Here is a close-up view with a 55 mm lens on the situation of Venus in eastern Taurus, getting close to the border of Gemini.  We can see the four bright open clusters that line the winter Milky Way in Auriga and Gemini, as well as Betelgeuse shining red and setting on the left side of the picture.  Venus is magnitude -3.96 this evening.  Unannotated image.