The Vatican is a country unto itself and takes care of its buildings and pays the workers. Churches are taken care of by the Church. Other artifacts and buildings are taken care of by the Italian government. The money paid to the tour guide goes to the tour company. If the our company has 20 people paying $500-the tour company is raking in $$$$.
Is it worth seeing the beautiful artworks and churches? Of course. But one also needs to be careful-there is a scam on every corner and they do think Americans are rich. I watched a vendor try to sell a banana for the equivalent of $10.
I was in Italy for six weeks ( spent 13 months in Europe) and I paid nothing for the extra tours because they are mostly not worth it. And I want to be free to do what I want. I got up early and was there when the doors opened. While I took some good pictures, there was something to be said for the postcards I picked up. I can think of other things I could spend $500 on in Italy.
Oh my gosh. A Blue Footed Booby. Love them!
Checked it out in my plant snap app. Says it is Winter Vetch. It is considered invasive in Washington State.
Also available through B&H-special order
I purchased 2 GOBE filters for each of my lenses. 1 ND/clear and 1 polarized. They have 3 levels of filters. They also plant trees for each filter purchased. Eco friendly packaging. As far as I can tell, they are nice filters. The company is Australian. I will probably buy more.
I think the guy had no idea his after market battery might be bad. Plus he gave you 20£. I doubt he was wandering the streets in a foreign country looking for a person to battery scam.
I admire people who can actually take a picture on their phone. I have trouble doing check deposits! I love my DLSR/film cameras. I enjoy deciding which lense to use and how to set up the photo. Creating special effects. Buying software programs I have no idea how to use. Printing my ‘ works of art’. (Well in my mind they are great works of art) Going to out of the way areas to find a great shot. Just everything. Taking a snap on my phone just isn’t the same. I am not worried about obsolete. I am enjoying what I have now.
Thank you Longshadow. Appreciate the share. Saw a couple I really like
Where can one buy upgraded camera straps or do we use guitar straps? Serious question.
Yeah-what an amazing shot.
And our instructor was a National Geographic photographer. So good.
Just a thought: Sometime the local community college extension offers classes on digital cameras. A few years ago, I took classes-both the intro and advanced. I learned a lot, met great people, and had a lot of fun. We even went on field trips. Even got some invites to join local camera club. I would recommend these kinds of classes.
100 mm is a great lens-good buy in my opinion.