In 2019, I fulfilled a dream and returned to Europe after a 28-year absence. As a young man, I served a full-time, two-year proselytize mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Frankfurt Germany region. While I was mostly focused on my purpose as a missionary (to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Germany), I marveled at the architecture and history of historical Europe. Fast forward almost 30 years, and we made good on my wife’s dream to see Europe by taking a whirlwind 10-day, 3-city trip to London, Paris, and Rome.
Ask my wife and she’ll tell you I spent way too much money getting ready for this trip: I bought a couple used lenses, bought a new camera bag, and added several other items to my photographic “kit”. Ask me and I’ll tell you in retrospect that I was bug nuts carrying a full-frame DSLR, four lenses, and a tripod on a trip where we walked 73 miles!
Although we had planned the trip to include London, Paris, and Rome, my heart was really set on one iconic shot: the Roman Forum at sunrise. All the research on other landmarks was to make sure I had plenty of practice before reaching the forum. It’s funny, though, that not every planned photo turns out a favorite photo – and this one is living proof.
Let me set the stage a bit more. 65 miles of walking over 7 days. The day we flew from Paris to Rome, I ate something and developed stomach flu. I threw up all night, but forced myself to get going so I could see the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum during the first day. Our second day in Rome was also our last, and in spite of everything I’d been through the previous 36 hours, I was up at 4 am walking from our hotel to the Forum. Along the way, I discovered a series of bleachers set up, looking into <insert attraction here>. The light was just right, and I decided I needed to make sure my camera settings were right for the forum, so I set up my tripod and snapped this photo. It took maybe 3 minutes to frame and treat the subject, and I was back on the path – heads down, destination-focused, moving along.
When I reached the actual Roman Forum, I encountered another photography (from Michigan, actually) who had just set up a few minutes prior to me. We both snapped a few frames here and there, struck up a conversation, and patiently waited through what would turn out to be a non-photogenic sunrise. Heavy clouds foretold a day of rain and gray. Sadly, the clouds were thick enough to deny all but the slightest color to the sky. This is the best photo I could pull from the Forum. It’s an HDR of several time sequences, with heavy processing to render back any of the color I saw.
When I got home and started to review my photos, I was shocked to see the quick test photo of an unknown ruin was actually my preferred shot. I’d captured the warm blue light of twilight, with an interesting subject. It wasn’t the Forum, and sure wasn’t the photograph I was expecting, but I am really happy with what came of it.
Both of these photographs were made on a Nikon D750 with a Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 (a lens I’ve since sold, which I regretted so much that I almost immediately bought a new copy of). I’ve always maintained it isn’t a requirement to have the latest, greatest gear, but I have to admit it’s really nice to have it! All those extra megapixels, and the enhanced low-light capability of newer digital gear sure comes in handy.
The lessons I learned from these photos are:
- Get up early. Europe is a madhouse, packed with tourists (and this was early May). Every attraction is overrun by people and you’ll never get an iconic street-level shot. This is the one day I actually went out early, and I regret not doing it at least once in London and Paris, too.
- Don’t get hyper focused on a destination or a shot. Be flexible and keep your eye open for opportunities. I could easily have walked past this site—I almost did. The only reason I stopped to shoot was to make a test shot. If I hadn’t, I’d likely have come away empty-handed that morning.
- If it’s interesting, shoot it. Don’t worry (too much) about schedule, light, what’s on your top 10 shot list for the day. If you see something that catches your eye, chances are it’ll be interesting to someone else as well, so take the shot.
- Most shots are made, they don’t just happen. It seems counterintuitive to what I just said above, but it’s true. I wouldn’t have gotten either shot if I wasn’t up at 4 am on my vacation, hadn’t dragged a camera, lens, and tripod around, and hadn’t walked two miles to get to my shot. Good shots take sacrifice.
- Look for alternatives. The iconic photos in tourist magazines got there because someone, sometime, took a photo of them. Want to influence another traveler? Want space in another magazine? Don’t just submit the standard image—shoot something you haven’t seen in a magazine or on the web, but that’s just as interesting. Remind the viewer there’s more to Italy than the standard top 10.
Thanks for reading. Have a comment about a photo in this “Story Behind” blog? Have a similar experience yourself? Post a comment and link me to your image. Remember, my photographs can be viewed online at www.johnoverbaugh.com, and I’m always ready to share a lesson or hear a lesson from you!