[night86mare] Venice, My Love 2007

[night86mare]

I was going through the Italy photos, am almost done looking through and getting rid of all of those that I thought didn't make the cut.. Then I realised that the Venice photos are just.. different. I think if you travel to Italy you'll soon realise that the bulk of it is very touristy. Venice is no different. But there is a certain charm about Venice, that really draws me in. Most of the other members of my group also liked Venice the most.

In any case, I will probably be writing more on Venice as it leaved the deepest impression. During my stay there we did not stay on the main island itself, and I was quite worried because we seemed to be staying on this place called Lido, which didn't seem that near the main island. But soon I discovered that heh, Lido is just as charming as Venice, like it or not. And the best part is the restaurant prices on Lido are lower, living standards are lower.

We stayed at this quaint little hotel called Hotel Reiter, available on Hostelworld.com, which is an excellent hostel site which backpackers could use if they so wish to travel Europe, though the site does offer hostels elsewhere, if I remember correctly. The Hotel was quite a bargain at 20+ Euros per night if memory serves me right, and the room was warm and clean, only problem was that sometimes the hot water ran out.. Well it never did when it was my turn to shower, so I'm not complaining.

In any case, I present to you guys Venice, and hope you love it as much as I do.

The main thread on Italy is linked, if you are interested in looking at photos of Rome, Florence, Pisa and Milan. But honestly, nothing compares to Venice, at least from my viewpoint.

[night86mare]

#1

This is one of the many docks that you'll be seeing throughout this thread from me.. Basically Venice, as living up to expectations/reputations has many many waterways. Not sure what the main form of transportation on the island is, but while we were there, since London doesn't have much water we thoroughly abused the boats.

The Lonely Planet guide we had (written in 2006), if I recall correctly stated that each boat trip was about 1.50 Euros. Amazingly when we were there, the price seemed to have risen crazily to 3 Euros, or maybe 4. That's an amazing leap for 2 years (since we went in end 2007), but thankfully we were there for 2+days, hence we could make use of this offer where you purchase a Venice Rolling Card for 4 Euros, which entitles you to purchase a discounted 3 day boat pass for 18 Euros (total 22 Euros).. And we definitely sat more than 7 trips on boat, perhaps 14+. So I guess it was worth it.

Not that I encourage you to try it, because getting into trouble in foreign country is not worth it, and all of us did purchase the pass like good boys and girls, but while we were there there were no checks on boats for passes/tickets. There is no collection of ticket/pass either on entry to boat. Boat arrives, you board it, that's about it.

In any case, this is the dock nearest to the main train station in Venice, which I think is Porta Nuova. Here we were waiting for a boat to Lido, where our temporary residence awaited, and I took the chance to take a few shots.

[night86mare]

#2

Disembarkment when the boat finally arrived. As you can see there is a mad rush to exit and enter the boat, because there are so many people, especially at the popular stations like this one. If one is slow the guy handling the rope/boarding (in the middle) can choose to just close the gates and you will either wait for the next boat (if you are trying to board) or the next station (if you are trying to exit).. Don't laugh, but this happened to us when we were leaving Venice.. I guess sometimes people dilly-dally.

[night86mare]

#3

Inside the boat itself. This was I think, the only time I sat inside the sitting area, most of the time I preferred to stay on the deck and enjoy the scenery and wind and sea.. Though it was regrettably cold. The next few shots will also be of the interior of the standard boat used in Venice, not the gondolas.

[night86mare]

#4



#5



#6

This set of 3 images was taken from a sitting position. Was very amused at how the people of Venice are really doing their own thing at the same time - at least I think some here are locals, and I know one of them definitely is. All are taken at different timings during the 40+ minute boat ride to Lido, so you will see some movement of the same people, most notably the old man with the hat has sat down and started doing his crossword puzzle from #5 to #6. After some time I noticed that the lady sitting diagonally to my right from my position had a tripod attached to her bag, you can vaguely see it in #5. She seemed to be perpetually frowning though, heh. In any case, the funniest thing is that before she got off the boat at her stop, she came up to me and passed me her namecard abruptly, telling me that I could email her the photos I would take in Venice if I felt like it.. Apparently she's an architect? (whatever architetto means in Italian, will find out when I have the time) in Venice.. Either that or designer. Was pleasantly surprised though, will probably mail her my pbase link when all the photos from Venice are up.

[teerex]

Nice series. Good exposures and compositions.

Thanks for the insights

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by teerex Nice series. Good exposures and compositions. Thanks for the insights

thanks teerex

i think italy would look really good in ir, especially since for the most part there there was sun.. but no tripod, no kit lens, no ir filter.. oh well. maybe some other time

[zoossh]

got to say i like this better than the other two. they are colored and natural, my cup of tea. and i think that's impt. the girls need to have proper skin tone to look pretty in your pictures.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by zoossh got to say i like this better than the other two. they are colored and natural, my cup of tea. and i think that's impt. the girls need to have proper skin tone to look pretty in your pictures.

by the other two, you mean glasgow and the main italy thread?

yeah, for all these i didn't really use hdr.. yet anyways. generally for people shots i do not like hdr.

[Yapster]

I like the look of the old man in #5~ The whole composition of that shot gives me a feel of everyone is doing their things and happen that one person is just looking at you. Sorry, not good with words, just like the whole feel of it.

Sorry to OT a bit, are European more open (or bochup) to people taking photos of them? Seems like they are very comfortable with people taking photos of them. Just my feel la.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by Yapster I like the look of the old man in #5~ The whole composition of that shot gives me a feel of everyone is doing their things and happen that one person is just looking at you. Sorry, not good with words, just like the whole feel of it. Sorry to OT a bit, are European more open (or bochup) to people taking photos of them? Seems like they are very comfortable with people taking photos of them. Just my feel la.

hi yapster, thanks. i like that old man too, hehe, he is quite photogenic and i do wish that i had brought my 50mm along. there were many instances where i felt that way actually but too bad, and i guess it would have been a different experience. the key reason for bringing one lens (sigma 10-20) was so that i could do more than just photograph, and not feel so cluttered/hustled when moving around with my friends, who are non-photographers.

in any case, it depends. i think we all suffer from the mentality that asians are not open to photo-taking and europeans (or ang mohs, if you will) are.. i'm thinking this is with relation to the older generation of asians.. and i think you'll see that there are also europeans adverse to having their photos taken. to recount one instance, when in rome around the tiber island area there is a bridge, and there are a few buskers there. i saw one busker getting very worked up at a tourist taking his photo, displaying vulgar gestures. when the tourist tried to sneak in another shot after that he stood up and pushed the guy. so well, in short, it depends.

if you look at the shots taken by some of our fellow forumers - there is this particular series taken in a market, geylang serai if i'm not wrong, and you'll see that even in singapore, which is supposedly renowned to be notoriously unfriendly for photo opportunities (at least amongst locals? ) .. the ts actually managed to gather cooperation from all the stallholders, or at least most of them. i think there was even mention that they joked about being photogenic and not.

i did enjoy taking photos of the people there though.. while people are people, they are still different, in terms of dressing (yes, even london and italy does has its different trends) and mannerisms and actions. cheers.

[Yapster]

Hehe, the old man is indeed cute.

True, it depends i guess. But i do feel, they are very easy with people taking their shots especially when you are using a lens with short focal length. At least they are more natural in the shots.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by Yapster Hehe, the old man is indeed cute. True, it depends i guess. But i do feel, they are very easy with people taking their shots especially when you are using a lens with short focal length. At least they are more natural in the shots.

hee hee, yar the thing is, with wide lenses i don't necessarily have to point at them. essentially only the person in the centre will think that i am shooting them. which is why i guess you will see a lot of street shots where people are pushed to one side. i just stick the lens in their face, but just off, and then wait for them to stop paying me attention. or they don't even pay me attention in the first place, because they are used to the viewpoint/shooting ways of a p&s i guess.

of course the bad point about using wide lenses to shoot people is that they don't take up much of the frame.. isolation is hard, so are capturing details closer up.

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by night86mare in any case, it depends. i think we all suffer from the mentality that asians are not open to photo-taking and europeans (or ang mohs, if you will) are...

really?? i thought of the reverse.

[Yapster]

Originally Posted by night86mare hee hee, yar the thing is, with wide lenses i don't necessarily have to point at them. essentially only the person in the centre will think that i am shooting them. which is why i guess you will see a lot of street shots where people are pushed to one side. i just stick the lens in their face, but just off, and then wait for them to stop paying me attention. or they don't even pay me attention in the first place, because they are used to the viewpoint/shooting ways of a p&s i guess. of course the bad point about using wide lenses to shoot people is that they don't take up much of the frame.. isolation is hard, so are capturing details closer up.

Hehe, tactical shooting~ Haha, i will try it one day... or maybe tomorrow? Haha. Ok, i am really going to the Glasgow thread liao.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by zoossh really?? i thought of the reverse.

well i've always seen people complaining.. less recently

when i first came here and lurked around the most common consensus that i got was that singapore had no landscapes, no seascapes.. as far as i'm concerned i still think the beaches of singapore have their own charm, as hazmee and imran would prove happily.

other than that, i remember people always said that street photography in singapore was harder, because the people were much more camera shy. i'm thinking it's more of the photographer's problem.. because you live there and you feel that perhaps you shouldn't irritate people in the place you live. sometimes i do feel that way too. but here and when on tour, the skin grows thicker, perhaps.

[Yapster]

Originally Posted by night86mare but here and when on tour, the skin grows thicker, perhaps.

Maybe we are pardoned because we look foreigners in Europe?

Same case goes for Singapore, seems like foreigners are always welcome to take shots of local? I really dunno. Guess, it's really up to how we tune our mentality. Till now, i myself never dare to take photos of local without asking them.

[teerex]

Originally Posted by night86mare thanks teerex i think italy would look really good in ir, especially since for the most part there there was sun.. but no tripod, no kit lens, no ir filter.. oh well. maybe some other time

Wish I could make a Europe trip to shoot IR, hopefully in the near future.

Karfee have been posting occasionally some very nice IR pics of Europe here.

I guess Vortex should come back with some Europe IR.

[liionel]

Originally Posted by night86mare #2 Disembarkment when the boat finally arrived. As you can see there is a mad rush to exit and enter the boat, because there are so many people, especially at the popular stations like this one. If one is slow the guy handling the rope/boarding (in the middle) can choose to just close the gates and you will either wait for the next boat (if you are trying to board) or the next station (if you are trying to exit).. Don't laugh, but this happened to us when we were leaving Venice.. I guess sometimes people dilly-dally.

hi for this photo, what stop of gnd did you use? soft edge i presume?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by Yapster Maybe we are pardoned because we look foreigners in Europe? Same case goes for Singapore, seems like foreigners are always welcome to take shots of local? I really dunno. Guess, it's really up to how we tune our mentality. Till now, i myself never dare to take photos of local without asking them.

perhaps, also, i think that italy as a country is very very much used to tourism. everywhere i went, while people didn't really speak english that well, most of the restaurants had english translations of their menu.. well other than the really common stuff like spaghetti boglonese.

yar, same here, i don't really dare to shoot people unless they are literally friendly. i guess this may be attributed to some "shoot and leave" mentality that comes into play when you're on tour.. also you may think that overseas photos are a once in a lifetime chance, possibly.. whereas back home it's a different story.