara is home of one of the most famous marble deposits in the world, and as you can imagine this fact definitely leaves a mark on the city design.

Carrara is a city build from marble, and this is no exaggeration.
The citys church, the curbs, doorframes, name signs, benches, sculptures and and and are build from this material.

I dont know whether its an image thing or marble was simply the cheapest material available, but it was the best decision they could have made.
The marble lets the city shine in bright white, it looks polished but not in a bad way.

On sunny days the amount of available light is massive, and since Carrara is no victim of mass tourism (yet?), you can wander through the city without any hectic and look out for street scenes.
If you are lucky you might have a chance to find an open door to have a peek inside one of the many workshops for marble artists that are existing in the city.

Besides marble, Carrara is quiet famous for another thing:
Carrara has deep and long anarchistic history, and this also shows up while walking through the city.
The sculpture on one of the central places of the city holds a red and black bandana and you can find a lot of interesting political graffiti art.

The city of Carrara really offers many incredible photo opportunities if you are a street, landscape, architecture or abstract photographer. I can also imagine that it also qualifies for model shootings.
Beautiful backgrounds can be found anywhere in the city.

But thats not everything.
After wandering through the city, you should definitely take a hiking trip up to the marble quarries.
There are many beautiful hiking routes that lead you up to the mountain top, not of the mountains where the marble is quarried but to the ones next to them, from where you get an impressive view over the incredibly big extent of the quarrying process.

Shooting is a big fun up there, you can shoot everything from landscapes to machines, from a dusty marble desert to the green hilltops. This hiking trip definitely was a highlight of my Tuscany experience and I can only recommend it to anyone planning to go to Tuscany.

Thumbs Up!

That’s it for the first part of  “TPD: Tuscany”.
Read the second part here:

Travel Photography Destinations: Tuscany – Part 2

Yours

Crazy Ivory

This is the start of a new series.

I travelled quiet a bit during the last two years and am not planning to stop doing so, so I thought I might share my two cents  and tell you a bit about destinations that are worth visiting and photographing…or not.

I will try to highlight the things that I found worth photographing, and at the end I give either a thumbs up or down for the travel photography potential.

I am doing this to create a kind of guide for photographers, who want to travel, but dont know where it is worth to go for photography.

I think this could be helpful for some peeps out there, so here we go.

This time we are visiting Antwerp.

This city is really special and definitely deserves a place on my World City Top 10 list.

Why? Its different. Very different.

Antwerp Central Station

The first awesome photography site is one that you simply cannot miss. The Central Station of Antwerp. 
It was built around 1900, and is simply overwhelmingly beautiful.
It was even judged as the worlds fourth greatest train station by the Newsweek. 
Its interesting for two things, the old part and the new part.

The old part is the centre of the station featuring the huge dome in bold red.

Its just like taken from a old movie. Fantastic for shooting.
The mass of metal strips in the dome creates an interesting pattern and an incredible backdrop for many kinds of photography.
The old gates, statues and the huge clock at the head of the hall are creating a really interesting atmosphere and I used several hours for exploring the best viewpoints and perspectives.

The new part is also featuring many bold red XXX in connection with a static concrete grey.
The modern architecture is a huge contrast to the historical main hall, but nevertheless its open kind of architecture allows you to shoot across several floors, which lets you create unique perspectives.

At many spots you can even shoot down at a 90° angle, which  is especially interesting with the red flooring that is used in most of the new part.
You can create awesome almost “Color Key” like effects.

Its a paradise for urban and street photography.

Street Life

As soon as you are leaving the station, you will find several things that are making Antwerp so special.

1. The many orthodox Jews that are living in the area around the station (with 15.000 orthodox Jews, Antwerps jewish community is one of the biggest in the world).
For me this was definitely an interesting thing to see and photograph, since I never saw a real orthodox Jew in Berlin before. Hats, Sideburns and black jackets everywhere. This creates a really really interesting street atmo.

and

2. The  sheer number of jewellers, juwellery supply stores and diamond shops.
After India, Antwerp is one of the worlds biggest centres of diamond cutting and trading. 
The shops are everywhere, and walking through this area is simply…impressive.

MAS

Besides these “street sights” I really enjoyed visiting the MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom, which means Museum at the River.
Its a new museum of contemporary art that has been opened just recently (May 2011).
The museum is a tower like building with a lot of glass, that features art as well as a unique view over the city.
And the best is: The view is free.

You can go to any floor including the panorama deck at the top of the building for free, you only need to pay if you want to see any of the exhibitions.

I did not visit any exhibitions but I can tell you, the view is awesome.
The huge waved windows in the top floors in connection with single people standing in front of them makes for incredible scenic photography.
Definitely a must see!

Sint-Anna

One not-so-famous Antwerp sight is the Sint-Annatunnel which underpasses the River Schelde, and which is easily the longest tunnel I ever walked.
Its 572m of straight walking or bycycling, and if you are standing at the beginning of it, you can hardly see the mini black dot that makes for the end.

Its hard to shoot it without any people, since its used quiet frequently during all times of the day (probably its different at night, I have no idea).
With the help of photoshop and the cloning stamp you can definitely shoot amazing architecture or creative photography i.e. one person in the middle of the never ending tunnel etc.

Conclusion

Simply walking around in Antwerp is an experience that you can spend hours with, and I definitely recommend going here if you want to visit a city that sucks you in and wont let you out hundreds of shots later.

A huge Thumbs Up for Antwerp!

Yours

CRAZY IVORY