Five Days Cinque Terre

I think most of us start off as opportunistic photographers and end up slowly transitioning to intentional photography. What do I mean by this? Most people's first foray into photography is whilst doing something else; being with someone special, at a concert, on a beach experiencing a cool sunset, exploring a new city, on a hike in the mountains, etc. We come across a scene that looks amazing and want to capture it either as a way of reminding ourselves of the moment at a later date or to show it to someone who wasn't there (though we know that it's not always straightforward translating a powerful scene  to a good image - see here). Whilst doing something else, we sense an opportunity for a good photo and capitalise on it. Intentional photography involves setting out with the intention of obtaining a certain image or type of image and requires planning and the right conditions. 

Riomaggiore Harbour || Olympus 13 mm, f/8, 1/60 s, ISO 200

Over the last year or two I've been sensing a transition in my own photography from the opportunistic to the intentional, not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the opportunistic shot. I suspect that there will always be an element of this in my photography simply because of my mountaineering. Days out photographing with my friend Matthias, purposeful trips down to Raisting or even down to the local woods to find mushrooms in autumn are intentional forays and I'm finding these to be increasingly rewarding as I better understand the conditions necessary to get better pictures. Good photos require several elements; a solid composition, the right light and, if there going to be great photos, even a bit of drama. Opportunistic photos usually only involve the first aspect, and the second if you're lucky. Intentional photos more often combine composition and light. If you persevere and wait for the drama, they can become great:

Opportunity: Riomaggiore harbour front || Olympus 14 mm, f/7.1, 1/800 s, ISO 200

Intention: The harbour front in late afternoon light || Olympus 8 mm, f/8, 1/500 s, ISO 200

Drama: shooting the harbour front in the blue hour || Olympus 18 mm, f/16, 2 s, ISO 200 

Stopping down the aperture to f/16 on the M. Zuiko f/4 12-100 let me get some neat starbursts on the lights; probably not to everyone's taste, but it's handy to know how to achieve this effect in camera. A friend accused me of having applied the effect in post, but it's not the case, in fact I did a quick aperture series in order to find the best settings. It can also be tricky balancing the bright lights with the ambient light, so it might be necessary to exposure bracket a scene like this.

This is beginning to feel like big-boy photography. We should have been on a pilgrimage in the second half of October, but, well, you know... So instead we had two weeks free that had to be taken - we've accumulated too much leave over the last year or so and there's only so much we can carry over. After spending the first week at home in Bavaria, for the second week we headed down to the Cinque Terre region of Italy for a week's hiking and photography. Why did it feel like grown-up photography? Read on.

Trees on the horizon || Olympus 100 mm, f/8, 1/25 s, ISO 200

The photography felt a lot more purposeful in the five days we spent on the trails up and down the coast. Sure, we took a load of opportunistic shots during the day, but we were deliberately looking out for compositions that would work at sunset and in the blue hour. Being west-facing, the picturesque villages really come to life in the evenings. The train line that runs between the villages makes this sort of photography dead easy, especially when the days are shorter. Each village is only 2-5 min from the next and the service runs pretty much every 20 min through the day, becoming less frequent after about 9 pm.

Steps, steps and more steps... || Olympus 12 mm, f/8, 1/6 s, ISO 200

We were staying in Riomaggiore, the southernmost of the Five Territories. Travelling between the villages by road is virtually impossible. The best ways to get from one to the other is by boat or by train - there's a line that stops in each of the villages connected by tunnels and terraces above the rocky coast - but the best way to to take in the views is on foot. There's a coastal path between all of the villages. Unfortunately, the path between Riomaggiore, Manorola and Corniglia is under repair at the moment and what would otherwise be a 20 min jaunt along the coast is presently a 60 min, thigh-killing trek up hill and down dale.

Arriving around 5 pm on the first day we found our Airbnb apartment and proceeded to explore the village as the sun was setting. 

Sunset in Riomaggiore || Olympus 12 mm, f/8, 1/15 s, ISO 200 

Riomaggiore Harbour at Sunset || Olympus 12 mm, f/5.6, 1/2 s, ISO 200

Day one saw us taking the train two stops down the line to Corniglia, the only one of the villages not directly on the coast, and trekking over to Monterosso via Vernazza. The first leg takes you via the highest point on the Cinque Terre trail; Bar Il Gabbiano. Looking back along the trail that we had come from I noticed that we could see both Corniglia and Manarola and made a note of the place as a potential site for an evening shot. This wasn't a view that I'd seen in other photos from the Cinque Terre. I did take the opportunistic shot in the midday light, but it's not worth posting here. But we did come back for sunset and blue hour later on. There are a lot of things that could be done with this scene; zoom out to catch the larger scene or reduce it to the simple elements of the villages in the evening light. Both work, but I'm trying to focus on the 'less is more' principle, reducing photos to the elements that are actually important to a scene. With a sky like this though it's quite difficult to resist taking a wider angled shot.

Corniglia and Manarola || Olympus 50 mm, f/8, 1/30 s, ISO 200

All the Sky || Olympus 23 mm, f/8, 0.6 s, ISO 200

Blue Hour over Corniglia || Olympus 57 mm, f/8, 4 s, ISO 200

We stopped for lunch in Vernazza before heading on to the northernmost village, Monterosso. Vernazza is definitely our favourite of the five villages, with a clear harbour including waterside restaurants and a more developed main thoroughfare. There are some nice views of the village from the approach to Vernazza from the south, though care needs to be taken not to give the tower room against the far shore, as well as from the wooded trek to the north. 

Vernazza between the Olive Trees || Olympus, 41 mm, f/16, 1/50 s, ISO 200

Getting the right evening light on Vernazza proved tricky, as even in late October the sun was setting too far north for the right light on the rocky outcrop. I've seen some good blue-hour compositions from this vantage point in the last couple of days though, so maybe it would have been worth waiting around for.

Vernazza in late afternoon light || Olympus 29 mm, f/11, 13 s, ISO 200

There's plenty of room for the more opportunistic and less light-critical shots under way through the olive groves and vineyards that cover the west-facing slopes, though the sun is never too high at this time of year, meaning that it's never too harsh. I don't have any clear rules when looking for images like this, though there are a few things that I always keep my eyes open for on trails like this; doorways and tree stumps are almost always worth a second glance, as are subjects with clear leading lines. 

Ancient Doorway || Olympus 20 mm, f/8, 1/4 s, ISO 200 

                                                                Snippets and Details

Day two took us to the trail from Riomaggiore to Corniglia through vineyards, giving us occasional glimpses of the villages below from Volastra. Normally this route would take you along the coastal path, but this is presently out for repairs meaning that we had to go up and over the hills each time. Having done the trek up and down from Corniglia to the station the day before, we made use of the combined train/bus/trekking ticket that I'd recommend to anyone exploring the area and took the easy route from the village centre to the station.

Vineyards above Manarola || Olympus 47 mm, f/16, 1/50 s, ISO 200 

Olives and Vines || Olympus 86 mm, f/16, 1/20 s, ISO 200 

Day three saw us taking the train up to Levanto beyond the Cinque Terre and hiking back to Monterosso over the headland before meeting up with Matthias in Manarola in the afternoon to take the classic evening shot of the harbour. We got away quite lightly - there are nightmare stories of photographers standing elbow-to-elbow at the railing overlooking the village. 

Could have been worse - shot on my Huawei P30 Pro

Whilst we were not alone, we were able to select the spots we wanted to set up our tripods without getting in too many peoples' way. Most only stayed for sunset, meaning that we were pretty much on our own for the interesting blue-hour.

16:28 Manarola I || Olympus 9 mm, f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200 

17:09 Manarola II || Olympus 9 mm, f/8, 3.2 s, ISO 200

17:35 Manarola III || Olympus 15 mm, f/8, 2 s, ISO 200

17:51 Manarola IV || Olympus 15 mm, f/5.6, 2 s, ISO 200

At the risk of overloading you, I've deliberately included this series of shots from sunset into the blue hour to emphasise the role light plays and how quickly (or slowly) the conditions can change. This is another case of very intentional photography combining composition and light to arrive at a solid image. As I said at the very beginning, if you combine this intentionality with perseverance, you can move from good images to great ones, and I encourage you to visit Mattias' take on this scene a few days later in a stiff autumn storm on his Instagram channel.

Originally we'd planned to trek down to Porto Venere on day four and catch the ferry back, but after three days slogging up and down the steps between the villages we reckoned that we'd earned a slightly easier day and ended up taking the boat down to the tip of the peninsular to check out the options. We were pleasantly surprised with Porto Venere. I suspect that anywhere else it would be on the map of tourist destinations, but due to the proximity to Cinque Terre it tends to get lost among the other sights. The church of St. Peter on the promontory guarding the entrance to the town is particularly photogenic and we were able to grab some good images here as well as in the fortress overlooking the bay before taking the last boat back.

Chiese di San Pietro guarding the entrance to Porto Venere || Olympus 47 mm, f/8, 1/1250 s, ISO 200

Inside the church I || Olympus 28 mm, f/8, 1/3 s, ISO 200

Inside the church II || Olympus 20 mm, f/8, 1/5 s, ISO 200

Sailing boat from the Portico || Olympus 16 mm, f/11, 1/200 s, ISO 200

Light-balls through the Ruins || Olympus 92 mm, f/4, 1/1250 s, ISO 200 

I deliberately opened up the aperture for this last shot in order to achieve the light-balls on the sea - kind of the opposite to the starburst effect of closing the aperture down. As we all know, opening up the aperture (lower f-stop) reduces the depth of field for a given focal length and can be used to throw the background (or foreground) nicely out of focus.

The late afternoon approach to Riomaggiore gave us a different perspective on the village as we returned for our last sunset in the Cinque Terre, allowing a different take on the scene.

Riomaggiore from the water || Olympus 100 mm, f/8, 1/800 s, ISO 200

Sundown at Riomaggiore || Olympus 13 mm, f/8, 1/800 s, ISO 200

I'm not sure at this point whether we'll get back to Cinque Terre for another trip. I'd put it off for ages as the place is normally completely overrun. Being late in the season and without the intercontinental tourists it was very pleasant, but apart from missing a decent set of storm images I feel that I've done as much as I can there.

If you're ever interested on a 1:1 or 1:2 nature photography workshop, get in touch and we can work something out.