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

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 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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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!