ITALY WITH JOHN

May 3 - 15, 2010, Florence, Tuscany, Umbria

Through several years photographing in central Italy, I have developed a long list of favored locations and this trip will sample a few. This tour is designed to be an ultra-small group experience, limited to five photographers so we can fit everyone into one car, and have great flexibility to change shooting plans and locations to suit group desires.

The tour begins on May 4, 2010, in Florence, one of the most intriguing cities in the world. The photographic experience for the next three days will center around Florence as a landscape element, the scenic in the various bridges and buildings (especially in early or late light), human activity on the Florentine streets, and the colors and visual elements ubiquitous in Florence. There will not be any planned group tours of museums and other public buildings, but individuals will have time to pursue this, and of course, the group many decide to visit some location.

One of the tour's major goals will be to photograph the early morning mists that lie draped across the Tuscan hills and to that end we will spend six nights in rural Tuscany. The first three nights will be in Crete Senesi Province, southeast of Siena. The photographic experience in Crete Senesi will center almost entirely on the southern Tuscan landscape, which has become iconic in the imagery of central Italy. Morning mists should still be plentiful, and with some luck, the poppies may be coming into bloom. There will be early morning trips to capture the lambent light on several of the area's temples and monasteries, and I am interested in doing at least one late-night session photographing the towns illuminated against the surrounding landscape. The Saturday market in Tuscany is an event not to be missed.

Assisi has been described as a quintessential hill town, and I tend to agree. There are three major churches, stunning views over the valley below, two different castles on opposing hilltops, narrow and winding streets, and an ambience that I have not seen matched by any other hill town in Italy. It is a rather small town, and a single night there will allow us to work both the late light and the early morning light. We will spend one night in Assisi before we head northwest into Chianti.

Chianti Province is wine country and we will base in central Chianti where we have easy access to the entire province. Hill towns are common here, as well as rolling, soft hills, vineyards, castles, and winding country roads. As a hill town, San Gimignano is to Chianti what Assisi is to Umbria, and we will arrive there one morning in time for sunrise and then tour the city before the hordes of tourists begin to arrive.

On Friday, May 14 we will return to Florence to prepare for either a departure back to the US on the following day or further travels in Italy.

I am considering one of several extensions: Venice, Cinque Terre, Sicily, or the Italian Alps. More details to be announced.

Trip cost TBD.

THE TRIP IS CURRENTLY FULLY BOOKED but I am accepting wait-list requests. Contact me at imagesmith@johnellert.com for more information or to be added to the list.