The famous spiral staircase at the Vatican Museum. Photographed with a 15mm (full frame equivalent)

I just returned from Italy and I’m slowly coming out of my food induced coma with a bit of jet lag mixed in for good measure. 🙂  The trip was fantastic; we had great food, beautiful scenery, lovely people, and of course I now have tons of images to process. I'm currently working on getting caught up on some chapters for my new Travel and Street Photography book, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share a few images from photographing the Vatican. Cameras were allowed in many places throughout the museum and the gardens, however, no images or video were allowed in Sistine Chapel. If you ever plan on visiting I strongly suggest buying tickets in advance because the lines were horrendous and advance tickets get you in without waiting. We probably saved over two hours of standing in line by purchasing tickets ahead of time. Well worth it!

Vatican Staircase looking up

Here is our current debate….which one do you like?  Color or black and white?  My daughter says the color looks surreal but Staci says the  black and white image is elegant. Your thoughts? If you go to photograph the Vatican staircase, make sure you have a really wide angle lens; you'll need it!

Vatican Museum Spiral Staircase from below

When photographing the Vatican, look up! The museum has countless beautifully detailed hand-painted ceiling murals.

Amazing hand painted ceilings at every turn.

Statues were placed throughout many of the rooms. While many were replicas, there were some originals located in a roped off areas.

Vatican Statues

Security guards were at every corner.

Vatican security guards chatting away

I was fascinated by the simple canvas seats the guards sat in while surrounded by beautiful hand-painted wall and ceiling frescos and hand-blown bottle-bottom windows.

Vatican Guard seating

This should provide some scale to the size of the Vatican Museum.

Looking for the Popemobile with no luck!

We had a wonderful time in Rome, and photographing the Vatican was definitely a highlight for me. It doesn't seem like we put this much time and effort into making our buildings this beautiful anymore, which is why it was so much fun to capture the craftsmanship and artistry in these old buildings. More to come on my trip later, once I keep my publisher happy by turning in some chapters!