The Pianzzetta at high tide - Venice, Italy By John G.

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S5

Venice, Italy is known for the seasonal flooding called the “Aqua Alta,” or “High Water” in English.  The flooding is caused by the sirocco winds that pushes the water north on the Adriatic.  Venice is at the far northern end of the Adriatic and is on the receiving end of all this water.  The Aqua Alta is almost like lifting one end of the bathtub with Venice on the far end.  The water bubbles up through stone manholes in the street that are designed for this purpose.  The flooding is really just an unusually high tide which happens a couple times a day during certain times of the year.  I visited Venice during November which is one of those times.

When planning my trip to Venice, I was torn as to whether the Aqua Alta season would be a good or bad time to be in Venice.  It turned out to be a great time to be in Venice.  If you are a late sleeper, you may never see the flooding.  In this photo, if you had come back three hours later at 10 a.m., you would find the water gone and wonder what everyone was talking about.  You may be forgiven for thinking the reason the streets are wet is that it rained overnight.

The biggest reason to come to Venice during the Aqua Alta is the great photographic opportunities that it offers.  The best time for photos is the early morning.  There are now several cell phone apps that will tell you exactly when the tide will peak and how many centimeters high it will be.  While I was there the tide varied from about 60 to 120 centimeters.  It seems I was not the only one that was looking for forward to the “Very High” Aqua Alta of 120 centimeters.  That particular morning was by far the most crowded with a dozen or more photographers running around with their tripods.  Someone had even brought a gondola into St. Mark’s square.  At 120 centimeters about 28% of Venice is under water.  The square in this photo has had to be raised over four feet over the centuries to keep it from being underwater all the time.  On the base of Campanile di San Marco bell tower there is a maker that shows the high-water mark that is chest high back in 1966. So, it can get pretty bad.

While some photographers went the extra mile and set up their equipment right in the water, that is not necessary.  Venice has a whole crew of workers that seem to spend all of their time setting up and taking down elevated walkways that let tourist and the locals get around the worst of the flooding.  This photo was taken from one of those elevated walkways.  It is worth noting that if you want to take photos of all the lights reflecting on the flooded St. Mark’s Square, you really need to get down there by 6am.  I arrived later several times only to have the lights turn themselves off.  Without the lights, a lot of the magic disappears.

For taking the photo you see here, this is where my Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone excelled above DSLR or compact cameras.  All I had to do was turn on my Samsung Galaxy S5’s HDR setting and the dark foreground and bright background were evened out into the photo you see here.  That’s it, done, time to go to breakfast.  If I were shooting with my DSLR or compact cameras I would have had to take two photos (one exposing for the lights and another for the darks) and combined them in Photoshop later.   And the best part, with the cell phone, no tripod was required.  It is also worth noting that the entrance to St. Mark’s Basilica gets flooded too.  So, take the time to wait for the doors to open to take a peek inside.

One last tip, it is worth getting a hotel in the St. Mark’s Square area.  This will allow you wake up early and get down to St. Mark’s Square early.  You never know what you will find in St. Mark’s squared.  You might find kids playing in the puddles or maybe a bride and groom taking their wedding photos ankle deep in water.  Having to travel from one side of Venice to the other can be time consuming.  That being said there are probably great Aqua Alta photos to be had all over Venice, but the classic photos, like this one, are often taken in St. Mark’s Square.