Below are a few tips I put together to help me get the most out of photographing Venice.
The same tips could be used to help you get the most out of photographing any city
around the world.
1. Candid photographs of people to add perspective to a scene.
2. Water, reflections, bridges, etc.
3. Fine details, statues, street lamps.
4. Foreground interest, fill the foreground with some unique detail.
5. Colours.
6. Patterns, rows of gondelas, cobble stone, walls, doors, windows.
7. Use your photographic eye to determine how a scene would look in different formats,
Panoramic, Landscape, or Portrait view.
8. Use ND graduated filters to retain detail in the sky while metering for foreground, if
you do not have graduated filters with you, you can always add in one later in
photoshop.
9. Photograph in RAW format for better post editing and HDR conversion later in
photoshop.
10. Try to imagine how a scene would look in black and white, ie gondelas floating on
the water.
11. Details unique to the city you are visiting, with Venice its gondelas, masks, bridges,
canals, buildings, people, narrow lanes, cobble streets, statues,flowers,markets,
signs, etc.
12. If you have the time and you are staying in the area for a couple of days use your first
walk around to visualise how a scene might look at different times of the day, get your
bearings (N,S,E,W) so you know where the sun will rise and set to add impact to your
scenes.
13. Get off the beaten track, if the rest of the tourists go left you go right, get away into
the real heart of the area where it will be quiet and there will be less people about.
14. Get up early, in places like Venice early morning is when the deliveries take place, its
quiet and could lead to a wealth of great photo opertunities.
15. Research your destination on line before you set off, take a look at other images /
photographs on the internet with a view to put your own take on a particular
photograph you admire.