pig stop

We drive through the extraordinary Dantesque forest of  Selva Lamone towards the coast. The ravines and wooded hills give way to the undulating largely featureless landscape of the coastal plain. What could possibly interest a photographer in this bland terrain? Etruria, however, is full of surprises. The sky here is enormous and against it is the silhouette of the archetypal 'dark tower' and the high arched bridge of Vulci spanning the deep ravine of the river Flora. The cloud formations, the distant hills, the mediaeval tower, the arching bridge, the Etruscan and Roman remains, the limestone stalactites from the streams pouring over the precipice into the ravine below all lend themselves to varied landscape photography. This is the perfect place to illustrate the use of filters to enhance the sky, to show the advantages of carrying a tripod to increase depth of field and show the whirl of the rushing waters, and to exercise that patience that any landscape photographer needs to manifest in order to capture the essence of the ever changing elements: the light, the water, the land. Picnic lunch on the lake Pellicone.

Lake Pellicone time for a dip - the cascade can be seen in the background.. 

The river Fiora cascades over black basalt rocks into the wide cliff girt Lake Pellicone. An ideal place to have a swim, eat lunch and take a well-earned siesta. The more energetic can take a wander around the ruins and explore the Etruscan tombs of the ancient city of Vulci. It is hard to imagine that this desolate spot was home to one of the most flourishing cities of the ancient world, home to perhaps 100,000 people. Late afternoon: the seascape on the Tyrrhenian coast. The coastline here is known as The Maremma. It is characterised by sand-dunes, thick evergreen shrubs ­ the macchia-mediterranea, umbrella pines and distant rocky headlands. If we are lucky we may find an interesting piece of driftwood, a tree-trunk or some other flotsam to drag into the foreground. Sunset over the Tyrrhenian sea followed by dinner at the seaside restaurant "Le Murelle".

ph.Michelle Floyd