The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The Fish Markets - Venice, Italy 

The Veince fish and fresh food markets were established in 1097 and have provided Venetians and tourists with their daily supplies of seafood, fruit and veggies since then. The markets, which are on the Grand Canal close to the Rialto bridge, open at dawn when the barges arrive and most of the stalls close by midday. As with most things in Venice, the markets provide photographers with yet another opportunity to spend a couple of hours capturing the goings on.

A vendor at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The variety of fish and seafood on sale was amazing. Apart from a huge selection of fish, vendors were selling octopus, shrimp, crab, prawns and a number of other species of shell fish. We got to the markets at around 7.00 AM and found them already buzzing with activity as the locals did their daily shopping before heading off to work. The markets attract a number of tourists and quite a few companies offer tours and teach visitors how to compare the different varieties of fish that are available.

A vendor setting up a stall at the Fish Markets - Venice, Italy

The markets are closed on Mondays and the locals often advise people not to eat fish on Mondays as it is unlikely to be fresh. To give you some idea of the amount of seafood moving through the markets consider the fact that the local population of Venice is around the 60,000 mark and 20,000,000 visitors pour in to Venice each year. The majority of the seafood consumed by these people is sourced at these markets.

Scallops at the Fish Market - Venice, Italy

We wandered around the markets for about two hours, observing the goings on and photographing the activity. We used a combination of the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens and the Canon 400D and the 50mm lens to photograph the markets.

Produce at the markets - Venice, Italy

Zucchini Flowers - Venice, Italy

Melbourne

Flinders Street station - Melbourne, Australia

It has taken me five years to make it down to Melbourne since relocating to Sydney in early 2005. We spent last weekend in and around the Melbourne CBD catching up with a few friends and family.  I had Friday and Monday off as well and spent the extra days wondering around the city with the camera. The image above is of Flinders Street station, one of the bigger stations in the CBD.  More images and info after the jump.

St Pauls Cathedral - Melbourne, Australia 

St Pauls Cathedral, shown in the image above, is on the opposite side of the road from Flinders Street station. This was the first time I had actually been inside the cathedral itself and unfortunately I didn't have the tripod with me. There wasn't a lot of light inside and I had to shoot at 1/10th of a second at f4. Fortunately I found a railing right in the middle of the isle which I was able to use for support. 

Horse rides in the city - Melbourne, Australia

Horse carriages are a common sight along Swanston street in the heart of Melbourne. Usually you'll see around five or six carriages taking tourists for a ride (literally and metaphorically) from the city to the Shrine of Remembrance and back, along St Kilda Road. 

Art and Craft Markets - Melbourne, Australia

We also spent some time at the art and craft markets, which are on every sunday. The stalls were quite interesting and some of them had some really good black and white images for sale. The stall selling frames made out of reclaimed wood (fence posts etc) is also worth a visit. I could have easily spent a couple of hours more browsing through the stalls.

Sculpture of a Hammer thrower at Queen Victoria Gardens - Melbourne Australia

John Robinson's bronze sculpture of a hammer thrower was unveiled in 1974 by Lord Mayor Cr Whalley can be found in Queen Victoria gardens. The title of the sculpture is "The Pathfinder" and it is part of Melbourne's collection of sculptures of sporting heroes. Stealing the hammer from the statue has become a common prank amongst Melbournians and as a result, the hammer is removed from the sculpture every evening and replaced the following morning.  The statue had been removed when I captured the image above.

The Sherlock Holmes - Melbourne, Australia

The lanes and alleys of Melbourne are full of small pubs and bars which are packed on Friday and Saturday nights. The wooden sign board of the Sherlock Holmes, on Collins Street, caught my eye when I was walking past heading towards docklands. I think the flowering pot plants also added to the image.

All the images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and a Canon 24-105mm lens.  More images from melbourne will be covered in future posts.