My Fav. Hotels in Venice
A #bench at hotel #cipriani in… (Photo credit: MarcoSecchi)
You can certainly spend a great deal of money on a hotel in Venice. A night at the Gritti Palace in high summer will set you back at least £750. But for the same amount you could enjoy an entire week in most of the hotels listed here. You won’t get the same status, or quite the same service, or the same superb location, but you will still find a decently sized room, lots of character and a warm welcome.
Cà del Nobile
San Marco 987, ria terà delle Colonne
(528 3473; cadelnobile.com)
This hotel is just off one of the thronging routes between St Mark’s and the Rialto. Interestingly, it’s in one of the lowest points of the city: if you visit during acqua alta, you’ll be able to watch water bubbling up through the cobblestones below. Lots of stairs and no lift mean that it’s not for the unfit.
Price from £79
Domus Orsoni
Cannaregio 1045, Sottoportego dei Vedei
(275 9538; domusorsoni.it)
In 1291, Venice’s glassworkers were banished to the island of Murano. Today, only one glass foundry remains in the city: Orsoni. Located in the Jewish Ghetto, and set in a delightful palazzo overlooking a private garden and the foundry, the Domus Orsoni channels the Orsoni family’s heritage in five rooms, resplendent with glass-mosaic-tiled walls and mosaic art works.
Price from £71
Locanda Orseolo
(Corte Zorzi; 041 523 5586; www.locandaorseolo.com; £160).
Step inside the hotel and you might be in a compartment on the Orient Express: elegant, enveloping, and richly coloured and furnished. But it’s the warmth of the young team at this equally young 15-room hotel that makes it really special – Matteo, Barbara and their brothers, sisters and friends. In the morning, Matteo dons an apron and cooks pancakes and omelettes to order, Barbara serves and everyone chats. The comfortable bedrooms are being transformed to echo the ground floor, complete with hand-painted murals and canopied beds. Secure one and you’ll have a real bargain.
La Villeggiatura
San Polo, 1569, Calle dei Botteri
(524 4673; lavilleggiatura.it)
A short hop from the Rialto markets, in an area buzzing with restaurants and residential activity, La Villeggiatura is an elegantly tasteful home-from-home. Tea and coffee-making equipment in the spacious bedrooms, and gently attentive service, add to the pleasure of a stay here.
Price from £71
Hotel Centauro
S Marco Calle della Vida Cpo Manin
(www.hotelcentauro.com/)
Located in the historic centre of Venice just a stone’s throw from St Mark’s Square (five minutes walking distance), the Centauro Hotel offers elegant, welcoming accommodation from which you can enjoy the city’s art and culture. Housed within an ancient palace from the 1500’s, the Centauro Hotel has Venetian style furnishings from the 18th century and 30 comfortable guestrooms. Rooms have air conditioning and satellite television, some have canal views and those on the top floor have a private terrace from which you can enjoy panoramic views over the rooftops of Venice.
Al Ponte Mocenigo
This is another charming 16th-century palazzo, so tucked away that you could walk right past and never know it was there. You will find one entrance down a very narrow alley just up from the San Stae vaporetto stop; the other is on the opposite side, over a small bridge.
Officially it is a two-star hotel, but frankly it rivals many establishments with double that number of stars. The very smart, high-ceilinged rooms are in Venetian styles and colours. The best are numbers five and six, on the first floor overlooking a tiny canal to one side (they are classed as “superior” doubles and cost £128 in mid-season).
Zingy Gnocchi
Zuni ricotta gnocchi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Gnocchi con burro, limone e ricotta
Gnocchi with butter with store-bought gnocchi must be one of the easiest recipes around. Even when you give it a fresh, lemony twist.
This is a recipe pinched and adapted from the Italian version of La Cucina Italiana. They start by making the gnocchi from scratch, but this time I’ve bought them ready-made, which means you can make the dish in 5 minutes flat, provided of course you have some salted lemon. Otherwise you might have to invest 10 minutes in the preparation of a very fresh and delicious, vegetarian primo piatto.
Ingredients
1 lemon
2 tbsp salt
75 g butter
100 g ricotta
Fresh basil
salt, pepper
Preparation
Cook the lemon in boiling and heavily salted water for 15 minutes
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water until they pop to the surface
Meanwhile fry the butter until it becomes brown with a slight taste of nuts
Cut the lemon in four wedges, remove the flesh of one wedge, cut the peel in strips and add it to the butter
Mix the cooked gnocchi with lemoned butter, ricotta and leaves of basil before serving
The remaining lemon wedges are really good with white meat or in grain salads.
Vanshika and Chirag Portrait Session in Venice
Vanshika and Chirag Portrait Session in Venice, two really amazing persons!
Sinead O’Connor at La Fenice
VENICE, ITALY – APRIL 02: Irish singer songwriter Sinead O’Connor performs at La Fenice Theater on April 2, 2013 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Redferns via Getty Images)
Photos are here
Colours of the B(l)each
Broken Expectations…….
…… and then….
80% of plastic pollution that enters the ocean originates from land. Common sources include: recreational beach users, people who drop litter on sidewalks and streets, plastics manufacturers and transporters, illegal dumping, and areas with inadequate trash receptacles. All land-based plastic pollution has the potential to become ocean pollution. Plastics easily blow into the ocean or washed down storm drains that flow directly to the seas , and oceans around the world.
The Impact of Plastic Pollution on Animals:
1. Ingestion: Marine animals often mistake plastic pieces for food. For example, bird species such as pelicans or albatross will mistake pieces of plastic for small fish. Once the animal ingests the plastic, their body cannot digest it. The plastic item will remain in the animals’ stomach causing the animal to feel full. Thus the animal will eventually stop eating its real food source. Ingestion can cause damage to the digestive system of marine life, causing malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation. SOS is particularly concerned with ingestion as our beaches are littered with small plastic pieces that can easily be mistaken for food by birds and other wildlife here in the Monterey Bay.
2. Suffocation: Animals can suffocate on plastic pollution, such as plastic bags and six pack holders, which can block air passageways and/or inhibit normal growth patterns. A common example includes sea turtles who try and ingest plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish (their favorite food). Often the plastic bag is too large for the animal to digest and the turtle will suffocate.
3. Entanglement: This can occur when common items like fishing line, strapping bands and six-pack rings hamper the mobility of marine animals. Once entangled, animals have trouble eating, breathing or swimming, all of which can have fatal results.
*Ocean pollution affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of sea turtle species, 44% of all sea bird species, and 43% of marine mammal species.
My current Lightweight kit
English: Nikon D700 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
These days, my current lightweight camera gear setup includes the following:
Nikon D700 Camera Body
Even though it’s discontinued, the Nikon D700 is still a great body that produces beautiful image files. I had one years ago..then sold it…bought a new one…..sold it again when the d600 and D800 were coming out..not happy with them ..so bought again a D700! What a carry on. I have few D3s bodies for my main press and editorial work but I continue to use the D700 because it has all the features I need for shooting travel-social, lightweight and some features works . It’s lighter and much less expensive than a D3 or D4, shoots a higher frame rate than the D800, its 51-area autofocus sensor has a wider array in the frame than the one on the D600 and unlike the new D7100, it shoots full frame.
Nikon AF 20mm f/2.8D Lens
I love my fixed 24mm.It’s my go-to wide angle lens for landscapes, cityscapes, environmental portraiture, action and anything else where I need a wide view. It’s compact, lightweight, fast and incredibly versatile. I love it because it gives me that “Right in the middle of the action” feel that I feel is so indicative of my style.
In the same way that I love Fuji X100 or the Fuji X Pro 1 love the look and feel of a fixed 35mm lens, I love the 24mm. It gives me a slightly wider angle of view that, in my mind, makes it a little more usable for features and outdoor work.
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.4D Lens
If I feel light will be an issue I may take with me this amazing lens
Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Lens
My very new favorite lens. The new AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR Telephoto Zoom is a fantastic lens. On my normal jobs I carry around the my heavy 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens, which weighs 3 lbs. IThis new AF-S 70-200mm f/4G ED VR from Nikon costs nearly a thousand dollars less than the new AF-S 2.8 version. It’s also considerably lighter. It’s even light enough for me to use one handed.
After shooting for years with f2.8 lenses, I’m finding the one stop tradeoff to be a non issue for outdoor work. Add to that the fact that his lens has all the pro trappings of Nano Crystal Coating and ED glass elements, make no mistake this is a high quality lens all the way. I used to carry the 28-200 f 3.5-5.6 D
Compact Camera: Fuji X100 and X Pro1
If you’ve read my blog before then you know how much I love the Fujifilm X100.
In the past year, I’ve put it to the test and thrown just about every single outdoor photography situation at it. I’ve shot features, portraits, landscapes, protests and just about everything else with great results. I’ve even had large format reproductions published from it by client of my main agency.
For my favorite bags
I use either the Think Tank Retrospective 5 Pinestone Shoulder Bag or one of my own leather bags. Both bags come with 3 divided sections ideal for the X-Pro1, X100 and a 2nd lens.
There are a number of additional pockets for ipad, documents memory cards etc
If I think I’ll do some flash work when I’m out there, I’ll add a single Nikon Speedlight, like the SB-800, a sync cord and a tiny softbox to the mix.
20 Things to do in Venice – 15/20 Having a Coffee in Venice
Gambero Rosso magazine no longer considers the venerable Cafe Florian in San Marco the best place to go for your espresso. They’ve recently awarded their highest ranking: “three beans and three cups” to the Bar Dandolo of the five star luxury Danieli Hotel, a 14th century palace of Doge Dandolo’s family in the Castello Ovest quarter of Venice. Be prepared to pay for the best.
For normal day coffee these are my favorite places
- Rosa Salva They have different branches in different part of the city
- Marchini Time in Campo San Luca
- Caffe Del Doge they have as well few branches in town this is the largest San Polo 608 | Calle dei Cinque, Venice, Italy
- Caffe Ponte del Lovo in S Marco near Calle dei Fabbri
- Caffe Brasilia San Marco 3658, 30124 Venice, Italy
and now a chart of the different types of coffee….remember in Italy it may be a slightly different…
My Recommended Menu Settings Fuji X pro 1
My Recommended Menu Settings
These are the camera settings I changed to made the Fuji X-Pro1 most suitable for my shooting needs. Your mileage may vary, but I found these tweaks to make the camera all the more usable than the stock camera settings:
Shooting Menu 1: Image Quality (RAW+FINE) – Always shoot in RAW. With RAW + FINE, you get the flexibility of RAW with the instant use of the X-Pro1?s excellent JPGs. Also a smart move until Adobe fixes issues with their demosaicing algorithm for the X-Pro1.
Shooting Menu 3: Fn Button (ISO) – Quick access to change the ISO from the Fn button. With this access, which I find faster than the Q button for dedicated ISO adjustment, you have all exposure settings at your fingertips.
Shooting Menu 4: AE/AF-Lock Mode (Switch) – Ability to switch AE-AF-Lock on by pressing button once instead of having to press and hold – a useful tweak if you focus and recompose often instead of changing the AF point.
Shooting Menu 4: AE/AF-Lock Button (AE+AF) – Locks both AE and AF.
Setup 1: Silent Mode (ON) – No AF confirmation noise or beeps from menu selections for quieter operation.
Setup 2: Quick Start Mode (ON) – Doesn’t completely power off camera to increase responsiveness.
Setup 2: Image Display (OFF) – Turns off default 1.5 second image review in EVF for smoother shooting experience.
Setup 3: Color Space (sRGB) – My preferred color space.
“AF-ON” Button
With my DSLRs, I often have my cameras set up so that the shutter release only fires the shutter, while AF is controlled by the AF-ON button only. This way it’s so much faster shoot for my style of photography, and many other shooters prefer this set up as well.
While the Fuji X-Pro1 doesn’t really have a dedicated AF-ON button like most DSLRs, there is a work-around that you can use to achieve the exact same set up.
The small trick is to shoot in manual focus mode. The camera now defaults to allow the AE-L/AF-L button to activate focus as a kind of “AF override.” Now, the shutter release is entirely de-coupled from AF, but you can still activate AF through the AE-L/AF-L button, so in effect you’ve got your AF-ON button back.
AF Trick: Focus & Fire In One Action
One trick that many users seem to be finding out is to press the shutter release down fully to achieve focus and release the shutter in a single act. Most DSLR users are used to acquiring focus with a half-press and then firing the shutter after focus is locked. With the Fuji X-Pro1, the focusing lag experienced is partially due to the separation of these steps.
Many users are finding that by fully pressing the shutter release in one motion, the delay involving the contrast detection AF and shutter release seems to be lessened.
This trick is basically the opposite of the preceding trick to completely separate focus and shutter release, but if you’re a DSLR user who has been frustrated by the focus speed, it’s worth breaking your habits to see if this works for you. While this trick doesn’t work for all types of shooting, try it – you might just like it.
Never Shoot in 6FPS Bust Mode. Ever.
6FPS sounds great, until you realize that shooting in bursts will lock up your camera for what feels like 10x the time it took you to shoot your sequence. Just stick to single shot mode, your patience will thank you for it.
Creative Meditation
I have blogged before about cretive bock or self confidence crisis…..and If you depend on your creativity for your living, then your most valuable piece of equipment is not your computer, smartphone, camera, or any other hi-tech gadget.
“In a modern company 70 to 80 percent of what people do is now done by way of their intellects. The critical means of production is small, gray, and weighs around 1.3 kilograms. It is the human brain.”
So what are you doing to maintain this precious resource? You probably give it plenty of stimulation – books, movies, music, nights out, interesting conversations with offbeat people.
What works for me is daily meditation. Every morning or early afternoon I spend 20 minutes sitting on a mat, focusing on the sensation of breathing, doing my best to be present and aware, and trying not to get tangled up in my thoughts. It makes all the difference for the rest of the day. And I’m convinced it makes me a better visual artist. I also listen every day to meditation music from my iPhone while I am moving around or shooting.
Meditation is a doorway between our inner and outer worlds. Between “reality” (the seemingly solid world that we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch) and an elusive “something else” we sense beneath, between and beyond what those five senses can grasp.
Meditation offers enormous benefits for everyone, and a set of particular benefits for those who are engaged in a creative activity like writing.
Focus. Concentration is essential to outstanding creative execution and performance. The simple act of focusing on your breathing day after day, will gradually improve your powers of concentration.
Patience. Meditation can be incredibly boring. For once in your life, you’re not trying to do anything or think anything, just sit there and pay attention to your immediate experience. And you will encounter all kinds of resistance to doing it. Zen priest Steve Hagen says, “If you can get past resistance to meditation, nothing else in life will be an obstacle.”
Calmness. At first, you’ll be surprised, maybe even horrified, to discover how busy your mind is – a non-stop stream of mental chatter. But if you stay with it, you should gradually find that your mind settles down as the months go by.
Clarity. Like calmness, this can be gradual and intermittent to begin with. But you are likely to notice moments and even periods of mental clarity, when you see things clearly and your mind is sharper than usual – which makes problem-solving and decision-making easier.
Creates conditions for Insight. You’ve probably had the experience of suddenly realizing the solution to a problem, even though you haven’t been consciously thinking of it. Or you may have experienced a moment of inspiration, when a new idea flashes into your mind unbidden. If you’re practicing meditation regularly, expect this to happen more often.
Perspective. When you spend time just being present and observing your breath, thoughts, feelings, and moment-to-moment experience, you start to realize how trivial most of our daily worries really are. Even in the midst of the daily grind, you can let go of the small stuff, and keep the big picture in view.
Getting Started
The kind of meditation I practice is a mixture of concentration (Samatha) and insight (Vipassana). Samatha practice is simply about focusing on your breathing, in order to develop concentration and calmness. It’s the best place to start, given how busy and unfocused our minds typically are. Vipassana is so simple it almost sounds like doing nothing at all – it’s about being very aware and present to your immediate experience, noticing your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the sounds and sights around you.
To learn how to get started, read the Introduction to Insight Meditation by the monks at Amaravati monastery.
Or you can try to listen to one of the Mantra and chant, The one below is westernized and commercialed version but the traditional has been one of my favorites for a long time, Here
My Fuji Travel Kit
Over the last few weeks I have received a number of emails asking which camera bag I use with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and also what equipment I include in my travel photography kit bag. I thought I would create a simple list of what I include in my travel photography kit regardless of the size of the trip.
Cameras
Obviously I travel with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera and I carry with me the Fujinon 35mm and Fujinon 18mm lenses. In addition I also bring along the trusty Fujifilm X100. Occasionally I have the X10 in my pockets as well
The X100 is slightly smaller so tends to be carried around literally everywhere and it is perfect for those times when you are not photography focused but want quality photos if the opportunity arises.
I use one of my own brand strap and Italian leather half case on the X-Pro1 to protect my camera
On the X100 I use again one of my own straps. They can be on the right or left side of the camera depending on your preference. A leather ring reduce the strap opening. The strap comes with a 1/2? split ring to attach to the camera.
Camera Bag
I use either the Think Tank Retrospective 5 Pinestone Shoulder Bag or one of my own leather bags. Both bags come with 3 divided sections ideal for the X-Pro1, X100 and a 2nd lens.
There are a number of additional pockets for ipad, documents memory cards etc
Tripod
For traveling light I always take my brilliant little GorillaPod
Accessories
I do not carry many carry accessories with me. Just a lens cleaning cloth a Hamma cable release for long exposures over 30 seconds, couple of spare batteries, connections to my ipad, iphone
I also pack a couple of soft release buttons, many argue these are vanity decoration but I do think they make the button easier to use. I use mine either in glass or wood
I carry most of the time the Fuji flash EF x20.
La Scala del Bovolo
The staircase leads to an arcade, providing a charming panoramic view over some of the roof-tops of the city.
he palace dates from the 15th century. It was designed and built by architect Giovanni Candi in 1499 (Giorgio Spavento is believed to be responsible for the grand spiral staircase on the exterio
