SIENA & TUSCANY

Last summer, I had the chance of spending a couple of days around Tuscany, photographing its beautiful cities and landscapes. Though I had too short a time to explore around and really try and give the place justice, I really loved being there and I am looking forward to spend more time in the area soon. Well, until that happens let's see what I could come up with this time: more images and the rest of the story after the break!

Piazza del Campo at dawn, Italy 2012

Siena is one of the most beautiful medieval cities that fill center Italy, in the Tuscany, Marche and Umbria regions; smaller and less messy busy than Florence, but bigger than the really small ones such as San Giminiano or Volterra, Siena has it all: the beauty, the history, an active cultural scene, is (relatively) calm, it has the Palio race of course with all the rivalries and banters that surrounds it; and as a plus, its people are much friendlier and warm towards outsiders than the people in Florence generally are, for instance. While during the day the city is very very busy, with busloads of tourists coming in, they for the most part arrive sometimes in the morning and go away in the afternoon: thus, going around the city off these hours offers a very different face of it, much calmer and more livable than when the crowds are in. More, going around the narrow streets in the morning before first light one has the feeling to have the place completely for himself: in the middle of July, one of the busiest months of the tourist season, I walked for hours around dawn and see probably three people, if that.

So, back to the photos! The image above is, of course, the famous Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is been held twice a year; trapezoidal in shape and sloping down towards the Palazzo Pubblico, Il Campo is one of the most beautiful Piazzas of all Italy and a sight to behold. Access is from narrow streets all around it:

Piazza del Campo, Italy 2012

In the middle of Il Campo rests Fonte Gaia, one of the many fresh water sources that dots the city:

Fonte Gaia, Italy 2012

A detail of the animal sculptures that embellish the Fonte:

Thirst, Italy 2012

The majestic Church of San Domenico, towering over the roofs on the outskirts of the old town center, is an impressive sight at first light:

San Domenico's Basilica at dawn, Italy 2012

To say goodbye to the city, a detail of the beautiful Loggia della Mercanzia:

Loggia della Mercanzia, Italy 2012

Leaving Siena (after too short a time there!), before moving north towards Florence, I wanted to check out the hills called the Crete Senesi first:

The Crete Senesi, Italy 2012

Going out of Siena heading north towards Florence, choosing secondary roads allows you to drive through some of the most beautiful farmed lands in the world, the Chianti hills with their beautiful vineyards and old farms:

Le Corti, Italy 2012

Reaching Florence, I decided not to enter the city; it's too messy busy, hot and crowded this time of the year and being there in the middle of a summer day isn't exactly my idea of fun. Driving around it I headed towards the Casentino and the Apennine mountains; I wanted to see Poppi, another small but important medieval city, sitting on top of an hill with its impressive castle towering over its surroundings, looking imposing just before sunset:

Poppi, Italy 2012

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Now for the technical stuff (click to go to the related product page): all images shown here have been shot with a Nikon D3X and a Nikon D800E equipped with the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 35mm f/1.4G AF-S, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S, Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AF-S and the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF-S VR. For support I used a Gitzo tripod equipped with an Arca Swiss Cube head; last, but certainly not least, I also used Singh-Ray filters, including a polarizer & various ND filters. Photos have been developed in Nikon Capture NX 2 and finished in Adobe Photoshop CS6.

Thank you for reading this far, and see you soon on the blog! Stay tuned for more - Senese people coming up next!

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