Rodney Campbell's Blog

Probably the most famous of all the places in Florence is the Duomo.

The monuments of the Complex of Santa Maria del Fiore, a symbol of Florence to the world, constitutes one single big open-air museum located in the main square of Florence, Piazza del Duomo, religious, historical and artistic centre of the city.

I was enthused by my outing the previous evening with tripod and my camera gear in tow. So I decided to rise before sunrise and head out to take some images.

Twilight at the Duomo

NIKON D750 + 13.0 mm f/2.8 @ 13 mm, 1/2 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Truth be told it’s somewhat easier when sunrise is almost at 8AM and my shoot location is a mere two minute walk from the bed :).

Florence’s cathedral is the 4th largest in the world, after St. Peter’s in Rome, St. Paul’s in London and the Duomo in Milan.

Duomo

NIKON D750 + 13.0 mm f/2.8 @ 13 mm, 1/2 sec at f/8, ISO 100

These earlier shots were taken around one hour before sunrise so we still had a very dark sky. As twilight crept in the sky started turning a very deep rich blue.

Giotto’s bell tower is one of the four principal monuments on the Piazza del Duomo.

84.7 metres tall and approximately 15 metres in breadth, it is the most eloquent example of 14th century Gothic architecture in Florence, combining a strong vertical thrust with the principle of sound solidity, its corner buttresses rising the full length of the tower to the projecting terrace at the top.

Clad in white, red and green marble like the cathedral adjacent to it, the majestic square bell tower, considered to be the most beautiful campanile in Italy and probably designed more for decorative than for functional purposes, was begun by Giotto in 1334.

Duomo & Giotto’s Bell Tower

NIKON D750 + 13.0 mm f/2.8 @ 13 mm, 1 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Florence’s cathedral stands tall over the city with its magnificent Renaissance dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, with the baptistery right across. The cathedral named in honor of Santa Maria del Fiore is a vast Gothic structure built on the site of the 7th century church of Santa Reparata

Duomo Blue

NIKON D750 + 13.0 mm f/2.8 @ 13 mm, 1 sec at f/8, ISO 100

This is actually the door where you queue during the day to climb the dome (as we did later).

Blue Fire

NIKON D750 + 13.0 mm f/2.8 @ 13 mm, 1.30 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Not satisfied with shooting just the epic sunset over the Arno river we decided to do a quick nearby recce for somewhere to have dinner and then came back to the Ponte Santa Trinita to shoot twilight before dinner.

The first is a view west towards the Ponte Vecchio, the second is the view east over the Arno twilight.

Ponte Vecchio Twilight

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 35 mm, 5.5 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Arno Twilight

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 35 mm, 6 sec at f/8, ISO 100

So it was time for sunset so we headed to Ponte Santa Trinita (St Trinity Bridge) so I could shoot along the Arno river towards the Ponte Vecchio at sunset.

Ponte Vecchio Sunset

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 30 sec at f/11, ISO 50

To be honest the weather in Florence up to this point had been pretty ordinary. Very overcast skies and a little rain. I really wasn’t expecting much “real” landscaping work but I’d brought my travel tripod, lenses and filter kit with me to shoot this evening.

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

So lucky – the skies went epic right on sunset with fantastic clouds and colour on cue.

Ponte Vecchio

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 20 sec at f/16, ISO 50

Right after sunset it was suddenly gone and the clouds cleared from the sky for a cloudless twilight and evening.

Arno Sunset

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 35 mm, 25.00 sec at f/10, ISO 50

As it happened this was the only time we got any decent (photographically speaking) weather whilst in Florence so it was incredibly lucky we came here this day.

I’d told my family that I wanted to do a little sunset photography down on the many bridges which cross the Arno river. Specifically I was aiming to shoot from the Ponte Santa Trinita (or St Trinity Bridge) at sunset. However the Ponte Vecchio is the most famous of the bridges which cross the river (and it’s the one everyone else shoots from :)).

St Trinity Bridge

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/800 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

We were here a little bit early for sunset (4PM) so we just checked out the view from the Ponte Vecchio bridge first.

The Ponte Vecchio is a picturesque medieval arched river bridge with Roman origins, lined with jewellery & souvenir shops.

Ponte Santa Trinita

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 40 mm, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 100

The top two images are taken facing west towards the St Trinity Bridge and the two images below are facing east towards the Ponte alle Grazie.

Ponte alle Grazie

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/500 sec at f/8, ISO 100

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 36 mm, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Then we wandered the nearby streets for a little while (down to the Pitti Palace) until it was the right time for me to shoot sunset.

Firenze Streets

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 720

Today we were leaving Rome and heading to Florence by high speed train. Florence is just under 2 hours by high speed train north of Rome.

Rome Termini

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 145 mm, 1/160 sec at f/8, ISO 400

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Once in Florence we headed to our fantastic three bedroom apartment we’d booked on AirBnB. We didn’t necessarily know it at the time but it was in a fantastic location right in the heart of the city. We were literally just a minutes walk from the famous Duomo, and many other of Florence’s major tourist destinations were only a few minutes walk away.

Peeking through the Duomo

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 52 mm, 1/50 sec at f/8, ISO 720

Once settled in we headed out for lunch and a bit of an explore of the city.

Rain in Florence

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28 mm, 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 200

It was grey and a bit wet with a little rain out but that didn’t really dampen our enthusiasm in a new city. And what a beautiful city it is – I’d whole heartedly recommend if coming to Italy that you go to Florence.

Duomo Looming

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 65 mm, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 110

In Florence

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 78 mm, 1/80 sec at f/8, ISO 3200