May 9, went on a day-trip to the tourist town of Amalfi en route to Ravello. Trains don't run along the Amalfi coast, so I took a bus from Salerno to Amalfi. And what a ride it was! The views were simply amazing. But I must admit, the coastal roads are a nightmare to drive along -- they are narrow and winding, and there are quite a few tight turns where there are no mirrors. So if you ever come here, do take a bus or a boat and leave the car at home.
Amalfi itself is quite a pretty town, pity I couldn't get to any good vantage points to shoot it. But I did manage to get this shot just as I was about to leave the place:
My shot of the day, however, is something special. Amalfi is known for its hand-made paper -- the streams that run down from the mountains make it easy to tap the water power to run the paper-mills. And so they have a Museo della Carte (Paper Museum) there, which showcases working versions of machines used to make paper, dating as far back as the 13th century. And as there weren't many people when I was there, some ideas came into my head... No tripod but I did have my Gorillapod, so had to improvise. The biggest problem, as usual, was finding a place to mount the Gorillapod.
The final setup:
See that shadow at the bottom? It's a saw used to cut the processed paper. So what better way to get it out of the way than to use it as a prop? (not that the museum people will approve of it) And it really added a lot to the whole theme of the picture, and hence the title "Murderer at the Mill".
Experimented with a few poses, and I must admit I'm hardly the most expressive model around. And it would have been a lot quicker if I weren't on my own, of course. Having to pose and then check the camera oneself makes things a little tiring. I like this one:
But this is my favourite (and therefore is my photo of the day):
Almost immediately after I took this shot, a truckload of Italian kids arrived at the scene. Waited for a while and but realised there're still another two truckloads coming in, so I went off without attempting more shots.
After all that fun, I had a very late lunch before heading up to the hilltop town of Ravello. Spoke to an Irish couple I met during lunch about it, and it turned out to be as tranquil and charming as they say. They'd been there to attend a wedding. That evening, I encountered two couples who were holding their wedding in the churches there. And I could see why...
That's just the view from the bus stop at Ravello. More to come in the next post...
Amalfi itself is quite a pretty town, pity I couldn't get to any good vantage points to shoot it. But I did manage to get this shot just as I was about to leave the place:
My shot of the day, however, is something special. Amalfi is known for its hand-made paper -- the streams that run down from the mountains make it easy to tap the water power to run the paper-mills. And so they have a Museo della Carte (Paper Museum) there, which showcases working versions of machines used to make paper, dating as far back as the 13th century. And as there weren't many people when I was there, some ideas came into my head... No tripod but I did have my Gorillapod, so had to improvise. The biggest problem, as usual, was finding a place to mount the Gorillapod.
The final setup:
See that shadow at the bottom? It's a saw used to cut the processed paper. So what better way to get it out of the way than to use it as a prop? (not that the museum people will approve of it) And it really added a lot to the whole theme of the picture, and hence the title "Murderer at the Mill".
Experimented with a few poses, and I must admit I'm hardly the most expressive model around. And it would have been a lot quicker if I weren't on my own, of course. Having to pose and then check the camera oneself makes things a little tiring. I like this one:
But this is my favourite (and therefore is my photo of the day):
Almost immediately after I took this shot, a truckload of Italian kids arrived at the scene. Waited for a while and but realised there're still another two truckloads coming in, so I went off without attempting more shots.
After all that fun, I had a very late lunch before heading up to the hilltop town of Ravello. Spoke to an Irish couple I met during lunch about it, and it turned out to be as tranquil and charming as they say. They'd been there to attend a wedding. That evening, I encountered two couples who were holding their wedding in the churches there. And I could see why...
© Lin Zhaowei, 2009.
That's just the view from the bus stop at Ravello. More to come in the next post...
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