A Venetian scene
A daily scene in Venice…so lovely there!
Just a quick snap from lovely Venice, Italy. I was passing over a bridge, and could see the front of this gondola coming around the bend. I only had to wait a moment for it to get into position, and I fired away. It doesn’t get much easier!
Watching a Venetian sunset
A stunning sunset in the equally stunning city of Venice, Italy…
Ah, lovely Venice! So gorgeous, so fun to shoot, and so hard to navigate! :-) I admit to getting lost a few times while wandering with my camera in Venice, but that’s just part of the fun. But this spot, just near St Mark’s Square and the Grand Canal, is where you pretty much don’t have to worry about getting lost. It’s very central, and busy, but at sunset it just comes alive!
Vintage Venice
A beautiful sunset in Venice, turned vintage…(I think it works).
Venice is a beautiful town, even when it’s turned a little vintage.
I love to experiment with my photographs. New techniques, old techniques, you name it. It’s fun and always educational to just test out ideas on photos and see what you can create. Take today’s photo for instance. This was a gorgeous sunset in Venice, Italy and really didn’t need any post processing from me to ensure it came across as beautiful as it was in real life. However I decided why not try something a little old school on it? You know, give it a little vintage charm and see how it looks? So I added a water-stained paper texture to it and made some other changes, and came up with this. Is it amazing? No, not really. I like it, but it’s not going to win any awards. But I did have a good time creating this look, and that’s always worth it to me.
That lovely Venetian light
A lovely sunset in Venice with some gondolas for good measure :-)
Venice is stunning, and oh so photogenic. Everything about it just screams to take a photo. I wandered a bit aimlessly there for several days, and never grew tired of it. You always come across a canal somewhere and there are bridges and gondolas everywhere. One evening at sunset I found myself here, staring at these lovely gondolas. So I set up for a long exposure, focused on the distance chapel, and knowing that the gondolas would move around a bit. I hoped it would look cool, and I feel like it came out exactly how I wanted it to.
A gondola portrait
A close up photo of a lovely gondola in Venice, Italy…
There's just so much to shoot in Venice - it's really a gorgeous town. In wandering there, I found myself looking not just at the broader scenes, but also the smaller and close up details. Today's photo is a great example of that. Although I was happily shooting the entirety of these gondolas along the canal, I also chose to get in close and get a more intimate portrait of one. I thought it came out pretty well.
Colorful Burano
Lovely, small and very colorful - it’s Burano, Italy!
Well you know I like my colors, so this place was fun for me!
Burano is a little fishing village/island not far from Venice - just a short boat ride away. But it really feels like you are a world away. The colors of the homes in this village are just gorgeous. I was there midday under harsh light and still thought it was amazing.
It's actually a pretty small place and thus doesn't take much time to wander around. I think we spent a couple of hours there total before catching the boat back to Venice. But it's a worthy detour, especially if you are looking to escape the crowds of Venice in the summer. Bring the camera! :-)
Afternoon in Venice
St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Italy...bathed in warm afternoon light.
I was wandering around in lovely Venice, Italy (with the camera, of course) and basically was waiting for the sunset to fully arrive. It was golden hour and there was some nice warm light out, and I was snapping away. I spent a good bit of time in St. Mark's Square, which is always crowded, and even though I couldn't get a clean shot of the place, I was still happy just to be there to see it.
Gondoliers at work
Gondoliers at work during a stunning sunset in Venice, Italy...
Venice is just a masterpiece of a city!
I love shooting in Venice, because it seems at every turn there is something old, historic, beautiful, or interesting. It makes it very hard to get anywhere.
I was firing away at the sunset, catching the gondolas all lined up when I decided to step over the little footbridge nearby to get an elevated view of things. Then I saw that the gondolas were cruising under it so I stuck around for a few and fired some more.
Piazza San Marco
Late afternoon light in the Piazza San Marco in Venice...with their gorgeous cathedral as a backdrop.
Venice is just a gorgeous city!
That is not exactly news to anyone who has ever been (or seen a photo of it), but it's definitely a true statement. When we were visiting, I found myself unable to put the camera away. Everything is interesting, and beautiful, and OLD.
I captured this one in Piazza San Marco, which is sort of their version of Times Square, sans neon and traffic of course. :-)
I was wandering in the area, waiting on sunset to arrive, so I just walked and snapped for an hour or so. It was pretty rewarding to be an observer of all the buzz of activity in a place that draws in tourists like crazy. While I prefer to avoid the crowds when taking photos, in some places you just can't get around them unless you are there really early or late (which I wasn't able to do here).
So instead I just went with the flow, took shots that caught my eye and enjoyed the fact that I was standing in such an incredible place.
Twilight in Venice
Twilight in Venice, Italy is the perfect time to be out with the camera...
Evening fell in Venice, and I was out exploring the streets...
Venice is a dream come true for photographers. It's full of beautiful sights at every turn, and it all seems interesting and gorgeous. Even a nearly-empty street takes on a romantic look when the day ends and night is descending. I wandered quite a bit while there and took many photos like this one. When evening falls many of the tourists are gone and the city is quiet, peaceful and easy to photograph.
Somewhere in Venice
A lovely canal view in Venice, Italy and a little musing about how beautiful the city is...
So many canals, so little time!
I feel like I ran around Venice in a big hurry for the 5 days or so that we were there. It's just that the city is so beautiful and there is something interesting to shoot everywhere. It's almost not fair that one place has so much amazingness. I need to get back there! Really though, you need only a few days to "see" it but at least a week to really photograph it properly. After 3 or so days of continuous movement and shooting you will find the spots you consider the best. Then, you will want to return a couple of times (or more) to each of them to get the best light. And just like that, a week is over. Maybe you need 2 weeks! ;-)
If you need a starting point, here is my list of the best places I found to shoot in Venice. Hope it helps and let me know if you have any questions!
Just another amazing Italian church
An amazing but little-known church in Venice, Italy...
The churches in Italy are just mind-blowing.
Everywhere we went in Italy resulted in me popping my head into a church. It seems there is something amazing on every street. It's really hard to get anywhere because of it. I just have to take a look at these things!
This one is a perfect example. We had a water taxi drop us at the train station as we were departing Venice (sad emoticon). We had a little time before the train, so I popped over to this church which is next door to the train station. I only had a few minutes to see it, but curiosity won out and I ran over here.
I expected it to be beautiful, but this little church, sitting next to the train station, was literally jaw-dropping. And this isn't even a well-known church! This is what awaits you in Italy my friends. Just get over there as soon as you can!
A pair from Venice
A pair of random shots from Venice, Italy captured while wandering aimlessly...
These are two somewhat random photos that I took in Venice, Italy on our trip there last year. The truth is that I take these sorts of photos A LOT when I travel. I'm not sure why, really. There's not really a good reason for it, other than something about these little scenes always captures my eye. It's just a quick capture of something that catches my eye.
With digital photography being so quick and easy, I always feel it's better to take the photo than not to take it. It's not like it costs me extra or something. So that's why I often come home with many, many photos from a trip. Sure, I spend time planning for the "big shots" of any place I visit, but I get plenty of enjoyment out of these little shots, too. These often come up when I am wandering somewhere, which I highly recommend doing when you travel. Get off the beaten path and just go get lost for a little while. It's quite fun!
The gondola ride
Watching sunset from a gondola in Venice is a great way to wrap up a day there!
You pretty much have to do this when in Venice!
Going on a gondola ride while in Venice is one of those things that you are pretty likely to do, even though the prices are high. It's just a traditional way to see the city, and it's really a great way to see it, too. You end up on a lot of smaller canals which gives you a different perspective on the place.
We took off for our ride when sunset was approaching, and that always makes me a little nervous. While we did that on purpose, I am always scared that I will miss the lovely light. We started in the Grand Canal but quickly ended up touring through a myriad of smaller, empty canals and I was totally turned around. I have no idea how the gondoliers know their way around, but I guess it's like driving your car at home - you recognize streets and landmarks and eventually learn your way around the place.
Anyways, when it was nearing the end of our tour, I could see the light was getting pretty spectacular, and that was about the time that we ended back up in the Grand Canal, heading back to the dock. I had three cameras going, firing away with one and then another, until we were done. I like to think that I came away with something worthwhile. I certainly tried hard! :-)
Those lovely Italian sunsets
A single long exposure from lovely Venice, Italy during an equally lovely sunset!
Sometimes the light is just perfect!
When we were in Venice, I held out hope that I would get at least one great sunset. Like everyone, I also hoped that it would happen while I was out shooting. It would suck otherwise. :-)
So I had a night that I planned to head over to St. Mark's Square, which is sort of like Grand Central Station in Venice. No, it's not a train station, but it's busy like one, though it's way prettier. My intent was to spend time there and then wander sort of next door to the promenade that lines up next to the canal and shoot sunset there.
Although this area has been shot a LOT, it's hard to resist the pull. It's just so gorgeous and I was really thankful that my wish for a sunset came through, because it doesn't happen often enough!
This is a single 144 second exposure that I captured with my Vu 10 Stop filter, which is just an awesome bit of equipment to have on hand. If you don't have a 10 stop, you are really missing out on a truly joyful photographic experience. I made some edits to the photo in Aurora HDR, which is not just for HDR (obviously). Thanks for stopping by!