Week 43 walk - Wharfdale, Yorkshire

This week I returned to Yorkshire for a short break and what a fab time I have had. I went up to attend a 2 day landscape photography course run by the very talented John Potter and I have come back having learnt how to use my camera properly and with a few nice shots for this weeks walk.

We walked for miles around Bolton Abbey and Strid Wood - both looking splendid in their Autumn colours. I was delighted with these water shots - have wanted to learn how to do this for ages.

The above shot was taken with my wide angle lens - might keep it after all!

This waterfall was in the village of Hebden where I stayed - but the following photos were taken along the Wharf River in Bolton Abbey.

The trees in all their golden glory.

Along the Wharf river we met this heron who was just sat patiently waiting for his tea - when suddenly he grabbed a fish out of the water and gobbled it up whole - such a fascinating sight.

I had a shot in mind that I wanted to replicate from the front of the Bolton Abbey brochure using the stepping stones in the river as focal points - but when I got there found that there had been so much rain that the river was full and the stepping stones submerged under water - never mind I still like the colours.

I shot these images of the Abbey in JPEG and RAW for the first time and they need a bit of work in Photoshop, to make them look better. I have never converted a RAW file before so that will be a good learning curve.

week 42 walk (4) Florence

Sorry - this is the last Florence post -but there were just a few more random shots I wanted to include.The Florentines have a little obsession with these masks - they were everywhere. Some cheap and gaudy - but some really beautiful and expensive.

Masks and more masks.

These houses catching the sun's last few rays, next to the Arno River.

Catching some of the iconic Cypress trees in the setting sun, from Michaelangelo Piazza.

The Ponte Vechio bridge by night ...

...and by day.

and a close up of the oldest bridge in Florence. This was the only bridge that survived the second World War.

A lovely holiday - but we only scratched the surface of Florence. Better start saving up for a return journey. Thanks for looking through all these photos!

week 42 walk (3) - Florence

I love beautiful sculpture which is why we chose Florence as a place to visit - there is so much of it to see and admire.Michaelangelo's David - the real one is inside one of the museums - but this outdoor copy is just as good and is in the same spot as the original stood. It is really tall.

Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli (1533)

This bronze by Cellini in 1554 of Perseus holding Medusa's head was my favourite sculpture. I need to do some work in photoshop on this shot to remove the distracting metal bar behind his head.

The Rape of the Sabine Women 1583 - was carved out of one single block of marble.

We took an open top sight seeing bus to a lovely old town of Fiesole - 6Km away from Florence - where they are happy to combine modern sculpture with the old.

This is Neptune...

...at his water fountain by Ammannati in 1575. He is surrounded by sea nymphs and the horses seen in the first Florence post.

Week 42 walk (2) - Florence

On our first full day in Florence - our priority was to visit the Duomo - a huge cathedral which was completed in 1436. It is very ornate and is topped with the world's largest unsupported dome - built and designed by Brunelleschi.

Every part of the exterior is beautiful and the craftsmanship of the workmen to produce such works of art is just incredible.

We decided to take a guided tour and we learnt a lot about the building and its history and got to experience a special outside tour of the balcony etc.

The views over the city and over to the nearby hills and mountains were awesome.

The dome of the cathedral, which we then climbed up and around and got to see this beautiful Fresco close to.

The painting is Giorgio Vasari's Last Judgement Fresco, which was started in 1568 and completed by Frederico Zuccari 11 years later in 1579.

My favourite part of the Fresco - just underneath the Cupola. It was painted by Vasari himself before his death in 1574.

The attention to detail is wonderful.

This is red fire and damnation hell.

This is the middle layer of 'good God faring people' - looking up to Heaven where they will go when their time is up.

I love the perspective of the painting that makes it look as if these people are sitting on window ledges below the cupola and watching the scenes below.

This is another part of Hell - with Father Time showing the timer is empty -'their time is up'and the skeleton coming to collect the dead old woman in the middle.

The is a view of the Dumo from the cafe at the Uffizi gallery. Just above the Terracotta tiles of the dome you can see some black specks - they are people! and that is how far we climbed up - all 463 steps! Great views from this height though.

We walked along the balcony on the outside of the Cathedral - just above the 3 statues to the left of the church. It was not as wide as it looks as it has a part of the lower roof here - so we were edging ourselves along quite a narrow ledge.

The view of the Baptistry and the piazza from the balcony of the Cathedral.

Week 42 walk (1) - Florence, Italy

We have just spent 5 lovely days soaking up the delights of Florence in Italy.

There were sculpture, art, architecture and culture every where you looked - it was awe inspiring and just my thing. We were so lucky with the weather too - blue skies and sunshine - not what we expected in October. It rained one morning - but we were nicely tucked away in the Ufizzi Gallery - and by the time we had finished - the sun was out again!

I took hundreds of photos - so will have to divide this walk up into 3 again. These photos are just random ones in no particular order.

The beautiful gold doors of the Baptistry.

Close up detail on the doors.

The Dumo of the Cathedral - popping into sight. Our hotel was just 100 yards from here.

The indoor market.

There was delicious sights and smells, everywhere looked looked.

Even at night everything is spectacular.

There were some very expensive sweet shops - we did not buy anything - but we did admire their Halloween window display.

The Dumo seen by day and by night - thank goodness I had learnt how to get to grips with this night photography at my class recently!

The church of Sante Croce.

More sumptuous sculpture.