Bloopers

I've taken more photographs this past year than at any other time in my life.  Obviously the camera tends to come out more when one is traveling.  The thing is, not all of these photos have turned out the way I would like.  Sometimes pics are downright awful as a result of blurriness, bad lighting, the nagging feeling that one is not looking one's best, etc.  

And sometimes a stranger unexpectedly enters the shot.  I've snapped a fair few of such photos in previous months, and I'd like to share a couple of those...bloopers.  I suppose that would be the apt description for these blunders.

Exhibit A: This is a self-portrait taken when I was touring the Doges' Palace in Venice.  It houses a magnificent golden staircase I was hoping to capture.  Instead I came away with this:

Whoa, hair!  The thought that naturally kept running through my head when I loaded this gem onto my computer was, 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down thy hair!'

Exhibit B: I had just finished wandering round the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence when I spotted a beautiful, ornate fountain.  Photo op!  Or not:

Not only did I skilfully manage to miss most of the fountain, but this masked lady became the focal point of the shot.  She's looking right into the camera and everything.  How nice of her to pose for me.  To this day I can't help but wonder why she was sporting a surgical mask.  Is this a chic new trend of which I'm cluelessly unaware?