Trekking in Monte Morello

This weekend I had the opportunity to get out into nature with Gaby and my friend Alex, and it was honestly such a breath of fresh air. When you live in Florence for as long as I have, something that you really tend to miss is nature. Florence is surrounded by nature, but inside the city center- especially the historic center – there are just not that many trees or even bushes around, and living near Santa Croce we basically have to go to the river or to the Cascine to see a larger amount of trees. 

Florence is surrounded by greenery, and Tuscany is obviously beautiful and very well known for their iconic rolling hills and sprawling vineyards – but in Florence it was admittedly a bit difficult for me especially during the lockdowns of the pandemic. It really made the whole experience feel more like prison because of this, and something that I now really value and love more than ever is being able to get out and escape to get out into nature.

Something that I always do before heading out for a trip is to make sure that I’m bringing any gear that I need, and leaving behind everything that I don’t. I knew that it was maybe going to rain so I wore the lightest waterproof jacket that I own. I honestly got this thing for like $20 at a sports store and it’s my go-to choice when travelling because it also folds down to such a small size. I also knew we were going to be hiking quite a distance so I obviously wore my hiking boots, and brought my cotton carrier harness for my camera as well. 

Since I knew any subjects I would want to capture would be a bit farther away, I opted to bring my 70-200 lens with me since I knew I could mount it to my chest. It’s not the lightest setup, so to make sure I had equal weight distribution I brought along my WANDRD PRVKE Backpack with some small accessories and my water bottle. Especially when I’m just shooting for pleasure in larger spaces I usually decide to bring this lens because anything that I want to take a shot of close-up I can simply do with my phone if I want to. 

Monte Morello is one of the places that is just outside of Florence, and offers the possibility of hiking in the woods. There are a variety of places around Florence to do this, though in most cases you need a car or to take the bus to get there. Thanks Alex for taking us here so I had a reason to strap on my hiking shoes 🙂

 

While walking along the trails up to the top of the mountain, It reminded me of when I used to go hiking back in California and all the landscape photos I used to take before moving to Italy. Obviously most of the stuff I shoot these days is of cities and monuments, but I really do enjoy shooting landscape photographs. This trip in particular I didn’t shoot with the intention of creating a collection, and it was honestly quite nice just to take pictures of things like flowers and trees and you know – pathways that were walking on as well while trekking through the forest. 

It’s very peaceful to be able to walk and only capture what inspires you, and that’s really a big part of what I really love about being a photographer. I don’t have to just take pictures of everything. I really shoot more intentionally now, sometimes I am inspired to capture a moment that I want to remember- or something that just stands out to me. I could be the reflections on the leaves of a tree, or a ray of sunlight shining through the canopy. Shooting for me is really like meditation– to just stop, breathe and listen to the sounds of birds and the sounds of the leaves rustling from the wind, and also just be able to express myself creatively in that moment. I’ve really missed shooting in nature – the feeling of being here truly makes me feel like I can recharge- I hope I’ll have the opportunity to do so more often.