Night falls over the watery canals of Venice, and the reflections become luminous lines and wriggles. Street lights throw luminous pools across pavements and water, and upwards onto ancient brickwork and windows.
A classic wooden speed boat lies gleaming in its stalls, waiting for the call to transport us over the winding waterways.
On the Grand Canal, light spills carelessly between buildings and boats. The green hue of the water catches unearthly light, and throws it back skywards. The water licks lazily at the pontoons and the stone walkways, and the street lights blaze as they have done for centuries.
Gondolas nod dreamily under bridges, and the water stills to smooth silk, as the traffic heads home for the day. Corners of light come alive, showing us worn steps leading down to the water and the side of passing boats dipping into the shadows of bridges.
From the sleepy dim backwaters we spill out under the arch of a bridge, back onto the main waterway. People throng towards St Marks Square, and the ancient wrought iron lights show the way over the old stones of the street.
breathofgreenair 
How beautiful. The photos and the dreamy flow of your words make me wish I too could visit Venice one day.
If you can I’m certain you will love it…..dreamy is the perfect adjective for Venice 🙂
I’d like to be among the throngs of people headed towards St. Marks Square. I’ve always wanted to go to Venice.
If you ever can, do it! I was blown away by it 🙂
It was as good and better than I had hoped and expected!
Beautiful photos bringing back lovely memories from one of the most romantic cities in the world 🙂
Thank you Ese, and I can only agree about Venice….I fell in love with it. It’s now top equal with Paris in my heart for romantic cities 🙂
Lovely. The gondolas are so beautiful and all the lights…Truly magical!
They are very elegant boats to watch as they move seemingly effortlessly through the canals. So romantic and timeless in their appeal….magical indeed!
I like the bronze in the 4th photo as well, they look like something from ancient Egypt!
Yeah, I can see that….they have such a mysterious appeal with their black prows held high, glinting with bronze tones 🙂
The fourth is my favorite … beautiful bronze prows, gleaming … tough lighting conditions, nicely captured. D
Thanks David, it was quite a challenge for me as night shooting isn’t something I have much experience of…..but I will try to get more practice. I loved that 4th shot when I saw it in my camera 🙂
Such magical shots, your night time, Venice, Seonaid! I especially like the blue posts and the prow of that gondola. You’ve been very disciplined in waiting for the moment to post these. I always want to launch mine straight out there, but it really isn’t possible is it, especially when you work. Do you do much photo processing? They really are superb and capture the atmosphere as well as your words.
Don’t know if you saw my reply on 6WS last night? I contented myself with “doing” the Christmas market from the “safety” of Scott’s Monument. Great shots from on high (though I gather there was a tragic incident there on Friday- glad I didn’t know before I went up) I was looking for somewhere to have a coffee, if I’d only thought! I wouldn’t like to impose at short notice 🙂
Thanks Jo, I usually post some shots quickly, but there are always many left….just waiting for the right excuse, or right inspiration to post them 🙂 I post process a little, but the more experience I get with shooting on manual settings, the less I need to do to the photos to get them looking the way I imagined them 🙂
I use an app called Snapseed on my iPad for most of my processing.
Anytime you’re up here let me know if you have an hour or so for coffee/tea…..if it works with my commitments I’m always happy to meet up 🙂
Hope you enjoyed your Edinburgh trip…it’s pretty mild up here at the moment for December!
What a great spot for a light challenge. My favorite is the gondola close-up but they are all lovely. Nicely done Seonaid!
Thanks Tina, I just loved the way the light reflected off the water…it all added to the romance and the atmosphere 🙂
This post brought back such great memories, Seonaid. 🙂 Venice is such a magical city, especially at night.
I can only agree, night time was special 🙂 it’s one of those places I would go back to in a flash!
Me too. 🙂
Great minds share great taste 🙂
I was in Venice when I was a child/young girl and all I can remember is these canals, the gondolas and a glassblowing factory that introduced me to the wonders of beautiful glass. What is Venice like these days? I heard there is a lot of pollution and way too many tourists during the summer. But still, it must have kept its beauty….
It all looks very romantic.
Romance sums up Venice at night for certain 🙂
It was beautiful….during the day it was very busy and crowded around St Marks Square and the Rialto Bridge…..but away from these sites the streets are quiet and almost empty even in mid summer. By night it empties out, as all the daytime visitors head home, and st Marks Square becomes impossibly romantic, with live classical music and romantic couples. I fell in love with Venice 🙂
Beautiful! We visited Venice a few years ago but during the day. I can only imagine through your photos how beautiful it must be.
I loved the feeling of mystery at night, and it felt almost otherworldly…..all those reflections 🙂
Awesome pics … Nicely put together ..
Thank you 🙂