Nice photography what camera are you using sdcougar.
Sorry for the slow reply, I just haven't checked in here in awhile.
The top two 'fotos' are on film, Fugichrome Astia100 with Nikon FA and 70-210 Vivatar Series I.
The one in Venice is a Kodak Z612 [12x zoom] as were all the other shots in Italy except the night shots [film].
If you looked at any of my other photos in Germany on my website link, except for the last ones on film, the others were with a Kodak Z712 for which I had lens extension tube and UVfilter....But it was stolen in Leipzig toward the end of the trip.
The 612 stayed in Romania with my wife. I replaced my camera with a Panasonic Lumix-FZ35. [18x] which I like very much except that it is hard to find the menu to format the card...more of a learning curve. Loved the Kodak.