Today is my last day in Italy and even though I’m sad to leave, I’m happy to get one more day to explore the fascinating city of Venice. With each visit, I learn more and more about the culture, the history, and the world class architecture. It’s also interesting that no matter how many times I visit Venice, I still get completely lost trying to navigate the narrow streets and bridges. In the end, I always end up where I’m going but I’m never able to take the same path to get there. I’ve never had so much fun being lost.
Ciao Italia! Fino alla prossima volta.
Technical Mumbo Jumbo || Before and After Comparison
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 30 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100
2 Exposures: 5 seconds at f/8, 24 seconds f/14
Technique and Details: Digital Blending using 2 manuel exposures, equivalent to bracketing -1 and 0. While I was shooting a +1 equivalent long exposure, a garbage hauling boat pulled right into this slip, leaving a long glowing light trail and ruined the shot. Thankfully the Camera RAW files already had plenty of data inside the shadow regions and with a bit of color correction in Adobe Lightroom, I was able to recover all the luminance data I needed. After that, it was blending as usual. The Before and After comparison should help shed light on the rest. (no pun intended) 
Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Software
Espresso: Lavazzo Oro – My very favorite.
Beautiful shot. This is one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever seen from Venice. Great work!
Thanks Beau!
Great image – perfectly blended exposures too. That Venetian water – gross in person, but BEAUTIFUL in images… especially longer exposures like this. Awesome job.
Thanks Joe! It’s definitely not the “swimming” type of water, that’s for sure.
“Ciao Italia! Fino alla prossima volta” … Why am I reading this in Ezio Auditore’s voice?? Anyway, fantastic shot Elia!
I guess I need to get around to playing that game eh?
Excellent shot !
Just made me wish going back to Venice ASAP. My lovely half caught me with this image loaded into the browser and for the last 2h she’s told everyone we’re planning a Venice trip
Wonderful shot, and very nicely processed blend of exposures. Hope to get there someday myself. Regards, Roberto
Thanks for the compliment Roberto!
Absolutely gorgeous Elia… great composition and a clear demonstration of your mastery of the creative tools, both in the field and in post.
Thanks Chet! That’s a really great compliment. Venice is very special to me. I always try to give my shots from that region very special consideration, both in post and in camera.
Wow! Beautiful shot!! love the detail in the wood, first thing that caught my eye.
Thanks Edgar! I made sure to highlight that detail to help draw the eye into the shot.
Great Work!! As always!
One Question, I saw that you used the D800 for that shot. The details and resolution of this camera are mindblowing and I’m wondering if you’re using a UV-Filter on your glass?
Juergen,
Thanks for the compliment and good question. I stopped using a UV-Filter on the 24-70 because I was concerned about sharpness. I’m not sure if the UV filter was making a difference but I decided to remove it anyway, just to be sure.
Thanks for taking us to Venice – what a beautiful view.
Looking at your images has me jolted with inspiration to travel and photograph more! Incredible worrk. Do you have any more in-depth excplanations of how you edit your photos after shooting them? I’m a new user of Lightroom/Photoshop and would love to know a little more about how to capture and create magical images like yours…
Sarah-Jo, Thanks for the compliment. I hope to have more in depth training very soon.
Hi Elia,
Your pictures are very inspirational. Thanks for this.
One question that I always get is how you achieve that crisp and clean look ? Answer to that would help me a lot to take a next step further because that is what I struggle a lot.
Thanks,
Gen
Gen,
I always shoot my exposures on a tripod with a low ISO. I also use minimal (and non-destructive) processing to assure that no damage is done the final image.