The Floating Raspberry-Colored Cafe Chairs in St. Mark’s Square, Venice

As an experiment I’m going to take a photo (or set of photos) and tell you the story behind it/them. I hope you will find it interesting. Let me know (either way). I call this one the Raspberry-Colored Floating Chairs in St. Mark’s Square. There is a story to this photo for sure.

The story behind the photo

In two trips to Venice, the first in April 2012 and the second in February 2014, I had accumulated many photos of reflections in the Venetian canals. I had even put together a book titled Reflections of Venice and published it on iBooks. But I was missing something major: Acqua Alta. Acqua Alta is Italian for “High Water.” To keep it simple, it’s basically an exceptionally high tide level that affects the Venetian Lagoon and, because Venice is built very close to the water, the city floods in varying degree during acqua alta.

So at the suggestion – nay, insistence – of my wife, Georgianna, I decided to make a return trip during the height of acqua alta season, late November and early December 2017. I spent almost a month in Venice. It was a wonderful experience.

But to get back to the photo. Before leaving home and in particular while on the plane from Seattle to Venice via Paris, I had in my mind an idea about one photo that I particularly wanted to get. I had seen the tables and chairs lined up in St. Mark’s Square and observed the pattern they made when viewed from the top of the Campanile. I had photographed them (see below). I thought with the square flooded, it would make a very interesting shot. I imagined the tables and chairs reflected but had not conceived of the effect of the buildings also reflected in the water as a backdrop.

The two photos below were taken in 2012. It was from these that I got the idea of shooting the same scene during acqua alta.

After a few days there I experienced my first acqua alta. I watched the high tide tables carefully (yes, there is an app for that!) daily until my chance came–or seemed to come. A slightly brighter day with tide still supposed to be high enough in the morning when the Campanile was open. I arrived early to make sure I would be at the head of the line (queue), paid my €13 or whatever it was and rode the elevator (lift) expectantly to the top. It was so cold that only a few other hardy visitors were up there. The viewing platform of the Campanile is open to the elements and a howling, freezing wind was blowing through.

What I had forgotten from my earlier visit was that the Campanile has wide, thick chicken wire all the way around. You cannot lean out and look down. You can take photos looking out from the tower, but shooting straight down is almost impossible.

I was dismayed. I have a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. With a 24-70 or 70-300 zoom attached, it is BIG. I found a way to carefully extend the camera through the chicken wire (strap around my neck so as not drop the camera and kill some unsuspecting passerby below). I set it on live view so I could use the LCD screen to try to frame the shot. It had to be one-handed. Fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion despite my shivering.

The other problem, the bigger one, was that the square was not really flooded enough. The pavement was wet but I needed deeper water.

I aimed down, trying to see the image in the LCD screen, and hoped for the best. I took lots of photos.

I got back to the apartment where I was staying and downloaded the images. Because of the water level, there really weren’t any reflections to speak of. For reasons too complicated to explain here, it looked like my chance to get high tide at the right time of day while I was in Venice were blown.  I was bitterly disappointed but not entirely defeated.

You can see my first attempts below.

The next day no high tide was expected for the time when the Campanile was open. I went for my usual daily walk in search of photos and to my surprise saw the water level starting to rise in the square. It’s the strangest feeling. The water starts bubbling up through the drains and suddenly you’re up to your ankles. It was a sunny day, though freezing. It looked like the square was going to be flooded just about the time the Campanile opened. I quickly changed my plans, stood in line, paid my €13 and went back up and waited. I had learned the mechanics of negotiating the chicken wire the day before. So I was ready, if freezing.

And I was in luck. You can see some of the photos below. (Click on the photos to see the full image.)

The one below is my favorite but I do like the ones with the yellow chairs also.

I try to plan shots in advance. This time it really worked out well. But I also think you have to leave things fairly open and let things evolve. Many of the photos in Reflections of Venice and in my portfolio were the result of being in the right place at the right time and being ready for opportunities and serendipity.

If you would like a copy of the print, it is for sale in my shop here (archival paper, canvas or metal). I’ve printed it on metal and it looks really amazing. It’s also in my book Reflections of Venice – Art and Beauty in the Water which you can get here if you don’t already have it or on iBooks if you have an iPad or a Mac. 

I am always keen to hear from you. You can contact me any time with questions or feedback.

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