La Serenissima Photo

Photographer’s Note

I've been away for a few weeks, but I have a good excuse - I was on a trip to Italy! This is a shot that every photographer who visits Venice has to get, and it's no mystery why. The view from San Marco across to San Giorgio Maggiore has to rank as one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the world. I really like the soft light in the morning in Venice, and after seeing it for myself I can now understand all those paintings I've seen of the place.

The montion blur on the boats is intentional - in fact I wanted more but it was too light. Other versions had less colour in the sky and I preferred this take.

Nelu_Goia, Floydian, Gerrit, macondo, PixelTerror, Bluejeans trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

skellywag (887) 2008-10-23 19:25

Hi Alvin, This is a stunning shot with beautiful colours and detail. I looked at your gallery, it is wonderful and something for novice photographers such as myself to aspire to. Regards, Jean

Nelu_Goia (2738) 2008-10-23 21:31

Hi Alvin,
Welcome back! I was missing you:)
Oh,Venice,how special that city can be...I will never forget the feeling I had when I was there.I have to say that you managed to get such a good photo in not so easy lighting conditions.
Yet,I can see some banding in the sky.Am I right,or it`s just the small size of the photo to blame?
Thanks Alvin,
Nelu

aadilj (17950) 2008-10-23 22:12

Hi Alvin, thats very beautifully composed with good use of the perspective, dof and the hues. The image and the scene are beautiful

davide (1144) 2008-10-23 23:20

Hello Alvin,
great shot of Venezia, the Gondole ahead the city are a very beauty view, you capture the true atmosphere of Venezia.
Well done, ciao,
Davide

Gerrit (36127) 2008-10-23 23:52

Hi Alvin,
beautiful composition in outstanding colors.
Excellent hazy atmosphere and light.
REgards, Gerrit

macondo (13239) 2008-10-24 2:57

Hi Alvin.
You have captured some beautiful colour tones in this one. The sky is wondrous, so subtle. And the viewpoint has been well chosen, with the domes and tower placed betweeen the poles. It's great to see some colour and detail in those buildings. I probably would have tried to place the horizon a little higher in the frame, but that's a minor point. I agree with the comment about the very faint banding, but it is most probably because of the compression in your 130k file.
Anyway, beautiful image.
Regards,
Andrew

delkoo (34588) 2008-10-24 4:17

hi alvin,
Great photo. Well composed with excellent depth and perspective. Good colour and details also. one can feel the spirit of Venice through this photo.

didir

Floydian (30970) 2008-10-24 5:42

Hi Alvin,
Well, that's really a good excuse ;-)
Hope you had a nice trip...
A classic shot, but in vertical format we don't see him often, it's always horizontal, so therefor a new pov. Light is very natural, no extreme pp here which looks good...i like that.
Regards, Henk

fallan (1860) 2008-10-24 6:39

The deep blues of the boats contrasts nicely with the softer pastels of the photo. There is a little bit of blur on the closer boat, I assume from the rocking motion of the water. This is definitely not Vancouver. A nice departure. Love that blue.

Dyerco (9246) 2008-10-24 7:31

Hi Alvin
Great light as you say. I like the soft muted tones in the sky and the bold blues in the gondolas.
Hope you had a good trip. I'm looking forward to some more shots from there.
Phil

jonathan_hart (22595) 2008-10-24 9:37

nice soft light of the morning, well done classic composition, indeed Venice is worth to be seen even if you watch billions of photos of this place before to go !
regards
jc

jjcordier (25104) 2008-10-24 12:07

Alvin
Sublimissime sérénissime dans cette admirable composition aux couleurs absolument magnifiques. Une très belle photo!
Amicalement
JJ

Hunkar (4856) 2008-10-24 12:54

An impressive scene of Venezia with blue boats and misty atmosphere..

gneufeld (15233) 2008-10-24 12:58

Hi Alvin,
An unusual image for us Canadians for sure, but I like it alot - very strong interest with the shapely and colorful boats mid frame. Very well seen - looking forward to more shots from your trip. TFS. Gerald

cdmonson (2757) 2008-10-24 20:39

Hi Alvin:

Ah, this is where you were, eh? Photographing boats in Italy instead of Vancouver. ;) I love that bit of gradient in the sky and the slightly hazy look of the distant building. I think perhaps there's a little too much water in the foreground, but it's nothing to ruin the shot obviously. Beautiful scene.

Clark

PixelTerror (86663) 2008-10-25 5:35

Ciao Alvin,
I agree you could hardly have found a better excuse !
It's interesting to note Venise is such a shining place it gets natural light even at 23:29 in the morning ;-) For the rest I agree this is the kind of view each of us wants to take back home, the light blur on the boat is fine to me and I like the dark intensity of the color on the foreground water. It seems you have collected your first big dust spot, mamma mia !
Buona fine di settimana, JY

toni_al (15476) 2008-10-26 8:00

Salut Alvin
Je ne connais pas Venice, mais cette image me rappelle mes envies de la decouvrir.
@+
Toni

danielswalsh (13324) 2008-10-26 21:27

I'm quite jealous Alvin, I've never been to Venice (or Italy for that matter).
Sharp details and excellent levels, but I almost wonder if you would have been better off with a landscape format vs portrait format. Having the poles reach almost top to bottom of the frame. I agree the color is a bit better on this one, however the sky itself is a bit plain which is why i'd be tempted to crop some of it out.

The other thing I noticed is what seems to be a large dust spot just over the tallest pole on the left (maybe my eyesight)?

Regardless Alvin, it's still a nice shot,
- Dan
(45 days)

Bluejeans (32901) 2008-12-12 12:25

Ola Alvin ,
Que linda foto esta de Veneza , e um belo cartão postal com estas gondolas em primeiro plano , o céu ficou com belos tons de cor , gostei muito dos reflexos , parabéns !!
Um abraço Gonçalo