Rodney Campbell's Blog

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 39 mm, 1/60 sec at f/8, ISO 64

Alas our luck with the rain ran out during our stay at Lake Como. It started raining around 8PM the previous evening and continued throughout the whole next day

Louise and I took the ferry across the lake to the village of Bellagio – we figured we could wander the tight streets and just wander in and out of the stores there. Perhaps everyone else figured the same thing as the place was pretty busy

This town is the main tourist hub in the central part of the lake. All the tourist shops, high end fashion and so on are here

This is the “famous” instagram shot in Bellagio so figured I’d repeat … we also ate lunch in the Trattoria San Giacomo that is on the steps just to the right of this image. The place came highly recommended and the food was good

We were getting sick of the rain so we grabbed a ferry back to Varenna – one last shot of old Varenna as we came in on the ferry

Varenna from Ferry

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 24 mm, 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

Varenna to Menaggio

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/2500 sec at f/1.7, ISO 150

I was getting some poor reception flying around the lake around the headland between the new town and the old, so I walked around to above the old town (near Villa Monastero) to shoot from that side

The first image is a view from behind Varenna across the lake towards Menaggio on the other side of the lake

Varenna View

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/2000 sec at f/1.7, ISO 120

Old Varenna

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/1250 sec at f/1.7, ISO 140

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 65 mm, 1/800 sec at f/4, ISO 64

Louise and I visited Villa Monastero (in Varenna) on a very cloudy but thankfully not yet raining morning

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 42 mm, 1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 103 mm, 1/125 sec at f/11, ISO 320

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/50 sec at f/4, ISO 64

In the afternoon we took a boat ride (in one of those old venetian wooden motorboats) I had pre booked. It toured around the lake for about an hour and then dropped us off at Villa del Balbianello for a guided tour of the villa, and a wander of the grounds for 90 minutes before returning to pick us up and return to Varenna. This amazing villa and gardens has been the set in a number of movies including Star Wars and James Bond

I took some other images and video at this location. However I did so with my new 360 camera (the Insta360 X4) that I’d purchased just a few days before leaving on this trip. I’ll post some things from that at some stage (when I’ve time and have figured out how to edit and export appropriately :))

Villa del Balbianello

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 66 mm, 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

Varenna 180

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/2500 sec at f/1.7, ISO 100 x 21 Frames

A 180˚ stitched panorama of Varenna. The old part of Varenna with it’s quaint houses and villas and steep cobblestone laneways, is on the peninsula of land in the foreground and it’s harbour (with the boats in it) just on the left of that. The “newer” part of Varenna and the ferry ports and train station are what you can see a little further back on the left (just around that first green headland)

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

Como Curves

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/3000 sec at f/1.7, ISO 200

Took to the skies to shoot some images of Varenna in the morning whilst the weather was holding it’s luck. If anything the old town looks even more charming nestled against the mountains when seen from the air

I can see why this place is so popular with visitors

Old Harbour

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/2500 sec at f/1.7, ISO 200

DJI Mini 3 Pro FC3582 + 6.7 mm f/1.7 @ 6.72 mm, 1/1000 sec at f/1.7, ISO 120

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.