Harpa and reflections on a cloudy day, Reykjavik, Iceland

dailies from Iceland: quiet day in Reykjavik with lots of Sagas

June 6, 2017

Everything in Reykjavik is quiet and at a slow pace. As you move around you can't help but notice the silence, no rush on the cars that pass by, the people that greet us friendly and today even us.
As it was our last day, we did not plan much, we just wanted to enjoy a nice meal and end the trip with the joyful Icelandic Sagas at the Harpa.
And so we leave with a smile on our somewhat cold faces, and the will to come back and explore this extreme land.

Telma & Antonio,
From the land of Ice & Fire

Views over the Þingvellir national park, Iceland

dailies from Iceland: the golden circle

June 6, 2017

Today was golden circle day.
The most touristic tour anyone can do in Iceland does not disappoint.
We began with some history, in the peaceful Þingvellir national park, the place where the chieftains met once a year to decide the future of their countryman. One can only wish it was so simple.
The day progressed with typical farm life for a taste of creamy Sky and a trip to the massive and impressive Gullfoss waterfall. On the way back we saw hot water being expelled from the inside of Earth in geyser land and the blue waters inside a crater.
A day where blue skies and sunshine made everything even more striking.

Telma & Antonio,
From the land of Ice and Fire

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II and the Basilica di San Pietro by night, Rome, Italy

weekly update 019 - Dailies from Roma

May 15, 2017

Finally we've made it to Italy, after a few years postponing it as I tend to prefer the colder northern climates. But Rome is definitely an unavoidable destination in the world, and I'm very glad to have been persuaded to go at last.

St. Peter's Basilica from the Via della Conciliazione on a cloudy night, Rome, Italy

This post is just an introduction to the trip, and the city, illustrated with the photos I shared daily while there. The weather on the first two days went from grey and gloomy to short strong showers, so not the ideal to leave a good impression or take pretty pictures. But when you're in a city so steeped in history and full of art, a decent photographer can produce some illustrative images. The bad weather also meant that we could just walk into an almost empty St. Peters square in the middle of the Vatican City, without any queues. Just two days later, on a sunny Sunday, you could hardly see the street leading to the Basilica for all the tourists and pilgrims that headed towards the Vatican.

Inside the Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy

The second day started with a quick visit to the Vila Borghese gardens, and a lengthy visit to the Galleria Borghese which houses an impressive collection of works by my favourite sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and also a great collection of paintings and frescos organised over two floors. If you like classical art this is an obligatory visit.

At the end of the day, we went for the two other well-known tourist traps in Rome, the Spanish Steps and the Treviso Fountain. And don't be fooled by the images in all the movies and television were these places aren't completely overrun by visitors and people selling all kinds of useless knick-knacks like selfie sticks and strange, gooey, dolls that make annoying noises. Even on a rainy Thursday evening, both places were full of people, so I would say to try and go there early in the morning if you want some space to photograph.

By the third day, we had a glorious sunshine and a, boring cloudless, sky. I know, only photographer complain about a blue sky. And we decided to go to the Colosseo, the Foro Romano and the Palatino. These are basically two attractions and you can get a single ticket for both. I would advise to buy this in advance, as the queue to buy tickets on location was huge. And then there is the queue to actually get into the sites. I was not expecting these sort of amount of visitors waiting to get in. You can see on the picture to the right the huge amount of people present at the time. If after you visit these sites you can still walk, you can visit the imposing monument to the fatherland, the Altare della Patria pictured below.

I think that a four-day visit is great to get a feeling for the city, but there are things that we didn't get to visit, and will probably come back for, like the museums which we didn't get to visit any. It is definitely worth staying in the old part of town and just walking everywhere, which we did. We stayed in an apartment from Airbnb, just of Piazza Navona. Gabrielle, our host, was great and the apartment had the perfect location and a great neighbourhood feeling.

This is for the first impressions, soon I'll start showing the full-colour images, and more in depth posts.
Until then,
Keep wandering, keep looking...

#project365 year1 [day 010] Daillies from Scotland

June 12, 2016

Last day of the trip, and only had time for a quick stop at the Edradour distillery near Pitlochry, and then the long drive back to Edinburgh to catch the plane back home. Need to go back and do the tour and tasting.

welcome to the smallest distillery in Scotland

-- Gear 
Fujifilm X-T1 
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR 
-- Post 
Lightroom : Cropping ,initial toning and levels 
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 008] Dailies from Scotland

June 8, 2016

Travelling around the Highlands it seems that every day you find a new distillery, today it was the case for Skye's Talisker.

-- Gear 
Fujifilm X-T1 
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR 
-- Post 
Lightroom : Cropping ,initial toning and levels 
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 005] Dailies from Scotland

June 5, 2016

Day 5 got us to our first taste of whisky at the Glenmorangie distillery just outside Tain, on our way from Inverness to the Highlands West coast north of Ullapool. Has as been the case the last few days, the day starts grey but the sun dominates the sky by lunch time.

-- Gear 
Fujifilm X-T1 
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR 
-- Post 
Lightroom : Cropping ,initial toning and levels 
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 004] Dailies from Scotland

June 5, 2016

Day four got us from Glen Coe to the capital of the Highlands, Inverness. Stopping at Fort Augustus to see the south side of the Loch Ness, and also stopping at the Urquhart Castle which has some great views over the Ness.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning, levels and cropping
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 003] Dailies from Scotland

June 4, 2016

Day 3 of our Scottish road trip starts at the shores of Loch Lomond, and took us up to Glen Coe. Along the way passing through the hidden Falls of Falloch, and up to the Glencoe Sky resort which has breath taking views and a bicycle downhill course for the adrenaline junkies. Picture of the day was taken at Loch Leven where todays journey ended.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and levels
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 002] Dailies from Scotland

June 3, 2016

#project365_year1 [day 002] Dailies from Scotland

Driving from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond, passing through Stirling to take a look at the Castle. Stopped by Brea Restaurant for acouple of nice gourmet burgers, before attempting the climb up hill towards the castle. I do recommend a brief stop at café by the Church of the Holy Rude.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and levels
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion

#project365 year1 [day 001] Dailies from Scotland

June 1, 2016

Starting off the Year 1 of my #project365 with the dailies from my trip through Scotland. First stop the beautiful Edinburgh, and the art-deco/brutalist building of the Scottish Government.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
FUJINON XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR

-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and levels
Nik's Silver Efex Pro : B&W conversion