Travel & Street Photography Recap 9
June was a creative month. Although I traveled less than in the previous months, there were a couple of projects that kept me occupied. Combining traveling and work is never easy, but somehow, my motivation was high. Honestly, in terms of working for the Letters to Barbara, this was probably the busiest month from the day I started running this blog. Hence, the Travel & Street Photography Recap 9 will include both my journeys and updates of my projects.
Traveling to Italy is always a pleasure. Italy is one of the most lively countries in Europe, and I always love every moment there. The streets are full of people, the food is delicious, and drinking Aperitivos in the early evening has become a favorite habit of mine. Not that long ago I visited Sicily, but this time, I headed further north. My one-week itinerary included this time Florence and Bologna.
It was my first time in Florence, and I still can’t get over its beauty. Florence is not exactly a city, it’s more of an impressive open-air museum. Walking through the beautiful streets was pure joy for me. Despite the heat, I kept walking all day long, and I ended up late at night in one of the most charming hotels I’ve ever stayed in. I wish I could’ve stayed longer in Florence, but unfortunately, it was not possible due to my tight schedule. But I promised myself to return back soon and explore more of this beautiful city.
The next stop was Bologna, the so-called “Red City.” It was not my first time in Bologna, but it was very pleasing to revisit it. The wonderful terracotta-colored walls are the city’s landmark together with the world famous Two Towers. However, after several months of solo traveling, I didn’t travel alone to Bologna. It turned out that this was a very sentimental journey. You will read soon about Bologna and what made my visit so special.
The projects
As I already wrote, I worked on a couple of projects this month. Although I planned to work on them for quite some time now, the truth is that only in June there was an adequate amount of time to materialize them. There were days that I worked for more than 15 hours, but seeing them taking shape made me feel thrilled.
A book
After visiting Anafi back in 2017, I always wanted to make a small book about this remote Greek island. Anafi lies less than two hours away from Santorini and for me is a small piece of paradise on Earth. I have also visited Anafi last year, and I plan to visit it this year too. Creating a book dedicated to Anafi was my own little tribute to this island. You can find more info about the Anafi book here, and you can buy a copy here.
For the ones that might want to make their own book (be it a photo-book, a magazine, or a paperback) here are some info. I created the book via Blurb. This is an online print-on-demand platform. It practically means that you don’t have to order a big stack of books and pile them at home. Instead, you can order any number of copies you want -even just one. Blurb also allows you to sell your books via their online store and also via Amazon. They have their own dedicated software, which you can download for free from their website. The books are not that cheap to make (it depends on several factors like size, quality of paper, cover, etc.) but it’s always nice to have a hard copy of your texts and photos in an era that everything seems digital.
You can learn more about Blurb here.
Lightroom Presets
Lots of readers have asked me during the last couple of months about my photos. It’s a real pleasure that people like what they see on this website. If you are following this travel blog for a while now, you already know that I use a small compact camera, the Ricoh GR ii, for 95% of the photos. The little Ricoh is my most faithful companion when traveling. A couple of months ago, I wrote a review/tribute to the Ricoh, which ended up on the first page of Google search for the camera.
Creating a community of readers is the best thing that can happen to a writer. So, I decided to give something back -it’s actually the first of a set of things that I’m planning to create. That being said, I’m putting on sale my Lightroom Presets for the Ricoh Gr ii. It took me quite some time to develop them, but nowadays I use them all the time -doing, of course, some minor adjustments depending on the photo.
The presets are optimized for the Ricoh GR ii, but they will work with every camera. You should, however, keep in mind that I haven’t used them with any other camera; therefore, the adjustments might have to be heavier in other cameras. You can buy the presets here.
E-books
Apart from the book about Anafi and the Lightroom Presets for the Ricoh GR ii, this month I also started working on two e-books. The first one will be published -hopefully- during summer; the other one might take a bit longer. I will update you for both of them within the next couple of months. Stay tuned!
What’s on the travel & street photography recap 9
So, in the travel and street photography recap 9, you will see mainly photos from Sicily. To be honest, due to the stunning landscape of Sicily, this will be more of a travel photography recap and less a street photography one.
You probably remember that last month’s recap was all about Mallorca. This month though, I started uploading the posts from my journey on the eastern part of Sicily. First of all, you will see photos from Catania, which in my opinion is a very underrated city. Then you will also see pictures from Taormina, the gem of Sicily, the town that Goethe fell in love with.
As always, all the photos that you are about to see here are taken with the Ricoh GR ii camera.
Catania
The truth is that Catania has a run down feel and might not be pleasing to your eye. But Catania is also one of these cities that won’t open up straight to the visitor. You will need some time to immerse in its atmosphere and appreciate its mysterious beauty. This is definitely one of the cities that I would love to explore even more in the future.
Taormina
Taormina, on the other hand, is definitely a town that one could fall in love at once. Built on the top of a rock and overlooking both the sea and Mount Etna, Taormina is one of the most beautiful places in the Mediterranean. You should, however, keep in mind that there are loads of tourists and there is also something missing in the atmosphere of Taormina. I’ve written a guide on how to visit Taormina so make sure to check it out too.
You can access all my travel & street photography monthly recaps here.
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Last Updated on June 20, 2020 by George Pavlopoulos