In May 2022 after much planning I decided to head to the beautiful area of Tuscany in Italy. This place really has it all. Actually hard to take a bad photo here. Especially in some of the regions which I am going to talk about.
First stop was San Gimignano (pictured above). Dubbed as the Manhattan of Italy, those tall medieval towers looking over the Tuscan landscape are a dream for us photographers. The streets are full of photo opportunities with that old rustic look and classic vintage vibes everywhere. The locals are very photogenic for you street photographers too.
You can climb to the top of one of the towers and get some great views of the overall surrounding area. I would highly recommend bringing a telescopic lens up here to isolate certain subjects within the landscape. All around the top of the city for that matter, you can get great views.
The next day we went further into the Tuscan countryside. The cypress trees pictured above and below were an unforgettable pit stop on the way to Agriturismo Ballenco. Simply couldn't resist these incredible landscapes so had to pull over. You can see the mist behind the trees, this is actually common in Tuscany (awesome news right!).
Then onto the first stop of the trip- as mentioned before Agriturismo Ballenco is a phenomenal farmhouse building, with one of the coolest driveways I have ever seen. There is a lay by right in front so easy for parking. The driveway itself is fenced off and is private land. You can still get great shots of this location without going onto the drive itself. Most photographers say to go at sunset, which does make sense as it sets behind the farmhouse. However, after seeing so many similar images of this spot, I decided to go at sunrise. This offers a really nice lighting spread across the landscape as pictured below.
Then we headed to Val D'Orcia. This area has got to be my favourite in Tuscany. There is so much to photograph here, it's almost ridiculous! Everywhere you look theres cypress trees, farmhouses and the most surreal landscapes. If you ever watched the film Gladiator, you will feel like you are in it.
The highlight of Val D'Orcia for me was the famous farmhouse Podore Belvedere. This incredible spot was the most photogenic farmhouse I found. So I went for a sunrise and it definitely didn't disappoint (pictured below).
It a relatively easy place to get to- you can see it from the road. There is a farm next to it with a lot of security dogs and electric fences (probably sick of photographers trying to get a view of this place) don't even try going that way. Just down the road there is a lay by with an Olive Grove next to it. Walk through the Olive grove. then you will be treated to amazing views of this place and many other photo opportunities. I wasn't lucky enough to get any mist on my visit. It is not uncommon here though.
There is a stunning small church chapel down the road from here called Capella della Madonna. There are many different ways to get shots of here, I opted to use the drone at sunrise to get the image shown below.
The scenery around Val D'Orcia was worth staying around for a while. I will definitely be coming back here. I believe autumn is also a good time to go. I went during spring.
Stay tuned as I will be writing about my experience in Cinque Terre next. For more photos of Tuscany check out my instagram here . If you would like to know more or enquire about some of the services I can provide click here.