Florence By Night

With its stunning cathedral and abundance of renaissance architecture,  Florence is a beautiful city in any light, but for a different viewpoint, it’s difficult to beat a trip up to Piazzale Michelangelo at dusk.

A ten minute taxi ride or 25 minutes on the bus and you’ll find yourself across the river Arno on a hill with spectacular views of the city below. I suggest making the trip at dusk and taking a decent camera and a tripod if you can.

I actually managed to get these snaps by using the stills mode on my old Sanyo video camera – the only camera I had available at the time. I played with the exposure time, sat the camera on the uneven wall and held it firmly as I took the photos. I was pleasantly surprised with the result but this was one of those occasions when I really wished I’d brought a better camera!

Do you have any tips for taking great photos in low light with minimal equipment? I’d love to hear them!

And if you do make the journey up to Piazzale Michelangelo, make sure you don’t miss the last bus back – or take the number of a taxi firm with you or it will be quite a long walk back down in the dark!