It’s embarrassing how long it takes me to blog personal work… now, a year and a half later (what?!), here is the third installment of our Italian Adventures. We left the other-worldly town of Manarola and headed Southeast.

If Ben and I were to pack up and submerge our Midwestern selves into the Italian culture, we would settle in Firenze in a heartbeat. Such an easy city to explore; a walk in any direction puts you face to face with some of the best work of the Renaissance. Where we have stop signs and historical plaques, Florence has Cellini’s bronze masterpieces and Ghiberti’s gold baptistry doors. The desire we both share to create something beautiful, consumable and significant has never been so affirmed.

Our daily routine quickly became an early rise at the Hotel Lorena, due cappucino from one of the many delightful cafe’s, time spent writing/drawing/filming at the Piazza della Signoria as we waited out the rain and then a visit to one of the many magnificent galleries. I had visited all the main museums during a backpacking trip in college, but this time had the freedom to sit as long as I pleased in the Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery — it was fantastic (not to mention that this round I was showered-regularly and traveling with my honey).

Our time in Florence overlapped with that of Ben’s parent’s for about 18 hours so we made the most of it with a bottle of wine on the roof-top patio of their delightful B&B (to the soundtrack of church bells and an opera singer), followed by mass at the Duomo the next morning. We were immediately greeted by the humble priest who would have been taller than me but time and older bones put us at eye level with one another. After the service he thanked us for coming and asked what I did in the U.S. I responded “photographer,” and he smiled, nodded and exhorted “Yes. For the love of people. Love of Jesu, love of people.” I will always cherish that moment of genuine confirmation and encouragement; what a beautiful gift.

One afternoon was spent exploring a few of Florence’s many indoor and outdoor markets and then finding ourselves in the magnificent itsy-bitsy wine bar Casa de Vino, filled with local men and women (the best confirmation you could ask for when searching out a place to eat).

A quick jaunt across the River Arno via the Ponte Vecchia (Italian for old bridge, and still standing despite Hitler’s order to destroy all bridges during WWII because a commander thought it too beautiful to destruct), and we stumbled upon what became our favorite restaurant of the whole trip : 5 e Cinque. We walked up just as the kind owner was opening the door and putting out the ‘patio tables’ (two small metal t.v. trays on either side of the door), and asked if we needed reservations. He smiled and said he would put the reservation under “Tom.” He proudly translated the simple Italian menu made up of “the most delicious organic ingredients” and described us as “strange customers;” most of his U.S. visitors are from California or New York. Never Ohio, he said. Our meal was the most delicious yet — the owner stopped by regularly to chat and check on his unique Midwestern couple. While we were dying of delectable cheese intake, a lovely Italian man (obviously a regular), stopped by for a glass of wine and some olives — the owner immediately set up to bar stools on the sidewalk across the street — one for the man and one for his plate of olives. Django jazz notes were the evening’s soundtrack and we couldn’t have been more content.

Ben did the perfect amount of research so that our daytime explorations were efficient but not overwhelming. Our evenings were spent getting lost and sipping wine or eating gelato (most often, a mixture of both), and stumbling upon the most magnificent street band — three men, a bass, guitar and violin classically trained made up the band Roma Dracula. We sat and listened for over an hour, chatting with other travelers (Ben befriended a Russian man who now lives in NYC so they had plenty to talk about between the city and Russian poets), while others danced and the crowd grew. We enjoyed them so much that Ben confirmed when and where they’d be playing the next night; we arrived a bit early to get a good seat and they waved at us, allowing us to pretend as if we’d fit in just fine here.

We took 8mm video throughout our trip — we recorded the music that accompanies the video during the band performances so you can get a taste of Roma Dracula’s fine talents.

Roseanna & Jeremy braved the frigid snow-rain mix for our engagement session and I’m so grateful they did (and so impressed with their ability to appear warm and cozy). Really looking forward to their wedding this fall!

I recently had the pleasure of getting to know Meg from She and I Photography during a One-On-One shoot in German Village. Meg is a talented and super fun photographer here in Columbus – you’d love her. Here are few images of our sweet couple, Ashley and Andrew.

One-on-One Mentor Sessions are two hours; we sip coffee and chat for one — chatting about technical aspects of shooting, things to keep in mind when directing couples, how to work efficiently and creatively, etc. Then we have a real-life couple join us so we can practice everything we’ve just talked about. It’s a fun, laid-back way to hone your already mad skills! If you’re interested in setting up a One-on-One session, please email me via the contact page for rates and availability.

My love affair with film continues — it’s slowly becoming all I use for personal work and I hope to be incorporating it more into my professional work soon (more on that to come!). I woke up to an email from Richard Photo Lab on my birthday letting me know that my film scans were ready for viewing and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift! This was my first time using RPL and they lived up to all the hype — such rich image color and texture. (You getting nervous, DSLR? You should be.)

And so here’s a peak at the fun we had touring L.A. with our good friends over at Ginger & Birch. The Avalon Hotel provided a perfect setting and delicious coffee for our loungey-baby-napping-mornings.

If the trip had a theme, it would be good food. Thanks to Ashley for her mad research skillz. We ate good, y’all. Favorite setting goes to Eveleigh on Sunset Blvd.

A spontaneous highlight of the trip was stumbling upon the Painstakingly Made Pop-Up shop hosted by Jihan at Geronimo Balloons – so many fabulous hand made delights and great to meet some faces that we follow online ( Paper & Type and Darling Magazine )!

A secondary theme for the trip might be: We are not cool enough for this place. If you’re ever in L.A., drop by The Hart and the Hunter for the.best.buttery.good.biscuits you’ve ever had. (I’m from the South so my biscuit review is legit, folks.)

And then there was the most magical moment of the journey : sharing the wonder and awe of the ocean with our baby girl. It’s a humbling thing to experience such beauty with a person whose brand new eyes have never seen such a thing. Your heart gets swollen and eyes a little misty and that desire to only share with her life’s most beautiful things is satisfied for a moment.

Ashley’s sister Whitney is living in L.A., so we had an insider’s know-where-to-go-for-killer-sunset-watching. And so we went. And it was the perfect last day.

Thank you A&A for your crazy “let’s invite a six month baby to share a hotel room with us.” It was wonderful.

And delicious.

All images shot with Kodak Portra 400 35mm film.

Last month our little family had the privilege of exploring L.A. with our good friends and fellow creatives of Ginger & Birch. Our trip included so much yummy food, lots of sunshine and even a trip to the Painstakingly Made Pop-up Shop hosted by Geronimo Balloons! I’m anxiously awaiting the return of my 35mm from Richard’s Photo Lab (also in L.A.!), but until it arrives, here is a little Instagram sneak-peek of #ruthiesbigadventure. xo