Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

Fujifilm X-Pro1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

One of the fastest growing segments of the digital camera market is the smaller bodied interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras that have been released by many manufacturers in the last 12 or so months. Filling the gap between DSLRs and compact point and shoots – these cameras give the flexibility of being able to change lenses with the benefits of not having to lug around a larger camera. Increasingly they’re providing these benefits with a really high standard of image.

One manufacturer doing great things in this space is Fuji who have won a lot of fans in the last little while with their highly acclaimed X100.

Today they went one further and released the Fujifilm X-Pro1 – an interchangeable lens system aimed at the professional and advanced amateur audience. It’s a 16 megapixel camera with a new custom APS-C sized sensor and hybrid optical and electronic viewfinder.

It is being launched with 3 lenses – a 18mm (27mm equivalent) f2.0, a 35mm (53mm equivalent) f1.4 and a 60mm (90mm equivalent) f2.4 macro lens. It’s great to see them releasing some nice fast lenses.

Design wise it’s a pretty minimal design – still a little retro and rangefinder-ish like the X100 but all in black this time.

There’s a lot more to say about this camera but rather than rehash all the details check out the news release and hands on video below. We’ll do our best to put hands on an X-Pro1 to test it for ourselves but until then check out the video below.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 will be available in February and price is expected to be around £1500

 

 

Venice Carnival 2012 Workshops

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

VENICE, ITALY - MARCH 02:  Carnival costumes and masks pose near St Mark's Square  in Venice, Italy. The Venice Carnival, one of the largest and most important in Italy, attracts thousands of people from around the world each year. The theme for this year's carnival is 'Ottocento', a nineteenth century evocation, and will run from February 19 till March 8...HOW TO BUY THIS PICTURE: please contact us via e-mail at sales@xianpix.com or call our offices in Milan at (+39) 02 400 47313 or London   +44 (0)207 1939846 for prices and terms of copyright.. (Marco Secchi)

This is a one or two days workshop. The Venice Carnival is famous all over the world, and we believe it deserves its reputation. What we are offering is a great photographic experiences, something you would not be able to see or experience on your own. This tour is all about photography and we do not spend our time sitting inside each day and critiquing photos. Although we will do some critiquing, the written critique we furnish upon your return is a much more detailed learning tool.
We don’t let you simply roam the streets, hoping to bump into people in costume. What we offer is quite different from the average photo tour. We do not have dedicated models who pose for us on private shoots because we want YOU to catch the real atmosphere and MAGIC of Venice during Carnival.

Your 2 Teachers will be Marco Secchi and Guillem Lopez

Venice Canvas and Fine Art Prints

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Venice Canvases, Photographs and Venetian Fine Art Prints featuring the Grand Canal, St. Mark’s Square, the Bridge of Sighs, famous and unknown landmarks and Venetian Gondolas.  These Venice Prints on Canvas are also available in larger sizes on request.

You can now buy them directly here


Venice Canvas and Fine Art Prints – Images by Marco Secchi

 

No Budget for photos? Sorry…it will not be me

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

I had the usual call yesterday morning from an MD of a blue chip company-

“If you want to work with us,  just sign the contract. The copyright is all ours, and if you don’t like it, nothing I can do, that is the way it is. We’ll get another photographer, possibly cheaper or that may be  will do the work for free in exchange of credits”

……… guess it’s another photographer then.

Poveglia…Poveglia!

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Since moving to Venice, it has been a great desire of mine to visit the mysterious island of Poveglia, with its ruined mental asylum and haunted burial grounds. Finally, yesterday, thanks to two wonderful skippers Luca and Jacopo, and accompanied by fellow journalist and writer Robin Saikia I managed to visit the island.

HOW TO LICENCE THIS PICTURE: please contact us via e-mail at sales@xianpix.com or call our offices in Milan at (+39) 02 400 47313 or London   +44 (0)207 1939846 for prices and terms of copyright. First Use Only ,Editorial Use Only, All repros payable, No Archiving.© MARCO SECCHI (Marco Secchi)

For more images check the Poveglia gallery here or as a slideshow

Robin Saikia writes:
“Shortly before we left Poveglia, I forced myself to lie on an iron bed in the ruins of the psychiatric ward, recalling the images of the day: the desecrated chapel with the scabrous remains of its cheerful Tiepolo-blue ceiling, the claustrophobic corridors, the rusting beds and lockers, the quay, the bell-tower, the woods, the bridge. I closed my eyes tightly for a few long seconds. When I opened them, I saw a very clear picture of hell.
..”

The island of Poveglia, with its ruined hospital and plague burial grounds, is said to be the most haunted location in the world. Though the island is a multi-million dollar piece of real estate, it remains deserted and off limits to the public. Its dark, derelict and forbidding shores are only minutes away from the glamour of the Venice Film Festival on the Lido, but there are few visitors. Very few Venetians are prepared to talk about the island or answer questions. They believe that while the rest of Venice is governed by the Comune di Venezia, Poveglia remains firmly in the Devil’s jurisdiction. They see it as a kind of supernatural penitentiary, an outpost of purgatory and hell. This view is captured in an unnerving local saying: quando muore un cattivo, si sveglia a Poveglia; when an evil man dies, he wakes up in Poveglia. I visited the island in August this year with the photographer Marco Secchi. Our account is a drawing together of truth, half-truth, speculation and urban myth. It is based on conversations with local people and our exploration of the island. It is an attempt to make sense of the fear and revulsion that Poveglia continues to provoke, despite the best attempts of sceptics to exorcise its ghosts with the bell, book and candle of reason. (Robin Saikia)

Robin Saikia is the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Venice Lido, recently published by Blue Guides (http://thevenicelido.com). Please contact us to discuss licensing our 4000 word photo documentary of the island, words by Robin Saikia, photography by Marco Secchi. msecchi@gmail.com

Kunqu Opera in Venice

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

VENICE, ITALY - JULY 29:  Luo Chenxue from the Kunqu Opera of Jiangsu performs at Teatro Goldoni on July 29, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Kunqu Opera, now under the Unesco patronage, originated in the Jiangsu province, dating back to the early Ming dinasty. With a history of more than six hundred years, Kunqu Opera is a traditional type of Chinese drama and one of the most ancient opera forms in China and in the world. (Marco Secchi/Getty Images)

Luo Chenxue from the Kunqu Opera of Jiangsu performs at Teatro Goldoni on July 29, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Kunqu Opera, now under the Unesco patronage, originated in the Jiangsu province, dating back to the early Ming dinasty. With a history of more than six hundred years, Kunqu Opera is a traditional type of Chinese drama and one of the most ancient opera forms in China and in the world.

Image Gallery is here

Redentore Festival in Venice

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

Redentore is the celebration most loved by Venetians, to remind the end of the plague in 1577 higlights of the celebration are the poonton bridge across the Giudecca Canal, people gatherings on boats in the St Mark’s basin and spectacular fireworks display

VENICE, ITALY - JULY 16: People starts to gather on boats of all sizes in St Mark's basin for the Redentore Celebrations on July 16, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Redentore is one of the most loved celebrations by Venetians which is a remembrance of the end of the 1577 plague. Highlights of the celebration include the pontoon bridge extending across the Giudecca Canal, gatherings on boats in the St Mark's basin and spectacular fireworks on display. (Marco Secchi)My Redentore gallery is here

Redentore is a popular festival that combines the sacred and profane, as Venice celebrations often do.
Redentore is the celebration most loved by Venetians, to remind the end of the plague in 1577, one of the most disastrous plagues in Venice history, still commemorated today with “the famous night of fireworks”, on the 3rd Saturday of July.
On the 3rd weekend in July, religious and political authorities, inhabitants and guests walk on this passageway to reach by foot, from the historical centre of Venice, the temple dedicated to Christ the Redeemer in the island of Giudecca

For the “famous night of fireworks”, between the 3rd Saturday of July and the Sunday after, thousands of Venetians and visitors come to celebrate, in the S. Mark´s basin swarming with boats crowded with people who bring typical culinary delights. Beginning on that Saturday morning, people engages with the organisation and preparation for the Redentore Festival. Foods are cooked for up to 20/30 people; candle-baloons, leafy branches and other trinket are hanged on the boats, terraces and rooftop loggias.
Soon as they are ready, those on the boats start looking for the best places in St. Mark´s Basin. After supper with relatives and friends under the showy ornamentation, everybody waits for the great firework show (the “foghi”) to begin, usually around 23:00.

Flying above Venice

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

The Seawings tours are specifically designed to complement your cruise experience, Seawings  encourage you to relax as your guide whisks you away to the historic Island of San Clemente; explore the grounds of the luxurious San Clemente Palace Hotel & Resort and hop on board for memories that will last forever.

Providing unparalleled and rarely seen aerial views of the Venetian Lagoon and the islands of San Servolo, San Giorgio Maggiore, Giudecca, Torcello and Lido, Seawings promises you all the excitement in a lot less time.

No other tour provides such a complete picture of the enitire empire of Venezia. Seawings guided sightseeing tour of Venice is truly a unique way to see Venice as never before.

VENICE, ITALY - JULY 07:    A general view of the Venice with Giudecca, San Giorgio Island and the Lagoon seen during the Seawing  tour above Venice on July 7, 2011 in Venice, Italy. Seawings has started a new tour of Venice by seaplane, offering aerial views of the Venetian Lagoon and its historic islands, continuing a long history of seaplanes in Venice.  (Marco Secchi)

Galata Mevlevi Ensemble…under the sign of Rumi!

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

The Galata Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble, under the direction of Al Sheik Nail Kesova, brings to audiences around the world the beauty and spirituality of the Sema, the Mevlevi whirling ritual, and the tradition of Mevlevi music. The Whirling Dervishes of Turkey were proclaimed as a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005. The “Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” Programme was launched by UNESCO in 1997 to raise public awareness about the value of the intangible elements of heritage and the need to safeguard them .
For more than 700 years, the Mevlevi brotherhood defined the spiritual life of the Ottoman Empire. Sufism, and especially the Mevlevis, gave birth to well known poets, musicians, theologians and politicians. Travelers to the Orient noticed the Mevlevis mainly because of their “Sema“, the ritual whirling dance. The brotherhood of the Whirling Dervishes became familiar worldwide as the symbol of oriental mysticism.

 

VENICE, ITALY - JUNE 21:  A whirling Dervish of the Galata Mevlevi Ensemble,declared UNESCO World Heritag, perfoms under the guidance of Sheikh Nail Kesova at Auditorium Candiani on June 21, 2011 in Venice, Italy. The whirling dance associated with Dervishes, is the practice of the Mevlevi Order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sema which is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (Marco Secchi)

VENICE, ITALY - JUNE 21: A whirling Dervish of the Galata Mevlevi Ensemble,declared UNESCO World Heritag, perfoms under the guidance of Sheikh Nail Kesova at Auditorium Candiani on June 21, 2011 in Venice, Italy. The whirling dance associated with Dervishes, is the practice of the Mevlevi Order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sema which is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy

 

The Galata Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble is very much part of the so called avant-garde tradition of the brotherhood. Sheik Nail Kesova has composed a number of liturgical pieces for the group. In collaboration with Asian and western musicians and orchestras, they have created new interpretations of traditional oriental and mystic compositions. Perhaps one of the most important activities of the group has been to continue the tradition of the Mevlevi Order to educate young, talented musicians in the sophisticated art of classical mystic music, in addition to bringing the haunting beauty of the whirling ritual, the Sema, to people throughout the world.

More images are in my Galleries or at  Getty Images

For bookings Contact in Italy Paolo Sgevano  HERE For the Rest of the World Birgit Hellinghaus  HERE

 

The Time in Between – (seeing the edge)

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

I wanted to experiment doing a small movie using High Speed – Slow Motion and what a better place than Venice…. I had a great fun and I think I will do a few more!

The Technique is nothing new at all…..Golf instructors have taken to using as a fairly cheap way to record acceptable high-speed video of golf swings!