Shipyard
Talking Italian
Apart from crumbling architecture, it is also possible in Italy to photograph entire conversations
Fortune - Dogana di Mare, Venice
The completion of the building work at the Salute means for the first time in a few years it is possible to walk around this iconic little spit of land. This gave me the opportunity to have a look at the sculpture on top of the Dogana Tower at close hand.
The statue, sitting above a globe supported by two Atlases, is named Fortune, and is actually a weather vane. The vane is the rudder of a ship. Given Venice's important relationship with maritime trade, the allegories are just queuing up.
Venice - S. Maria della Salute
The new Francois Pinault centre is finished, and the Church has had its roof sorted, so there is no scaffolding any longer.
Skylines
Clouds and skylines are a bit cliched, but I find them irresistible. They also illustrate though how difficult it is to get the perfect composition. Like here - all the elements are there but they are not quite where you want them. And you are powerless to re-arrange them!
Lunch
All these photos from Venice have been taking with the Canon G11 which has replaced my Leica DLux 3 as an all purpose carry-around digital camera. In fact it's the only digital camera I brought with me. So far I'm very pleased - in operation and usability it suits me very nicely, which for me is the main thing in any camera. No matter how good the picture quality if I can't get along with it I won't get good results
Venice - S. Giorgio Maggiore & S. Maria della Salute
Two stately old churches out on the lagoon in their evening wear
Venice
I'm in Venice for another taste of one of my favourite places
But it didn't take long for the colours to wear off
The Carnival is Over
No, not another music item, although anyone wanting some 60's nostalgia can go here.
Carnival is over in Venice for another year, has been for a while actually - it's touristy, unauthentic, I like it, and I missed it this year. But I came across this image from 2007 and thought I'd post it as a substitute.
I have many photos of carnival masks and costumes, and this one has always been a bit of a curates egg for me. I'm not sure if the lopsided composition can be fixed or not, or if it's even a problem. Should have been done right at the time of shooting naturally. However it still has something and I like it, so here it is.
(I've tried lots of crops, believe me, but it seems to me that an obvious crop of the right side doesn't work, although feel free to suggest anything, or even agree with me)