The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy 

The Veince fish and fresh food markets were established in 1097 and have provided Venetians and tourists with their daily supplies of seafood, fruit and veggies since then. The markets, which are on the Grand Canal close to the Rialto bridge, open at dawn when the barges arrive and most of the stalls close by midday. As with most things in Venice, the markets provide photographers with yet another opportunity to spend a couple of hours capturing the goings on.

A vendor at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The variety of fish and seafood on sale was amazing. Apart from a huge selection of fish, vendors were selling octopus, shrimp, crab, prawns and a number of other species of shell fish. We got to the markets at around 7.00 AM and found them already buzzing with activity as the locals did their daily shopping before heading off to work. The markets attract a number of tourists and quite a few companies offer tours and teach visitors how to compare the different varieties of fish that are available.

A vendor setting up a stall at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The markets are closed on Mondays and the locals often advise people not to eat fish on Mondays as it is unlikely to be fresh. To give you some idea of the amount of seafood moving through the markets consider the fact that the local population of Venice is around the 60,000 mark and 20,000,000 visitors pour in to Venice each year. The majority of the seafood consumed by these people is sourced at these markets.

Scallops at the Fish Market - Venice, Italy

We wandered around the markets for about two hours, observing the goings on and photographing the activity. We used a combination of the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens and the Canon 400D and the 50mm lens to photograph the markets.

Produce at the markets - Venice, Italy

Zucchini Flowers - Venice, Italy

17/52 - The Juice

The Juice

Trying to get my hands on eight batteries which are not flat is a bit of a challenge at my place. Its a bit annoying having to run around looking for them when I'm trying to take shots every week. To get around this, I bought a box of about 30 a few days ago and decided to use some of them for this weeks shot. It was a two light setup again.

Lighting info inside.

Setup - The Juice

I fired the 580 EX II at 1/64th into a reflective umbrella to create the base light. I used a full CTO gel to warm up the light a bit.

The 480 EX II was used as the key light. It was fired from camera right, behind the subject. I used a CTB gel on this light to cool the key light.

I wanted a few of the batteries to be out of focus so I used an aperture of f4. I had to walk the lights down a bit to balance the exposure. 

Musée Rodin - Paris, France

Musée Rodin From the garden - Paris, France

Musée Rodin was one of the museums we visited during our stay in Paris. The museum displays the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin and is home to a number of the Artist most famous pieces. These include the Thinker, the Kisser and the Gates of hell. The gardens surrounding the museum are also full of Rodin's sculptors and a restaurant.

More images and info after the jump.

The entrance to Musée Rodin - Paris, France

There were a number of people in the museum when we got there so it wasn't possible to get a photograph of the building without people getting in the frame. I was actually surprised by the fact that the museums in France allowed visitors to take pictures at all. I had the polariser on while I was photographing the exteriors of the museum but because it was around mid day it wasn't too effective.

The Thinker, Musée Roddin - Paris, France

The sculpture title "The Thinker" is probably one of Rodin's most famous pieces. It is placed in the garden just inside the entrance to the museum. I was able to get a clear shot of the statue as it sits on top of a 8 foot concrete stand.

The Musée Rodin - Paris, France

The museum was opened in 1919 in Hotel Biron which Rodin used as his workshop since 1908.  He donated his entire collection of sculptures and paintings from Vincent van Gough and Pierre-Suguste Renoir, to the French government on the condition that they convert the building into a museum dedicated to his works.

The Gates of Hell, Musée Rodin - Paris, France

The gates of Hell, is one of Rodin's sculptural group work depicting "The Inferno" in Danté's Device Comedy. It contains 180 figures ranging from 15cm in height to over a meter. The project was meant to be delivered in 1885 (5 years after it was commissioned by the Directorate of Fine Arts) but Rodin worked on this project periodically for 37 years until his death in 1917.

All images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and a 254-105mm lens. A circular polariser was also used.

16/52 - Backlit Oranges

Backlit Oranges

For this weeks shot I decided to go for some backlit Oranges. I used a similar technique to photograph some backlit slices of Kiwi fruit a while ago and I thought I'd build on it for this shot. I used only a single flash for the shot of the Kiwi fruit and it worked well because the Kiwi fruit has a very thin layer of skin. It wasn't as effective for the Oranges as they have thicker skin. If I used the same technique the oranges would have a black ring around the pulp.

Lighting info and setup shots inside.

Setup shot - Backlit Oranges

The main light for this shot was a canon 580 EX II fired from below the Oranges towards the camera. It was fired at 1/64 and it lit up the pulp on the slices of Orange.

The second light, which was my fill light, was a Canon 430 EX II bounced off the ceiling at 1/2 power. The light from this flash lit up the white area around the pulp. The effect is very subtle but it lit up a section of the fruit which would otherwise have been black.

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The Swiss Guard - Vatican City

Members of The Swiss Guard - Vatican City

A photograph of the swiss guard was on my shot list on our trip to Europe last year. I wanted to get a photograph of their official dress uniforms and I was also interested in finding out a bit more about their  500 year history. Members of the Swiss guard can be easily spotted around St Peter's Cathedral during the day as it is responsible for the Pope's security as well as the security of the Apostolic Palace.

More images and info inside.

A Member of the Swiss Guard - Vatican City

The inspiration for their official uniforms has been debated for a while. Some say that it was inspired by one of Raphael's paintings of the Swiss Guard carrying Pope Julius II on a litter. The style of uniform worn by those soldiers was said to be common during the Renaissance. A closer version to the modern uniform can be seen in a 1577 fresco by Jacopo Coppi of Empress Eudoxia conversing with Pope Pope Sixtus III. The blue and gold colours on the uniform are said to have been issued by Pope Julius II (his family colours) and the red was issued by Pope Leo to reflect his Medici colours. Apart from the official uniform the Swiss Guard have a more functional "regular duty" uniform as well.

Members of the Swiss Guard - Vatican City

Recruits to the Swiss Guard must be single, Catholic males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic military training and can obtain certificates for good conduct. They should also have a professional degree or a high school diploma, be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174cm tall. However, in 2009 the Commandant of the Swiss Guard, Daniel Anrig, suggested that women maybe allowed to join the Guard at some stage. He did add that the recruitment of women remained far in the future. New guards are sworn in on the 6th of May (the anniversary of the sack of Rome) each year in the San Damasco courtyard in the Vatican. The term of service is between 2 and 25 years.

Member of the Swiss Guard - Vatican City

The history of the swiss guards originates in the 15th century. A number of Popes, including Sixtus IX, Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, recruited Swiss mercenaries to fight wars. During the Italian wars the mercenaries were regular fixtures in the front lines for both the French and the Holy Roman Empire. The mercenaries enlisted when they heard that King Charles VIII of France was going to raise a war against Naples. Amongst the participants in the war was Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II). He knew the swiss as he had been Bishop of Lausanne for a number of years. When Cardinal della Rovere became Pope, he asked the Swiss Diet for a constant corps of 200 mercenaries. The first contingent of 150 Swiss soldiers entered the city of Rome on January 22, 1506.

The most significant battle they engaged in was on May 6, 1527 when 147 of the 189 guards died fighting the troops of Emperor Charles V in the "Stand of the Swiss Guard" during the sack of Rome. The remaining 40 guards escorted Pope Clement VII to escape.

All photographs on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens. 

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15/52 - Hard Disk

Hard Disk

One of my friends at work had a whole bunch of old hard disks on his desk so I thought I'd use one for this weeks photograph. The disk was from a laptop and therefore fairly small in size. I used the 50mm f\1.8 lens to shoot this as I was initially going for a very shallow depth of field. As it turned out, I changed my mind and shot at f\8 but still used the same lens.

Lighting info after the jump.

Lighting setup - Hard Disk

This again was a 2 light setup but instead of using a snoot I opted for a home made grid spots. Grid spots are very similar to snoots but it is used to light only a very small area of the subject. See image below for an idea of how you can control light using a grid spot.

I used the Canon 580 EX II fired from camera left, at 1/32 through a CTB gel and bounced the light onto the hard disk using a white foam-core board placed on the right of camera. I changed the white balance to tungsten to enhance the blur light.

I fired a Canon 430 EX II from high camera right, through a grid spot and CTO gel at 1/2 power, aimed at the top corner of the hard disk. I used the CTO gel to compensate for the tungsten white balance setting on the camera.

The effect of the grid spot can be seen in the image below.

Area lit by Grid spot

If I had used a snoot for this shot, the entire hard disk would have been lit up by the 430 EX II and I would have been unable to get the blue "feel" which I was after.

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Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia

Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia 

Oakland falls was the second waterfall we visited on our walk last week (the first was Burgess Falls).  It was about fifteen minutes away from the first waterfall. Although the walk was not long, the path was in very bad condition as it is not used on a regular basis. Surprisingly we didn't see anyone else walking in the area on the day we visited. This is very unusual for a walk in the Blue Mountains as the area is constantly full of people.

More images after the jump.

The creek below Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia

Although we are in the middle of summer, it has been raining a bit and I was expecting more water in the creek and a bigger waterfall. Unfortunately I was out of luck and there wasn't too much water.  I'll probably visit the area in winter and photograph the falls when they are at their best.

Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia

The rocks along the creek bed were covered in moss and I used them in the foreground in a lot of my compositions. The dappled sunlight which was filtering through the canopy really enhanced the green and gave the images a "fresh" look.

Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia

I included a number of trees in my compositions to frame the waterfall and to convey a sense of depth. If I do visit the area again, I think I would try and add a bit more flowing water from the creek to my compositions with the aim of creating another level of interest to the image.

The creek below Oakland Falls - Hazelbrook, Australia

All images on this post were captured with a Canon 7d and a Canon 24 - 105mm lens. A tripod and circular polariser were used for all these shots. Exposure times were around the 1 second mark and a tripod was used.

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