Trevi Fountain at dawn

The Trevi is jammed into a tiny piazza — the fountain is far bigger than the space in front of it, which is exactly why it overwhelms in person and why crowds ruin it so completely. There is no long lens trick here: you are always close, so either the piazza is empty or there are strangers in your shot.

It is empty exactly once a day. Arrive before sunrise and you share it with a street sweeper and two other photographers; by 8am the first tour groups arrive and the day is over for clean frames. The classic position is centre-front against the balustrade, with Oceanus and the tritons filling the background; the steps on the right side give a slightly elevated angle that gets the whole basin in.

One practical warning: sitting on the fountain edge is forbidden and the patrols do enforce it, dawn included. Keep everyone on the steps and the balustrade and nobody will bother a photoshoot.