I booked about 2 full days with Steve Bisgrove, a British photographer who’s been living in Rome for a few decades. Honestly I probably could have walked around the city myself and would have found some of the spots he took me too, but his local knowledge, tips for getting around the city and where to go at what times proved invaluable.

And thank go he was a good bloke and pleasant to be around because two full days are a rather long time to spend with someone if they turn out to be to plonkers.  Don’t worry about this with Steve, no matter what your personality I think you’ll get along with him.  As mentioned, some of the spots he takes you to, you could easily get to on your own, but it’s the little tidbits of where to shoot from, how to shoot it and basically just little pieces of advice and info about photography and the city and it’s attractions.

With the time difference between Rome and Hong Kong (Hong Kong is 6 hours ahead) I was up quite literally with the sparrows and in the dark and if you can, at least get up one morning early and have a walk around. There’s nobody on the streets, or very few people and the cobblestone alleys and lights are lovely to walk through.  Things like Trevi Fountain, which are absolutely literally crammed full of people and hard to move around during the day time, particularly the afternoon, are deserted in the early hours of the morning. At the paying attractions you won’t have to cue for hours if you arrive as soon as it opens.

Some things are not that easy to photograph. Sometimes you want a telephoto to get rid of some of the people, but most things are best shot with a wide angle. I took my trusty Fuji 16mm (24mm equivalent) and even found that to be slightly too close and could have done with a 21mm. (which I had on my Leica MP). Speaking of which, I dropped it lens first on the ground and about an hour later the rangefinder alignment stopped working.  That meant I had to try and find a film camera shop in Rome to fix it.

Enter M&S Photo Material.  No luck fixing the camera but he gave me the contact of a guy (who also couldn’t fix it) and was generally helpful.  His shop has some very, very nice film cameras. I didn’t spend too long in there for fear I’d come out with something I didn’t need but there were some lovely classic film cameras and lenses in there to be had.

Anyway if you’re considering doing a Rome Photo Tour, head over to Steve’s website here and get in touch with him.  This is not his main job (he’s a proper photographer) but he’ll let you know prices and availability if you send him an email.  Basically all his Rome Photo Tours are customisable so he can create something specific to your needs.

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