Two years ago in Genoa, or more precisely in a neighbouring village of Boccadasse, I was surprised by how many people were jogging along the seashore in the middle of the day. It was contrary to my stereotypical expectation of Italian lifestyle of everybody taking long siestas in the afternoon. If I squinted hard and blocked out the views of hilltop villas and “Genova rosso”-coloured houses, I could imagine that I was in California.
Things are completely different in Maiori. Maybe, it has to do with the Southern Italian mentality. Maybe, I am seeing things differently in vacation mode. But during our first two days here, I din’t see a single person jogging on the street. There are also not many model-like bodies in the latest-season swimsuits. The general impression is not of an effortless visual perfection that people in Milan project. Instead, the tourists here (majority of them Italians) seem to be very relaxed about their physical conditioning, healthy eating and fitness.
Still, I was determined not to drop my running routine, which took me a good portion of the past year to establish. So in the morning two days ago, I woke up early and set to explore the town. I ran East long the Amalfi Drive and in no time found myself outside the town limits. The road was narrow and winding, and I thought that it was good that we didn’t rent a car during this trip. Even at the early hour there was some traffic, and even being on foot, I had to watch out for the oncoming cars and hug the cliffs to let them through. My average pace on that run was quite poor, because I stopped at every corner to snap a photo with my phone – another thing that would have been impossible if I was driving. The “scenic point” parking spots are few, far between and tiny.
camera body. The indoor games are usually poorly lit, so the ISO (and the associated noise) 
I found that with longer focal lengths (e.g. shooting with a 
), I could shoot as slow as 1/500 sec. The difference is due to the shallower depth of field (DOF) of the longer lens (at the same f-number). Actually, the shallow DOF is highly desirable, as it allows to visually separate the subject from the background.
The star feature of the new athletics building is a climbing wall, on which young athletes demonstrated their skills to the visiting public. The climbing instructors offered me to climb to the top and shoot the athletes looking down at them. I jumped at the opportunity, even though I have never climbed before in my life. It turned out to be a lot of fun, but I have to admit that for the first few minutes after I let go of the wall and spun around to face the climbers, who were coming towards me, I was too terrified to really think about photography matters, such as composition, exposure and focus.
, can 
The problem with the 
An effective way to challenge one’s fitness level without monotonically increasing the training intensity is to periodically learn a new sport or physical activity, which is known as 
is a must for travel use.) Over time, however, there would be certain situations where lack of endurance would result in missed shots.
I have recently heard an interview with Kelly Starrett, a trainer of high-profile athletes a the author of “
lens during a soccer game or shooting from a sitting position at the side of a basketball court.
I find that sometimes it is better to stop shooting, look up from the viewfinder and just observe the athletes, the venue, the spectators, the referees, etc. Doing so calibrates my overall experience of the event and provides the necessary pause to decide what would be the best subject, the lens, the viewing angle, etc. to convey my impression of the game to the viewer of the resulting photograph. By the way, I think that the impression of the event photographer is inherently valuable, if only for the unique proximity to the action that this position provides.
