Toskana Träume, San Gimignano

Toskana Träume, San Gimignano

San Gimignano at sunset, Tuscany

The ancient medieval village of San Gimignano in Tuscany is without a doubt one of the most beautiful towns in Italy. My personal humble impression is that a typical shot of San Gimignano is done either from a short distance or with a long telephoto lens, with the city’s famous silhouette filling the frame. I believe some good viewpoints for a medium tele or perhaps even a wide-angle lens are to be found on the Strada Comunale Di Santa Lucia Street. For a long telephoto there are different great vantage points on the surrounding hilltops.

However, as a beginner perhaps, I am still quite into the ‘great panoramic’ landscapes. I was after a specific image – a popular stock photo ‘Italian village of San Gimignano’ by Christian Delbert. It is a marvellous picture, with beautiful vineyard and San Gimignano in the background, amazing sunset light and the clouds.

The whole day I scouted around San Gimignano looking for that vineyard covered hill. I was not able to recreate it. I had several setbacks when a promising spot failed to produce a good composition. As time passed and the day grew older, I became more and more nervous. A typical story I believe, many of us can tell from own experience. I was becoming desperate when I finally stumbled upon this sight. It was not quite what I was looking for. But frankly speaking it was literally my last chance to get a sunset shot of San Gimignano. The sun was already very low. It was already late, but I had yet to walk a bit, find the composition, setup the tripod etc. It was a hastily affair… But the sunset with the beautiful pinky sky turned out quite nice in my opinion.

So, even if I failed to provide a ‘masterpiece’ I am quite pleased with myself and quite like the seen.