St Petersburg

[ed_tobin]

Hi,

 

Next week I will be in St Petersburg for business and I will have a Thursday and Friday to myself

to explore the city. This is my first time to Russia and I do not see many recent posting about St

Petersburg so I was hoping if someone could let me know of any must see places. Typically I like

to shot landscapes, architecture, and candid people shots.

 

I do a lot of travel so I am always aware of my surroundings but I wanted to see if anyone thought I

should be concerned more than normal about photographing with a Canon 5D and using a tripod. I

could always leave the tripod at home and I was thinking of bringing only one lens so I will not need

a big bulky bag.

 

Thanks--Ed

[tsypkin]

Ed,

 

You may already be on the way, but here is my advice. There are too many

interesting places in St. P. to list them, especially not knowing what might interest you:

art museums, architecture, sunsets, etc. I recommend that you grab a reputable guide

book and take guided tours; large hotels serving business travelers usually can arrange these tours. Without a tour guide, you are likely to waist a lot of time looking

for things that interest you. The majority of Russians, even in the service sectors,

don't speak English. The majority of signs are in Russian. so if you don't know the

Cyrillic alphabet, it's quite difficult. I wouldn't attract too much attention by using a

tripod in addition to big expensive looking camera. Remember that the police there are

not your friends -- the best policy is to avoid dealing with them, although you are not

likely to be mugged when the police are around. Also, one needs to keep in mind that

St. Petersburg has become infamous for attacks on people of color by local

skinheads. I wouldn't say that it's more dangerous than an average big US city, so you

need to keep your eyes open and watch your back -- one more reason to find a right

tour with an English speaking guide. You may find all kinds of travel advisories at the

State Dept. site -- keep in mind that they make things more scary than they are in

reality. In May days in St. P. are very long, and photographing the sights along the

Neva river during those long, pale, dreamy sunsets should be a treat. I managed to

make to St. P. only for 12 hours in the last 30 years, and only with a point and shoot --

a great pity. Here is the State Dept. site: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1006.html

Good luck and good hunting.

 

M. Ts.

[ed_tobin]

Thanks Mikhail,

 

I have arrived and to me I feel as save as I do in any large city. Seems like there are a few tourist but I do not see anyone with a camera larger than a point and shoot.

 

Today I am going to take a tour of the city with a guide and then I will decide if I want to take my Canon 5d out or just stick with the point and shoot camera. It is colder than I expected and it snowed yesterday

[tsypkin]

Ed,

 

How did it go? I forgot to mention that St. Petersburg is famous for lousy weather,

together with its palaces. Did you ever get your Canon 5D out? I was in Moscow in

March, and carried around my Nikon D50 with a rather sizable 18-200 mm lens, but I

could easily keep under my overcoat most of the time. I must say that my Russian

friends walk around with their cameras and don't worry much.

Best regards,

Mikhail Tsypkin

[ed_tobin]

Hi Mikhail,

 

Yes I did take it out but I did not feel comfortable doing a lot of shots because there

were always police or military around and I figured that they may have questions so

I limited my photographs.

 

The weather was cool and one day it snowed. This would not have been a problem if

the airlines did not lose my luggage and I only had a sport coat.

 

Thanks for your input the city is beautiful and the people were all friendly enough

and I never felt unsafe.