[ Images ] Sicily

Back home. Back to the long, windy and wet cycle to the office and sadly just about back to realising when I get out of bed there won’t be an incredible buffet breakfast (including a variety of cakes) waiting for me to enjoy as I look out over the Mediterranean. That’s a painful realization to come to terms with!

Sicily was amazing. Possibly the friendliest people I’ve ever encountered plus beautiful scenery and food… 7 days really wasn’t enough.

The plan was not to have any plan for the first half of the week. We rented a classic Fiat 500 (nicknamed ‘Disco Dolly’) and just drove not knowing where we’d be staying or what we’d see. The second part of the holiday was going to be somewhat more relaxing, based in Taormina at a nice hotel overlooking the bay. I packed fairly light for this one:

• Canon 5D
• 24-70mm f/2.8
• 50mm f/1.4
• Canon S90
• GoPro HD Hero

Other than that I had a couple of strobes, a tripod, clamps and a shoot-through umbrella. With the exception of the tripod and one strobe none of that got used. Neither did the 50mm.

I also packed a MacBook running Lightroom 3 to review and edit images as I went. It also served as a backup for the files should anything happen to the memory cards. I’ve just finished processing the still images but have a bunch of full HD movie footage to process. I’m still very new to video so that’ll take some time (and trial-and-error). The fact that the footage is such a high resolution means it’s giving the aging iMac a good workout. I’ll post footage here as soon as it’s done. For now, here’s a selection of the stills:

I’ve posted a few more images to Flickr in order to keep the page load times quick here. I hope you enjoy them.

I had intended to take more photos of the food but consistently found that I’d be half way through inhaling a meal before I’d think of pointing the camera at the plate. It’s something I intend to work on.

I’ve a few good recommendations from the week:

• iPhone 4 - There’s a lot to be said for always having a camera with you. This one has the ability to shoot (images and HD video) edit and share in less than 60 seconds and the quality is amazing
• SanDisk USB Card Reader - I didn’t have this with me in Sicily, instead I brought a cheapie one from Argos. The speed difference (and build quality) is far superior on the SanDisk, making it well worth the cost
• Apple MacBook - These are the entry level Apple laptop yet they pack a real punch. They’re nice and compact and handled all the RAW files from my cameras with ease
• Cefalú - A town well worth visiting on the coast in the north of Sicily
• Hotel Villa Ducale - Cannot say enough good things about these guys!

If you’re interested in renting a classic Fiat 500 we used these guys. Just know that if you get Dolly she’ll never love you as much as she loved us! €560 for the car for a week with pick-up and drop-off at the airport.

A week of great scenery, driving roads, food and drink spent in truly excellent company. Can’t wait for the next trip!
More coming soon…

Daithí