Venice, Italy

We first went to Venice with friends in September 2005 and have been eager to revisit ever since. This was a time before I was into photography (especially digital) or had a clue what I was doing, hence the photos I took of that trip didn't turn out that well and the pixel resolution from the scanned film negatives so poor they will remain firmly on my computer's hard drive never to be seen. However, there are one or two I still like if only for a reminder of Venice and the great time we had with friends.

So this trip, apart from a holiday, was about recapturing that lost opportunity, although Mrs R will have something to say about this! Of all the shots I had planned in my head, the one from the Accademia bridge looking along the Grand Canal with the Santa Maria della Salute at the canal's opening was top of my list. Everybody who has visited Venice and likes photography has taken this view... all apart from me, so another early morning was put aside for this moment.

I'd planned for the day to start with my phone alarm gently waking me up... only it didn't and inevitably got to full volume before I heard it, or should I say Mrs R heard it and then woke me up... "for God's sake turn it off!". Knowing the task I had set myself, I begrudgingly got out of bed and tip-toed around the bedroom looking for socks before stubbing my toe on my tripod and banging into some furniture that I hadn't remembered was there... "sort yourself out and go!" came a demonic moan from the darkness of the room. I hurriedly got dressed hoping I'd packed everything for the shoot (couldn't risk putting the light on for a third ticking off) and slipped out of the door. For the second successive morning I passed by the night watchman, who was now wondering what this sad tourist was up to leaving the hotel each morning at an ungodly hour (5:15am). During all of my early morning adventures in Verona and Malcesine I hadn't encountered another single photographer out and about, but this morning I was surprised to see a party of at least half a dozen other photographers stood outside the opposite hotel on the other side of the square. I say photographers... who else carries a backpack and tripod around at 5am in a morning!

Not knowing their intentions I headed off on my pre-planned route to the Accademia Bridge... with the purpose of not being beaten to it if that was their plan also. It was only a 10-15mins walk, provided I didn't get lost. When I arrived on the northern side of the bridge there was nobody there but on summiting the top I discovered I'd been beaten to it by a solitary photographer who was already setup and waiting for the sunrise - a good hour away. We nodded to each other with a slight embarrassment of being seen out at this uncivilised hour. I thought to myself... you bugger, that's the spot I would have chose! Not wanting to break any photography protocol or appear overly friendly or dodgy I setup a couple of rungs higher up the bridge but still with a good view down the canal. Then the Cavalry arrived, possibly the party I had seen from across the square when I had set off. They were American, I could tell by their accents as they muttered to themselves... bugger, we've been beaten to the best spot!

There's a purpose to this yarn so I'll cut to the chase. Within 20mins of my arrival at the bridge it was full of photographers, all with tripods and assortment of equipment, from little compacts up to pro-standard cameras with big lenses. There must have been 30+ all on the one side of the Accademia jostling for position with inter-twined tripod legs.

It was at this point the impact the digital revolution has made on all of our lives dawned on me, judging by the assembled mass I was now part of. I'm of the age where social media, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, whatever name they go under are considered the domain of the young and I for one haven't grasped the magnitude of this revolution. To try and put it into some context - how many images do you think were captured in that camera clicking frenzy at the Accademia that particular morning in Venice by a handful of keen, dedicated (although mad) group of photographers? How many of those images captured will make it on to the internet via these social media platforms. Those of us who upload to Flickr and consider ourselves to be "putting it out there" are in for a shock but more of that with my next posting.

For now, I hope you like my image of Santa Maria della Salute and the Grand Canal at sunrise on the 13th September 2016. For every view, fav and comment it receives, is a statistical miracle!

Tags:   Venice Italy Santa Maria della Salute basilica church architecture Grand Canal boats light trails Accademia bridge photographers cameras tripods sunrise digital social media Facebook Snapchat Instagram Flickr Andy Rouse Canon EOS 5D MkIII

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Lake Garda, Italy

I've previously uploaded an image from this location last October but came across a series of images on the hard drive I'd taken to form a panorama but never got around to stitching them... well here it is. A three frame stitched image in a 3:1 ratio.

Only had about 25 minutes at this spot as had to dash back into town to meet up with Mrs R for our evening meal and it's a surprisingly long walk back from here... the two blurred paddle boarders crossing the lake clearly knew the fastest route!

Tags:   Italy Lake Garda lake Malcesine town harbour lamps promenade Via Lungolago evening dusk blue hour castle illumination mountains Monte Baldo paddle boarders blurred panorama stitched Andy Rouse Canon EOS 5D MkIII EF70-300mm f4-5.6L

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Leopard's Leap Winery, Franschhoek, South Africa

Really digging deep into the archives and have gone all the way back to when I first upgraded my Canon 20D for a 5D MkIII. We went to Cape Town for my 50th and this is the first real outing with it. We did all the usual sights and tours but this was taken on a wine tasting tour and needless to say, less photos were taken as more and more wine was consumed. I've had to google this to find where it was taken but it must be round about the third bottle or winery, but who's counting! An excellent day out and highly recommended although I can't remember the day after.

Anyway... a few notes on the image.
Taken at the Leopard's Leap Winery in Franschhoek. The title of the sculpture is the same as my title and was sculptured by Marco Cianfanelli. Made from stainless steel with a footprint of 9.2 x 9.98 x 0.75 meters and was erected on site on the 1st July 2011. The Leopard itself is fabricated in 6mm Domex material, and was left unpainted. A characteristic of this material is, that it will rust to a point, at which it stops rusting. According to local newspaper reports, the Leopard sculpture has become a landmark in Franschhoek.

Tags:   South Africa Cape Town Franschhoek Leopard's Leap Winery vineyards wine red wine tasting bottles sculpture leopard sculptor Marco Cianfanelli Andy Rouse Canon EOS 5D MkIII EF24-105mm f/4L

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Bridgewater Canal, Worsley

A reworking of a previous upload, but it shows one of Worsley's des res locations - the Old Oil Stores with the famous Packet House, lamp lit in the background. I believe there are seven properties in this converted building and you won't get much change out of £420K for any of them.

Tags:   Worsley Old Oil Stores Duke's Wharf Bridgewater Canal canal towpath Packet House lamps historic waterways dusk blue hour long exposure

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or the tale of the headless white van man

Elgol, Isle of Skye

The drive to Elgol should be a pleasant carefree experience with plenty of stop-offs to enjoy on route. Having won the Le Mans style start at the old bridge of Sligachan with Dave and his togs gave us a good head start (they decided to have a sarnie and coffee before setting off), but hey... early bird and worm!

Even with a couple of photo stops we didn't see a single car in the rear view mirror until we rounded Loch Slapin (that's what Google earth says so who am I to argue!) and could look back towards Torrin. On the other side of the Loch I spotted a small white car and further back the grey Audi of Dave and his mates just coming into view. No way were they going to catch us before we got to Elgol... or so I thought!

Now I used to watch F1 in the good old days of Mansell and Senna and the occasional rally so I know what a racing line is and break before the bend and not on it, but knowledge and skill are two completely unrelated terms! Now this might make me sound like Captain Slow but 50mph with a daring 60mph on a good long straight bit seems perfectly fast enough to me. Besides, I don't drive on single track roads much and my co-driver Mrs R was useless with the stage notes I'd prepared.

Now I have no idea when white van man joined our little convoy, except that he was behind Dave's Audi. Now the little white car I mentioned was fast approaching albeit a little bit erratically, which worried me because it was now pulling what I thought was a caravan. Being on a rocky island, the roads are not roman like but tend to follow at best guess the lie of the land. The little car was gaining in fleeting glances in my rear view mirror but then it wasn't there as I rounded a bend. I prayed they'd stopped for a photo opportunity rather than a crash. And then, he was there... white van man tearing down on me like the Headless Horseman after Ichabod Crane. He drove at me like I wasn't there... so close I couldn't see either his number plate or his head in my rear window. I couldn't break, he would surely ram us at this speed. Passing points... one, two, three passed us by in rapid succession. We were now on a straight bit and I was under pressure to go faster... to bloody fast for my own liking, let alone Mrs R, who normally doesn't swear but I picked up a couple of new one's that day (I jotted them down as soon as we parked up and have submitted them to the Engineer's Bible for inclusion in the next edition).

I don't know how far we travelled or how he got round us, it could only have been on some slowish bend, wide enough for him to take us on the inside, but he shot off into the distance at a speed I couldn't match. Too fast to note his number plate and the only identification was the Arnold Clarke sticker in the rear window. There's never a REALLY big military grade vehicle coming the other to teach these people a lesson!

We eventually arrived at Elgol and parked up on the upper car park, relief would be an understatement. The small white car then pulled up besides us and four ashen-faced lads got out... "you got run off the road as well" I enquired... a nod was the best the driver could muster. Finally, the grey Audi pulled in... "did he get you as well Andy" Dave enquired as he got out... yep! "A right little short ar*s as well" Dave said " passed us well before we got round the Loch... must have been doing close on 80 on that straight... if we see him here, he won't be driving back!"

We never did see that van on the road to Elgol again...

Tags:   Scotland Isle of Skye Elgol single track road B8083 passing points white van man white knuckle ride rocks water sea boulders mountains Sgurr Alasdair Sgurr Dearg Black Cuillins blue sky clouds who cares tell it as it is

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