Carnival of Venice

Another picture of Venice. One of my favorite spots to make photographs is now just the blurred background to the event taking place in these days in Venice: the Carnival. Hundreds of masked characters fill the city, but if you want to photograph them you will have to keep yourself in the main streets, from St. Mark’s square to Rialto and Accademia, together with thousands between tourists and photographer. My tip to photograph the masks with more calmness is again to wake up early: at sunrise a lot of masks will be at St. Mark’s square prepared to be photographed in front of the gondolas with the first light of the day.

Location: Accademia Bridge (Ponte dell’Accademia). Together with the Rialto Bridge, the Ponte degli Scalzi, and the new Ponte della Costituzione, by Santiago Calatrava, it is one of the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal, the major water-traffic corridor of Venice.

What to shot: From Ponte dell’Accademia you’ll have a vantage point toward part of the Grand Canal with its pompous buildings, the church of Santa Maria della Salute, and Punta della Dogana, where the water of the Canal Grande meets Saint Mark Basin’s ones.

Ideal time to shot: Sunrise of course, but don’t think to be there alone. This site has become one of the favorite spots by many local and foreigner photographers, and it get quite crowded on the weekends.

Gear: Wide angle lenses are ideal for creating very wide panoramas, while standard zooms (24-105mm) give you the widest range of possibilities, from panoramas to isolating the buildings or capturing the action on board of the gondolas.

How to get there: By foot is just a short walk (10 to 15 minutes) both from St. Mark Square and from the railway station. Public transport water bus station Accademia (line 1, 2).

Coordinates: 45°25′54″N 12°19′44″E