Mornings before dawn in Venice are hauntingly quiet. As you walk among the city you can almost hear the ghosts of the past.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 2.7 seconds, ISO 100, tripod.

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As I wondered in front of the San Giacomo di Rialto Church I felt enraptured by the view of this church.

The San Giacomo is the oldest church in Venice dating at least as far back as 421 AD when it was consecrated. One can only imagine the funerals, weddings and services that have taken place in this church well over one thousand years. If you believe in ghosts one could say this place is without a doubt filled with spirits from the past.

It was more than a feeling that made me desire to use the San Giacomo di Rialto Church as main subject in this composition. The way the city seemed to naturally frame the church looked as if the architects of the city built this particular spot just for taking wonderful photos.

The fountain on the square and multiple white lines on the floor made for perfect composition. I placed the fountain in mid-ground and the white lines fell nicely in the foreground to encompass the fountain. As a result, the eye investigates the foreground then naturally led to the fountain then next to the church.

Spending blue hour to make this photo I lingered long enough to capture what I needed. Next I hurried off to the Rialto Bridge to capture the it during golden hour. When you are a photographer lighting is what plans your days during your travel.

Imagine yourself on a long voyage towards Venice. Perhaps you are a merchant headed into Venice to sell your goods in the thriving market. Or maybe you are an artist, on your way to study the art and architecture.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 155mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 1 second, ISO 100, tripod.




Whatever your reason for heading to this destination, when approaching Venice see the island bound church in this photo, the San Giorgio Maggiore, is one of the first things you see before arriving in Venice.

After shooting Campanile and Doge’s Palace with telephoto lens earlier this morning, I decided to try long focus composition with San Giorgio Maggiore Church from the very same spot. During this shoot I made a series of photos capturing different phases of twilight.

The sun expected to rise behind my back and provided excellent side lighting which rendered the architecture details in a stunning way. To narrow down which photo to showcase I selected the one with the best light and colour quality.

The bell tower you see in this photo, Campanile, is one of the most famous landmarks in Venice. Beyond its beauty, the bell tower served a practical purpose for the city to communicate to its people.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 144mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 1.6 seconds, ISO 100, tripod.

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Each of the five bells would let the town’s people know specific events. The Maleficio announced an execution – it is chilling to think about the countless people would hear the ominous bell before being put to death. One knew the Senate was in session when they heard the chime of the Mezza Terza. At midday, the people of Venice would hear the dinging of the Nona. The Trottiera called the Maggiore Consiglio to council meetings. Last, but probably everyone’s favorite, the Marangona, the biggest of all the bells, indicated the beginning and end of the work day.

One of the bells actually still rings on the hour, so you feel the tower’s presence as you tour through the city. As I approached the tower long before sunrise the next morning, the bell struck the hour. This morning I wanted to create a composition with the Campanile, Doge’s Palace and the San Marco Cathedral. To capture all of them I need to shoot from a faraway distance, so I used my telephoto lens.

To find the perfect perspective I stopped at multiple points. It was not easy due the fact it was still dark out! Once I finally found the spot I wanted, I setup the tripod and snapped a few test shots. All that was left to do was wait until sunrise to get started. The composition was perfect with the famous Venice skyline painted with famous landmarks and the glow of the morning light.

When looking at monumental architecture such as the San Giorgio Maggiore Church, which we see off in the distance of this photo, most are too overwhelmed by the beauty to consider the budget.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 32mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 121 seconds, ISO 400, 10-stop ND filter, tripod.

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Would you be surprised to learn that San Giorgio Maggiore Church was built by an architect, Andrea Palladio, who was known for his ability to build Roman-like architecture on “the cheap”.

One big money saver Palladio offered we can see on the white facade of the building. Rather than using expensive limestones, Palladio applied the method of using white stucco over a brick facade. From a distance, one certainly can’t tell the difference between the grand columned portico pictured here compared to classical examples.

An artist is always faced with budget – whether it is supplies or time. Although I had already allotted a morning to shooting this scene, I decided to return one evening. The famous subject matter was certainly worth a second set of shots. The results proved fruitful since I found a new elevated shooting point on a bridge which showed the canal embankment, jetties with boats, lamps and San Giorgio Maggiore Church in the background.

At this scene I waited until the moment the evening lights turned on to combine the natural glow of the sunset with the artificial lighting. I put on a 10-stop neutral density filter to achieve the long exposure to smooth the surface of the water and remove distractions like the many floating boats.

Remember how I worried about the bridge collapsing beneath me in the last post? Well, this is a picture of that bridge, the Rialto Bridge. It turns out I’m not the first person to worry about the stability of the bridge.

March 2014, panorama from 2 horizontal images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/14, shutter speed 3.2 seconds, ISO 100, tripod.

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Although it may not look like it – this was a groundbreaking design for a bridge when it was built back in the 16th century. It is called a single span bridge, meaning it is anchored on two sides with no support in the middle. Many thought it would not last with this crazy architectural technique yet here it still stands nearly 500 years later!

You may recognize this scene in the photo; it is one of the most famous places in Venice. Getting into the spirit of the innovative architecture of the Rialto Bridge, I wanted to find my unique angle. I decided to spend entire morning at Rialto Bridge alone to find some fresh composition.

The sky was cooperative this morning with the clouds partially covering the rising sun and promising a spectacular light. As time passed the sky soon began to glow red. I chose a vertical panorama composition using two horizontal frames. One frame featured the sky and the background with the San Bartolomeo Church, the second frame featured the water and steps in the foreground.

I believe this composition is strong due to prominent leading lines from the steps to the bridge along with the church in the background. I am happy with the result of finding a unique composition for this a much-photographed location and my luck with spectacular light this morning!

In 1630-31, a wave of the plague killed 1/3 of the population of Venice. The city wanted to build a monument to the victims and protect the city through piety.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 35mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 31 seconds, ISO 200, 10-stop ND filter, tripod.

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The Virgin Mary was chosen as the dedication of the church you see in this photograph since Mary represented the protector of city in many ways.

Ever since it was built, the church featured in this photograph, Santa Maria della Salute, has been the inspiration of paintings, photographs and poems. It is an iconic part of the Venice skyline.

I’ve mentioned before in Venice it is hard to imagine anything ever had gone wrong in this city. I can’t even begin to fathom how the city must have felt when the plague took nearly 100,000 victims. Even the monument to these deaths offers an enchanting beauty which does reflect the horror for which it honors.

When capturing this shot of the Venice skyline the sun is rising offering a golden glow behind the church. To focus the view on the architecture and give the photo more of a haunted feel, I smoothed the surface of the water using long exposure and neutral density filter.

When you watch tourists in Venice you often see what you’ll notice about tourists everywhere in the world. They will briefly gaze at beauty then move onto the next big thing.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 35mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 87 seconds, ISO 250, 10-stop ND filter, tripod.

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Rarely will you find someone dwelling on any site for more than five minutes. We can blame the internet for short attention spans or maybe it is just the restlessness of mankind.

Art collector and American Journalist, James Jackson Jarves was not this way. There is a story that when he visited Venice, specifically the church you see in this photo, Santa Maria della Salute. He laid on his back in the church to admire the paintings on the ceiling for hours. Tourists had to walk around what they may or may not have perceived as a mad man. Jarves would become the first American art collector of Italian primitive arts.

Jarves’ appreciation to stop and bask in beauty is definitely something I can relate to as a photographer. Every place I travel I spend time planning compositions specifically by stopping to admire beauty then return later to permanently capture the view in a photograph.

In this particular shot I arrived long before sunrise and made hundreds of shots to capture every single change in the lighting of this scene. I made the blue hour shots, the cold shots just before sunrise and the golden sunrise shots watching the landscape unfold before my camera lens. My direction is Eastward with the sun directly in the frame behind the church making for this lighting effect.

In these moments where I devote myself to capturing the perfect timing, lighting and setting I truly feel at one with the beauty of places like Venice. I try to translate this admiration to all aspects of travel to find the perfect shots for my dedicated audience.

This view from Rialto Bridge is one of the most famous views in Venice. It was the first bridge to ever connect the two sides of the Grand Canal. Up until 1854, it was the only place you could cross the canal on foot.

March 2014, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 0.6 seconds, ISO 100, tripod.

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Could you imagine this being your view on the way to work every day?

Dodging the crowds after taking my first shot in the North-East direction, I quickly moved over to this South-West direction to get the right evening light. It is a bit tricky due to the unique layout of Venice in this place. From this angle I can get great colors in the sky with not as great lighting for the architecture. The facades are in the shadow and there is nothing really one can do about it.

Usually I shoot during the sunset which always turns out the most beautiful shots. Yet as a photographer you are always compromising with something. The sun especially proves to be a point where you need to think on your feet. Do you want the sun in your frame or behind you? If you shoot with the sun behind you, it makes for less interesting sky. If you shoot with the sun in front of you, that means losing some details on the architecture.

Lucky for me, the facade illumination and city lights went on and balanced off the backlighting of the sun. And I was able to get best of both worlds – spectacular sky and nicely illuminated architecture details.