THE Traveler: Jerry Gerads of Sartell, Minn.
The scene: Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta, the smaller building flanked by cypress trees, looks moody on a cloudy day in Tuscan fields.
Details: This exquisite gem, near San Quirico d'Orcia, Italy, is a UNESCO Heritage Site and likely dates to the late Renaissance. The privately owned church is not open to the public.
The trip: Gerads first passed this chapel in the fall years ago, but it didn't command attention. When he passed it again one April, it stood out "in the dense green field with the dark afternoon sky behind it," Gerads wrote in an e-mail. "We were delighted to 'discover' this gem, only to find out that it is one of the most photographed sites in Tuscany."
getting the shot: "Most often, pictures of Tuscany feature sun-drenched golden fields in summer or early fall. It's a different look in spring," Gerads wrote in an e-mail. "I was trying to catch the sunlight, which came and went rapidly through the dark clouds, falling on the chapel. It took patience, a quick trigger finger and lots of shots." He took this with his Panasonic Lumix DMC ZS7.
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