Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon of northern Italy. It is best known for its lace work and brightly colored homes. The island is often considered one of the most beautiful places in the world, featuring canals lined with houses painted in a myriad of vibrant colors. Located within easy reach of Venice, the pretty island, with its colorful houses and overall Italian charm, has drawn photographers from around the world for many decades.

I've been to Burano on several occasions, including this visit in late October with several photographer friends. We were returning from a photo trip to the Dolomites of Italy and decided to spend several nights in Venice before journeying home. The pleasant weather enabled us to spend an entire day on Burano, happily roaming and photographing our way around the island.

The narrow canals are often shielded from the wind by the tall houses on both sides, casting mirror reflections of the vivid colors in the green waters of the canals. For this photo, I positioned my tripod very low to the ground to maximize the reflection and excluded the actual homes to create an ethereal image with an upside-down view of the world.

Several buildings are visible in the frame, including a yellow, orange, and pink house. At the top left of the frame, next to an orange buoy, sits a multi-colored rowboat painted in bands of green, red, and yellow. Almost undetectable motion on the surface of the water caused the 1/60-second exposure to capture a slight motion that adds an abstract element to the image.