San Giovanni, Ranui, Val di Funes, Dolomites, Italy
Fujifilm GFX100S II, 55mm, f5.6 @ 120 seconds, ISO 40, ND filter, tripod

This is far from an original subject. It’s not even an original angle, although there are excuses for that. However, why is it that most of us, including me, like to ‘collect’ photos of famous locations, even though every man, woman and dog has taken a similar one?

I don’t have an answer, but I am complicit! Of course, for some readers, this might be a fresh subject. However, I can remember it winning several prizes in the Better Photography Magazine’s Photographer of the Year. And no wonder – it’s a stunning angle and I often wondered how the photographers found it.

The little chapel is sitting on private land, so access is restricted and while there is a pathway up to the chapel itself, you can’t just wander around the surrounding fields to look for different angles.

There’s also a road that runs around the edge of the field, but it’s several metres below the field itself, so you can’t actually see the chapel from the street. You have to climb up the embankment and stick your camera over a sturdy wooden fence. Fortunately, a little further down the road, the embankment flattens out and the thoughtful farmer has built an observation deck. And this is the angle you see. It’s like going to Lady Macquarie’s Chair and photographing the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge – there’s only so much variety you can achieve. The ’originality’ you introduce generally relies on different light, weather or post-production, rather than the subject itself.

I spent maybe 30 minutes on the observation deck, my tripod legs loaded on sturdy logs that wouldn’t move or transmit vibrations during the two minute exposures. While I was there, no fewer than 100 people visited the tiny platform – and this was in the late afternoon when the summer crowds were beginning to thin. Most of the visitors were using their phones and perhaps there were only five people with ‘proper’ cameras.

So, I was there with the masses and I have to say, I really enjoyed the shoot! It’s a stunning location and the farmer seems to understand what photographers need, leaving a field of yellow grasses in the foreground to add an accent to the composition.

I’ve also been influenced by all the old classical painting I’m seeing on church and gallery walls around Italy, so I’ve tweaked the contrast and colour balance to give what I feel is an olde worlde looke!

And I’ll be back there this October on our next photo tour to Italy – with hopefully another point of difference: the autumn colours. I love travel photography!

You can see photos from our tour to Italy last year on my personal website - click here.

And if you’re interested in how I do my post-production in Lightroom, there’s an online reference you can purchase at the Better Photography Education website - click here.