Venice, Italy

[Richard]

My wife and I spent a wonderful week in Venice at the end of April and I have been processing pics ever since. If there is a more photogenic city in the world, I haven't been there. Of course, that also means that it is one of the most photographed places ever, so getting an original shot is not all that easy. I tried to steer a middle course between shooting the usual suspects and looking for the odds and ends.

The old part of Venice is a group of islands connected by bridges over many canals. No motor vehicles of any kind are allowed and only small children can have bicycles. Boats provide a bus system and there are also water taxis, which cost one Euro a minute, well beyond my means. The well-known gondolas are strictly for tourists--like the Cable Cars in San Francisco, though 20 times the cost. This was taken on the Grand Canal, the largest, richest and busiest canal of the city:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/152137908-L.jpg


Don't be fooled by the dilapidated appearance of the buildings. While some are truly ruins, others are magnificent palaces on the inside. Here's a detail of a gondola's distinctive prow:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/149464818-L.jpg

There is a large, new part of Venice on the mainland, and most of the population lives there. It is just another modern European city, and I have never bothered to go there. The old part really does live on tourism and they make no bones about it:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/150842567-L.jpg

We rented an apartment in a family-oriented neighborhood, off the beaten track. Here are a few shots from that area:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/152138126-L.jpg


http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/149466278-L.jpg


Despite what you may be thinking, the neighborhood was perfectly safe and quiet, with many small children playing unsupervised on the street. Remember: no cars. Here's a shot from Murano, a small nearby island famous for its glass craftsmen:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/150837130-L.jpg



Venice is famous for the Basilica San Marco, a cathedral that features elaborate Byzantine mosaics. It is much smaller than the typical Gothic cathedrals that followed, but is awesome nevertheless. Here's a detail of one of the domes. It features the Cross of Saint Mark.

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/149463148-L.jpg


As in other Mediterranean cities, the Catholic Church exerts a strong influence. Even the local Communist Party office apparently has its shrine:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/149460450-L.jpg


OK, so that's just a sample. There are more in my Venice (http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/gallery/2820731) Smugmug gallery. I'd love to hear what you think of them.

Thanks for taking the tour.

Cheers,

[Flyinggina]

Lovely shots. I visited your gallery and left a comment. I think you did a good job of capturing the city's soul and not just the touristy stuff. You make me want to go back to Venice ASAP. My first visit was only a day and a half and I knew then that I had to return to really photograph the city. You can see the photos I took last summer here (http://flyinggina.smugmug.com/gallery/1676607/1/83103939) Thanks for the inspiration!

Virginia

[photocat]

I love your scenes. You picked some nice moments in Venice, very much speaking for the feel of the city.
Sadly enough, the old Venice is too expensive for a lot of the original locals, so they have to move out. One of the downfalls of tourism...

As to your processing, I wonder how you process them as I think that a lot of them suffer from Shadow-Highlights glow... Something wrong with the contrast... What application do you use to process them? Can you post an original pic like the porto de la scrimia (the fourth pic from the top}? I would like to see it, and see how it changes after the processing...

[Richard]

Lovely shots. I visited your gallery and left a comment. I think you did a good job of capturing the city's soul and not just the touristy stuff. You make me want to go back to Venice ASAP. My first visit was only a day and a half and I knew then that I had to return to really photograph the city. You can see the photos I took last summer here (http://flyinggina.smugmug.com/gallery/1676607/1/83103939) Thanks for the inspiration!

Virginia

Thanks so much, Virginia. Your Venice pics make me want to go back too. :D It really is a magical place.

Regards,

[Richard]

As to your processing, I wonder how you process them as I think that a lot of them suffer from Shadow-Highlights glow....

Thanks for your comments, photocat. I believe we aren't supposed to get into gory PP details on this forum, but you're right about that pic and I'll send you a PM with more detail.

Regards,

[Owen]

Oh Venezia, how I love you so...!

[cunarder534]

Beautiful series. Makes me want to go.

[thebigsky]

A lovely series Richard, you've captured the feeling of Venice very well, I enjoyed your gallery and now want to return, I certainly wasted the opportunity when I was there.

Thank you for sharing,

Charlie.

[Richard]

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Charlie, Tim and Owen. I appreciate it. :thumb

For B&W fans, I put together a new gallery, which can be found here (http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/gallery/317371). This is a typical street scene away from the commercial center:

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/152124811-L-1.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

[W.W. Webster]

Nice work - a different and interesting slant on Venice. Demonstrates yet again that 'seeing' a photo is far more important than the 'taking' of it.

Thanks :thumb

[Richard]

Nice work - a different and interesting slant on Venice. Demonstrates yet again that 'seeing' a photo is far more important than the 'taking' of it.

Thanks :thumb

Thanks a lot, Dub Dub.

Regards,

[jennifer]

These are from a 2-week trip I took to Italy in Fall 2000 (with my trust old Olympus C2100.. sometimes I miss that dern thing). These were some of my favorite shots of the entire trip.

http://wizardsworks.org/%7Ejennifer/album/forum/VENICE125-lo.jpg

http://wizardsworks.org/%7Ejennifer/album/forum/VENICE157-lo.jpg

http://wizardsworks.org/%7Ejennifer/album/forum/VENICE167-lo.jpg

[mwgrice]

Does my avatar look familiar? He's on top of a door somewhere in Venice.

I have mixed feelings about Venice. While I didn't like it as a city as much as I liked Florence and Rome, I desperately want to go back to take some more pictures.