Two Parts Italy

Another week of August vacation, another photo post. This week, Italian skies.

It is hard to describe what is so special about the sky in Italy. There is just some combination of color, light, and connection to land, sea, or city that work in harmony. No matter the season or whether the skies are bright blue, filled with soft clouds, or dark and stormy, they are always beautiful. And the sky at sunset, that’s simply magic! I feel so fortunate to be living under Italian skies and I can hardly wait to return to Lucca in late August.

An early spring sky in Sant’Andrea di Compito

The sky in Lucca makes the perfect back drop for sculpture.

This sky along the River Arno in Florence almost looks like a painting.

Sunset in the Val d’Orcia turns the sky a beautiful shade of pink.

There is something special about the light in Italy. Ask any one of the painters who come here to capture that light in watercolor or oil. Ask the photographers. Ask anyone who enjoys walking through Italian villages or down country lanes bathed in light. The light here inspires and seduces.

Shadows on the walls at the entrance to an enclosed garden in Sant’Andrea di Compito, Tuscany.

Where there is light, there is also shadow. As much as I love the light, it is in the shadows that I find mystery and magic. They change with the season and with the hour. They cast a spell, changing ordinary scenes and objects into works of art.

Late summer shadows on an old marble sink

Shadows always make me want to pull out my camera. Few words are necessary to capture the intrigue of shadows - pictures tell the whole story. So, no more words, just a few of my favorite photos of Italy’s shadows.

Spring time shadows made by a bridge over the river Magra in Bagnone

Springtime wisteria create beautiful shadows