V Williams, Early morning, Venice (March theme: Street photography)

I was doing a European tour and our morning departures were mostly quite early ones. I'd wanted to capture a quieter Venice than that which most tourists see, and, with only one day in the beautiful city, I had a tiny window in which to do so. I got up extra early and wandered the streets before breakfast, camera in hand, shooting Venetian life minus the day's soon-to-begin energy. Here, a street cleaner was busy sweeping up rubbish and cat excrement before the day's busyness began, the canal offering a mirror reflection emphasising the calm of the moment.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.