Stairway to Heaven

Where is the Stairway to Heaven?

At the Vatican of course!

It's actually a ramp. Maybe because it's easier to go down than go up? Hummm...

I'll let you add your own commentary about the direction everyone is going in the first picture.

Spiral Staircase at the Vatican Museum in Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Spiral Staircase at the Vatican Museum in Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Here are some shots from my last trip to The Vatican that I just completed editing.

It was the second time I visited The Vatican, and one of the things I brought along to Europe with me on my last trip was the super-fast, Nikkor 50mm 1.4 prime lens. I knew from prior experience that it is very difficult to get sharp shots inside the large cathedrals of Europe, and they tend to frown upon photographer's setting up tripods inside churches and telling the priests to "strike a pose".

St. Peter's gets more light inside it than most others, but still it is a challenge. Even with a 1.4 lens I still had to shot at ISO 800. St. Peter's is so big and filled with so many Japanese tourists (no offense to the Japanese) that is nearly impossible inside it to get grand, wide-angle shots, so I focused on a lot of details.

St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Sculpture of St. Peter at The Vatican. Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Cobblestones in Piazza San Pietro in front of St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Columns lining the facade of St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Church pews inside St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Michelangelo was the original architect of St. Peter's. His design called for a "plus shaped" nave, but it was later extended to the longer "cross shaped" nave. The dome of St. Peter's was designed by Michelangelo, though not finished in his lifetime.

The spectacular dome of St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Sumptuously decorated Interior St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Italy.

Catholic priest walking into a confessional inside St. Peter's Basilica. Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Detail of the intricate marble floor of inside St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Minor cupola inside St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Michelangelo was 25 years-old when he finished this Pietà.

Pietà by Michelangelo in St. Peter's Cathedral. Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Domes across the skyline of Rome, Italy

If you walk from the Colosseum through the Roman Forum past all of the "old stuff", as my wife calls it, and up to the top of the hill, you are greated with this view overlooking Rome. The dome in the back (middle one in the picture) is the Vatican.

Domes across the skyline of Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Roman Backstreet

Narrow backstreet in the Piazza della Rotonda area of Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

The Pantheon - That great big hole in the sky.

Our tour of Rome continues with a visit to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was destined to be the world's first dedicated astronomical observatory; however, the telescope had yet to be invented so the hole was left empty:

Interior of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy.

Do you own one of those small, table-top tripods? Do you wonder if anyone actually uses them? Well, here is one instance, a very rare one for me actually, where I kept one with me during the day and actually used it. The Pantheon is fairly dark. With one hole in the center of roof I guess they didn't feel the need to install electricity and artistic mood lighting. Originally the Pantheon was a pagan temple, or something to that effect, but a few years after the Romans killed Jesus they had a change of heart and setup a chapel inside the now Holy (pun intended) tourist attraction. The area below was roped off, so I setup my tiny table-top tripod on the floor with my large DSLR attached (which it could barely support):

Chapel inside the Pantheon, Rome, Italy.

A technique which I use far more often than the table-top tripod is to simply place the camera on the floor and shoot straight up. I always keep a soft, stretchy neck strap on my camera (it's easy on the shoulders and neck) and will often put it underneath one side of the camera in order to shoot up at an angle. This next shot was a 3 second exposure. It's possible I used the table-top tripod on it. I don't really remember, but most likely the camera was placed on the floor.

Pantheon, Rome, Italy.

Here are some parting shots:

Light shines through the Oculus of the Pantheon onto the decorative coffers of the dome. Rome, Italy.

Light shining into the Pantheon highlights the hollow decorative coffers that reduced the weight of the dome. Rome, Italy.

Portico and granite columns of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.

Granite column base of the portico on the Pantheon. Rome, Italy.

Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Pictures of The Colosseum in Rome, Italy

I'm continuing to edit, caption, and keyword pictures from my last trip through Rome. The good news is I'm half-way done with Rome. The bad news is I still have a backlog of 4,000+ images (not all from Rome) in my digital workflow left to go!

Here are some recent selects of the Colosseum:

Via Sacra sign in front of the Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.

Some of my favorite Colosseum shots though are still from my first trip to Rome in 2004. Here are a couple shots where I first tried to eliminate all the clutter, traffic, period Roman Soldiers posing for pictures (only when paid of course), trinket salesmen, tour group salesmen, and all the other tourist madhouse "local color" that surrounds the entrance to the Colosseum:

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.

Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.

All images are Copyright Terry Smith, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Rome

Piazza di Sant'Ignazio is Filippo Raguzzini's masterwork of Roman Rococo in Rome, Italy.

This image is Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Yellow

Shutters for the Shutterzone:

wall, Rome, Italy

This image is Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy - Part III

Trevi::Back in Black:

This image is Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy - Part II

Continuing from my last blog post here is another photograph of Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy:

This image is Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

The late afternoon light on the Trevi Fountain in Rome only lasted a minute or two when I took this photo. It certainly did not resemble anything like this when my wife and I arrived. Probably 500-800 tourists surrounded the fountain and initially it was not lit by sunlight at all. This is where it pays to just keep shooting and shooting and working angles. I was able to get a lot of shots without the crowd and some with for the wider-angle perspective.

What my wife remembers most though is the Italian leather purse she bought at a shop a few feet away! Oh wait, correction, that I BOUGHT her a few feet away.

Editorial Correction 8/14/08 2:13PM: Ops! My wife very quickly informed me after reading this blog post that she bought the purse and not me. :-)

This image is Copyright Terry Smith, 2007. All Rights Reserved.