Venice Uncovered: Your Essential Guide

Venice Journal: Dive into the heart of Venice with our curated insights. From the rhythm of local life to the best-kept secrets of hotels and eateries, discover the authentic charm of La Serenissima with every read

March 04, 2012

St. Mark's Basin and the Gondolier

March 04, 2012/ Marco Secchi

Marco Secchi

One of the BestTours on Tripadvisor. Photo Workshop. Have you ever walked on the streets and saw a moment that you wanted to capture, but you were too scared to take the photograph? Do you want to become more confident shooting in the streets and learn how to better interact with your subjects?

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enice Carnival is one of the easiest things in the world to photograph badly. Not because the costumes aren’t incredible, they are, but because most people shoot it like a checklist: mask, portrait, done. Carnival isn’t a programme. It’s theatre moving through a real city. If you want photos that feel timeless, you need light, background, rhythm, and patience. I wrote a practical guide here: msecchi.com/journal/venice-carnival-photography-guide #venice #carnival #leica #gettyimages

Venice Carnival is one of the easiest things in the world to photograph badly. Not because the costumes aren’t incredible, they are, but because most people shoot it like a checklist: mask, portrait, done. Carnival isn’t a programme. It’s theatre moving through a real city. If you want photos that feel timeless, you need light, background, rhythm, and patience. I wrote a practical guide here: msecchi.com/journal/venice-carnival-photography-guide #venice #carnival #leica #gettyimages

The kind of evening where everything slows down. A church tower, a snow-covered street, and the sun disappearing like it has somewhere better to be. Southern Hungary, under 100km from Budapest, suddenly feels like a postcard you can actually step into. 🕯️❄️ #leica #gettyimages

Stop treating winter like a season to survive. Most photographers see the cold and the grey, and they leave the camera in the bag. Big mistake. Summer light is often flat or harsh overhead, but winter light has structure. I’ve just published a breakdown of the three conditions that turn a miserable day into a cinematic one: Blue Hour: It’s not just blue; it’s structural. Fog: It’s not "moody"; it’s a giant softbox that deletes clutter. Hard Morning Sun: The shadows stretch and the streets become graphic. If you’re still trying to shoot "golden hour" in January, you’re fighting the wrong battle. https://marcosecchi.substack.com/p/three-types-of-winter-light #winterphotography #streetphotography #venice #leica #photographytips #lightandshadow #marcosecchi

The first frame is from my Getty Images set, the next four are my personal favourites in black and white. Today Balaton Lake felt like a paused film scene. A ferry crossing a lake that’s nearly solid, fog dissolving the horizon, birds floating on shards of ice like tiny punctuation marks. Everything muted, everything calm…the kind of winter that slows time down, and you don’t even realise it.

A river in winter becomes a blank page. The ice smooths out the noise, the snow deletes the unnecessary, and the world suddenly feels lighter. Then a small flock crosses the frame, and the whole landscape wakes up for a second, as if to say, “I’m still here.” #leica #gettyimages