A Night in Venice


Grand Canal at Night

Grand Canal at Night

The first time I arrived in Venice after hopping off the train and walking down the steps outside the train station, I was in awe of this beautiful city. It was love at first sight. My husband was right there falling in love with it as well. As you can imagine I took a lot of photos that first trip. We spent the whole day there, walking through the streets, crossing the bridges, enjoying gelato, and a score of other things we enjoyed there.

After living in northeast Italy for four years, I had many travel opportunities. One of these opportunities was to visit Venice as often as I could. I pretty much lost track of how many times I have visited that city after around 20, so you can imagine I had a lot of time to explore the city most tourists don’t normal have. In fact I wouldn’t even bring my camera every time so I could just enjoy being there.

One opportunity I never really had was photographing the city at night. I always had to make sure I made the train before they stopped running. After I moved away from Italy I deeply regretted never doing this. Then came along an opportunity to go back and we were going to stay inside the city for two nights, giving me the perfect circumstance to photograph Venice after dark. There was no way I was going to miss the chance to take advantage of this.

So after dinner we returned to the hotel and I got my equipment ready and waited for dark. As soon as the sun set I gathered my things and went out to explore this city at night. First thing I knew I wanted to shoot was the Rialto Bridge. Being the largest Bridge in Venice and one of the few that crosses the Grand Canal, it is a sight to see. Whether during the day or at night, whether viewing at night or during the day, it was one amazing place to see.

San Marco's Square After Dark

San Marco’s Square After Dark

Shooting the Rialto was a bit tricky because you have to find a vantage point that sticks you out in the water but stable enough for a photo. Moving on from there, we walked through streets and down to St. Marco’s Square. A little disappointed that there was no light on the Basilica, there was plenty of other light sources to photograph. There was also water coming up as Venice occasionally floods with high tides and such. This provided some nice refections.

In all it was a fun and amazing experience I am glad I finally had. I am very grateful that I didn’t miss my chance to photograph Venice at night like I always wanted. After visiting the city at day where it is packed with tourists and full of life, it was interesting seeing it almost devoid of people and peaceful.

The Rialto Bridge By Night

The Rialto Bridge By Night



Stonehenge At Last How to Take Great Night Photos
Stonehenge At Last
How to Take Great Night Photos

Comments to “A Night in Venice”


  1. […] summer I visited Venice again and was able to photograph it at night, you can read that article here, and photographed this amazing site at night. To me this is one of the cities treasures. Visiting […]

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