Stan's Florence blog 2009 & 2011

Bon Anno!

2012-01-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thanks for checking in my my Italy blog. I will not be teaching in Florence again this summer 2012. I like going every two years and catching the Venice Biennale while over there. So have a great year and check back in for information about 2013.

Headed Home

2011-07-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

Another Italian Photo Adventure ends.

Relaxing in the garden, Balbano

2011-07-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

Balbano

2011-07-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well deserved time off at the end of a busy month with my friend who lives outside Lucca in Balbano. It's like visiting a spa in the hills of Tuscany.

Black and white film day-no photo to post.

2011-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's been an amazing month. In the last week now, today is my last lab session with my students, tomorrow the final crit. I have been very productive, shot over 7500 digital images and even a few rolls of 35 mm film with the F5. Not entirely sure just what I did photograph in those 160 gigs of RAW files, but I am thinking what I really did was add to the past 11 trips here. No new directions, mostly adding to the work started trips ago. Odd to think I'll be home in 5 days, but I am ready to pack it all up and head back to STL.

Cinque Terre

2011-06-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

Night Work, Florence

2011-06-21T01:50:00.000-07:00

Venice

2011-06-20T02:12:00.000-07:00

Pisa

2011-06-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

Parking garage entry, Florence

2011-06-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

Day trip to Giogalto

2011-06-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Clearing storm in the hillsides all around us.

Still life studies from the Straw Market

2011-06-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Another day of rain and sun

2011-06-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

My terrace.

Lucca

2011-06-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

Inside the church of San Marco

2011-06-07T03:04:00.000-07:00

Night work, Florence

2011-06-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

At the Bobli Garden

2011-06-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Rainy day in Florence

2011-06-04T14:58:00.001-07:00

Thunderstorms rolling in and around Florence this evening.

View from Regan's apartment.

Day three

2011-06-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

On my street.

adventures in white balance settings.

Early morning Florence

2011-06-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

First meal in Florence!

2011-06-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Dinner at Za-Za's, not the best by any means, but it's super close to both Susan and our apartment, mostly jetlagged and waiting to get the day over and a good nights sleep.

in Transit

2011-05-31T23:18:00.000-07:00

No way to put a happy face on it, STL to Chicago to Munich to Florence. At any point it can all go off the rails. This trip, inspite of the unusually bumpy ride, went well enough, lots of small children on both flights that add something special to the experience. All luggage arrived intact.

The gear is packed!

2011-05-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is what $15,000 worth of Nikon gear looks like in a Think Tank roller headed for Italy.

A Week Until We Arrive!

2011-05-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

I am pretty much packed, just a few items to throw into the bag. I did remember some important stuff at the last, like the Lightroom the software for the students!

With the new checked luggage limitations, packing is now a question of not what to bring, but what I can't bring, and for the serious over packer, its an issue. I did decide in the end to bring my Nikon F5 film camera, it didn't seem right to leave it home and I also decided to leave the Lumix LX-3 home in favor of my GF-1, not that the LX-3 takes up that much space, but how many snap shot cameras do you need.

My iPad is fully loaded with music, podcasts and choice TV for the long flight to Florence. Last thing to decide that to wear in transit.

Today is the Deadline to sign up!

2011-03-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day to sign up for the summer 2011 photo workshop, there are still two places left, so don't be left behind! Contact Belina Lee at 935 8406 today.

Meeting Tonight!

2010-11-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight at 5:30 in Givens Hall is the information session for the Florence summer photo workshop. For information about the June 2011 workshop, stop by and share sone pizza with us!

We're going back to Florence in 2011

2010-09-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Get your gear packed! I am running another workshop in Florence June 2-July 2, 2011. This time the class will be only about photo and will be for one month only. Open to all levels of experience and with lots of photo time in the streets of Tuscany. Contact Belinda Lee at 314 935 6500 for information about signing up for this unique photographic experience. Space is limited, so don't wait too long.

Rome, almost home

2009-07-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

Night Photography, across the Vialle

2009-07-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

A day at the Bano Marco, Forte de Marmi

2009-07-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Church of San Miniato

2009-07-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

This is what the D3 does best, iso 3200, hand held 1/60 at f 2.8.

Fiesole

2009-07-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

View from the Hop on-Hop off bus

2009-07-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Florence: Night Photography-St. Ambrose

2009-07-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Florence: Night Photography

2009-07-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

A really beautiful night in Florence, clear, cool, just a slight breeze. Shot these with the 24 mm PCe lens I have at iso 560.

Bologna

2009-07-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Bardini Garden: self portrait with my students

2009-07-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Botanical Garden; Bart Parker style

2009-07-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

In camera double exposure with my D3, old school style. My tribute to Bart Parker.

Night photography at Piaz. Indendenza

2009-07-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

nude figure on the terrace

2009-07-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

at the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novela

2009-07-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Stan photographs a minor cleb.....

2009-07-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

The red hat belongs to NBC weather man Al Roker, and yes, even he has to carry exhausted children on his back after a long day of being a tourist in Florence.

PISA

2009-07-09T00:26:00.000-07:00

From the Arno bridge.

Inside the Duomo in Pisa.

new saints for a new age....

2009-07-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

nude model in class today!

2009-07-07T03:43:00.000-07:00

For 20 Euros an hour (cash), we had a model in class, I thought between the Mapplethorpes and the Micheangelo's, it was a good way to spend the morning.

Night photography

2009-07-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

A cool night tonight, and nearly a full moon. A great night for night patrol. This is my third night of working the streets and adding to the Florence at Night portfolio. It will be interesting to see how different the D3 low noise images hold up to the work done two years ago with the D2x. Most of the work tonight was shot at iso 400 and 800.

Venice:Murano, Burano, Torchello

2009-07-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

Vineyard in Torchello

On the ferry back to Venice.

Burano.

Venice: Church of Santa Lucia

2009-07-04T00:40:00.001-07:00

The exterior of the church.

St. Lucy herself!

Venice at night

2009-07-03T00:34:00.000-07:00

Last photos from June

2009-06-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Totals for the month, 8 rolls of 135-36 black and white and 60 gigs of RAW files, nearly 2 gigs a day on average and I have little or no idea what I've been photographing. Tomorrow we head to Venice to the Biennale and lots of art to look at.

San Lorenzo market

2009-06-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

New Work from Florence

2009-06-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

A photograph for Keith.

The concrete beach on the Arno.

Santa Maria Novella.

at the Bardini Garden

2009-06-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

My new favorite public garden, we visited in less than ideal lighting conditions and it was wonderful, makes the Bobli garden look like a Walmart parking lot. I ended up shooting two rolls of black and white 35 mm and some images with the Lumix. I'll be bringing my students here Monday if the weather holds.

at the piazza Duomo

2009-06-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

2009-06-26T00:56:00.002-07:00

Wall photos: Florence part II

2009-06-26T00:56:00.001-07:00

Wall photos: Florence

2009-06-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

San Giovanni

2009-06-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Watching the Calcio Storico "football" final game
Watching the fireworks.

Its been raining a lot here in Florence

2009-06-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday in Florence

2009-06-23T06:30:00.001-07:00

The day was not a big shooting day, but we did get to the Academia to see the Mapplethorpe show along with the David. It was a terrific choice to put these two artists together and the connection between the two is very clear.

We also made it to the museum at the church of San Marco and saw the fresco's in the small monks cells, which I always find very moving.

This afternoon is my lab time with my students, still massaging the computers, updating software and today installing RAM in some of the labs Mac Mini's and even RAM in one of my students Mac Book, lots of waiting around while software updates download off the WWW.

The light was pretty special this morning but this afternoon a little cloudy, still very cool and comfortable for this time of year. Tomorrow is the festival of San Giovanni and the weather is supposed to hold for us.

more new work

2009-06-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

Images from the trip to Lucca

2009-06-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

Aperitivo with friends from the USA on the patio

2009-06-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Hike in the Tuscan Hillside

2009-06-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

I was a little apprehensive about today, Regan planned a guided hike thru the hills around Florence. We started in Fiesole and ended in Settignano about 5 miles. The hike took us thru all kinds of varied landscapes, landscapes you might only encounter on foot, and includes some walks thru olive groves. The day was hot, but there was always some shady spot head. The trip ended, like all good field trips, with a great meal a small place Melissia our guide arranged for us.

I got some good work done, mostly landscape, and of course, some great stuff of the students hiking thru some great landscape.

Rosemary on the Ponte de Vechio

2009-06-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Siena day trip with the students

2009-06-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Siena, thanks to Liliana Leopardi, the WU art historian, who gave some great talks on site. Regan Wheat, as usual, the Capogruppo had the whole machine working on time and without incident.

Here's a little talk outside the Duomo in Siena. My job was to take the students to the top of the wall incomplete Duomo addition and to fill in the holes in between the tour.

at the Bobli Garden with Susan and Kenda

2009-06-11T10:42:00.001-07:00

A busy day

2009-06-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Dinner with Kenda and Susan at Mimo's.

At the Duomo with rosemary

2009-06-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

This is the view from our deck, the apartment is super quiet and none of the windows face the street.

Lots of thunderstorms last night, and it really rained hard on and off all day, but inbetween, the sky was quite wonderful.

David's

2009-06-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Another cool day in Florence, and we're making the best of it, getting errands and shopping done. I still have not hit the streets with the Nikon too hard. Yesterday, I used the G10 to make this and some other photos while walking around Florence. Today, Sunday, its raining and thunderstorms, so I do not think I'll be getting much shooting done. I still have work to do in the small WU computer lab we've set up for our students. Its a pretty lame set up, I have two Mac Mini's and one of them is an older G4 model with only 1 gig of RAM, so I do not think I can load the new version of Photoshop I have brought with me. I did get the epson R800 cleaned up and running well enough to print on, today, I am going to try to get the older 2200 running.

Dinner on the patio with Susan

2009-06-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

Last night a very pleasant evening of great food and wine with Susan on the patio of our apartment. After dinner, a nice walk to get gelato at Neri and of course, the never ending discussion about who makes the best in Florence.

I have not started to photograph in ernest, thinking I have 60 days here. I've mostly been photographing with the Lumix and only had the D3 out for a little while yesterday. I have always said I like a heavier camera, working with the Hasselblad as an example, but the combination of the D3 and the 24-70 mm lens, may be my limit. Its a heavy combination. Today however, I am working the F100 with my 20 mm lens and actually shooting black and white film as its a little cloudy and I need some film to show the students how to process negatives next week.

We started the day off by sleeping in a bit (9 am), then breakfast, I caught a capuchino at the corner, then some food shopping at the Central Market (I have a new chicken guy now), then home and a quick stop by the workshop to check email.

Tonight is an aperitivo at Regan's with the students and we're eating out tonight.

with Rosemary along the Arno

2009-06-05T08:04:00.001-07:00

Another busy day, getting in the swing of things here in Florence. The apartment is mostly set up, and I'm building the wine collection up. Had my class intro, we talked, went over the course outline, then a walk to the local camera store for an "introduction" with my friend at MB Photo (Mr. "Special Price for you")

Sleep routine still not where it needs to be, but we're working on it. This weekend, no classes, but lots of dinners and aperitivios to attend.

The Bad Hat

2009-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

The first mishap of the trip, moving into my apartment. I was walking down my street, trucking bags and baggage, and a gust of wind carried my Italy hat off my head and it hits the ground at the exact moment a woman on a bike runs over it. Perhaps a sign I need a Borsalino.

Welcome to Italy!

2009-06-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Arrived yesterday after a long day of planes, trains and automobiles. It was grueling as always, but we're here. The flight on Continental Airlines was good, the aircraft very clean and on time, but the meal was dreadful.

Lots of meetings today and orientation, pictures tomorrow.

Ciao!

Two weeks until I leave!

2009-05-20T12:34:00.001-07:00

Starting to do the serious packing, just about have all the photo gear in order, last minute purchases of CF cards and gold DVD's for backup, and of course, an extra battery for the Lumix.

Seem to have misplaced some of my favorite movie DVD, it seems the only time I watch them is in Italy. I am determined not to overpack, even if I am going for two months.

Planning-packing

2009-05-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Its been hard for me to do my usual packing routine for Italy. With the wedding this weekend, the house needs to be at a different level of organization than I would normally have it in. I only decided this weekend to check two bags and carry on the camera roller and the computer bag. I'm most worried about getting from the airport, to the airport train, to the Eurostar platform with all the gear.

Welcome to my 2009 Florence Photography Blog!

2009-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00