A young woman emailed me not long ago and asked me if I knew of a fotografo (photographer) who could take foto (photos) of her and her beau. I responded that one of our friends is a professional fotografo who normally does weddings. When I asked him, he was pretty excited because he loves doing servizi fotografici (photo shoots). And since it’s not yet the season for weddings, he was free to work with them during the time they wanted to do it.
The fotografo asked me if I could tag along so that I could help translate for him. I was happy to do so because I find it so interesting to see how he works.
We met today in Piazza della Signoria under a clear blue sky for the first time. We had a quick drink standing up in the bar while we waited for the fotografo. He started by taking some foto of them in the piazza. We then moved to the Mercato del Porcellino where they looked at purses and tried on hats. The people who work in the mercato were helpful and sweet to give us some space and props.
After taking some foto on the Ponte Vecchio, we walked along the lungarno (road along the Arno) toward Ponte Santa Trinità. A collega (colleague) of the fotografo came and joined us. He grabbed a macchina fotografica (camera) and began taking foto as well. It was interesting to see how each fotografo had a different view and style to take foto.
We walked down a small alley toward Borgo Santi Apostoli where there’s a small chiesa (church). They took a few foto by borrowing props like a locked up bicicletta (bike) just leaning against the building.
We grabbed a taxi to go up to Piazzale Michelangiolo. Being such a nice day, I suggested we go to the giardino dell’iris (iris garden) that is only open a few weeks a year. I thought it would be even more special for the couple who just got engaged in Florence up at the piazzale. The two fotografi both told me that they had never been, so they were quite intrigued as well.
We descended the wide stone steps to the lower plateau where the fotografi took more foto of the couple with the Duomo in the background. One fotografo took his motorino (scooter) back down toward San Niccolò where we met up at a wine bar while the other one walked with us and took more foto of the couple.
Instead of walking down the lungarno, we strolled down via dei Bardi toward the Ponte Vecchio and then continued down Borgo San Jacopo to the Ponte Santa Trinità. The fotografo said we had to reach the ponte (bridge) within the next few minutes to catch the best sunlight and the sunset.
Again the fotografo borrowed a man’s bike and had the couple pose with it on the ponte. The light, as the fotografo predicted, was perfect. The city looked warm with its orange glow so I took a few foto myself.
I had never been on a servizio fotografico before and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We walked around town, took foto with some of the most charming backdrops, and enjoyed the beautiful evening.
The two fotografi took over 400 foto of the couple in about three hours. I enjoyed my time with the couple, getting to know them better. I also had fun with the two fotografi who made me laugh almost throughout our time together.
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