Rodney Campbell's Blog

Areopagus Hill View

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 45 mm, 4 sec at f/8, ISO 64

The first location I’d planned to shoot the Acropolis and the Parthenon pre dawn was Areopagus Hill. It’s the quickest and easiest high point to get to but the view of the Parthenon isn’t ideal. Still in the 18 frame HDR stitched panorama you get a nice view of the Acropolis, Lycabettus Hill in the background and a view over central Athens

Areopagus Hill View

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 37 mm, 4 sec at f/8, ISO 64 x 18 Frames

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.

Monastiraki Square

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 34 mm, 5 sec at f/11, ISO 64

I woke early to head out to shoot the Acropolis and the Parthenon at sunrise from a few nearby hills. As I was walking near Monastiraki Square anyway I figured I’d try a night shot (with the square plus the Parthenon in the background) whilst it was empty (during the day it’s somewhat packed with people and tourists – see below)

Monastiraki Square

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 33.5 mm, 1/40 sec at f/8, ISO 100

Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/8, ISO 1250

Our flight to Athens was delayed about 2hrs at takeoff so we arrived VERY late (or early) – it was about 1AM before we exited the airport terminal in Athens. Thankfully the driver we’d arranged to pick us up and take us to our accomodation in central Athens was there. That and a self checkin at our Airbnb we were in bed around 2AM

Much later that morning we followed a walk I had planned beforehand (see Google My Maps Walking Tour). Taking us through a number of interesting areas of central Athens including the Plaka & Anafiotika Neighbourhoods, around the base of the Acropolis and through the area where there are many pretty restaurants with tables strewn on the steps and streets

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14 mm, 1/15 sec at f/8, ISO 800

S Curves

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 100 mm, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 160

Our last day at Lake Como. Thankfully the rain had stopped in the morning so we decided to brave the hike up to Castello di Vezio (Castle Vezio). It’s a steep mostly cobbled path which leads up to the castle which overlooks Varenna from atop the hill. It takes about 20 minutes to walk up but it’s a “VERY” steep path!

Upper Varenna

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 100 mm, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 110

The view from the top of the old castle however is pretty spectacular, giving you 180˚ views over the lake

That done it was time to head back to the station and catch our train back to Milan and the International airport for our flight to Athens …

Varenna

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 103 mm, 1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 64

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.

Castle View

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S @ 24 mm, 1/50 sec at f/8, ISO 64

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