IS UMBRIA A BETTER PLACE FOR LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY THAN TUSCANY?

Long I have been waiting for our family trip to Umbria, Italy. Not only because of our family reunion with great Italian food and wine. But also because of being close to San Quirico d’Orcia, the Mecca of landscape photography in Tuscany .

Of course I had my landscape photography equipment with me, as Tuscany in May is known for its foggy sunrises and mornings. The city was only an hour away, so I got up at 5 o'clock one morning and set off. It was supposed to be foggy, but when I arrived it was raining.

Despite the rain all known photo spots in the region were crowded. Groups of photographers were waiting for a shot to make while it was literally pouring down. I can understand how frustrating it must be to go on a long trip, hoping to take home a great photo, only to realize that a morning of photography has been lost.

Anyway, I wondered about people still waiting in the rain to take photos. How good can it be to shoot an image of an over-photographed location that has neither good light nor any atmosphere? Wasn't there any workshop leader coming up with a Plan B? Those were the questions coming to my mind.

I packed my stuff and went back to Umbria. On my way back I came to realize that, compared to Umbria, the Tuscan landscape is not very naturally grown, but full of man-made structures and elements. Maybe it's a personal thing, but I rarely take images with farms or houses in, because I just don't like it very much.

My disappointment about that trip did not last long, as great light and thick fog then happened in Umbria, on two consecutive mornings.

We were situated on a hill, right at the border between Tuscany and Umbria, with lots of old olive trees, cypresses, and some parts of naturally grown woodland, with gnarly trees and a closed foliage cover (which I love!).

The images that you see here surely aren't the best images that I've ever shot. But I quite like them because of the moody atmosphere,

the great light, and the painterly color palette.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to explore other places in those five short days, but considering the fact that I only stayed in one small place, I have to say: in that short time, my yield of material was quite good.

I still haven't touched most of my RAWs. Some of them are labor-intensive. But I am already sure about one thing: I will return to Umbria one day!