27/52 - Coke

Coke

I decided to use a can of Coke as this week's entry for the project. I wanted the shot to have a cold feel to it and had visualised the final image fairly quickly. Lighting it was a whole different ball game. I didn't want to photoshop the final image to alter the colours but wanted the ice cubes to be a very specific blue. 

Lighting setup shot and info after the jump.

Lighting Setup- Coke

I tried several shots using a full CTB, a 1/2 CTB and a 1/4 CTB but was not too happy with the results. Shooting through a piece of white A4 paper didn't work either. Changing the white balance on the camera to "tungsten" got me closest to the colour I was after. 

I used a Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 from under the can as the primary light for the ice. The light from this flash provided the cool blue tones.

I bounced a Canon 580 EX II, fired at full power through a CTO, off the ceiling for fill light. The CTO gel was used to neutralise the white balance setting on the camera. This light combined with the light from the 430 EX created the exact blue which I was after. The fill light also lit the can itself.

The fact that the ice cubes were melting added to the degree of difficulty for this shot as I had to work fast and think on my feet.  

The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy 

The Veince fish and fresh food markets were established in 1097 and have provided Venetians and tourists with their daily supplies of seafood, fruit and veggies since then. The markets, which are on the Grand Canal close to the Rialto bridge, open at dawn when the barges arrive and most of the stalls close by midday. As with most things in Venice, the markets provide photographers with yet another opportunity to spend a couple of hours capturing the goings on.

A vendor at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The variety of fish and seafood on sale was amazing. Apart from a huge selection of fish, vendors were selling octopus, shrimp, crab, prawns and a number of other species of shell fish. We got to the markets at around 7.00 AM and found them already buzzing with activity as the locals did their daily shopping before heading off to work. The markets attract a number of tourists and quite a few companies offer tours and teach visitors how to compare the different varieties of fish that are available.

A vendor setting up a stall at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The markets are closed on Mondays and the locals often advise people not to eat fish on Mondays as it is unlikely to be fresh. To give you some idea of the amount of seafood moving through the markets consider the fact that the local population of Venice is around the 60,000 mark and 20,000,000 visitors pour in to Venice each year. The majority of the seafood consumed by these people is sourced at these markets.

Scallops at the Fish Market - Venice, Italy

We wandered around the markets for about two hours, observing the goings on and photographing the activity. We used a combination of the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens and the Canon 400D and the 50mm lens to photograph the markets.

Produce at the markets - Venice, Italy

Zucchini Flowers - Venice, Italy

Gondolas and Gondoliers

A Gondolier waiting for a hire - Venice, Italy 

No trip to Venice is complete without a Gondola ride. The traditional flat bottomed rowing boat has been used on the Venetian lagoon for centuries. Although they were once the main mode of transport along the canals, they are now used for tourist rides. The earliest references to the Gondola were made in 1094 when a venetian public official referred to it in a letter. They started appearing in Italian paintings in the 1490's in works by Carpaccio and Bellini. The boat has evolved over the last 1000 years into the sleek familiar shape that it is today.

More info after the jump.

A Gondola parked along a canal - Venice, Italy

Gondolas were fitted with a small cabin, named the felce, until the early 20th century. Its windows could be closed with louvered shutters, the original venetian blinds. Gondolas were originally symmetric in design but at the end of the 1800's an asymmetric design which allowed a single oarsman was adopted. The boats are made out of 8 different types of wood and consist of 280 pieces.

At the peak of its popularity in the 17th and 18th century there were between eight and ten thousand Gondolas navigating the canals of Venice.

Tourists on one of the Venetian Canals - Venice, Italy

Contrary to popular belief the Gondola is not poled like a punt. Instead, the Oarsman propels the boat with a forward stroke and a compensating backward stroke. The oar, which is made out of beech wood, and is held in place by an oarlock known as a forcola. The forcola is a complicated shape as it has to allow for different speeds and directions of strokes. The ornament at the front of the Gondola is referred to as the ferro and is serves as a counter weight for the Oarsman. The ferro is generally made out of iron, brass, stainless steel or aluminium.

A Gondoliers hat - Venice, Italy

The profession of "Gondolier" is controlled by a guild which issues a limited number of licenses. In order to obtain a license, the Gondolier must complete training and an apprenticeship as well as pass a comprehensive exam. During this exam the applicants  knowledge of Venetian history, landmarks and foreign languages and practical skills in handling a Gondola are tested.

A Gondola navigating a canal - Venice, Italy

Gondola rides are available on almost every canal in Venice. We decided to take a ride along a few of the smaller canals as we wanted to avoid the Grand Canal which is constantly busy. The trip lasted around 40 minutes and we passed a number of famous landmarks on the way. These included Vivaldi's Palazzo as well as the Palazzo belonging to Marco Polo's family.

A Gondoliers hat - Venice, Italy

All images on this post were captured with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm combo.

A Gondola navigates a Canal - Venice, Italy

Venice

A pickup point for Gondolas in Venice 

In this post, I thought I would concentrate on some of the things that we first noticed while wandering around the floating city - not so much the things that one thinks of as quintessentially Venetian, such as gondolas and Carnevale masks, which I will look at in more detail in later posts.

The image above is of the main Gondola "pickup point" at St Marks square. A 5.30am start was required to photograph the area around St Marks square without tourists walking into the frame. This area is unbelievably busy during "normal" hours of the day. The church in the background is San Giorgio Maggiore on the island of San Giorgio.

Read on for more info and images.

A Vaporetto navigates the Grand Canal

Venice consists of two main islands, which are divided by the Grand Canal, and a number of smaller islands. The Grand Canal, as the name suggests, is the main waterway used to get around. It starts in the Venetian lagoon and ends in St Marks Basin. The areas along the two banks of the Grand Canal are very touristy and full of restaurants and souvenir shops.

A Gondola glides along the Grand Canal

There are 4 bridges which span the Grand Canal. Of these the Rialto is the best known and the oldest - in fact, until the middle of the 19th century, this was the only bridge to span the Grand Canal. The Rialto is named after the market on eastern bank of the canal. It was initially a pontoon bridge built in 1181 by Nicolo Barettieri. Due to increased traffic the bridge was replaced by wooden bridge in 1255.  The wooden bridge burnt once and collapsed on two separate occasions, the last of which was in 1524. The stone bridge which stands today was built in 1591. It is constantly packed with tourists, either taking pictures, looking out over the Grand Canal or browsing around the two rows of shops which span the length of the bridge.

The Rialto Bridge

The Ponte dell' Academia is a relatively new wooden bridge across the Grand Canal. It is also the closest crossing to St Marks square. The entrance to the Gallerie dell' Academia is at the foot of this bridge on the eastern bank. The bridge offers two of the best views of Venice.

The Grand Canal photographed form the Academia Bridge

The islands of Venice are home to around 80 churches. Walking into most of these is like walking into small museums, as a number of them contain paintings and sculptures of the great Venetian artists including Tintoretto, Veronese and Titian.

Santa Maria della Salute photographed from a Vaporetto

All these images were captured using a Canon 7D and a Canon 24-105mm Lens. I also had a circular polariser on the lens.