Registration is now closed for the 2010 tour. 2011 dates will be posted soon.
Price: $3,295 (2011 price may vary)
I am excited to offer this photo tour to Venice, the most romantic and remarkable city on Earth. While my roots are firmly planted in North Carolina soil, some of my branches extend to other locations, absorbing beautiful light and inspiration. I have had a fascination with Venice since childhood. The more I learn about and photograph the city, the more fascinating it becomes. Please join me for a photographic and cultural experience you'll never forget.
The Venice photo tour is operated through Strabo Photo Tours. Visit their website for complete tour information. Any questions related to pricing, registration, or general operational information should be directed to Strabo. Please contact me with photo-related questions and anything regarding day-to-day activities during the tour.
As soon as I can find time, I will post a Venice photography page that will show you the types of images you can expect to make during the photo tour. Please check back soon.
Following is the introduction and itinerary for the Venice photo tour that is posted on the Strabo Photo Tours website. Please visit the site for complete tour information.
Venice: Night and Day
What could be better than photographing the most fascinating and romantic city on Earth? How about doing it under the light of the full moon!
Good photographs of Venice are not in short supply. This legendary city of islands and canals is perhaps the most photographed in the world. In Venice, finding a good photo subject is a matter of opening your eyes. Of course, we will visit all of the renowned hotspots, but we designed this tour to be different. We want to introduce you to new sights, imaginative ideas, and unique vantage points. We want to help you create distinctive images.
It’s all about the light!
Great subjects photographed in poor lighting make for ordinary photos. But shoot an ordinary subject in great lighting, and you will make a terrific image. We are not going to miss any great lighting on this tour. We will photograph in the golden light of sunrise and sunset and in the magic twilight of dusk and dawn. We will also explore the city at night, photographing lights reflecting in the canals and making long-exposure cityscapes. And for the icing on the cake, we have planned this tour to coincide with the full moon. As the moon rises in the twilight skies over the Venetian landscape, we will be there with our cameras, capturing a scene that has captivated people for centuries.
This legendary city of art, capital of the Veneto, encompasses about 180 square miles, of which 100 is water. The city is built around an archipelago of more than a hundred small islands, separated by a dense network of some 177 canals, and joined by 400 small bridges. The city rests on countless millions of larch poles driven into the sediment of the lagoon, and is protected from the Adriatic Sea by long strands of sand bars.
It is an exotic blend of Gothic, Byzantine and Renaissance styles, seen today as it did in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Everywhere there is water, shaping and reflecting the life of the city, its compelling beauty, curiosity, and interest. Cathedrals, gondolas, and the daily life provide continuity between past and present. Dark passageways end in sunlit squares, neighbors gather at medieval well heads, gondolas moor under tiny stone bridges, elderly women haul baskets of vegetables to their balconies, cats dart in and out of streets marked with ancient signs and stone relief.
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Please note that the itinerary posted here is intended only to give you a general idea of the activities we have planned. We want you to make the best photos you possibly can, all while having the time of your life in a truly extraordinary city. To achieve this, we will revise the schedule as needed based on weather, lighting conditions, crowd issues, and gut instinct. We will be going strong, every day beginning with a sunrise shoot and ending with sunset and night photography, all at varying locations across the city. Venice is small and our hotel is rarely more than a short walk or quick ferry ride from our shooting locations, so you will always have the option of skipping any planned activities. Also, you will have free time each day for rest and freshening up.
May 24: Home - Venice
Board your overnight flight to Marco Polo Airport in Venice.
May 25: Venice
After checking into the hotel, you will have time to relax and settle down after your flight. Our Venetian guide, Laura, joins us for group introductions and orientation. Laura then guides us to one of Venice’s most significant and impressive monuments, the Doges Palace. Built in stages over 250 years beginning in the fourteenth century, the palace served as the seat of government and home of the doge, the head of the Venetian Republic. Dramatically situated in St. Mark’s Square, with the incomparable St. Mark’s Basilica on one end, flanked by arcades of shops and open-air cafes, and with the Campanile soaring above all, the palace is the most stunning civil building in the city. In this building the government forged all those decisions that made Venice the most powerful state in Europe from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. Built in the eleventh century, the nearby basilica is an intriguing mix of eastern mystery and western opulence. In its shadowy interior—filled with the plundered riches of Constantinople—candlelight flickers off the golden mosaic walls. After the tour, we will have a welcome dinner, followed by a photo presentation and discussion of the week’s program.
May 26: The Rialto, San Polo, and Dorsoduro
After a sunrise shoot and breakfast, we will explore the San Polo and Dorsoduro districts. (Venice is divided into six districts or sestieri). We cross the Grand Canal on the famous Rialto Bridge and visit the fish and produce market. The Rialto market, once the commercial heart of the city, operates today much as it has for centuries. At the fish market locals shop for squid, octopus, scallops, crabs, snails, eels, and every species of fish imaginable. The adjacent produce market presents a visual overload of color and form. From the market we navigate through a maze of alleyways—once Venice’s “red-light” district—and visit the churches of San Polo and San Rocco, plus a rare example of Gothic architecture in Venice, the Frari Church, featuring the works of the great Renaissance masters Titian, Donatello, and Bellini. After dinner we will shoot the sunset and rising moon, followed by night photography.
May 27: Burano and the Venetian Lagoon
The Venetian lagoon encompasses some 212 square miles of brackish marsh, sandbars, and little islands. During our boat ride from Venice to Burano, we will experience the northern section of the lagoon. We will spend all day on this little island, and when you first see it from the ferry, you will understand why. A fantasy book come to life, Burano’s quaint houses are painted in every color imaginable, each its own shade. Burano is Venice before the “Elegant Decay” and without the mob of tourists. It is a photographer’s delight. During the day, you will have the option of taking a short ferry hop from Burano to the tiny island Torcello, where you can explore Santa Maria Assunta, believed to be Venice’s first church. We will have dinner and photograph the sunset on Burano, then enjoy a peaceful evening ride back across the lagoon.
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May 28: Personal Day with Group Options
After photographing the sunrise and having breakfast, you will have the day to yourself. Those who wish can remain with the group for informal shooting sessions, otherwise you are free to wander on your own to explore Venice. We will provide information on churches, museums, and other sites you might wish to visit. Today ends with the full moon rising over the lagoon at sunset, so you will definitely want to rejoin the group after dinner for the evening photo session.
May 29: High Above Venice
The full moon sets with the rising sun during our morning photo session. After breakfast, we will first photograph Venice from the top of Campanile on St. Mark’s Square and then from the bell tower at San Giorgio Maggiore just across the San Marco Canal. Both vantage points offer unique and memorable views of Venice and the lagoon. We will also visit the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, among the few in Venice where photography is allowed. This afternoon we will explore the Arsenale, Venice’s historic shipyard, and Santa Elena region of the Castello district. During the Renaissance, Venice was the most powerful maritime state in the world. The key to its naval supremacy was the efficiency of its shipbuilders. At the peak of Venice’s power, the Arsenale employed 16,000 workers, who reportedly could turn out warships in a single day. The Arsenale’s impressive gateway, with its stone lions standing guard, serves as a reminder of Venice’s golden era. Although the Arsenale is not open to tourists, the nearby Naval History Museum offers a fascinating look at the city’s seafaring past. Inside are models of galleys and other historic ships, an outstanding map of Venice in 1500, and authentic nineteenth century gondolas. The evening sunset shoot features the nearly full moon rising above the lagoon.
May 30: Personal Day with Group Options
After photographing the sunrise and having breakfast, you will have the day to yourself. Those who wish can remain with the group for informal shooting sessions, otherwise you are free to wander on your own to explore Venice. We’ll provide information on churches, museums, and other sites you might wish to visit. Today ends with our usual sunset and night photography adventures.
June 1: San Michele and Favorite Locations
Our sunrise session and breakfast is followed today by a visit to the little island of San Michele, which hosts a renaissance church and the cemetery, where the famous are buried alongside the Venetian common folk. The cemetery offers intriguing opportunities for photography. After exploring San Michele, we will use this last day to return to favorite locations from the week, trying to capture that missed shot or catch our subject in a better light. At our farewell dinner this evening, we will reminisce and share our discoveries of this remarkable city.
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June 2: Venice - Home
This afternoon you leave Venice. Board your flight home or on to other exotic destinations.
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