Winter in Venice
Wintry wanderings from dawn to dusk in the chilly, misty, drafty and almost deserted canals, calli, campi, bridges and isles of the Serenissima
Wintry wanderings from dawn to dusk in the chilly, misty, drafty and almost deserted canals, calli, campi, bridges and isles of the Serenissima
For visitors, Venice in winter has one huge advantage over other seasons: it is nearly deserted.
With most of the noisy, gaudy trappings of the tourist industry packed away, with the crowds of trippers reduced to a handful of art lovers, the beauties of the city are more readily appreciated.
And the sense of her past greatness is even more captivating in the calm and silence of these days.
Moreover, you can even meet true Venetians in winter, a sort of people you would tell as extinguished in every other period of the year. Which is a blessing, if your aim as a visitor is to live the town from its very inside
rather than to merely scratch its ready-made-for-tourist gleaming surface.
For photographers, there are a few advantages more.
In winter days the sun seems never to rise, it rather remains low and somewhat scattered in the sky, as if shining through a window of polished glass or alabaster, and the shadows are as long as church aisles.
Sunrises last for ages, and so do sunsets. It is breathtaking just staring at this glorious representation, watching the sun while it slowly emerges from or dives into the pale green waters of the lagoon, peeping every now and then through layers of bold rainy clouds at the horizon and casting its faint rays on the facades of palaces and churches.
And then, totally unexpected,the sky breaks for a moment, and the lagoon is suddenly flooded with a magnificent warm light.
Photographically speaking, these are the best conditions you could hope for, if you are looking for those moody and mysterious atmospheres you had always dreamed of, when thinking of Venice.
I am primarily a nature photographer, so when I am photographing in the wilderness I am used to wait very long for that special moment capable of contributing unique drama and mood.
When I am doing cityscapes, I take advantage of this kind of experience I collected in the field, and I must say that it is as much exciting.
This is not, of course, an exaustive treaty on Venice and its innumerable beauties; it is rather a diary of my wanderings about the Serenissima in winter time, visually documented by the pictures I took within two long stays there in 2005 and 2009 and a few other shorter trips.
A book with the same topic and title will soon be published and available for purchasing on my website. All images displayed in this portfolio - as well as many more from my archives - are available for licensing as rights managed stock photography and for purchasing as fine art prints.
I hope you enjoy the showcase and please feel free to comment, thanks!
Paolo
With most of the noisy, gaudy trappings of the tourist industry packed away, with the crowds of trippers reduced to a handful of art lovers, the beauties of the city are more readily appreciated.
And the sense of her past greatness is even more captivating in the calm and silence of these days.
Moreover, you can even meet true Venetians in winter, a sort of people you would tell as extinguished in every other period of the year. Which is a blessing, if your aim as a visitor is to live the town from its very inside
rather than to merely scratch its ready-made-for-tourist gleaming surface.
For photographers, there are a few advantages more.
In winter days the sun seems never to rise, it rather remains low and somewhat scattered in the sky, as if shining through a window of polished glass or alabaster, and the shadows are as long as church aisles.
Sunrises last for ages, and so do sunsets. It is breathtaking just staring at this glorious representation, watching the sun while it slowly emerges from or dives into the pale green waters of the lagoon, peeping every now and then through layers of bold rainy clouds at the horizon and casting its faint rays on the facades of palaces and churches.
And then, totally unexpected,the sky breaks for a moment, and the lagoon is suddenly flooded with a magnificent warm light.
Photographically speaking, these are the best conditions you could hope for, if you are looking for those moody and mysterious atmospheres you had always dreamed of, when thinking of Venice.
I am primarily a nature photographer, so when I am photographing in the wilderness I am used to wait very long for that special moment capable of contributing unique drama and mood.
When I am doing cityscapes, I take advantage of this kind of experience I collected in the field, and I must say that it is as much exciting.
This is not, of course, an exaustive treaty on Venice and its innumerable beauties; it is rather a diary of my wanderings about the Serenissima in winter time, visually documented by the pictures I took within two long stays there in 2005 and 2009 and a few other shorter trips.
A book with the same topic and title will soon be published and available for purchasing on my website. All images displayed in this portfolio - as well as many more from my archives - are available for licensing as rights managed stock photography and for purchasing as fine art prints.
I hope you enjoy the showcase and please feel free to comment, thanks!
Paolo
Swinging gondolas at dusk
Boy with Frog #1
Boy with frog #2
Giudecca twilight
Punta Dogana Twilight
San Giorgio sunrise #1
San Giorgio sunrise #2
Schiavoni sunrise
Snow over the lagoon #1
Snow over the lagoon #2
Rio dei Greci
No one, Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Mossy and misty - Riva degli Schiavoni
Misty Dogana
Waterway posts
Patchwork of houses, Burano
Fondamenta Cavanella, Burano
Laundry day, Burano
Wharf, Burano
Pipeline, Burano
Burano twilight #1
Burano twilight #2
Flaming sunset at the harbor, Burano
Fishing for dinner, Burano
