PhotoSecrets Leaning Tower of Pisa

A Photographer’s Guide

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LEANING
TOWER OF
PISA

Photos

Classic view of Leaning Tower of PisaLee Cannon/Wikipedia

Leaning Tower of Pisa

10 views to photograph
Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of PisaSaffron Blaze/Wikipedia
Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of PisaJoyfull/Shutterstock
View of Leaning Tower of PisaSaffron Blaze/Wikipedia
Marble spiral staircaseLonewolf1976/Wikipedia
Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of PisaMstyslav Chernov/Wikipedia
Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of PisaDudva/Wikipedia
Piazza: Baptistry, Cathedral and towerDennis Van De Water/Shutterstock
Plaque in memory of Galileo Galilei’s experimentsLonewolf1976/Wikipedia

Contents

Map

About PhotoSecrets

 
 
 
 

Foreword

A great travel photo­graph, like a great news photo­graph, requires you to be in the right place at the right time to capture that special moment. Professional photo­graphers have a short-hand phrase for this: “F8 and be there.”

There are countless books that can help you with photo­graphic technique, the “F8” portion of that equation. But until now, there’s been little help for the other, more critical portion of that equation, the “be there” part. To find the right spot, you had to expend lots of time and shoe leather to wander around, track down every potential viewpoint, and essentially re-invent the wheel.

In my career as a professional travel photo­grapher, well over half my time on location is spent seeking out the good angles. Andrew Hudson’s PhotoSecrets does all that legwork for you, so you can spend your time photo­graphing instead of wandering about. It’s like having a professional location scout in your camera bag. I wish I had one of these books for every city I photo­graph on assignment.

PhotoSecrets can help you capture the most beautiful sights with a minimum of hassle and a maximum of enjoyment. So grab your camera, find your favorite PhotoSecrets spots, and “be there!”

About Bob Krist

Bob Krist has photo­graphed assignments for National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Travel/­Holiday, Smithsonian, and Islands. He won “Travel photo­grapher of the Year” from the Society of American Travel Writers in 1994, 2007, and 2008.

For National Geographic, Bob has led round-the-world tours and a traveling lecture series. His book In Tuscany with Frances Mayes spent a month on The New York Times’ bestseller list and his how-to book Spirit of Place was hailed by American Photo­grapher magazine as “the best book about travel photo­graphy we’ve ever read.”

The parents of three sons, Bob and his wife live in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Welcome

Thank you for reading PhotoSecrets. As a fellow fan of travel and photo­graphy, I hope this guide will help you quickly find the most visually stunning places, and come home with equally stunning photo­graphs.

PhotoSecrets is designed to show you all the best sights. Flick through, see the classic shots, and use them as a departure point for your own creations. Get ideas for comp­osition and interesting viewpoints. See what piques your interest. Know what to shoot, where to stand, when to go, and why it’s interesting. Now you can spend less time researching and more time photographing.

The idea for PhotoSecrets came during a trip to Thailand, when I tried to find the exotic beach used in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. None of the guidebooks I had showed a picture, so I thought a guidebook of postcard photos would be useful for us photographers. Twenty-plus years later, you have this guide. Thanks!

Now, start exploring — and take lots of photos!

About Andrew Hudson

Originally an engineer, Andrew Hudson started PhotoSecrets in 1995. His first book won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best First Book and his second won the Grand Prize in the National Self-Published Book Awards.

Andrew has published 38 nationally-distributed photo­graphy books. He has photo­graphed assignments for Macy’s, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Men’s Health and Seventeen, and been a location scout for Nikon. His photos and articles have appeared in Alaska Airlines, National Geographic Traveler, Shutterbug Outdoor and Nature photo­graphy, Where, and Woman’s World.

Andrew has a degree in Computer Engineering from Manchester University and a certificate in copyright law from Harvard Law School. Born in Redditch, England, he lives with his wife, two kids, and two chocolate Labs, in San Diego, California.

Introduction

At a Glance

Name:The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Torre pendente di Pisa)
What:A bell tower with an unintended tilt.
Where:Pisa, Italy
Address:Piazza del Duomo, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy
Far:3/4 km (1/2 mile) from center of Pisa
GPS:43.723056, 10.396417
Height:56 m (183 feet) (low side)
Opened:1360
Province:Province of Pisa
District:Tuscany
Function:Bell tower
Architect:Bonanno Pisano
Style:Romanesque
Started:1173
Completed:1372
Web:opapisa.it
Note:Marble and stone bell tower that started leaning upon construction due to an inadequate foundation.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt to one side.

Views of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Classic view of Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722676
10.396542
When:Anytime

Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722694
10.395512
When:Anytime

Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722788
10.394704
When:Anytime

Ideas for Pisa Cathedral with the

View of Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722694
10.3953386
When:Anytime

Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722409
10.396286
When:Anytime

Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722725
10.395349
When:Anytime

Piazza: Baptistry, Cathedral and tower

Leaning Tower of Pisa > the
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722624
10.395602
When:Anytime

Interior

Marble spiral staircase

Leaning Tower of Pisa > Interior

Inner staircase from seventh to eighth (the top) floor.

Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.723003
10.396564
What:Spiral staircaseWhen:Anytime

Assunta bell

Leaning Tower of Pisa > Interior
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.722996
10.396634
What:BellWhen:Anytime

Plaque in memory of Galileo Galilei’s experiments

Leaning Tower of Pisa > Interior
Addr:Piazza del Duomo,
56126 Pisa PI
Where:43.723003
10.396566
What:PlaqueWhen:Anytime

Credits

Thank you to the many wonderful people and companies that made their work available to use in this guide.

Photo key: Tap the camera icon to see the photo. The two letters reference the distributor and license. Key for distributors: s:Shutterstock; w:Wikipedia. Key for license: a:CC-BY-SA; h:Shutterstock standard.

Cover image by .Saffron Blaze ( wa); Lee Cannon ( wa); Mstyslav Chernov ( wa); Dudva ( sh); Joyfull ( wa); Lonewolf1976 ( sh); Dennis Van De Water ( sh). Some text adapted from Wikipedia and its contributors where noted by the URL path in the “Wik” table field, used and modified under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) license. Map data from OpenStreetMap and its contributors, used under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL).

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

K

M

P

T

W