20 recent photos from May' 2024

For the last week I've been sitting at home and did not even touch the camera - because my head became tired from an overabundance of visual impressions... and my legs became even more tired - the previous week turned out pretty packed, I have visited several festivals of art, crafts, fencing, children's creativity, and attended a vintage car parade - my buffer went overflow.

Now I look at my RECENT folder and really have no idea where to start my editing, haha. Three thousand photos is TOO MUCH. Ofc not all of the stuff is good; there are many similar takes and some are unhappy clicks that should go directly to the dump. Anyway... here's a little mix of what happened near me and what I saw at the end of May.

Thats me in the frame, trying to hold a vintage device. (Warm thanks goes to @tatdt for this capture, and for being a nice company as well!) On May 26th I attended the martial arts festival named "Fencer's Day" - got a lot of excitement and tons of photos that I'm simply afraid to start editing.

I stretched out my greedy hands to a treasure chest, had a training sparring match, encountered pirates, Jedi, medieval knights and their ladies in luxurious vintage dresses, listened to various medieval dances and music... I regret only one thing, that my babygirl did not make me company here -- instead she preferred to spend an idle weekend and headed to the summer house. Some things in life will never repeat... this festival is annual (I just wasnt in the know of it before). I hope next year I will have time and opportunity to visit it again!

Maybe this is a young Fencer who is getting imprinted for his future Great Sports Career? Nobody can tell for sure. His parents noticed me shooting him a lot, and instead of starting a disput ("why are you taking photos of our child without our permission?!") or demanding “immediately delete the photos you took” - they asked where my beautiful photos will be published and if they could get them. Of course, they received these photos via email. This dozen of files I processed first. I wish this world as many sane parents as possible, with the right kind of sawdust in their heads!

A week before, on May 18, I visited the Retro Car Parade - it is also held every year in honor of City Day. (It’s so good that the organizers are smart enough to space all these events within a week!)

On the same day, May 18, in the evening -- I managed to check out the annual St.Petersburg Book Salon, which took place on the Palace Square near hermitage State Museum. It had an intresting 3-days program, and I managed to grab it by the very tip of the tail. My goal was not to obtain books for a better price, not to get acquainted with new editions or listen to the presentations - I was hunting for another game: the people who came to see said books and presentations.

In our time of electronic reading (and a slight refusal of reading as such), several segments of the book market feel comfortable - most likely, they will never give up the “paper book”. Therefore, it is not surprising that almost half of the festival (1 of 2 pavilions) presented children's books, and had a special children's playground. There were a lot of children there, and they were the ones who ended up in half of my photographs.

I photographed a lot of children enjoying master-classes, choosing books or simply playing. Rare shots that make me happy!

The next day, May 19, I dedicated entirely to the festival “All the Colors of Childhood” - it also lasted three days, and I would like to spend all three days there. Unfortunately, opportunities do not always coincide with our desires and I could visit it on the closing day only. Anyway, I acted as a very laborious bee and collected so much nectar that got indigestion (just kidding :))))

Moving between festivals and events, I also did not forget to collect the ever-ripening harvest of street photography. Some of them turned out so successful that I already want to include them in the list of the Top 25 best photos of the year. For example, this balloon seller on Palace Square. I spent next to him 6 minutes in the 'Paparazzi mode' (of course, I have been was I was noticed, but the seller did not object), -- I simply could not pull myself away from this spectacle, and continued taking pics...

These balls cast an intricate shadow, and I took some of the photos with intention for the #shadow-hunters challenge.

Alas, I almost completely put macro photography aside, and May is the month when flowers returned to our lives again after a long, dreary winter time! It's time to take a look at the world around you with a macro lens.

On May 25, I - literally on the run, between other things - photographed tulips and blooming thorns in a local park.

But, of course, it is impossible to embrace what is not covered (as well as to cram in what cannot be squeezed in). For example, I missed the 2-day Ice Cream Festival, the Icebreaker Festival (which I attended last year), and much more. May is one of the most interesting, pleasant, eventful months in the life of my city. Many of my friends call it their favorite month (for example, one artist whose album I am currently editing). The tourist season opens in May; the famous “white nights” continue from May to June; On May 28, St. Petersburg celebrates its birthday - it is not surprising that such an entertainment program is being created to accompany this event.