On our last day in Rome, we headed to the train station and found the Avis Car Rental location where our Citroen Picasso, with its diesel engine and six speed manual transmission was waiting for us. Over the next two weeks we would travel over 4,000 km in our little rental, which included a few harrowing escapades, not the least of which was exiting from the very first roundabout we entered (about 200m from the car rental agency) by going the wrong way on a one way street which necessitated reversing back into the roundabout which was not well received by the many cars flying through the circular intersection. It was a fitting introduction to driving in Europe! Anyway we eventually made it to the Autostrade and quite enjoyed the 530 km drive from Rome, north-east to Venice.
Venice is an absolutely spectacular city located in the North East region of Italy on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. The city itself is built on a collection of 118 closely knit islands in the Venice Lagoon that are separated by a complex series of canals yet connected by many small pedestrian bridges. There are no vehicles in Venice other than the boats in many forms that ply the waters of the canals and it doesn’t take long to appreciate the charm of a city without cars!
One of the best decisions we made in the planning of our trip was to spend our first half day in Venice with Marco Secchi, a professional photographer born in Venice who now shares his time between homes in Venice and London. We met Marco early at the Rialto bridge and spent the entire morning walking through the city, learning about its rich history and taking in the sights of the city from the perspective of a native Venetian. Marco also taught me much about capturing the essence of Venice with a camera and how to ‘see’ the good shots that presented themselves to us, which was a new thing for a bird photographer! If you are planning to visit Venice, you simply must do so when Marco is available to show you around, even if you are not a serious photographer, he will even show you how to use your iPhone camera! Check out Marco’s website, his photography is superb and you can also book him for your own tour of Venice! Tell Marco that Deb & Scott sent you 🙂
Like Rome, I have too many images to include in a single blog post, so this will be the first instalment of two or perhaps three posts. It was difficult to know how to categorize the images to best present them, however I thought I would start with some photographs showing Venice at night.
For those with a keen eye, you will notice that this first shot was not taken at night but rather in mid morning with the sun still high in the sky. It is included not because it looks a little like a nightscape but because it is a perfect example of an image Marco taught me how to take. In fact, while I was sitting down on the ground to frame the image properly Marco was calling out when the next wave was about to crash on the shore line to help us create the best possible photographic result. Never would I have ‘seen’ to take this picture looking directly into the bright sun, yet Marco’s instruction resulted in one of my favourite pictures of Venice.
Sunset on the Grand Canal.
The lesser light of the sky above San Giorgio Maggiore.
Looking along the shoreline adjacent to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square).
This next image was taken very close to where the previous one was taken but now looking into the Piazzeta leading into Piazza San Marco and the side of the Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica).
The Campanile of St. Mark’s Basilica was first built in 1156 and then rebuilt in 1912. It is free-standing in the Piazza.
These next four images are of the Bridge of Sighs, one of Venice’s many famous landmarks. They were all taken after sunset and required shutter speeds ranging from 8 to 15 seconds yet don’t immediately appear to be night shots. I can promise you it was much darker when these pics were taken than it appears in the photographs. They are included here to encourage you to always have a tripod with you experiment with tight photography. Often the deeper shadows and cool light make for interesting results. The first two images are entirely natural light while the last two have the bridge flood lit. Notice the green colour cast on the first of these pics taken before the flood lights had heated up to their normal operating temperature.
ISO 100; f/22; 8 sec; 65mm
ISO 100; f/22; 10 sec; 24mm
ISO 100; f/22; 8 sec; 65mm and green cast from the flood lights while warming up.
ISO 100; f/22; 15 sec; 55mm and floodlights now providing ‘natural’ colour.
As a general rule you want to take night shots while the sky still has some natural light ands therefore retains some blue colour. This is important as the sky will continue to ‘frame’ the buildings and objects within the composition and create the necessary silhouette. Once the sky is completely black, the objects in the fore ground run into the black back ground and lose their definition which is typically detrimental to the effectiveness of the image. All of the previous images were taken while there was still some light in the sky and thus all the objects within the images are well defined. The images that follow are all taken after the sky has become completely black, however when in Venice you just can’t put your camera away so you break the rules and steady your tripod!
A small piazza a couple of blocks from our hotel where we were enjoying a late dinner sitting outside on the restaurant patio. Beautiful!
The Casino di Venezia.
The Rialto Bridge is probably the most famous and photographed bridge in Venice. Here it is from behind.
And from the front.
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And finally a view looking down the Grand Canal from the apex of the Rialto Bridge.
I trust you enjoyed these night shots from Venice and if you haven’t already done so dust off your tripod and try your hand at photos after dark. You will be pleasantly surprised by the results!
Deb and I got up early on Friday morning of the Thanksgiving Weekend and headed to Mizzy Lake in Algonquin Park to watch the sunrise and hopefully see a bull Moose. We didn’t see any Moose however enjoyed a wonderful morning and were able to take a few pictures along the way.
The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America and is about the size of a crow. Woody Woodpecker is perhaps the most famous Pileated Woodpecker! They are fairly common in Ontario however we don’t often get to see them up close. Deb spotted this one who was working on a fairly isolated Spruce tree, so it was just a matter of waiting for him to fly to another location allowing the opportunity to get some in flight images with a nice clear back ground, which is quite unusual as they are most often seen in the deep forest.
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The Gray Jay is a common bird in Algonquin park and is a very friendly bird that readily comes to your hand for a peanut. In fact they often follow you along the trails, especially if you have food for them as shown in this short video clip taken with my iPhone.
Most of the Gray Jays in Algonquin Park are banded, usually with two coloured bands on one or both legs. The bands normally indicate the year and location the birds were banded which allows researchers to monitor the life spans and migration patterns of the birds. It was nice to find a few non-banded birds which make photographers happy as the bands create visual distractions in photographs.
The Mizzy Lake Trail is one of our favourite trails in Algonquin Park and it is accessed from Highway 60 at the Arowhon Road. The trail, like much of Algonquin is characterized by Spruce Bogs. Below are some sunrise and early morning images.
Just before sunrise.
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To conclude this post, let’s start a bit of a discussion on depth of field especially as it relates to landscape photography. Typically we want everything in a landscape image to be in focus which requires a small aperture in the range of f/18 to f/22. Also, the shorter the focal length of the lens the greater the depth of field is at the same aperture (compared to a longer lens). The small aperture and the desire to use low ISO’s for better image quality results in longer exposure times which is why it is mandatory for a landscape photographer to carry a tripod at all times. Also using a tripod makes you consider the composition and take more time to set up the best possible shot that achieves the goal you have in mind for the finished product. The next three images share the same composition and differ functionally only my the aperture at which they were taken.
f/22, 1/25, ISO100 ,29mm. Everything in the image is in focus. The whole scene is the object and your eyes wander throughout the image.
f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO100, 29mm. The shallower depth of field starts to make the red leaves become the object of the image.
f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO100, 29mm. The entire middle and back ground are out of focus and the red leaves become the only object receiving all of the observer’s attention.
So the question becomes, of the three images, which is your favourite? That is a very subjective question and there is obviously no right or wrong answer, it is simply a matter of preference. As a photographer it is good practice to take the same image at different apertures as well as focusing on different objects within the frame in order to use fluctuating depths of field to your advantage and achieving very different results. It is surprising how this practice will improve your landscape skills and help you develop a better eye for that perfect landscape image.
The bird images in this post were taken with a Canon 1D Mk III and a 500mm f/4 L lens with attached 1.4x TC for an effective focal length of 700mm, using a Jobu monopod and Jobu Jr. gimbal head. The landscape images were taken with a Canon 5D Mk III and 16-35 f/2.8 lens on a Gitzo travellers tripod with Markins ball head.
The conclusion of my last post stated that the next blog entry would be from Venice, however in sorting through the pics from Venice it became obvious that the number of interesting images will require multiple blog entries. So while I’m working the Venice posts, here are a few shots from the tiny island of Burano….close to Venice but a charm all its own.
Burano is a 52 acre island that was first settled by the Romans in the sixth century. It is about 7 km from Venice and you arrive on the island via a 45 minute Vaporetto ride. The population of Burano is about 2,800. The main export of Burano is lace and although that is mostly for the tourist trade, historically the island is known for the best quality of lace in the world. Leonardo Di Vinci visited the island in 1481 purchasing a lace that was used for the altar in a European church and soon all the churches around the globe wanted Burano lace.
As you approach the island, long before you arrive you notice the leaning campanile of the Church of San Martino which dominates Buranos’s skyline.
For a photographer, although lace and leaning towers are interesting, what Burano is really known for is its colourfully painted houses and reflective canals which in the late afternoon light provides photo opportunities like non other.
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The colourful houses of Burano also provided countless windows and doorways that in and of themselves were fascinating objects to photograph. I trust you enjoy this sampling.
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This last image is probably my favourite; not sure why but I guess that’s the subjective nature of photography!
The Vatican Museums are a collection of many museums located within the walls of Vatican City. The first museum was initiated by Pope Julius II in 1503 and generally speaking the popes were the first European sovereigns who opened their palaces to the public introducing the public to their extensive art collections and with that a better understanding of art history and culture. In 2006 the Vatican Museums celebrated their 500th birthday and now there are approximately two dozen museums averaging more than 5,000,000 visitors every year.
Admission to the museums, which includes the Sistine Chapel, is €16 however make sure you purchase your tickets online before heading to the Vatican which allows you to completely skip the que and head directly into the museums. This will save you up to three hours in line if you are in Rome at the height of the tourist season.
Deb & I took hundreds of pics as we wandered through as many sections of the museums as we could fit in and it was clearly a case of sensory and information overload as we tried to absorb and remember as much as we possibly could.
Although the art contained in the Vatican Museums is typically ancient, the central Courtyard of the Pinecone contains a large sculpture that was very cool however seemingly out of place with surrounding artefacts.
Named ‘Sfera con Sfera’ or Sphere within a Sphere, it is just over 13 feet in diameter and although it must weigh many tons it easily spins around its axis with a little elbow grease. The Pinecone (Pigna) in the back ground from which the courtyard gets its name is a first century Roman bronze that was originally the working centrepiece of a fountain located near the Pantheon. It is about 13′ high and was moved during the middle ages to the courtyard of the original St. Peter’s Basilica and then to its present location in 1608.
Although there are many ‘typical’ museum displays, the Vatican Museums catalogue and store thousands of artefacts which line the corridors of the many buildings that comprise the museums.
Located in the Round Room of the museum are two objects that were quite interesting, a gilded bronze statue of Hercules and one of the bathtubs from Nero’s palace.
Nero was the Emperor of Rome from 54-68 AD. An evil tyrant who was a fierce opponent of Christianity, being responsible for the execution of thousands of Christians. His life was characterized by hedonistic excess that was epitomized by his royal palace, the Domus Aurea (Golden House) which he built after the great fire of Rome in 64 AD. In fact, it has been alleged that Nero started the fire in order to make room for his palace, hence the phrase “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”. Nero had his own mother executed as well as one of his wives and his step-brother was poisoned apparently at Nero’s direction. In 68 AD after being ousted from power, he committed suicide, the only emperor to do so.
At some level Nero’s life is represented by the bathtub pictured above. It was constructed of the rarest marble in the world, called Porphyry for its deep purple colour. Reserved for royals and only found on an Egyptian mountaintop some 800 km from Rome where it was mined by convicts and imprisoned Jews and Christians. Nero’s bathtub is almost twenty feet in diameter and stand almost six feet high on its ornate legs (note the people in the picture above for a reference point). The tub is valued at $100,000,000.00.
So while Nero rejected God and executed the Christians of the first century church, who did he worship? Probably the mythological Greek gods, like Hercules, who is seen above overlooking Nero’s bathtub. The gilded bronze larger than life-size statue of Hercules that stands in the Vatican is thought to date back to the first century. It was found in 1864 neatly buried under travertine stones in the area that was once Pompey’s Theatre. The stones protecting the statue were engraved with the letters FCS which means that the statue was struck by lightning and according to Roman tradition granted a ritual burial together with the remains of a lamb.
The detail contained in artworks of the past are impressive as shown in the white marble animal below that functions to support the marble base that rests on its back.
The Gallery of Tapestries contains a number of Flemish tapestries that were made in Brussels in approximately 1523 and first displayed at the Vatican in the Sistine Chapel in 1531. The tapestries were given their own gallery in 1838 and remain there today. The exquisite detail and colour in the stitching of the tapestries is incredible, especially when you consider they are almost 500 years old. You forget they are essentially carpets so in the image below I’ve purposely kept the edge visible on the right to remind you. The tapestry is titled Supper at Emmaus showing the risen Lord eating with the men He joined while walking to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).
Probably one of the most popular galleries in the Vatican is the 120m hallway leading towards the Sistine Chapel known as the Gallery of Maps. Commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII it contains 40 large topographical maps of Italy. The gallery took three years to build and has a ceiling that is as impressive as the maps that adorn its walls.
At the end of the Gallery of Maps you go down a small narrow flight of steps, pass through a rather nondescript doorway and find yourself in one of the most visually stunning rooms in the world, the Sistine Chapel; the Pope’s private chapel and home to Michelangelo’s most famous works that adorn the walls and ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is perhaps the world’s most well-known chapel and one of its oldest with construction through 1473-1481. It is part of the Papal Palace and is interesting in that it lacks a grand entrance typical of churches and there are no entrances or exits directly to the outside. The Sistine Chapel measures 134 x 44 feet, patterned after the size of Solomon’s Temple. The vaulted ceiling rises 68′ above the floor.
When entering the chapel for the first time, it was the vibrancy of the colours that surprised me the most. I was expecting subdued colours, especially on paintings that are 500 years old, however they are actually bright and vibrant.
Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to paint the ceiling, which he completed between 1508 and 1512. In total the frescos painted on the ceiling covered over 5,000 square feet and contained more than three hundred figures.
Michelangelo painted “The Last Judgement” on the wall behind the altar from 1535-1541.
There is some debate whether Michelangelo painted the ceiling lying down or standing up. Either way it is generally agreed that scaffolding was built at a level above the top of the windows which would by design block the viewing of the ceiling from the floor beneath. This means that the figures on ceiling were painted without the benefit of having the proper proportional perspective that would be available from the floor. That Michelangelo could paint such large figures at such close range and maintain proper proportional relationships is truly remarkable as demonstrated in “The Creation of Adam”, perhaps the most famous of the ceiling panels.
We left the Sistine Chapel and headed through a small maze of hallways that comprised a short cut to St. Peter’s Basilica, along the way passing a small store selling Vatican remembrances.
One of the many things I will remember from our day at the Vatican was the sheer size of everything, which is quite ironic given that the Vatican is the smallest country in the world. Even in an alleyway between the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica that sees little traffic, the person in the bottom of the next image provides a great example of the scale of the Vatican.
After concluding our time in Rome we headed to the train station to pick up our rental car and begin the next leg of our trip; the 540km drive to Venice, which will be the subject of the next blog posts.
Vatican City is a 110 acre walled enclave within the City of Rome which has about 840 permanent residents. The Vatican City State was formally recognized as a sovereign state in 1929 making it the smallest internationally recognized State whether measured by geographic size or population. The fortification walls that define the Vatican were constructed under the rule of four popes between the years 847-1644. Although the Vatican now uses the Euro as currency, they do mint Vatican Euro coins which are highly sought after by coin collectors, as are Vatican postage stamps. The sale of stamps and coins is one of the Vatican’s prime methods of generating income for the state. The Pope is the sovereign head of the Vatican City State, having full and absolute executive, administrative and judicial power over Vatican City making him the only absolute monarch in Europe.
Deb & I spent a full day touring the Vatican, which included climbing some 500 stairs to the top of the cupola high above St. Peter’s Basilica which provided a fabulous view of St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding city of Rome. While in the basilica we also met and had a chance to chat with an Arch Bishop and a Cardinal which was a pleasant surprise. The buildings, churches, museums and chapels that make up the Vatican are visually stunning and it is difficult to properly capture their beauty photographically however I trust the images within this post give you a small sense and appreciation of the Vatican.
St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square with the Vaticano Obelisk at its centre form the classical view of the Vatican. The obelisk was carved in Egypt in 30 BC and brought to Rome in 37 AD. It is one of eight Egyptian obelisk’s in Rome and the only one that has not toppled since Roman times.
We were at the Vatican the day before the Pope presided over the canonization of seven people and as a result St. Peter’s Square was set up with chairs for the many thousand who would attend the service. The pictures of those being canonized were framed on the face of the basilica, including Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native Canadian who died 300 years ago when she was only 24.
The Pope’s apartment over looks St. Peter’s Square and he addresses people from the top floor, second window from the right.
Upon entering St. Peter’s Basilica one is first taken aback by the sheer size of the church. It is so big it is hard to get a proper perspective. The church is designed in the shape of a Greek cross with a large central dome that covers the Papal Altar which can be seen in the back ground of this snap from inside the doors of the church.
There were a number of architects involved in the design of the basilica which was constructed in the early sixteenth century, most notably Michelangelo who was in his seventies when asked take over the design and construction of the church.
The basilica is probably the largest church building in the world covering almost six acres in area. The Papal Altar, covered by the central dome of the basilica is the central focus of the church. Only the Pope can use this altar, which is constructed over at least two others that preceded it and all covering the burial site of Peter, who was crucified upside down in 64 AD near the Egyptian obelisk that stands in the centre of St. Peter’s Square only a few hundred feet away from the altar.
The actual altar is quite simple by Vatican standards consisting of a giant slab of Greek marble but the canopy, or baldacchino, that covers it is the visual centre piece of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is formed from a vast block of black Greek marble, gilded in bronze and standing ninety-five feet above the altar. The Papal Altar was consecrated in 1594 while the canopy was designed by Bernini and built in 1624.
Directly below the Papal Altar is Peter’s tomb which is also below the grade of the main floor of the basilica. When a new Pope takes the historic walk to his investiture it begins at this tomb. Note the people at the sides of this next image to give perspective to the sizes involved.
Throughout the basilica there are many altars, confessionals, and works of art, all of which could be greatly expanded upon however for the sake of brevity I will only highlight a few. The first is the Cathedra Petri or Throne of St. Peter which was designed by Bernini and contains a chair that was originally said to be used by Peter himself however was subsequently shown to be from the twelfth century. Still a very old chair! The altar was completed in 1666.
The Altar of Saints Processus & Martinian (two Roman jail guards converted by Peter while awaiting his crucifixion).
One of many confessionals in the basilica.
The statue of St. Peter is one of the most popular in the basilica and devotees line up to touch and kiss the right foot of the statue. This is a practice so common that the foot has been completely worn down by the countless people who have attended the statue since it was created in 1296.
Beneath the Altar of St. Jerome is the resting place of Pope John XXIII who died in 1963. Just last week on September 30th, Pope Francis announced that Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II will be declared Saints on April 27, 2014.
One of the most popular statues in the basilica is Michelangelo’s Pieta which was carved in 1498-1499 when Michelangelo was only 24. It is the only piece of art he ever signed.
The dome above the Papal Altar is the highest dome in the world with the top of its external cross 450′ above the floor of the basilica and its internal diameter is just over 136′. This next image shows the dome from the inside looking up into the cupola.
And from the top looking down into the basilica towards the Altar of St. Joseph, which is said to contain the relics of Simon and Jude in an ancient sarcophagus.
There is an extra fee required to visit the actual dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and then climb the more than 500 steps winding through the inner and outer dome shells, eventually arriving at an outside viewing area at the top of the cupola of the dome. The view from this vantage point is well worth the effort required to get there, although if claustrophobic it may prove a problematic journey.
Looking up towards the top of the dome from within the inner and outer walls.
The dome as seen from the roof of the basilica. The viewing rail is at the base of the cupola on the top of the dome.
A closer view, which also provides some perspective as to the enormous size of the dome.
The spectacular view of St. Peter’s Square with its central obelisk and the surrounding Roman countryside as viewed from the top of the dome.
Across the top of the front facade of the basilica are thirteen travertine statues, the largest being Christ standing 19′ in height and flanked by John the Baptist and eleven apostles. Interestingly, the missing apostle is Peter.
Originally I had planned to do one post on the Vatican City however given the length of this blog entry it is probably best I stop at this point and continue on with the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel in another post.
Thank you for working your way through this post and I trust you’ve learned something new about the Vatican.
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