Justin Bass Photography: June 2010

Sorry I've been so slow in posting these pictures from the trip!

If you've been at a wedding I've photographed, you've met photographer Michael before. He's been shooting with me since I started and has become very reliable, and was even able to come on this Italy trip (I guess it would have been tough to turn down haha).

We flew out of JFK on Saturday (6/5), had a stop in Zurich, and arrived in Rome Sunday afternoon. After picking up the rental car, we drove north 3 hours to Pisa to see the leaning tower...and wow it sure is leaning!

After only staying for in Pisa for about 30 mins, we got back into the car to drive east to Florence. By the time we arrived, it was too late to do anything, so we just grabbed some Pizza and checked into the Hotel.

The next morning (Monday), we got an early start and went to climb the Campanile di Giotto in the Piazza del Duomo.

Check out how curved the walls are!

The view of Florence from the top

View of the Piazza del Duomo once we were back down. Good thing we did the climb early in the morning, by the time we got back down it was already almost 90 degrees!

The museum housing the real David statue was closed, like most places on Monday in Florence, but this is the replica where the real one used to stand

Me taking a picture of the famous Ponte Vecchio. This is the only bridge that didn't get destroyed by the Germans in WWII and now it's full of jewelry shops haha

Ponte Vecchio

View from the only store on the Ponte Vecchio that has a balcony!

We left Florence around noon and made a quick stop in Siena, about an hour south of Florence. Siena is absolutely beautiful, but very difficult to drive around in...manual transmissions and a city set in a mountain haha. This picture is from my iPhone...not too bad!

Then it was off to Todi, where we were meeting up with Danielle and Jon Paul to shoot the wedding. We stayed in an AMAZING agriturismo (which is similar to a bed and breakfast in the US) that was owned and run by one of the nicest families you can ever know! If you're ever in the region, or even if you're not, you MUST stay here! Their website is www.agriturismotodi.com, everything about it was just so relaxing and stress-free. Here's a view from the place, and you would get a similar view from this regardless of where you looked, even if you were down in the pool!

Tuesday (6/8) we shot Danielle and Jon Paul's Engagement Session in the city of Todi, which is actually where they were engaged two years ago, how cool is that!? Tuesday night was the rehearsal dinner back at the Agriturismo (incredible food, like a 7 course meal haha), and Wednesday was the wedding. I'll have a separate post for these which will come soon.

Thursday morning we left Todi and traveled south 3 hours to Pompei to see the ancient city. This was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen, to see a city that was buried by a volcano in the year 47 AD, and then lost for 1800 years!

Check out some of the artwork on the walls

Much of the city is still being excavated

The hot ash from the volcano pitted away at the brick.

Mt. Vesuvius in the background -- the volcano that covered Pompei

Look at this detail! Amazing how well it was preserved, and now has a protective case around it.

Pottery and a body in a protective case.

Roads for the chariots

After leaving Pompei, we continued south for another hour to Sorrento, here's a picture from the drive, literally on the cliff.

Touring Pompei in the 95+ degree heat was very tiring, so we immediately went into the pool at our hotel in Sorrento once we checked in. Also from my iPhone.

Friday (6/9) morning, we took the ferry from Sorrento to the island of Capri.

After arriving in Capri, we took the cable car up to Capri Town, which is a little city of tourist shops and amazing views (of course)

Photographer Michael posing for a picture overlooking Marina Grande in Capri

Then we took another bus ride even further up the mountain (again on a winding road along a cliff) to Anacapri. Now check out this view!!! Mt. Vesuvius is the faint mountain all the way on the left.

The boats in this picture look deceivingly small from how high up we were. The boat on top is a mini cruise ship, and the three below it each have about 30 people on them! Look how clear this water is...

Back at our hotel in Sorrento, there were tons of orange and lemon trees, look at the size of these lemons haha

Another view from the hotel pool with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Saturday around noon we left Sorrento and headed 4 hours north back towards Rome. At this point we were both pretty tired and just dropped off the rental car, and checked into the last hotel at the airport for a 7am flight the next morning.

Talk about a busy week! We were able to see a lot of cool things, and photograph one AMAZINGGGG wedding, and pictures for that will be coming soon!