A trip into Moscow

I would have liked to spend an entire day just on the Metro stations, they are something to behold, but as part of a group, with my photography nowhere near the top of the agenda, I had to grab the shots I could without getting separated from the group and lost with no Russian words apart from thank you and goodbye!

I became adept at changing lenses more swiftly. These are taken with a 10-20mm wide angle lens. In the black & white one, I am standing in front of a huge statue - the one in the picture below, above the mouth of the tunnel.

There was disappointment at the market because some stalls were closed due to anti-Putin protests (no evidence of which we saw) and a large number of militaria stalls were closed.

After the market, we experienced another extreme of shopping experiences on a street in a different part of the city. By this time, the sun had gone and it was raining quite heavily. 

Brian does a quick rendition of Gene Kelly's most famous routine!

 Architectural details.

Kubinka Tank Museum, Moscow

The nicest bunch of Tank Anoraks I have ever met - a day spent at Kubinka Tank Museum was a highlight of our visit to Moscow. 

Playing with a new toy in a puddle.

 I was interested to see this visitor recording video clips of tanks on his iPad. Note also the two youngsters with their phones, ignoring the tanks!

Red Square, Moscow

This is one of my favourite shots from Sunday morning's Dress Rehearsal of the Victory Day parade which would take place a few days later in the presence of Putin et al. Even without the main officials in attendance security was high, with numerous checking of passports and official tickets.

 Troops had been standing in the heat for a long time before we arrived. The military band was 1,100 men, each block of troops was 400 we think, but we didn't keep count of how many of those marched by! I read later that 14,000 troops took part.

 There was a silence of several minutes at the point where Putin would make a speech. I would not have understood it, I was thrilled to be there regardless - I never expected to be in Red Square in my lifetime, but we were there, my son and I.

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

After the parade we stood in the middle of Red Square in awe and wonder at what we had just witnessed. It would have been worth the exhausting travelling and the stress of getting our visas for this morning alone!

There was more to come.

Early in the morning, at the airport...

 We got up at 3am and left at 4 to drive to the airport. 

The adventure began - a week in Moscow staying with real Russian re-enactors.

We didn't know what to expect, but we did know that Red Square would be Sunday's major event.

A turbo prop!

Overnight stay

Jodie was very keen to take part in an overnight adventure with school at the end of April. I think she started packing about a week in advance!

Faith

I appreciate architecture of a religious nature, I regularly feel awe and wonder at the magnificence of a church or cathedral, built by generations of stonemasons, maintained and repaired at huge expense, all to the glory of god. I can find plenty to photograph inside and out. I have no faith of my own, except faith in myself to navigate through what life throws at me with dignity and with care for others as well as for myself and those close to me.

These images were taken at Derby Cathedral on a photo walk with the theme of Faith.

Red Shoes at Carsington

After many weeks without serious time spent with camera, a visit to Carsington brought some very welcome creativity in late March.

I had made a conscious decision on New Year's Day not to blog daily. This was a way of taking the pressure off after a very busy autumn term and being rather ill over the Christmas break. I also decided not to continue entering every competition at my photographic club, having worked hard to do so during 2011 and placed high enough up to be pleased with my results by the end of the year.

One of the best ways to stretch and challenge yourself as a photographer is to have a project.

Shooting for competitions with a theme is also a way of taking yourself out of your comfort zone, making you try new techniques and such. Suddenly, I had no impetus to shoot, and spent most of January buried under accounts and taxes!

In early March I took part in a small informal photo walk in Derby with a theme, I took Jodie along too as she had a new camera for Christmas. Although we only spent about an hour and a half because it was unexpectedly cold, I thoroughly enjoyed being out with fellow enthusiasts putting my creativity to use again. Jodie got some great shots.

It is clear to me, even moreso now I have begun to post blog entries again after a long gap, that creating and sharing images is important in my life.

The following quote has been part of my email signature for some time.

"If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up."

 ~ Richard Avedon

The blog is revived.

And so are my spirits.

Birthday Pony

 The badge said "Birthday Girl" but as my girl thinks she is a pony, we stuck a plain white label over "Girl" so she could write "PONY" and colour the letters in... whatever makes her happy ;0)

 A pony puppet was well received...

This was back in March - Jodie's birthday is 2 days before my own, so she was my best birthday best gift ever.

Old School

My daughter had asked me more than once what was it like when I was at school, so I asked her would she like to visit my old school with me? I arranged for us to go on one of her INSET days when my old school was open as usual. We were welcomed by the lovely head teacher and shown around both infants and junior schools, now a single primary. The staff from my days are all long gone, but memories came flooding back as we walked around the school. I recognised some of my former classrooms. The old part of the school is Victorian and these glazed tiles are protected against removal. 

It was surprising to me that I actually became more emotional about the visit when I edited images a few weeks later. So much has happened in my life since I played in that playground, I had no idea what was in store for me, I had no idea how much grief I would face, losing relatives to cancer, not least my father when I was only 19, but also losing a stillborn daughter when I was 36.

School days... the best days of your life?

"He's behind me...isn't he?"

Tulip

Spring brings my favourite flowers which I love to photograph. Tulips and daffodils are on the list.

Window light, bright overcast, 105mm macro lens.