Featured Forum Thread: "Greetings from Italy" by Ray Sachs

Thanks for sharing these! I'm traveling vicariously via your images. I have not been to Italy yet, and it's one of the places I'd like to go one day.
 
Thanks for sharing these! I'm traveling vicariously via your images. I have not been to Italy yet, and it's one of the places I'd like to go one day.
Much of Italy I like a lot Stan. THIS part of Italy I love like no place I've been. Being here for a month is one of the great experiences of my life and has been (and continues to be for a few days more) the holiday of a lifetime. I'm glad you're enjoying them - I HIGHLY recommend a visit!

Here's one last tripod shot from last night, officially the full moon. I don't think this adds much to those from the night before (its not like you can see the difference between full and one day short of full in these!), but I like the angle of the moon's reflection in the middle of the little bay a bit more. That's it for the tripod - I justified brining it and now I can pack it away again!

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Full moon over Positano by ramboorider1, on Flickr

-Ray
 
Spent the morning shooting with the Sigma, mostly RE-shooting some of the classic views of Positano just to have in those sublime Sigma files. You've seen one version or another of most of those, so I won't bore you with more of 'em at low-res...

But I also shot some alternate views of stuff here, over-processed the hell out of some of them (yeah, even Sigma files can handle over-processing once you allow yourself to just breakthrough the wall and do it), and I'm happy to bore you with a few of these:

A cool bit of artwork on someone's gate:
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20130723-SDIM0690-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

Gotta love the switchback streets - I ride a bus nearly every day that maneuvers through both of these roads...
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Levels of Luxury:
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It can't ALL be pretty, even in Positano:
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Please sir, would you mind taking a snapshot of my family for me?
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20130723-SDIM0703-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

The pretty young salesgirl had gone around the bend from boredom and was playing with the little kid's toys. She was even making pt-pt-pt, vroom vroom sounds (I think that translates pretty closely from the Italian) before she realized she was being watched. She laughed pretty hard when I busted her...
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And just one more really cool staircase, of which here are probably thousands in the various towns along this coast.
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20130723-SDIM0710-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

-Ray
 
Thanks for sharing your photos with us, I'm getting very excited in my visit this coming fall, btw your review on the Ricoh GR influenced my decision in getting one as well :D

Very cool - where are you going?

Here are a small few from last night, with the Nikon because its ALWAYS there:

The LOCAL hangout in Positano - the tourists own the lower part of town, down near the beach, but the locals hang up near Bar International in the higher reaches, where most of them live. And where we're lucky enough to be staying...
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Nikon Restaurant-1-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

Dinner last night, high above Positano near Montipurtuso, at a place with amazing food, cheesy but decent entertainment...
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Nikon Restaurant-54-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

...and BEAUTIFUL sunsets...
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Nikon Restaurant-45-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

-Ray
 
Ray,
I was wondering if once you return home and get a good overview of all your images if you could go over what you think are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the systems you used and when and why you used them.

I have really been enjoying your post and photos and am somewhat envious of the time you have spent in one amazing place and your status as a temporary local. I'll experience but a glimpse next month.
 
I probably won't do that all that formally Lisa, but I already have a pretty good feel for why I brought each and, except for a few fits and starts early in our stay, they've worked out pretty much as imagined they would. Maybe a I'll do a quick post on it when I'm back. I'm sure the first order of the day, though, while the images are still fresh in my mind, is to pull together my best / most representative images into a Blurb photo-book to remember the trip by. I may even start pulling that together on the plane trip home, since I'm traveling with a laptop this time.

For now, though, just to enjoy these last few days to the fullest before we fly home Sunday.

-Ray
 
Hi Ray, I'll be visiting Rome, Sorrento, Assisi, Venice, Lugano, Milan, Florence on a 14 day tour.


PS: I love the 2nd photo you posted it has that film like grain feel :)

Sounds like a good mix in two weeks. Sorrento gets you close to here and its a nice town in its own right, but its not the Amalfi. If you get a free day or 3/4 of a day or something there, its really easy to hop on a bus and come check out Positano - the SITA buses leave from right across from the train station and they leave pretty frequently. When my wife went up to Sorrento with my daughter when she was heading off to Rome to fly home, they spent a good chunk of time in Sorrento and she was still back by pretty early afternoon, so its not a long trip at all... The only problem is that if you're here in August, every Italian is also on holiday and the busses and trains tend to be PACKED!

Minimal shooting today. We took the bus down to our previous town of Praiano to see it one more time and to hang out on a beach we particularly liked. Here's one from the bus stop in Positano that I liked in terms of two classic Italian characters, in full juxtaposition in about any way you can think of:

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Praiano Beach-6-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

And a few from the beach area and the little square and restaurants nearby:

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Praiano Beach-15-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

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Praiano Beach-24-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

The whole coast is built into the rock cliffs around here - this is far from the only bar that's basically located in a cave, but its one of the cooler ones:
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Praiano Beach-27-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

-Ray
 
Thank you for the tips Ray, I'll definitely keep that in mind actually I will be visiting there around late Oct-early Nov since airfare costs was lower and of course from what I've read October-Nov seems to be less crowded as well.
 
Thank you for the tips Ray, I'll definitely keep that in mind actually I will be visiting there around late Oct-early Nov since airfare costs was lower and of course from what I've read October-Nov seems to be less crowded as well.

Yes, much less crowded in the tourist-crazy parts of Rome, Florence, and Venice. Unfortunately, I've been told by locals that late autumn it's the rainy season around here and you'd generally do well to avoid the Amalfi that time of year. Mud-slides and occasionally even rockslides, etc. I obviously haven't experienced it myself, but that's what I've been told. So maybe Sorrento is the best place to stop that time of year??? While the Amalfi has its share of summer tourists, it's not bad enough to detract from the experience. So summer or early autumn is when I'd aim for this area. Whereas Rome and Florence are not places I'd ever choose to go in summer again. Venice can be managed if you stay away from the couple of biggest tourist destinations like St. Marks and Rialto Bridge - the best way to see Venice is to take the GPS on your phone and just go get lost walking all of the smaller canal areas. Your phone will get you back if you need it, but getting lost in Venice works any time of year!

-Ray
 
Today was (and tonight probably will be) my last big day of shooting of this wonderful trip. I may get out for a couple of hours tomorrow morning, but then its time to close up shop and get ready to head for Naples on Saturday and home on Sunday. I just took the RX1 - nothing else. This morning was actually hazy and cloudy for a while, which created some opportunities I haven't had much of on this trip. So I tried to take advantage of that a bit until it burned off and then I just followed all of the nooks and crannies I hadn't checked out yet. And, as usual with Positano, many hidden gems...

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Coudy Positano-99-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

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This is looking up from our patio - those are the doors to our apartment. The view is spectacular but the setting is just about as nice...
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Coudy Positano-6-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

This is the third or fourth shot I've taken in this spot, but I think this might be my best effort at it...
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Coudy Positano-66-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

For those who have hung in there this far with me, probably just one or two small posts to go. For those who haven't, I don't blame you!

-Ray
 
Much of Italy I like a lot Stan. THIS part of Italy I love like no place I've been. Being here for a month is one of the great experiences of my life and has been (and continues to be for a few days more) the holiday of a lifetime. I'm glad you're enjoying them - I HIGHLY recommend a visit!

Here's one last tripod shot from last night, officially the full moon. I don't think this adds much to those from the night before (its not like you can see the difference between full and one day short of full in these!), but I like the angle of the moon's reflection in the middle of the little bay a bit more. That's it for the tripod - I justified brining it and now I can pack it away again!

-Ray

Lovely image and thanks for sharing your thoughts on Italy! It's clearly a trip of a lifetime, and you have been able to enjoy a striking landscape and lovely culture. Just magical! A month is a good length of time, IMO. I find a month is about a length of time I want to be away from my home -- it never happens though. The closest is 3 weeks, and I longed for more. I'm super stoked that you were able to enjoy this place for so long.

I remember a while back you posted some images of a trip to Italy, when you took your Oly Pens, back in our M43 DPR Forum hey day. You took quite a few amazing pics then. Your style and skill have evolved considerably, and the new tools you have now are appropriate. Just thought you'd appreciate this observations. Good times!

Okay, better start saving...
 
Sent a link to my daughter and son-in-law, that want to move there. Your "travel log", was a great enjoyment for them. So again,

Thanks, for the vacation!

Want to move to Italy or the Amalfi area specifically? I'd sort of like to live here six month of the year, but that would involve having a place here and one in the US and that's never gonna happen. But if we manage things right, we may be able to come back here every 2-3 years. That wouldn't be a bad consolation prize! In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the photography, as well as the experience, and I'm thrilled to hear that ANYone else got even some small amount of pleasure out of it as well!

-Ray
 
Lovely image and thanks for sharing your thoughts on Italy! It's clearly a trip of a lifetime, and you have been able to enjoy a striking landscape and lovely culture. Just magical! A month is a good length of time, IMO. I find a month is about a length of time I want to be away from my home -- it never happens though. The closest is 3 weeks, and I longed for more. I'm super stoked that you were able to enjoy this place for so long.

I remember a while back you posted some images of a trip to Italy, when you took your Oly Pens, back in our M43 DPR Forum hey day. You took quite a few amazing pics then. Your style and skill have evolved considerably, and the new tools you have now are appropriate. Just thought you'd appreciate this observations. Good times!

Okay, better start saving...

Good memory Stan! That was our 25th Anniversary Cruise, three years ago, that's the trip that both got me back into photography after a 25 year hiatus, and the trip that introduced us (for a day and a half) to the Amalfi Coast and had us swearing "we gotta get back THERE"! You never know if it'll happen, but three years later it did!

On that trip I took an EP2 and shot the whole thing with the Oly 14-150, 9-18, and original 17mm and the Panasonic 20mm - that was about everything I owned at that point. A few months before that trip I said to myself 'this is a really big trip - I should probably have a decent camera for it' after 25 years of nothing but family snapshots with whatever little point and shoot we had at the time. That was the start of round two of my love of photography and the start of my gear buying (and USING) addiction over the past three years as the gear has evolved and I guess I have as well somewhat. I shot mostly with zooms then and was just getting comfortable with primes again (primes being all I shot with in the film shooting I did back in the '70s and early '80s). Now I shoot almost only with primes. The only zoom I brought on this trip was the same 9-18 I took on that trip three years ago, and I think I pulled it out for a total of about five minutes on this one! So I guess I didn't need it!

Anyway, thanks for checking it out and offering your thought! I'm glad you found your way over to Serious Compacts, but we gotta find some sort of regular thread for you to at least write introductions for. Those hilarious intros you used to do for the weekly m43 threads remain a highlight of my "internet time" since I've been back into photography!

-Ray
 
I get antsy when I'm away from home for a week. I'm glad it's your trip....and I can better pictures since it's yours as well.

Thanks Luke, but I'd like to see your take on a place like this as well - I think you'd do it VERY well, even if the Italians thought "another CRAZY American" when you'd engage in some sort of public display of face-down-ness!

This is only the second time in MANY years that I've been away this long. New York last Spring was the first and that was tougher because I was also away from my wife for most of it - she just came up on a few weekends. She was here for this one though, and I haven't missed being at home at all, although in one sense I'm ready to get back (while also VERY sad to be leaving here!). Having month in a really interesting / beautiful place to both experience the place and go waaaay deep into the photography is my current idea of a dream vacation (it used to be a long bicycling tour but my asthma doesn't seem to let me do much of that anymore). Anyway, I've gotten to do it twice now and loved it both times - no idea if or when or where might be next, but I sure hope it happens again!

-Ray
 
Ray,

What a fantastic trip and fantastic month of images. Well done.

Thanks so much Jason - along with Stan you're one of the few folks I've known online since the earliest days I got back into shooting. I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to check it out. It truly has been an incredible month!

-Ray
 
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