Kristen Steele Photography

Introducing Fine Art Travel Prints

I’m REALLY excited to be announcing a project I’ve been wanting to do for a while now… organizing and uploading all my favorite Fine Art Travel photographs so that anyone can get them for themselves!

I often get requests from people wanting to order some of my travel prints as art for their homes or offices and now you can! Go here to order your prints through Wednesday night for 50% off using code “fineartprints” through Wednesday, July 13th at midnight! Scroll through all the different categories – based on locations like Italy, England, France, Boston - and my personal favorite category is Doors.

The Giveaway – a $375 value!

The winner will receive a 16″x24″ Gallery Wrap Canvas of a photograph of your choice!

To enter to win (up to 3 separate entries!):

1. Post your favorite photo from here in the comments section.

2. Become a fan of Kristen Steele Photography on facebook.

3. Tweet “I just entered to win a 16″x24″ fine art photography canvas from @KSteelePhoto and you can too here: http://bit.ly/qkJ9dk”

The deadline to enter is Wendesday July 13th at midnight CST. Winner will be announced Thursday July 14th!

Tags: England Travel Photography, Fine Art Travel Photographs, Italy Travel Photography

Florence Italy Travel Photography | Climbing Giotto's Tower

So I’m done. I have finally finished editing all of our amazing pictures from Italy. Don’t even mention the fact that we’ve been home for 2 months now, because that’s always the struggle of a photographer. Our personal images always come behind our client’s!

As I was saying before, the natural light in Italy just looks so much more golden than it does anywhere I’ve ever seen. I think that Italy is a photographer’s dream, because there are natural things that make a photo excellent or different like arches. Take this one for example:

I really loved Florence and was thankful that that was our “base city” for us to explore the rest of Tuscany. Here we’re walking through the streets of Italy on a rainy day with my sister Caroline & her friend Missy. I’m not usually a fan of tilted images, but this one works (I think) because it shows the motion of us walking & it accentuates the old, worn texture of the sidewalk. This street on the right isn’t any special street, but that’s why I love it. All of the streets in Florence look like this: gorgeous, full of beautiful doors & windows. Did you know I have a weird obsession with doors and windows when I travel? I think I’m going to do a whole series on the doors I saw while in Italy this time.

That morning our plan was to walk from our house & find a sweet little bakery to eat a quick bite. Well we walked the whole way to the piazza where The Duomo is and found that the only restaurant/bakery was this Scudieri restaurant. The cappuccino you see below may in fact be the most expensive one I will ever have in my life, haha! Also in this same piazza was this fun scene of a man looking out on the piazza (with more windows!).

So we had a quick coffee and then it was off to climb Giotto’s Tower!

I didn’t realize that there were several levels to the tower, so once we got to the first look out area I thought we were at the top and I kept taking TONS of pictures… only to find out we had about 3 more levels to go! Whoops! As you climbed up the 400-something stairs to the top, there would be sweet little “lookout” windows where you could see the Duomo or the gorgeous city streets below.

In the end, I was really glad that it was raining because that meant there were NO lines to actually get into the tower and it wasn’t crowded at all walking up the stairs. The stairwell was built in medieval times so you can imagine how small it was. I can’t imagine what it would be like with hundreds of other people. By the time we got to the top we were so ready for a break! But just checkout the view once we got there:

If you’re headed to Florence, climbing Giotto’s Bell Tower should definitely be on your list! It took less than an hour to climb & get back down and the views were absolutely breathtaking!

Tags: Florence Italy, Italian Adventure 2010, Italian Fine Art Photography, Travel Photography

Florence, Italy Photography | Exploring Florence

Italy. We had the amazing opportunity to go for two weeks to this blessed country and it was nothing short of amazing. We spent most of our time in Florence and then rented a car to tour the rest of Tuscany. I’m planning on blogging about each day we spent in Italy & might even do specific posts on fantastic restaurants or things to see that I think you should know about! David and I went with my parents and my sister and her sweet friend Missy.

For you photographers out there, while on my trip I was jotting down specific things that I think would be helpful to remember if you’re wanting to take some Fine Art Travel photography. So I will be posting those tips here too.

It’s been a while since we arrived back home from Italy & I still don’t think I’ve recovered. I told a good friend this week that I finally feel like I’m finally getting old… y’all might laugh at me, but I used to be able to just bounce back the next day from whatever sort of jetlag or lack of sleep I had endured. But no. Still 7 days later I’m waking up at the crack of dawn. Anywhoooo….

Day 1 | Exploring Florence

We arrived in Florence early in the morning to find that my bag had been lost… whatever, I rolled with the punches. I’m wasn’t going to complain, especially since I was in Italy and I hadn’t checked ANY of my photography equipment. [Please note how positive my attitude is at this point...]

Exploring Florence (and anywhere in Italy for that matter) is definitely a fun thing to do because you never know what you’re going to find: behind a giant wall there could be a gorgeous garden or walking down the streets be sure to look up because the most amazing terrace could be just above your eye level.

The light and the texture of light in Italy was absolutely a dream… I couldn’t get over it! It also helped that the sun wasn’t actually setting and getting dark until well after 9, so that made for some really fun exploring.

So on day 1, we just walked around and I was taking pics right and left of doors, windows, alley-ways, etc. We had pizza & gelato at Bar Ponte Vecchio and then went home to pop some champagne and get some rest since we were exhausted!

This is the view from where we were staying:

The amazing light I was telling you about:

My mom relaxing in our “fully equipped garden” and isn’t that gazebo amazing? I wanted to pack it in my suitcase!

I did this a lot while I was there: eat gelato!

Finally, we popped some champagne to celebrate the beginning of our trip!

P.S. While we were out getting dinner since we were starving, the courier tried to drop off my suitcase but we weren’t home to sign for it, so I have to try to get it again tomorrow. [Attitude: not so positive at this point. Pretty mad since we only left the house for just a bit...]

Tags: Florence Italy, Gelato, Travel Photography

Ciao Bella! | Italy

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy.” -Giuseppe Verdi

Italy. One of my favorite places on this planet. I have been here before, but it’s like a completely new experience each time. I’m in a different stage of life now & get to experience the wonderful country of romance and love with my hubby. (too cheesy? oh well, keep reading…)

Florence. Oooh the “City of Lilies,” since it’s famous for its gorgeous gardens. This gorgeous city is so rich with art, museums, chapels, monasteries, galleries and palaces. We plan on exploring MANY of them, so stay tuned for pictures.

I am planning on posting photos from around Florence & Tuscany here on the blog over the coming weeks, so keep checking back if you like to hear about Italy & traveling! I’m trying to take meticulous notes in case any of you ever come to visit, I want to record all the fabulous restaurants, sights & our best experiences.

Our flight(s) here

So we flew to Cincinnati, to Paris and then into Florence… whew, we were so tired once we finally arrived in Florence. Then, we went to get our bags… and mine wasn’t there. More than 24 hrs later and I still don’t have it, but the courier is supposed to drop it off this morning. I sure hope so. This outfit that I’m wearing, isn’t so cute 48 hrs later.

Once we arrived we went and walked around by the Ponte Vecchio bridge (pictured above) and had dinner at the Bar Pontevecchio. We had pizza and my FAVORITE: gelato! See my favorite combo below: tiramisu and cofffee. YUMMY!!

A thought on international travel
Walking through first class while they sip champagne is so annoying. Crossing over into the “cattle car” section as my mother calls it is just depressing. I vow that one day I’d be flying to Europe in First Class, even if it’s when we’re 75.

I hope everyone is doing well & happy Sunday!! Today we’re going on a big adventure that I hope will provide many amazing opportunities for my photography business… stay tuned!

Tags: Florence Italy, Italian Adventure 2010, Travel Photography