Students shutter to think about photo tour to Venice, Italy
by Cornelia Wallis Honchar
Imagine taking an arresting photograph, something beautiful that doesn't suffer from squinted eyes, blurred images, lopsided buildings, or camera shake.
Combining photography lessons with travel to Italy proved to be a winning combination, and I was among those who joined Benjamin Mackoff of Schiller, DuCanto and Fleck for a recent photo trip to Venice, Italy.
Mackoff, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge who headed the Divorce Division, is a professional-level photographer whose works have appeared in numerous shows and galleries.
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| Benjamin Mackoff captured these revelers on film during Carnevale in Venice, Italy. |
Last year, Mackoff and his wife, Carol, an investment banker, launched Benchmark Photography to lead photography workshops for amateur photographers.
The most recent tour took the Mackoffs and six students, including retired Circuit Court Judge Ron Olson, to Venice, Italy, during Carnevale, the week-long festival preceding Lent.
Inspiration
was everywhere, particularly as we observed the scene from Cafe Florian,
which has
done a flourishing business since the 1700's. Lord Byron, Melville and
scores of other writers and poets have visited the cafe, watching Piazza
San Marco, is we did, turn from a huge vacant area into a celebration
of music and dancing.
Elaborately costumed revelers arrived from around the world. Carnevale is a masked fantasy that glides along narrow passageways, small footbridges and the Grand Canal.
To any photographer, Venice inspires the eye at every turn, as did side trips to Padua and Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet; Murano Island, famous for centuries for its magnificent hand-blown glass, and the charming island of Burano.
Carol Mackoff provided a travel guide to the famous districts of Venice and the best places to shop, eat or take a glass of wine, along with a handy list of important phrases, such as: "How much?"
Every morning, we set out to catch the rising sun. In the afternoon and evening we'd learn the techniques of different types of film for the changing lighting conditions. One day was spent learning how best to use a tripod.
Color slide film was used because slides don't lie, but prints do. Prints get a helping hand from the person developing them.
Unmercifully, a slide reveals every error. Each day the slides were developed, then shown on a projector in the evening, when Mackoff gave each photographer a critique, pointing out successful shots as well as errors to be corrected the next day.
Mackoff reviewed the basic technology of the camera, the fundamental rules of good composition, and the different effects that could be achieved by varying shutter speed, aperture or film speed. To some of the novices in the group, it had the familiar ring of trying to set your video recorder.
But, once on the street, Mackoff would point out the best angles, shutter speeds and apertures, so the words could go immediately into practice and understanding.
The slides from the first day shooting were not grim but - well - not great. By the last day, everyone had made remarkable improvements and taken one or two pictures that had the arresting quality every photographer longs for, the kind of shot that makes you ask, " Did I take that?"
The Mackoffs are planning another trip for Oct. 13 to 21, during the harvest season in Tuscany. The schedule tentatively includes two days in Florence as well as several days in a country inn outside Siena. The group will branch out for day trips and a vineyard tour.
The $2,850 price tag includes air fare, hotel, transfers, several side trips, all breakfasts - and development of one roll of film a day.
Cornelia Wallis Horchar is a lawyer licensed in Illinois and Arizona.
Reprinted by permission of Chicago Lawyer
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