Firenze Fireshow – Florence, Italy

A summer sky blazes with colour over the Ponte Vecchio, as the city lights of Florence reflect in the waters of the Arno River.

The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge in Florence’s city centre, and although I wouldn’t say it’s the most beautiful, it is certainly a unique piece of architecture. I’ll admit though, photographing the bridge itself wasn’t a priority for me in Florence. I had my sights set on the popular view from the top of Piazza Michelangelo, overlooking the entire city.

The view from the top of Piazza Michelangelo

We were blessed with a couple days of great sunsets, so I took the photo of the bridge on our last evening as a ‘bonus’ shot, with the mindset of ‘I’ve got nothing else to shoot here, may aswell get my camera out’. Turns out, it’s my favourite from Florence 😉

Moral of the story is: if you’re already there, and there is a shot you aren’t sure will work out or you may not like, just shoot it anyway and sort it out later. You don’t want to regret not taking that picture once, months later when you’ve flown all the way back home!

TECHNICAL INFO
Nikon D750 | Nikon 28-300mm @ 116mm | f/11 | 2s | ISO 50
Location: Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy
Post Processing:
– Lightroom adjustment brush with ‘warm’ colour balance – painted over the street lights and nearby buildings to give a brighter and warmer glow. This exposure was then used in the next step
– Seperate exposure for city/bridge lights and reflections blended in with the exposure of the sunset sky, using a channel mask in Photoshop
– Using a ‘soft overlay’ layer, painted the lights over and other spots with a bright, warm yellow paintbrush to enhance the light sources
– Usual increases in vibrancy and saturation in the sky and overall