Trip to Rome !

sunny2004

Hi,
I am travelling to Rome next week and wanted any tips for places to photograph or any ideas generally.. I am staying in central Rome...

Borderfox

Hang the camera out the window either up or down and snap away get a little tripod and take some shots of the fountains at night lit up?

sunny2004

Great

AlanMooneyPhoto

And be careful on public transport with the camera, especially at night.
Bring a tripod is a good idea, make sure it's tall enough to put your cam over the head of all the little chinese/japanese tourists at the fountains.
Just generally take a wander around, they have amazing buildings that arent even on any maps, like the government buildings, not to be missed.
Lucky you, Enjoy
Alan

sunny2004

Cheers alan..

Can I ask are all the main attractions within walking distance of each other ?

OctoberFall

sunny2004 wrote: »

Cheers alan..

Can I ask are all the main attractions within walking distance of each other ?

Long walking distance. Best get a good heads up about the underground. Plan your routes in advance. You shouldn't need a tripod at all, unless it's mid winter or late evening time.

snellers

you could be controversial and take pictures of the mountains of litter around town combined with the sites of interest! ...I couldn;t believe how filthy the place was when I visited - would at least be different to the usual snaps! :-)

Make sure to check out the Roman Forum and of course the Colosseum.I can't remember too much from my trip a couple of years back.I have vague memories of a woman surrounded by cats outside the Colosseum,I think she was trying to pass as a street performer,keep an eye out for her!

peter1892

Lots to see and do in Rome, bring plenty of memory/film!

Public transport in Rome is pretty poor but it's possible to walk between most of the main attractions. I stayed in a fairly central location last year (off via Nazionale, about a 10 minute walk from Terminin Station and a similar distance from Trevi, maybe 15 mins from the Colosseum).

Trastevere is a nice area on the other side of the river but be generally careful there as there can be some dodgy characters hanging around who mightn't appreciate being in a photo!

The Vatican museums have weird opening hours, and very long queues. The Victor Emmanuel monument provides some great views over the city from the rooftop (and it's right next to the Forum).

To be honest, the only place where I felt uncomfortable was around the Spanish steps, otherwise I found it a relatively safe city.

sunny2004

Cheers for all the advice..
Its daunting going to a new place some times and trying to plan it as best as I can.

Anyone know if the taxi service is cost effective ?

phog

It's years since I was there but I'm thinking of heading over in March to the International and take in a bit of touring as well.

WRT what to capture generally I search flickr and pix for ideas.

RoryW

beware of pickpockets in Rome near train station and main tourist spots and on public transport

Ferny

I just returned last week and found Rome to be one of the safest cities I have ever been in, saying that do be careful around the train station at night... Take pictures of everything , everywhere you go you will see fantastic sights... Everywhere is within walking distance but it could be 20 - 30 minutes between some places... we found the metro to be perfect for sightseeing, very cheap and saved us an enormous amount of time, trains are regular and safe (during the day anyway).. As for the sights, don't go too early to the major attractions, around midday will save you queuing for ages, we used to go in about 12-1 and found no queues at all.. To avoid queuing to buy a ticket for the collosseum, there is an alternative ticket office outside the grounds. Near the colloseum, there is that distinctive area full of incomplete Roman ruins called the Roman Forum. Once you've bought your ticket there, you can then walk past the entire queue for the colloseum who are waiting to pay. The day I did this I walked straight through non stop. enjoy...... one piece of advice i would give is stay away from Taxi drivers unless you absolutely need to.. they are Chancers

PmcG01

The most important thing to do anywhere in Italy is to eat as much and as often as you can!

sunny2004

PmcG01 wrote: »

The most important thing to do anywhere in Italy is to eat as much and as often as you can!

LOL

ginger nz

I know this is probably a bad place to say this but when you're in Rome, don't try and take photos of everything. There're a million great photo ops but try and avoid becoming one of the people that miss the atmosphere because they're viewing the place though a viewfinder.

The amount of people I saw with crappy P&S* trying to capture the vastness of St. Peters or the detail of the Cistine Chapel really got on my nerves after a while.

Anyway, with that said, Rome is easy to walk around if you're in comfy shoes. The pantheon is great, really unassuming from the outside but great on the inside.

For cityscapes, Vittorio Emmanuele is a great spot, but beware of the security guards, they are all ex-service men and, as the place is also the tomb of the unknown soldier, they get incredibly ****ty at the slightest hint of disrespect.

Personally, the best shots I got there were in the early part of the Vatican Museum and in the forum museum. With some nice light, the roman-era statues looked awesome.

Do everything you can to get away from Via del Corso/Spagna/Fontana di Trevi when it comes to eating. The places are bad value and the service rubbish. There are millions of restaurants in Trastevere and even Flaminio that are better.

Most of all though, enjoy it. It's an incredible place and the atmosphere at a rugby match should be awesome.

*I was rocking one myself, so no snobbery there.

peter1892

ginger nz wrote: »

Do everything you can to get away from Via del Corso/Spagna/Fontana di Trevi when it comes to eating. The places are bad value and the service rubbish. There are millions of restaurants in Trastevere and even Flaminio that are better.

Agreed 100%. Via del Corso is the main posh shopping area & is expensive - I had a cup of coffee there last year, cost me €5!

sunny2004

ginger nz wrote: »

Personally, the best shots I got there were in the early part of the Vatican Museum and in the forum museum. With some nice light, the roman-era statues looked awesome.

.

Can I use a tripod in these places ?

ginger nz

sunny2004 wrote: »

Can I use a tripod in these places ?

I don't think so but I'm not too sure. Their websites might tell you.

That said, I managed (with a P&S) to grab a few decent shots in "Museum mode". The light was lovely in the Forum museum when I was there and there wasn't much need for one.

I'd post some examples but my CF card got wiped somehow (Think it was my dad's dodgy card reader that ruined it). ASIDE: Imagine building yourself up to tell your newly-wed wife that all our honeymoon photographs were gone. It sucked just as bad as you'd imagine, she was gutted.

Another piece of advice, if you're going out with the express intention of taking photographs, go early. After 10am places start to get crowded and you'll be fighting for space

DjDangerousDave

When I visited Rome I only had a crappy P&S camera. If I was to get one good photo with my dSLR it would be this one. Its taken from the top of St. Peters, I think it was about 6 Euro or so, but it was worth it.

sunny2004

ginger nz wrote: »

I don't think so but I'm not too sure. Their websites might tell you.

That said, I managed (with a P&S) to grab a few decent shots in "Museum mode". The light was lovely in the Forum museum when I was there and there wasn't much need for one.

I'd post some examples but my CF card got wiped somehow (Think it was my dad's dodgy card reader that ruined it). ASIDE: Imagine building yourself up to tell your newly-wed wife that all our honeymoon photographs were gone. It sucked just as bad as you'd imagine, she was gutted.

Another piece of advice, if you're going out with the express intention of taking photographs, go early. After 10am places start to get crowded and you'll be fighting for space

Cheers...
I looked at http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
But nothing regarding rules and regulations.. so no joy, I will assume its a no..

centrino

1. Dont use taxis always trying to rip you off.
2. Stay away from Flann O'Briens pub - They are a shower of ignorant f**kers and always doing you out of money. You'll know when you've been done when you dont get a receipt back!!
3. Pictures in the colloseum - Thay will take your own camera and you standing beside a gladiator and charge you 20 euro for the picture in your own camera.

They are money mad cnuts.

Alicat

+1, don't use the taxis! The metro is sooo easy to use, just remember which direction you're heading in.

As for good photo opporunities, don't confine yourself to the typical tourist traps, take your time to walk around the city (obviously try to stay away from any dodgy lookin areas). There is so much visible history around the city, you'll be extremely tempted to take photos of every single street corner!

I found that a walk in the evening sunshine along the river Tiber was lovely and had some nice photo opportunities.

Hope you have a good time!

schqually

I've spent a fair bit of time in Rome, but never with the camera I have now
If you can get the chance to go to the Vatican at night with a tripod, take it. It is incredibly lit up and generally empty late at night apart from the odd security guard.

Like many have said, stay away from Termini at night and bring the camera everywhere else!