Garden insects: Macrosiphum rosae, aphid - Roses sap sucker

Here you can see the inhabitants of the roses in the garden :-)

They are "Macrosiphum rosae", aphids: they suck the sap of roses leaves.

To take this photo I've used an inverted Canon 18-55mm.
My old 18-55mm is having a second life as a super-macro lens :-)
I've bought the cheapest reverse macro ring adapter on ebay.
At maximum zoom the captured image have a real life size of about 5x3.5mm (0.20x0.14 inch)
Maybe it's not handy as the Canon MPE-65, but for 3€ (price of the reverse ring adapter), it's a great value :-)

Venice, Carnival 2011: It's Fantastic! - Best masks photo selection

We are at it, guys. Carnival it's over, and my "best Venice Carnival 2011" photos selection is running out...

This year I've been in Venice for 2 days. I've walked over an uncounted number of venetian bridges, I've seen hundreds of masks, I've seen many amazing foreshotening view of Venice, I've shooted 1088 photos, and it's been fantastic.

I would like to thank Venice, and all the masks that make an event like the Venice Carnival possible.
I praise you all.
I would especially like to thank my girlfriend: your presence, my darling, makes these trips memorable... and my life special :-)

That's all, folks!

Thanks for reading :-)

Venice, Carnival 2011: The golden ivory mask - She's an angel...

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

This is one of the most beautiful mask I've seen during the Venice Carnival.
I really love the delicate ivory color of her dress.
Her mask, her wings, her pose... she's fantastic!

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The golden jolly mask - The velvet glove and the roses

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

As you can guess from the feather on the mask's head, ther was a strong wind :-)
I really like her eyes, and the pose of her head.

In this photo I've used the integrated flash to put a bit of light in the eyes of the mask. IMO a mask looks far better when you can see her eyes :-)

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The old rose mask - Kind perfection

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

I shot this mask in front of the "Campanile di San Marco".
I really love her pose, and the colors of her dress. The border of the hat is fantastic!

Did you know that St Mark's Campanile collapsed in 1902? I've just discovered it thanks to wikipedia.
The reconstruction started in 1903 and lasted until 1913. The tower has been rebuilt exactly how it was, in the same place. (in italian: "dov'era e com'era")

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The red velvet mask - Her pose...

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

This mask has something that catch my eyes. I don't know what exactly is... maybe it's her pose... maybe it's the red velvet reflection, or the curly hair and the feathers...

It was a cold morning in Venice, and there was a strong wind. This mask, as you can see, is wearing only lace on her shoulders. Due to the wind she was clearly trying to find a pose to fight the cold.

I praise this mask for being able to be nice and photogenic even with a not-so-nice weather. :-)

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The violet skirt mask - Pleats and pods

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

I really love the color and the pleats of her skirt.

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The twin masks - Red and yellow court

Here is another photo of two masks from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

I love these two masks, their red and yellow dress looks fantastic :-)

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The theatrical mask - Kind expressivness

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.

This was one of two fantastics masks! They were dressed like street clown.
I believe them were theatrical actors, or something like that.
They didn't speak, but their kind expressivness said it all :-)

They was continuously moving around, walking like the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, joking with kids... and adults :-) I've seen one of them unexpectedly hugging a woman, just when her husband was taking a photos of her in front of Canal Grande :-)
I love Venice Carnival!

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Venice, Carnival 2011: Black shot silk mask - Like a lion

Here is another photo of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.
She was part of a bigger group of masks. But I noticed she immediately.
Her plume-mask remember me the mane of a lion. This, combined with her gentle eyes, and her fantastic cloak, made she a very eyes catching mask.

It's hard to render the beauty of her cloak in a photo.
It was like a mix of black shot silk/velvet. The black reflections was constantly changing for every move she made. And the red was strong, even if it was a cloudy morning.
Very nice costume, congratulations!

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Venice, Carnival 2011: The orange silk mask - Through the door

Here is another picture of a mask from the 2011 Venice Carnival.
It was early morning, and St.Marc square was populated mainly by photographers and masks.
Every now and then there was some venetian passing by...

Then I was photographing this mask together with a bunch of other photographers, but we needed to pause for a few seconds when a venetian worker entered this door. She was probably going to work and, of course, took precedence over masks and photographers :-)

Respect the people of Venice: you may go to Venice for amusement, but they work and live there :-)

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