I got to do baby Henry’s first photo shoot at 5 weeks. He is a very cute very sweet baby!

“Hello mom!”

“Hello dad!”

“Hello WORLD!!” :)

“So…you’re going to feed me now right?” :)

A little guy in a big big Piazza.

Just another shot from Venice.

I saw a few of this particular graffiti on different walls in Venice. I wonder if it has a deeper meaning…

More very sharply dressed people in Itally.

This was an accidental photo (finger slipped) but I kinda like it.

Is it crowded in Venice? yes. I just like looking at the various faces.

It looks like he is about to whack the other guy over the head…but he is actually a tour guide as they all use these colored umbrellas to lead the pack. But…I think he lost his pack… :)

More gondeliers.

Tourists like me :D

A kitty in Burano.

A guy in Burano.

Is it crowded in Venice? Yes…yes it is.

A line of gondolas. Mike was right. It really does look like a “It’s a Small World” ride :)

The Gondelies #1.

The Gondeliers #2.

The Gondeliers #3.

Watch your head! :)

There was a photo shoot going on in the middle of Florence after some rain. I don’t think it was anything approved as it was done with just a model, a photographer and an assistant and once they realized they were drawing a huuuuuge crowd (they are in a major tourist location after all) they quickly covered up the model and hurried away. But not before I got a shot too :)

…I guess this is the sign of true love. When you are walking together hand in hand in the MIDDLE OF THE DAMN STREET and you don’t realize that there is a giant bus creeping up behind you…ahhh Bologna….

This is universal. You put a boy in a store full of swords and shields and other weapons and he will want some to take home :) I think this was in San Gimignano.

More interesting graffiti in Florence. I wonder if they really took the castle at midnight…

And even more graffiti in Florence.

“Siena Beach” at night. That would be Piazza del Campo for everyone else.

I developed some film shot with my small Rollei 35. These are random snap shots taken while walking through the streets. Wanted to capture the energy and the crowds of the city. This is in Florence.

More film photos from the Rollei 35 camera.

Film photos from the Rollei 35. Wonder what he is so intently looking at in the window?

Staring off in Lucca, these dogs in Italy are incredibly well trained! Most are not leashed but they never (or almost never) take off and is very obedient. Only a few times have I seen a dog run off but usually to see another dog in a friendly way.

More pigeons in Lucca.

The alleys are narrow in Lucca so when you look up it can give you a sense of vertigo.

A scooter in Lucca. It’s been nice being in a city with no motorized transport so I don’t have to constantly be scared of getting run over by a bus or a truck.

Some amazing architecture in Bologna.

I…I want to shop here every day. I would if I was in Bologna…

Bologna again. They are very sharply dressed!

The graffiti is mostly an eyesore but every once in a while you see something like this. I don’t know what it means but it’s creative and better than just scrawling your name or something on a wall.

…you see the oddest things in Venice sometimes…

Oh look. A gondola in Venice :)

Dawn from the Ponte dell’Accademia.

At the Ponte dell’Accademia there was this guy just hanging out smoking. We’re talking around 6am here. He wasn’t working. He wasn’t going anywhere and he wasn’t really looking at the view. Just…hanging out…

Another shot of early morning photographers.

3 photogs in the streets of Venice :)

Mmmm. Fish.

Mmmm…fresh fish in Venice.

The fish market in Venice was small but vibrant. Lots of clams and sea snails! Yum!

Early morning in Venice means some of the garbage was still not swept up yet. It’s a pity to see this…but I guess it IS a city after all. The amazing thing is that all of this will be gone by the time the tourists come by.

More evidence of some fun in the evenings in Venice.

Been trying to get a good shot of the pigeons here. I think I got something :)

In Burano, among the crazy color houses, it’s just life as usual. I moved to the right from the group and entered a typical quiet neighborhood. Kids were playing and had no interest in me with my cameras but this girl started to practice some dancing moves :)

Yes…we’ve all seen these pics…and yes…I took one too in Burano.

Some of the gang from this trip. This is a pretty good summary :)

iPhone photo shoot in Burano :)

The Vaporetto back from Burano was fun :)

Ah Venice…

Ah Venice (yet again).

Ah Venice (one more time).

Lots of couples in Italy but hard to get away from the crowds. But I guess sitting down looking across the Grand Canal is a good way to ignore the world :)

This bride was very determined to hop on the vaporetto as the groom and the photographer and the photographer’s assistant and the photographer’s assistant’s assistant was rushing to catch up. Love the sneakers :)

Very sharply dressed Chinese men taking cell phone pics in San Marco.

Late night (close to 2am) shot in San Marco. 30 second exposure but to get some color other than orange, I was running around underneath with a hand held flash popping it now and again. Was afraid someone would call the cops due to mysterious flashes but nope :)

More photos from Venice :)

Long exposure. I took this shot with the camera on the ground, lens propped up with a cell phone, and very very close to the water… I was getting some odd looks… :)

A B&W version of the previous photo.

One of the many many canals that leads out to the water by San Marco.

Gondolas. Lots of gondolas.

The moon has been very beautiful, especially at dawn.

More gondolas…

Yup…more gondolas.

This was around…oh…probably…5:05am? I need more sleep…

There were already some tourists going home with luggage by 5am in Piazza San Marco. But when we walked through here this morning at 4:30? Dead empty. It was literally just the 4 of us in the entire gigantic piazza and that was awesome.

The many artists that dot the waterfront. But none of the art looks as good as what it looks like with your naked eye…

We went to see the Eliott Erwitt exhibit. It was great. One of the instructors, Jeffrey, checking out some of his work.

And finally…….you see the oddest things in Venice sometimes…

Now THIS is the type of clouds I’ve been waiting for in Italy!

The “super moon”!! There was no way to get the moon and the building exposed right so I just made the moon one giant star burst :)

More of the super moon. The piazza was flooded so I got some nice reflections and also some great clouds for some motion :)

Just a little bridge by San Marco near the hotel.

Saw this graffiti on a railing past the Ponte Realto. I liked it. :)

Venice in B&W.

My personal favorite.

Dramatic clouds lets me play with dramatic B&W.

Yup. I am in Venice!

Ahhhh…Venice…

While Mike and I were lost somewhere in Venice, we saw this chef step out into an alley for a smoke break.

The gondolas. Cheesy? Yes. Touristy? Yes. But it’s still part of the city and here it doesn’t bother me. It’s just part of Venice as a whole.

Just one of the many many restaurants tucked away from the busy streets.

Kids playing in a church courtyard. The church is probably hundreds of years old. The kids don’t care. To them it’s just a wall. And I kind of like that. (By the way, try clicking on this and seeing it full screen. The kid’s facial expressions are great!)

Yup. Venice

I’ve seen these in every city so far. On a bridge or even on a hook on a wall couples will write their names on locks and put them there.

More locks from couples.

Long exposure. A wind storm (with some rain) was coming in. I had my camera on a stone raining by the Grand Canal doing this shot. Good thing I don’t care if the new camera body gets scratched to hell :)

From Lucca, this is like every Italian imagery crammed into a frame! You have the old wall, the doorway, the hanging plants, and the bike. :)

Got this shooting from the hip with the wide angle. I just liked the expression I got as she was getting up to meet her friends in Lucca.

San Gimignano. I wonder how much it is to buy one of those houses down there…looks nice…

San Gimignano also had these leatherbound notebooks. I love them. I would probably never write in them…I just like the potential of it and the look.

We will probably see a lot more of these in Venice. But we found them in San Gimignano too.

In Bologna they don’t mess around with the church decor. The outside wasn’t anything special but step in and wow….

While Bologna isn’t nearly as bad as Florence or Siena, the amount of graffiti in the cities is a bit alarming…

We saw her stepping into this doorway. I have no idea how old that wall is or where she was going or what was in there…but it was very old…

Scooters are everywhere and they fly down the streets. You really need to be careful! But this driver was happy to give me a big smile as she zoomed by!

Facebook Album

Don’t worry. You don’t need a FB account to see this as it’s public. There’s 13 photos for this day and the next day (today) will be up shortly.

First off though…I mean…I have to post a photo with hanging laundry right? Isn’t this another requirement after those colorful doors? :)

How about some hanging clothes in wide angle??

Eating outside is a great way to enjoy food and company and people watch!

The medieval city of Siena! Very pretty. Cobblestone everywhere. Narrow alleys. Hills. Did I say pretty? Now…if only WE could be the only tourists :)

A long exposure shot tonight of one of the many alleyways in Siena.

…Sometimes I wonder why we take photos when you can buy them off of the rack. But then again, these don’t have my memories in it too.