There is so many good photographers on this planet, no urge to be too happy with my work ;-)
Gaetan
Peter Connan
January 31, 2019 12:22 am
Alan, thank you for a very interesting and well-illustrated article. I love the views you have given us of the less salubrious areas one never gets to see.
But I do wonder if you have ever been to Cape Town (South Africa)? To my mind a much more beautiful city, although perhaps for the way it interacts with nature, rather than the beauty of the man-made environment.
Hi Peter. Glad you liked the views. That’s one of the nice things about Venice – the entire city is safe, even in the dead of night. I was talking specifically about the beauty of the city, rather than its setting. I have been to Cape Town (grew up in SA!), and I agree the setting is stunning – but if we’re talking natural setting, I think Rio takes some beating (as long as you don’t get robbed or stabbed!) And if you’re talking interacting with nature, Pretoria at the peak of jacaranda season is pretty gorgeous as well. Aren’t we lucky to have so many beautiful places to choose from?
Talha Najeeb
January 30, 2019 1:55 pm
Alan,
That’s some fantastic photography. Lots of original and interesting comps. Looks like you were limited to mid-day/harsh light and you still nailed it. Anyone that’s followed my work on PL knows I have a special love for Italy. And yet, I don’t fully know why Venice or Rome did not resonate with me the way Paris did, even after multiple visits. I suspect it has something to do with tourists. Anyway … they’re all up there and it’s a real privilege to have been able to experience them.
Talha
polizonte
January 30, 2019 11:07 am
Good advice and gorgeous fotos – having visited both cities, I agree, I enjoyed Venice more, just shuttling to the islands and walking around.
Martín
January 30, 2019 10:46 am
Such a nice article from a person that seems to be honestly enamoured of Venice, and it shows through the pictures and the text. One funny thing I noticed is how a couple of your pictures inform the speed of the shot, both in part 2 of your article: the 14th picture states “10/1000”, where I would have expected “1/100”, while the next picture states an interesting “7692307/100000000”, which is pretty much 1/13th of a second.
Hi Martin. Sorry, not entirely sure where that gobbledegook came from, but yes, you guessed right. The first was 1/100, and the second 1/13. Probably my fault, since I supplied them in the wrong format, and poor Nasim had to change them!
Tomáš
January 30, 2019 1:51 am
Glad to see some space reserved to Murano (and I’ll add, 99% of Burano pics make my eyes blees these days, happy to see it wasn’t the case with yours!), the glass-making shops are in particular extremely interesting to photograph (you have to find one who will not try to fleece you to do it, Venice being Venice, but it can be done) and there are a couple of vistas that are really intriguing. I’ve been to Venice more times than I can count (living an hour and change away from it) and I do tend to agree with the “familiarity breeds contempt” line of thought, to an extent. While I don’t know whether I’d call it the most beautiful city in the world, it’s most certainly the most unique, at least in my personal and limited experience. Wouldn’t visit it at anytime close to Carnevale (last time I was there it took me 4 hours to reach San Marco from the train station, you get sandwiched among people the same way you’d be in a metro/bus, it’s unreal) but during the low seasons, so to speak, it’s much more enjoyable, especially once you get away from the main streets and even more so once the sun goes down (as you rightly pointed out).
I found the answer to any encroaching sense of boredom or contempt is to go with a friend or colleague who has never been before, and watch their eyes light up in wonder!
Sam
January 29, 2019 8:57 pm
Great article! And have to agree with you – Venice during the daytime is amazing but walking and photographing the streets alone at night is a surreal experience!! I’ve been maybe 4 or 5 times (a few less than you!) with a point & shoot, then minoltas with loads of velvia and ektachrome, and lately with my d800 but every few years get the desire to return to the most beautiful city in the world and shoot some more!
Keith Springford
January 29, 2019 6:37 am
I share the opinion that Venice is the most beautiful city in the world and I’ve seen many. My first visit was 7/8 years ago …I knew the cliched views of the Rialto bridge, etc etc but was completely unprepared for the beauty of the city. Our hotel was fortunately at the lagoon end of the grand canal , we arrived at night and the water bus ride along to the hotel was just stunning. It was a cold few days in mid January but sunny and clear, the light was gorgeous, few tourists..just wander and get lost…much more to see than the main “attractions “
Mass tourism is a scourge there now….there are traffic jams but of people.
Indeed! I do sometimes wonder if they should restrict the number of day-trippers – or maybe charge a hefty entrance fee, so only people who are serious about the place actually go there. But then I’m in the fortunate position of being able to stay, so maybe I’m just being hypocritical! I really don’t have an answer… All I do know is that they reckon Venice won’t be there by the end of the century (even with their long overdue lagoon flood barriers), so let’s capture some of that beauty while we can.
Please forward your web site and e mail address
Thanx
A well-written article with a ‘traveloguey’ grade of illustration.
Hi Gaëtan,
You have good pics in your blog. But you’re right to be modest about it. We should all keep it this way.
Cheers,
Jaff
Thank you Jaff, I really appreciate your comment.
There is so many good photographers on this planet, no urge to be too happy with my work ;-)
Gaetan
Alan, thank you for a very interesting and well-illustrated article. I love the views you have given us of the less salubrious areas one never gets to see.
But I do wonder if you have ever been to Cape Town (South Africa)? To my mind a much more beautiful city, although perhaps for the way it interacts with nature, rather than the beauty of the man-made environment.
Hi Peter. Glad you liked the views. That’s one of the nice things about Venice – the entire city is safe, even in the dead of night.
I was talking specifically about the beauty of the city, rather than its setting. I have been to Cape Town (grew up in SA!), and I agree the setting is stunning – but if we’re talking natural setting, I think Rio takes some beating (as long as you don’t get robbed or stabbed!) And if you’re talking interacting with nature, Pretoria at the peak of jacaranda season is pretty gorgeous as well. Aren’t we lucky to have so many beautiful places to choose from?
Alan,
That’s some fantastic photography. Lots of original and interesting comps.
Looks like you were limited to mid-day/harsh light and you still nailed it.
Anyone that’s followed my work on PL knows I have a special love for Italy.
And yet, I don’t fully know why Venice or Rome did not resonate with me the way Paris did, even after multiple visits.
I suspect it has something to do with tourists.
Anyway … they’re all up there and it’s a real privilege to have been able to experience them.
Talha
Good advice and gorgeous fotos – having visited both cities, I agree, I enjoyed Venice more, just shuttling to the islands and walking around.
Such a nice article from a person that seems to be honestly enamoured of Venice, and it shows through the pictures and the text.
One funny thing I noticed is how a couple of your pictures inform the speed of the shot, both in part 2 of your article: the 14th picture states “10/1000”, where I would have expected “1/100”, while the next picture states an interesting “7692307/100000000”, which is pretty much 1/13th of a second.
Hi Martin. Sorry, not entirely sure where that gobbledegook came from, but yes, you guessed right. The first was 1/100, and the second 1/13. Probably my fault, since I supplied them in the wrong format, and poor Nasim had to change them!
Glad to see some space reserved to Murano (and I’ll add, 99% of Burano pics make my eyes blees these days, happy to see it wasn’t the case with yours!), the glass-making shops are in particular extremely interesting to photograph (you have to find one who will not try to fleece you to do it, Venice being Venice, but it can be done) and there are a couple of vistas that are really intriguing.
I’ve been to Venice more times than I can count (living an hour and change away from it) and I do tend to agree with the “familiarity breeds contempt” line of thought, to an extent. While I don’t know whether I’d call it the most beautiful city in the world, it’s most certainly the most unique, at least in my personal and limited experience.
Wouldn’t visit it at anytime close to Carnevale (last time I was there it took me 4 hours to reach San Marco from the train station, you get sandwiched among people the same way you’d be in a metro/bus, it’s unreal) but during the low seasons, so to speak, it’s much more enjoyable, especially once you get away from the main streets and even more so once the sun goes down (as you rightly pointed out).
I found the answer to any encroaching sense of boredom or contempt is to go with a friend or colleague who has never been before, and watch their eyes light up in wonder!
Great article! And have to agree with you – Venice during the daytime is amazing but walking and photographing the streets alone at night is a surreal experience!! I’ve been maybe 4 or 5 times (a few less than you!) with a point & shoot, then minoltas with loads of velvia and ektachrome, and lately with my d800 but every few years get the desire to return to the most beautiful city in the world and shoot some more!
I share the opinion that Venice is the most beautiful city in the world and I’ve seen many. My first visit was 7/8 years ago …I knew the cliched views of the Rialto bridge, etc etc but was completely unprepared for the beauty of the city. Our hotel was fortunately at the lagoon end of the grand canal , we arrived at night and the water bus ride along to the hotel was just stunning. It was a cold few days in mid January but sunny and clear, the light was gorgeous, few tourists..just wander and get lost…much more to see than the main “attractions “
Mass tourism is a scourge there now….there are traffic jams but of people.
Indeed! I do sometimes wonder if they should restrict the number of day-trippers – or maybe charge a hefty entrance fee, so only people who are serious about the place actually go there. But then I’m in the fortunate position of being able to stay, so maybe I’m just being hypocritical! I really don’t have an answer…
All I do know is that they reckon Venice won’t be there by the end of the century (even with their long overdue lagoon flood barriers), so let’s capture some of that beauty while we can.