Not Interested (Italian Waiters), Venice

Not Interested (Italian Waiters), Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

I don't usually like posting two shots of a series, but I simply couldn't choose between this one and www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/5206698402/in/photos.... This one offers the better composition and fewer distractions in the background, but it's a shame you can't see the expression on the chap holding forth to the right.

This is another candid which owes its existence to Blackfoot Scout, my glamorous assistant, who posed in front of these guys so I could shoot them candid over here shoulder. I've found setting the AF to the left or right most point helps - you can focus and get a light reading from the subject whilst pointing at your accomplice, so that when you swing the camera onto your subject you can shoot instantly rather than risk alerting them to your presence.

Hope everyone's having a great week.

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Venetian Noir, Venice

Venetian Noir, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

Candid night shot from our first evening in Venice. I held off processing the first set of shots for a while as the Canon 50mm f/1.8's AF had been woeful in the rainy darkness and at ISO 800 the noise on the old 300D is pretty significant.

However, converting to black and white the noise comes across as an old film grain and the soft focus perhaps adds to the mood in this case. Hope everyone's having a great start to the week.

See Venetian Noir, Venice on Flickr.

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Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice

Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

You say "bokeh", I say "water damage". This was shot in rain using our hotel bathmat as a tripod and makeshift camera cover. Bathmats make better tripods than you'd imagine, as it turns out.

Although shot with a weatherproof lens (always worried about the fact Canon commit to nothing numerical by way of definition in this regard), my six year old 300D definitely isn't. Half-covered in the bathmat, half-sheltered by my leaning hooded form, it survived. I'm delighted by it's longevity - probably 100,000+ shutter actuations and lots of knocks along the way.

What it doesn't do so well is noise control, however. This shot was a wretched thing to clean, and this posted version remains a bit ropey even after an hour or so in LR3 and PS7.0 tidying it up. The white balance was a nightmare too, with no result I was ever entirely happy with. I settled on this one, married with a not insignificant desaturation. Otherwise, I used PS to lessen the distortion of the buildings (exacerbated by the lean-inducing bathmat) and LR to bring that church tower back (somewhat) from the shadows of the sky.

Just for pedants - you're right - it's not a gondola. Sadly I couldn't think of a punning film title with "vaporetto" in the title. It is 60 seconds though.

See Gondola in 60 Seconds on Flickr.

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Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice

Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

First picture to be processed on my return from Venice. Lots of these shots - mostly at a much higher tide with waves sweeping in at my feet. I'd imagine more will make it online in due course. This one got the nod for first posting as I liked the lighting and reflection best.

It's the view out from just along from St Marks towards Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, on which sits a church of the same name which is often mistaken for the main Campanile tower on St Mark's square itself.

This image is actually a composite of two - one lefthand, one righthand, manually blended in Photoshop 7.0 along the dividing line/pole noted above. The mix of spray and boat positions, combined with the lack of viewfinder, made it a little hard to ensure the gondolas' fantastic prows did not overlap with the poles. The "bulge" shown in the note above is unfortunate as it implies lax PS work - in fact it is forcola used to hold the oar, so the gap is quite natural!

Hope everyone is fantastically well and enjoying the week.

See Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice on Flickr.

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