30 Seconds of the Grand Canal. As Venice moved beneath me I knew at least I would be safe if it decided to start sinking at that moment! I shot this on my birthday (a month ago!) at the top of the campanile (bell tower) in St Marks Square in Venice, that ever-so-famous spot and perhaps one of the most identifiable landmarks in the world. I only got to spend a few minutes up here though thanks typical Italian petty officialdom, they seemed quite happy to take your money (a disproportionately expensive 8 euros each!) and then not tell you they’d kick you out a good 15-20 minutes ahead of the ‘official’ closing time of 4pm. So, rather than having a good 35-40 minutes to enjoy the sights I only managed to get a few images in the end and despite the general overcast-ness of the skies the visibility was sufficient to see quite a long way across the lagoon, gaining height on the town to see where everything is (and not just on a map) was a good thing…if only they didn’t shut the place so damn early! Can’t complain too much though, in the last few months I’ve been traveling about a fair bit with trips to Scotland, Hong Kong and then most recently Venice. I still have a fair few images to go through properly but I did manage to get the Venice images organised in time for Christmas to create a book which can be viewed and purchased through blurb.com by clicking here. So, have a look and feel free to leave a comment, that should keep you going for a bit whilst I sort through the rest of my images!