Valencia's Old Town El Carmen | Spain Travel Photography Blog & Vlog
El Carmen, Valencia’s Old Town in Spain. A beautiful city to start my travel photography blog and Vlog in. Photo © Scott Ramsey.
Valencia is a beautiful Spanish city and one of my favourite places to wander around taking photos, especially the historic Old Town, El Carmen.
Scott arrives in Valencia, Spain in Episode One of his YouTube Photography Travel series Travels With My Camera. Photo © Scott Ramsey.
I had arrived in the city after a short flight from London Gatwick the previous day. Although the trip was short by the time we, my girlfriend joined me on the trip, had collected the luggage, hailed a cab and finally found the hotel, as featured in Episode 1, tiredness had crept it. So on the first night, we opted to take a quick stroll around the immediate area find some food and then head back for a good nights sleep, which was just as well as I had plans for an early start the following morning.
Whenever I visit a new place on the first day, I always like to get up nice and earlier and start exploring, often leaving my girlfriend to snooze a little longer. It works well as I'm an early riser and love to stroll around in a new city as the sun rises and the local people start their day. This early morning excursion is also a great way to get your barrings and discover some local landmarks, and the odd coffee shop ;-), that you can visit later on in the day.
So after negotiating the unfamiliar hotel lobby and staircase while trying not to wake the other guests, I was out and about wandering the streets with my trusty camera, although as I admit in the video, I needed a good cup of coffee! Talking of camera gear, I always try to travel as light as possible. Sometimes just carrying an iPhone but more often than not my ideal street photography camera setup is a DSLR camera, a couple of lenses (wide, mid or a short telephoto) a flash and an extension lead. And on this occasion, I had my Nikon D800, 24 - 35mm F2.8 Nikon zoom lens and my nifty 50, a 50mm F1.4 Nikon lens.
Travel Photography Tip
Scott trusty backpack a cheaper alternative to an expensive camera bag.
Camera bags - Put the word Photography in front of a bag search on Amazon and the price rockets. I much prefer to save the money (which you can put towards another travel photography adventure) and buy a regular bag or backpack. I've been using the same hiking backpack for years now, it's so comfortable and cost me about £35.00. Sure you have to do some modifications to protect your gear, I often use towels to wrap my cameras inside, but other then the cost it has one significant additional advantage. It's more discreet! Trust me a nice and expensive branded camera bag is going to draw you some unwanted attention. And while we are on the subject of street crime. When I'm in a crowded area, I always try and put my bag in front of me or keep it emptyish and have my cameras around my neck! Left on your back, it's easy for a thief to cut the bottom of the bag and steal your gear without you even knowing!
It was a Sunday, so the Old Town was quiet, apart from the occasional chiming of church bells, as I wandered around. The early morning sunlight was casting its beautiful golden glow on the buildings, and as I created my photos, people started to fill the streets. I started in the Plaza de La Virgen, a lovely square lined with historic buildings and where we had eaten the night before. Was I looking to photograph a particular building or landmark? No, not really. My only aim that morning, and for pretty much, the entire trip was to capture life in the places I visited. A snapshot of the area and it's people, a picture story of life in whatever town or city I was visiting. Below you can watch the video I shot on the day and see for yourself not only how I created my photos but how beautiful Valencia’s Old Town is, I hope you enjoy it.
It's always tricky to know how much technical detail to go into when writing these blog posts. Regular readers will know I don't get too excited about which Fstop or shutter speed I used but instead prefer sharing beautiful images that tell a story and inspire. Well, that's my aim, and hopefully, I achieve it. So if you have a question or would just like to say hello, leave a comment below, I love hearing from readers.
Till next time, ta-ta for now and I hope you enjoy my photographs and YouTube video.
Regards Scott,