A new angle

For many arriving in Marche their first thought is – “it’s even more beautiful than the pictures”. When guests say it about Casal dei Fichi then, of course, it’s a huge compliment but it made us realise that maybe our photos could be better. So when professional photographer Katy Donaldson offered her services we bit her hand off. Well we would have except that one handed photography is career restricting.

It’s hardly surprising that Katy and her family have a holiday home close to us, Marche is a photographer’s dream. The gorgeous countryside makes it hard to take a bad shot but to really portray its depth and beauty is the sign of a true pro.

Combining an interior shot with those views through the windows is incredibly difficult for mere mortals to achieve, especially when the sun is shining. So when Katy arrived with her friend and design guru Philippa, we were slightly disappointed that it was a beautiful sunny day though it did mean that Katy could get straight to work capturing the pool in the early morning light.

Never having done a photo shoot before we had simply no idea how much work is involved and by the evening we were physically exhausted from plumping cushions, picking flowers, moving sofas there, no there, no there. Katy’s meticulous eye, “take that notice board down, I don’t like that bowl, lose this clutter, find a bar of soap that doesn’t look like butter, call that straight???…” kept us busy for 10 hours. We did stop for lunch of course, this is Italy after all. As we moved on we left each perfectly cleaned apartment looking like a bombsite.

But Katy’s alpha precision and Philippa’s great sense of colour, co-ordination and style, as well as humour, have created beautiful images and made it all rewarding.

We are absolutely delighted with the results and now look forward to hearing our guest say “WOW! – it really is as beautiful as the photographs.”