Sunrise Shoot: Accademia Bridge
Our group met in the hotel’s Reception area at 6:30AM to proceed to the location of the dawn shoot.
Moving through the dark, early morning Venice streets we arrived at the Accademia Bridge (Ponte dell’Accademia), where we set up our tripods and gear in preparation for a sunrise photo shoot:
Unfortunately, the weather gods were not with us; when dawn arrived the sky was very cloudy and subdued, but I managed to get a few promising shots with the Santa Maria della Salute in the background:
After our sunrise shoot we returned to the hotel for breakfast, around 8:15. After breakfast we had a little time to shower and change, then regrouped at 10:15 in the hotel’s Reception to set forth on our day’s shooting.
The Winding Backstreets of Venice
Departing from the Giglio Vaporetto stop we travelled to the Ca’ D’Oro stop, getting off to independently explore and shoot the wonderfully quirky and charming backstreets and alleys near the Hotel Antico Doge. So much character there:
Of Traghettos, Hot Chocolate & Portraits
We all regrouped at our meeting spot at 12:15, then took a Traghetto across the Grand Canal. In Venice, a Traghetto is a small craft, similar to a gondola, whose sole purpose is to quickly and efficiently transport people from one side of the Grand Canal to the other, like this motley group here:
The cost is €2, paid in cash as you get into the (extremely precarious) craft. Don’t dance around or make any fast moves when you’re in this thing or you will definitely end up in the canal:
Once on the other side of the Grand Canal we went to a small cafe called Bar San Cassian, where we indulged in the world’s best hot chocolate (seriously!):
On the other side of the square by the café was Ponte de la Chiesa. I think of all the Venetian squares, campos and streets we experienced in our travels, this one would be my favourite; this bridge is so perfect it looks like a postcard:
Logically, then, this is where we paused for our group photo (which is a Light & Land tradition carried forth on all their tours):
Campo San Giacomo
From about 1:15 to 3:15 our group broke apart and we individually spent time shooting the intriguing cityscapes around Campo San Giacomo:
Chiesa di San Giacomo dall’Orio
Since I was temporarily on my own – and I love shooting church interiors – I paid a visit to the nearby Chiesa di San Giacomo dall’Orio:
After regrouping, we stopped for lunch at a busy little spot called Cafe Majer:
A Vaporetto Ride Up The Grand Canal
We then took a long Vaporetto ride up the Grand Canal, which proved very relaxing and entertaining:
Sunset Shoot
We disembarked from the Vaporetto near Piazza San Marco, and made our way to the Riva degli Schiavoni, a charming waterside plaza behind the Doge’s Palace, for our evening/dusk shoot. The weather wasn’t really great for a night shoot but we set up our gear and waited in anticipation in case the clouds cleared (they didn’t):
At about 6:00PM night had fallen completely, so a few of our group went back to the hotel. I stayed a while longer as the street lights had come on, making for some interesting shots:
Evening Meal
Returning to the hotel, we had some free time until 7:15, at which point we again met in the hotel’s Reception area to depart for our evening meal. We returned to Nuovo Valigia for our meal, home of Saturday night’s conquest (it was so good then that we elected to return here for our last Venice evening meal as a group).
Day’s End
We left the restaurant at about 10:00PM and returned to the hotel, our bellies full and our day complete. I was off to bed shortly after that.
beautiful and inspiring!