Italy Archives - Atlanta Wedding Photographer

A trip through Italy | A few days on the Lake

November 1, 2016 0 Gardens, Personal, Photography, Travels

Lake Como, that is…

So this post is so behind it’s not even funny, right? Come on now, 2015 and we’re now closing out 2016. This goes to show how one can get sidetracked with amazing weddings we’ve had the pleasure photographing during the last few months. But now I would like to get back to revisiting the beautiful setting that is Italy. In this case one of my all time favorite areas, if not the favorite area in the world, Lake Como, Italy.

Yes, the first thing that comes to mind for most people when mentioning Lake Como is George Clooney. In fact, I remember the first time visiting Lake Como back in 2006. The locals would ask where we are from and I would reply, “America”. Their first comment was for the most part, “George Clooney”. They would always point out where his villa is and give us directions on how to get there from where we were. But to be honest with you, I was never interested in seeing George’s villa. I’m sure it’s nice and all, but it couldn’t be as amazing as what was surrounding us, all you can see and feel while traveling these beautiful, lazy lakeside towns and enjoying its natural beauty is all I wanted to experience. No offense George.

Where is Lake Como?

Lake Como is in Northern Italy’s Lombardy region. It’s an upscale area known for its dramatic scenery. And let me tell you, it IS dramatic. It’s set against the foothills of the Alps if that gives you a better visual. The lake is shaped like an upside-down Y. The three slender branches meet at the well-known and popular resort town of Bellagio.

Below are but a few of the photographs we captured during our few days on the lake.

How to get around the lake

Ferries are the main mode of transportation between the towns, especially if you need to get to the other side of the lake. We would get up early, enjoy the crisp morning air, grab a cappuccino and head out on an adventure. Don’t you just love the view? The Italian Alps right behind Orlando.

Below is me getting a little frisky after a wonderful lunch. This area of Italy makes you do weird things in public. It’s so romantic. It helps when you have crazy friends encouraging you too.

Off to our next stop. The idyllic town of Tremezzo.

Even on a break from shooting, we find moments to photograph couples. This majestic place…it inspires us.

Back on the ferry again. Off to the pearl of the lake, Bellagio.

Amazing view on the lake, right?

Below is the view from our friend’s house where we stayed in Varenna, a small fishing village with picturesque streets and alleyways. We met the Gala family 10 years ago while visiting this part of the country and still keep in touch. What a spectacular view.

…and amazing sunsets. This was our view while enjoying some wine and spirits out on the terrace.

The next morning, and we’re off again.

This time to the town of Como.

The view from the ferry as we approach Villa Balbianero in the village of Lenno. The location where many, many well known films have been shot as well as an amazing venue for weddings. We would absolutely be in heaven if we have an opportunity to photograph a wedding at this property, wink, wink. We got inspired and wanted to capture some photographs of us. I still would like to be behind the camera.

Next and final leg on our tour of Italy is Venice and its surroundings.

A trip through Italy | From Tuscan Hills and San Gimignano to Pisa and Florence

July 15, 2016 1 Personal, Photography, Travels

Next stop on our amazing Italian holiday/work trip we see ourselves visiting a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form “an unforgettable skyline”. Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. But, before we arrived within their walls, we decided to enjoy the beautiful Spring-time weather and take a Vespa tour along the outskirts of the town. The best decision ever. The picturesque landscape goes on for days. Since we have friends in the area, we took the self-guided tour and had our friends show us around the most scenic and less traveled roads and stop whenever we wanted to to take it all in. So far, the highlight of our trip.

No trip to the Tuscan countryside is complete without taking in a wine tasting or two. Here we are preparing to enter our private cellar prepared with a light lunch with cheese and meats and our wine stems. We learned a lot while visiting Tenuta Torciano Winery in San Gimignano and meeting the farmer/winemaker Pierluigi. What a treat! P.S. we took home several cases of wine to enjoy and reminisce the amazing time with la famiglia.

We can just move here, right?

Above you see us approaching San Gimignano and below within the walls. Amazing stone town. Oh and the best gelato thus far on this trip at the world famous Gelateria Dondoli winner of multiple awards. They did not disappoint.

The following day, we woke up to a beautiful final day in Castillioncello and amazing breakfast had our photoshoot along the beach then headed towards Florence. But before, we decided to take a quick little detour and our private driver obliged us with our request. Off to Pisa we went. Because of the city regulations, parking nearby was a challenge so our driver dropped us off for us to view the tower and surrounding property for a few minutes.

Onward to Florence. We’ve been to Florence before and it’s still a magnificent town full of art and history and all around amazingness. So after dropping off our bags at the hotel, we quickly started walking around town viewing the different nooks and crannies. We only had one day here so we made the most of it. Would have been nice to have a little more time to explore outside the city center but we had dinner plans with our local friends and they were on their way to pick us up at the hotel and take us to their home for a home cooked meal (the best, if you ask me). For our surprise another couple we know from another town about 3-4 hours away, came to see us in Florence. We had an amazing evening visiting and laughing!

A trip through Italy | Livorno and the Ligurian Sea

July 14, 2016 0 Personal, Photography, Travels

Ah, Italy, what’s not to love? It’s a country so vast in diversity that no two trips will be identical. Or in our case, third or fourth… but who’s counting. Looking forward to going back again and again. Our first stop after landing in Venice was to take the train down to Livorno to meet up with some friends. I definitely wanted to see different towns for this trip along some of our true favorites and show the couples we were here to photograph an awe-inspiring country that is Italia.

So, while doing some research of unique areas along the way, we stopped at Livorno, sight of the famous Terrazza Mascagni at which no trip to this area is complete without taking a stroll along its dazzling stone balustrades and dramatic black and white checkerboard stone floor that sweeps gracefully along the seafront. In order to take in the complete view of the Ligurian Sea, we went up to the roof garden bar of the Grand Hotel Palazzo to take in some aperitivo and celebrate our first evening in Italy. Below are but a few images from our first evening.

Here we are just giddy with excitement for arriving and enjoying the few of the Tuscan coastline at Terrazza Mascagni.

This is the view off our balcony at Hotel Atlantico as the sun sets over the Ligurian Sea in Castiglioncello.

Our First Couples Photo Session

Below are a few of the images from our couple’s session with Miguel and Eli celebrating their anniversary while strolling along the beach in Castiglioncello, a quaint beach town in the province of Livorno.

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