46.5

On a recent visit to the magical city of Venice, Italy, I reunited with an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years. The city was suffocated with tourists by day but we had the city to ourselves late at night. Just after midnight my friend and I strolled to the famous Rialto Bridge which straddles the Venice Grand Canal. I set up my Gitzo carbon fiber tripod on the Rialto Bridge and adjusted my Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera for a 25 second time exposure of the canal at night. While the camera was exposing the shot, a water taxi, the “Vaporetto” sped across the water rushing excited tourists to their Venetian adventure. The long exposure revealed the Vaporetto as streaks of red and white lights across the water. It was a rare shot and one I will always treasure because of the magical location, the reunion with a dear old friend and now this photo contest!