I can’t say that it was a one-camera-one-lens trip, because I really couldn’t leave my iPhone SE behind, which eventually was much used during the short vacation on Mt Abetone. Yet, iPhone aside, I did everything with a Bronica SQ-A loaded with Portra 160 and equipped with a Zenzanon PS 80/2.8. With this post I would like to focus on the images I made with this setup only.
The brief, two days-trip was an efficient way to get to know a beautiful place. Everything, from the hotel where we stayed to the restaurants where we chose, from the climate to the sceneries, was great. I am not a traveller in the heart but the experience made me almost want to become one.
The Hotel
The Hotel Bristol in Dogana Nuova was an excellent starting point to visit the surroundings and was most pleasurable to stay in. An extra unexpected bonus was the extreme friendliness of the staff towards our English Bulldog, Dafne, who enjoyed a building almost custom-made for her.
The place
For somebody like me who wants to move around with a car as little as possible, the area was ideal because it was great, in no way forcing you to travel the distance in order to feel in the right place. Uphill along the main road you find Abetone, downhill you find Fiumalbo, and scattered along the route you find side roads leading to wonderful hiking paths.
The surroundings
Footpaths are everywhere, all gorgeous, all well maintained and signalled. I took it easy. I am not a landscape or nature photographer, and even if I wanted to be one, an English Bulldog with me would not allow me the required flexibility! Said that, amongst all the other things, to attract my attention and call for the Bronica instead of the iPhone was mostly the Lagosanto, together with some details of the villages and the woods.
