Hungary, Austria, & Italy This Summer

good day...

 

before i get flamed for posting this thread, please understand that i

have already poured through the archives, read stacks of travel

books, and looked through scores of magazines. through this

research, i have been able to put together a rather nice itinerary (i

think). however, since this site has users from all over the world,

i thought this would be a great opportunity to get inputs from

photographers who know the areas i will be traveling to as well as i

know my own hometown.

 

that said, onto my query.

 

i will be honeymooning in europe from may 23 - june 10. we will be

starting in hungary (budapest), then moving on to austria (salzburg

and innsbruck), then to italy (venice, tuscany, sienna, florence).

we'll be travelling via the eurail until we reach venice. from venice

through the tuscany area and onto florence we will be renting a car.

 

my wife-to-be wants me take my 4x5 outfit along - yes, she actually

requested the Linhof instead of my much faster 120 setup. i'd like to

shoot some interesting landscapes, both rural and urban; though i

guess most would call urban landscapes 'architectural'.

 

as i said earlier, i have, through other avenues, gotten very good

tips on fine locations to shoot, however, i'd still very much

appreciate any suggestions you may have.

 

i'm planning on limiting my gear to two lenses (150 and 240) and as

much neopan across 100 and 160 portra VC that i can carry. is this a

reasonable outfit? if i were to take alonog a third lens, would a 90

or 300 be more useful? the 150 / 240 is my bread-and-butter set-up

here in the states, so i figured it would work well for me across the

pond as well.

 

as always, thanks in advance for all suggestions,

scott

"She actually requested the Linhof...." Boy, are YOU naive! Enjoy it while it lasts. (PS, I hope you have a grand time.)

I recently went to Italy for a week. The Country side (Tuscany) is very nice. Though Seinna was very nice, it was VERY touristy and I think using large format there would be difficult. Try and find the smaller towns (they almost always look the same), as they are usually more interesting and would be easierto photograph in.

I'm answering because the 150 and 240 are also my "bread-and-butter here in the states." The third lens I would suggest would be a 110 SS-XL. This trio would gives you approximately 30, 45, and 60 degree angles of view. I have found that the large image circle of the 110 is really nice to have with architectural subjects which sometimes take a bunch of movements. It's also compact, light, and oh yes, razor sharp.

 

You might find a 90mm useful. It's considerably wider than the 110, which might work out well in the small streets of the ancient towns. The 300 isn't sufficiently different than the 240 to warrant taking it, IMHO.

 

Of course, it really depends on what you intend to take photographs of - that is, on how you see. So clearly, YMMV.

Scott --

 

You might want to check out Hollókő, which is in Hungary, Northeast of Budapest. I found some good shooting there; there is an old village and a partially restored castle. There are a number of sites on the web that have Hollókő information; just do a Google search for holloko. It even looks like Hollókő is now on the Web: www.holloko.hu

 

I knew you can get there by bus; it looks like you can even get there by train. If you drive, it's a pretty drive, and well marked. There are places to eat and drink in Hollókő.

 

=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

I'd really recommend taking the 90 on your trip. I just got back from a business trip to Europe and did all my shooting with the 645 equivalents of the 90 and 150. I also took a long lens along but I never got it out of the bag... Take what you use, but I think you might really want to squeeze that 90 in.

 

Please let me extend my best wishes for your upcoming marriage and have a wonderful honeymoon!

Darn those double quotes; they will get you every time.

 

The garbled word is Hollókó (except that the final o has double accents on it). I thought it looked ok in the preview, but does not display correctly. Sorry, everyone.

 

 

-- Bill

Hi Scott,

I would suggest taking the 90mm because you'll probably end up taking more rural

architechual shots than you think. It's pretty much the archetechure and the people that

are going to be different than in the states. Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in

Eupope and you shouldn't see too many tourists at the end of may. You should at least try

and go through Vienna (right next to Hungary) on your way to Salzburg or maybe take a

day out of the Budapest time slot and drive there, it's a city worth seeing.

If I were you I would have planned the trip the other way around and started in Florence.

May is one of the most beautiful months in Italy because it hasn't gotten so hot yet,

everything is still in bloom! Towards the middle and end of June it's getting pretty hot and

if they have a dry spell everything will turn brown quickly. On the other hand, you'll have

tons of things (art, architechture) to see and the food... the food, the food!!! It's worth the

trip just eat and drink wine. Take the car to smaller towns. Eat where the locals eat (even if

it looks like a basement or just a whole in the wall, it's probably got the best food you'll

ever have. There will be plenty to see and you'll get a lot of good scenes to shoot. Have

fun and take the 90mm.

perhaps one of you would be so kind as to address the issue of carrying LF film overseas and back without having undue difficulty with Xray machines at airports both US and european. what is the best method? thanks.

Just send it through the x-ray machines. Only be careful not to do it more than 10 times if you're shooting color or ISO400 film. Or save the hassel and FedX it home.

"save the hassle and FedEx it home."

No..no..NO !

If you ask FedEx they will, reluctantly, tell you that your package "may" be scoped or it "may not". Who knows? A turn of the roulette wheel.

But be aware, if it DOES get scanned the power will be luggage level, dangerous and far more powerful than that at the carry on gate.

It's a gamble.

Congratulations from a wedding photog who spent 24 days in venice, umbria and tuscany last year and hauled a toyo 45A along with a Nikon F100. Love the slides but the 4x5 colour negs and 6x12cm pano colour are breathtaking. As is Italy. Please take your 90...I used my 135 and 180 but the 90 was really great in the small towns and when you couldn't get back far enough. Great way to meet people who are often fascinated by the large format cameras. When in Venice, the island of Burano is a major colour fest..check out websites with photos. A little fishing village with wonderful people and colourful homes. Had 4 days there and shot lots. Also the countryside around Sienna and south is the best. San Antimo..San Galgano...Mont Olivetto Maggiore with its frescoes! Wonderful little towns but I don't think you will have that much time. You really don't want a car in Florence or any city but you must see the Uffizzi and of course, "David" while there.

The light is amazing but so is the food and wine. But the people and the country are the best. If you aren't a city couple, then check out

www.slowtrav.com for some great suggestions and help. Take lots of film as it is hard to find there and have a wonderful safe honeymoon.

regards, richard brown