San Michele....Cemetery

I've always loved the trees on San Michele....they seem to stand guard over

the grave sites.......

Final result ~

Here is the last image in the series...the image completed....see post below for details...

Steps of Photoshop etc.

I love to see the steps... the before and after shots.

The girl without makeup and then the girl ready for the runway.

The bottom image is the original image...this shot was underexposed and

slightly blurry. 

First thing I did was run it thru Photoshop to fix the blur....2nd from bottom is

the image after the blur was improved.

3rd from bottom...I fixed the angle of the shot...wanted it to appear as if I were standing

in front of the window, not below the window.  I then ran it thru an app called

Snapheal. 

( I love Snapheal!!)

4th from bottom image is after Snapheal.  In Snapheal I corrected the 'empty' corners

and messed with exposure, color temperature, exposure, etc.

Then I decided I wanted a more vintage appearance....so I used another app called

Modern Grunge.

Top image is the result of Modern Grunge.

(click on images to enlarge)

A trip down the Grand Canal....Looking up!

I love riding the vaporetto...day or night.

One morning around 7am I had to go to the airport to pick up a friend.

I boarded at San Toma and headed to Piazzale Roma...I snagged a seat in the front.

I decided to aim high....looking for chimneys.

(click on images to enlarge)

San Polo Dreaming.....

Cafe Paradiso - Giardini

Favorite 'pieces' at the Biennale.....

Boy...am I gonna hear it for this....

I was underwhelmed by so much of the art at last year's Biennale de Venezia.

I  just spent twenty minutes viewing THE TANK.  The blasting grind and plumes of smoke didn't make a great impression...neither did the prancing athlete that strode the treadmill.
Sorry!

Tank turned into Treadmill - The Guardian

In all fairness, I only spent 3 hours at the exhibits....I'm sure there were gems I missed.
In the past...there have been many works that left a lasting impression.
Just not last year....sigh.

I rounded the corner...in search of quiet!

I found this wet, gorgeous tree....

and then I looked down...a fall carpet!!

Zattere

July 19th, 2012

Salute

(Click on image to enlarge)

Tiepolo ~ San Polo

This is the water entrance on the Grand Canal to Palazzo Tiepolo.

I love looking out our two windows and watching the world glide by.

Last year a dock was added...so now we have a spot on the Grand Canal to 

enjoy our Moscato.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Gondola ~ Rainer Marie Rilke

In 1920, when the gondola had already ceased to the chief mod

of transportation in the city, Rilke described the results of all this 

craftsmanship in his inimitable way:

"Seven years ago, because the gondola was then still

an affordable vehicle, one always sailed along the canals into

the lagoon, up against the darkening of the sky;  one perhaps

never entered so fully into the medium of the night, as

when one was lying almost flat on the black leather

cushions of this coaxing vessel, the only one that does not tear

a hole in the nights as it presses forward.

However well you know the gondola, its consummate perfection

always amazes;  many of its particular features, its

extraordinary length for example, seem the opposite of what is

required and yet then prove themselves to be unerringly

practical and insightful.  How Venice brought forth this slim black ship

from its innermost nature, a creation, an essence - in the world of objects, only a

musical instrument compares to it, an object whose entire body is

shaped by requirements that reach deep into the invisible, the gondolier

stands there like a sign, like the treble clef, at the beginning of

a line of movement, of noiseless, silent music, endlessly varying and

 intensifying."


 From:  Rilke's Venice by Birgit Haustedt

Sotoportego de le Colone - Castello

July 17th 2012

Ponte de la Malvasia Vechia

No matter how many times I come across this spot...it always takes me by surprise.

It's such a perfect composition...the light is always different...always

~magical~

(click on image to enlarge)

My neighborhood...

I love staying in San Polo....it's a perfect fit for me.  

These two photos were taken from the same spot....I've always said....

 "You can stand in one spot in Venice and have a thousand fantastic views!"

Piazza San Marco

Anyone that has been to Venice will always remember the first time they came upon

Piazza San Marco.

I remember that I took a wander the first night we were in Venezia.  We had a late dinner & returned to the Marconi near the Rialto Bridge.....I couldn't stay inside...I grabbed my camera and went on one last explore for the day.

I rounded a corner and BAM there it was.........the glory of decades before my eyes!!

 

(click on image to enlarge)

Venetian Chimneys