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Hi Leslie. Your friend will find plenty of architecture photo ops in the cities you mentioned. I have some great architecture pictures from: Paris (Notre Dame) Venice (Santa Maria della Salute, St. Mark's) Florence (Santa Croce, the Duomo, the Uffizi, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, pictures from Piazzale Michelangelo)
Rome (St. Peter's, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Arch of Titus and Constantine's Arch) Since your friend's main goal is taking pictures, she should allow herself a lot of time to walk around the sites and pay attention to the light, interesting angles, close-ups of details, or whatever catches her eye.

My favorite photos from our trip last October are not the big sights, they are the people and more detailed shots: Children drinking from a "nasone" in a Venetian piazza, a cat in a window, a collection of beautiful doors and windows I made into a framed collage, the detail on a 1000 year old column, a close-up of a door knocker. Others I am fond of: gondoliers plying the canals, the Venetian laguna on a sunny day as seen from the top of the tower at San Giorgio Maggiore, olive harvest (she will be there at the right time), sheep in pasture. I strongly suggest getting out and hiking to find unique buildings, signs, animals. There are good hiking books out there for Tuscany and Umbria.

there are, frankly, amazing photo ops everywhere. So I won't make specific suggestions because what appeals to me might not appeal to her. But let me make another observation, which I think is of greater importance than location suggestions. You have outlined four large city tourist destinations and three very large general areas in two countries. She should probably devote 4-6 weeks to this endeavor as planned. If she is considering significantly less time, please encourage her to revise her trip and reduce the scale. If she tries to do this trip in 2 weeks, she would get a lot of shots of airports and train stations.

Per square inch, it's hard to think of a more photogenic place in Italy than Venice. On our last trip I took more photos there than in Rome, Assisi, Bologna, Pisa, Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa and Lucca combined. That said, if she has a good eye, she'll be able to find amazing photos in all those places you listed. I agree about looking for the offbeat places. One of my favorite photos is down a long sunlit side street, far away from the main sites in Venice. Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/4v4cmye

If your friend is serious about photography she will get out before sunrise, take a break around mid-day, then stay out until after sundown. If she does that and keeps moving, she will find ample photographic opportunities wherever she is in Italy or wherever.

I am preparing to go to Italy later this spring for a photography workshop in Venice. You and or she can do research using google maps, google earth, flickr and panoramio to name a few. Just put in a place name Rome, Venice, Paris, Tuscany, Florence, etc and you will be able to view hundred of images to get ideas of what others have found on their journeys.

Leslie, I'm also an amateur Photographer, and tend to focus on (excuse the pun) landscapes, architecture and people. I've been to all the locations you listed, which including a Photography Workshop in Tuscany last year and tend to agree with Ron's comments It's difficult to make too many specific recommendations, as we don't know exactly which parts of each city your friend will be in, nor the weather, lighting or other factors at that time. Most Photographers tend to interpret scenes a bit differently according to their "artistic vision". A scene that I might consider "good" may be different than others. Also, what is the time frame of this trip? It's important not to try and fit too many destinations into a limited time, as she won't have time to really enjoy each place she visits, or get a lot of photos. Good luck!

I don't think it's necessary to spend 4-5 weeks on this venture, sure it would be nice but a grand tour is not quite the typical American travel style of the 2000's. It's not as if Leslie's friend is writing a book or doing an expensive photo project, to me it sounds like she is seeking photographic enjoyment. Is she traveling alone or with others? If with others how patient are they deal with time needs os a traveling photographer? Like I said above personal research will be most rewarding in this endeavor. Other things to consider is transportation modes, equipment carriage, image storage and backups.