Tripod and Camera

This is a duplicate post.

I've taken lot of pictures with a pretty good DSLR in Italy. There, I apply the same common sense rules in that I apply in US cities; for examples, Manhattan or San Francisco or even Seattle. My 4 most important personal rules are, for me: 1. the dlsr stays in the bag unless I am shooting 2. the bag is not a camera bag, it's just a nondescript shoulder bag that also carries my ipod, sunscreen, baseball hat, shell, whatever. The 18x200 lense fits. 3. the shoulder strap is across my body, not just on one shoulder.
4. the bag is never not on me somehow, even sitting down in a restaurant, when it is on my knee under the table. On mass transit it hangs across my stomach and I keep a hand on it. Unless I am using the dslr to (attempt to) shoot a good photo or good video, it stays in the bag and the ipod takes the snap shot. It's a personal choice for me, but the tripod stays in the hotel, unless I know that I will be doing slow shutter shots in twilight at night - in for example foggy nighttime Venice. Most of the time I feel that taking the tripod was a mistake. In the US I would never ask a 12 year old wearing scruffy clothes to hold my camera. I can run fast, but not that fast. Same rule applies in Europe. And, the older person the more trustworthy - because I can probably run faster. For some reason, I get asked a lot to use someone's camera and take their picture. If they are Italians, I always say "formaggio!". Some laugh, others look at me like I'm an idiot. Take a browse through Smug Mug for your destinations to see what locations and compositions others have chosen.

Hi Sowmya. We always take a tripod when we travel to Europe but we don't take it with us every day, especially during the day. It just adds extra bulk to our already heavy camera bags. We generally take the tripod out with us in the evenings to capture night scenes. However, if you want to carry it with you during the day, you certainly can & shouldn't encounter any problems, except inside museums or churches. Indoors where I can't use a tripod, I use image stabilization & take a deep breath & hold it while taking the picture!! We asked several people in Italy to take a picture of us with one of our DSLR's & never had any problems. I generally asked other people nearby if they wanted me to take their picture & then in return asked them to take ours. Worked out fine. In Rome, I suggest taking pictures at night in Piazza Navona. It's very lively & there are street performers and artists selling their paintings. I also suggest taking pictures early in the morning in the piazza outside of the Pantheon before all the tourists descend on it. During the day the piazza will be full of people and almost impossible to take a picture without tons of people in the foreground. If you get there early in the morning, you can get a nice shot of the piazza, the fountain in the middle & the Pantheon unobstructed by a lot of people. Also, take the elevator to the top of the Vittorio Emmanuele monument for great views over Rome. In Venice, definitely climb the campanile in St. Mark's Square as well as the bell tower in the San Giorgio Maggiore Church for great views. Also in Venice, get up early & visit the fish market & farmer's market near the Rialto Bridge. If you get there early, you can get some nice pictures of the merchants setting out their product. In Florence, definitely take a taxi to Piazzale Michelangelo for nice views.

Good advice above about keeping up with your camera. I would think hard before hauling a tripod all over Europe. For the small percentage of times you might need it you can probably come up with some creative alternatives that are not so cumbersome and conspicuous.

Sowmya, good advice about tripods and exchanging photo duty with strangers, but I would add that some museums and churches will not let you take photographs and even if they do, most will not let you set up a tripod, so if you're doing a "museum/church" day, leave the tripod at the hotel. Afternoon and evening light is best in Rome. By the way, those aren't "artists selling their paintings", in fact, most of the stuff for sale isn't original painting at all - you'll find exactly the same "work" at the next piazza. The artists who used to work in Piazza Navona (including a friend of mine) aren't there any more, just salespeople and caricaturists.