A WEDDING IN BURANO, VENICE, ITALY

We experienced a little bit of serendipity on our trip to Venice !! Here is the story !!

While in Venice we took a water taxi to the island of Burano. This is a must see island when you're in Venice, fantastically colored houses are all-around the island. As we walked around photographing the island, I noticed a crowd gathering around a church. Being a wedding photographer, it was pretty easy to see that a wedding was ending and the guests were outside waiting for the bride and groom. Making sure not to interfere with the families and guests, I shot from outside the crowd holding my camera above my head.  Phyllis inched closer for her images.

It was great to see this happy couple celebrating their wedding day. I have not seen rice thrown during a wedding for many years, till that day!! The crowd was waiting with paper cones filled with white rose pedals and hands filled with rice. As you can see from these images, they had a ball showering the newlyweds with a snowstorm of white!!!

Just when it looked like the couple was safe from the storm, a guest added the last of it !!!

THE PEOPLE OF VENICE, ITALY

One of the really great parts of traveling to different countries is seeing the people. The citizens, visitors, workers: old and young are all a large part of what makes traveling so much fun and interesting.

Una bellissima giovane donna

I saw this man sticking his head out a door to smoke his cigarette.  

                               A waiter from Cafe Florian

             This gentleman was out fishing one early morning.

                                          The gondoliers of Venice

         
                          Shopping in the early morning

   

                                   How can you not love this women's face?

 
                                         A tour group just off an ocean liner

This vendor had a great restaurant that served bite sized food and wine. It was a great place to stop for lunch.

                              Young lovers, Venice is a very romantic city.

            A gentleman on his way to work in the early morning.

                     A young athletic women turning cartwheels.

RENEWING OUR WEDDING VOWS IN VENICE PLUS A LADY DANCING ON THE WATER

I have already mentioned that Venice was my favorite city on our trip. One of the nights was a very special night for us, this past Valentine's Day was Phyllis and my 25th wedding anniversary. With that in mind I planned a surprise for Phyllis and booked a ceremony to renew our wedding vows. It would be in Venice on the roof top of our hotel overlooking the Grand Canal. A young women officiated at the ceremony which included a private moment for Phyllis and I to express our thoughts to just each other. I setup the camera on my tripod and used the timer to capture  a few images. It will always be a moment I will remember and cherish, seeing Phyllis in Venice celebrating our love once more!

The whole night was special including the sunset from the front of our hotel looking up the Grand Canal.

 This was a test shot and I love the sky but not so much of my  
 expression.

                                    This is Phyllis before the ceremony!

This image was taken on the Vaporetto (water taxi) on the way over to St. Mark's Square from our hotel. The water was a little rough and I was shooting in very low light which was a challenge. As the boat road up and down on waves, I waited till it was down and quickly snapped off a shot or two.  The image is pretty sharp and now hangs in our house as a 24x14 canvas print.

                             St. Mark's Church shot over the crowd.

As we walked in St Mark's square I noticed a few things. One was this band playing outside a coffee shop. The other was the water which was a few inches deep in some spots. This is not an unusual thing to have happen and a month later the water was much deeper as you can see by a link on my blog.

 I suddenly noticed a truly magical moment. There in St. Mark's Square at night in the water puddles was a young women dancing to the music. 

This was not someone just playing, this lady knew how to dance and watching her dance through the water puddles was a moment to remember. It's one of those moments that I will always remember about our trip.

I did not bring my tripod or flash with me. It was a night to celebrate our renewal and not photography but I could not pass this by so I started photographing her as best I could as she danced to the music of the night!!

I have been receiving emails lately asking what camera/lens combination and specs I was using for certain shots. For those people I mention this info. I was using my Nikon D300S, Nikon 70-200 VR lens at an ISO of 1250 and at 1/30th. sec. F2.8. I realize that some of the shots are not as sharp as my normal images but I hope I captured the moment and the passion of this terrific dancer!!

                   The bell tower clock in St. Mark's Square.

 The last image I made that night was of the Church San Giorgio Maggiore.

This was really a special night for many reasons. Our renewing our vows after 25 years was the most special reason. I have had a pretty lucky life. Sure some mistakes and decisions I would love to do over but overall, a great life. The last 25 years have been the best part of that life. That Phyllis said yes once and then would say it again 25 years later is amazing lol. She has been the very best part of my 65 years. Thank you, Phyllis!!