@MuseumPushkin

Today’s photo comes from a boat tour I did a couple months ago in St. Petersburg, Russia. I hadn’t heard any English in many days when I decided to book the tour, and I thought it would be nice to hear something other than Estonian or Russian for the first time in a while. Although the Russian guide spoke decent-enough English, there was not a single other person on the boat (which could probably hold over 100 people). The guide was out of sight so it wasn’t a very social event.

Anyway, one of the things that struck me about Russia (and maybe this was in part due to poor, dreary weather most of the time I was there) was nearly all of the buildings could use some fresh paint. The vast majority of buildings seemed to have not been cared for in decades. This is probably why I took a photo of this building from the boat; it was a rare, somewhat-recently-painted specimen.

Posted on October 2nd, 2019 under Saint Petersburg. Tags: AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR DX lens, buildings, Nikon D500. Comments Off on Museum-Estate of G. R. Derzhavin

Today’s photo comes from a day I will not soon forget. That day was a little over three months ago. I woke up in my rented camper van on the westernmost tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in western Iceland (by myself with no humans within hundreds of kilometers) and proceeded on a wondrous drive that took me to this spot, known as Látrabjarg. Látrabjarg is the westernmost tip of Iceland, and a bird can fly there from Snæfellsnes in under half an hour, but, by car, it takes over six hours–six hours of amazing views and vistas I should add. And no people. Actually, it was more like ten hours as I couldn’t resist the hot springs and photo ops along the way.

Fratercula arctica is the scientific name for the Atlantic Puffin. This one is peering across the Denmark Strait at Greenland in the distance. Speaking of scientific names… A few weeks later I found myself in Uppsala, Sweden immersed in the history of the father of scientific naming, Carl Linnaeus.

Posted on September 27th, 2019 under Iceland. Tags: nature, Nikon 300mm f/4 VR ED-IF AF-S Nikkor Lens, Nikon D500, Westfjords. Comments Off on Fratercula arctica

The 2020 festival acts are beginning to take shape. Download Festival, for instance, has announced Kiss, Iron Maiden, and System of a Down as headliners. I hope Iron Maiden is a headliner at some festival I’m at in 2020 as it’s been too long since I’ve seen them (2012). I have no interest in seeing Kiss (again). Typically, 50-75% of the headliners at Download Festival end up as headliners at Copenhell. I doubt Copenhell will have System of a Down again so soon and without a new album.

Gefle Metal Festival has made several announcements, but I won’t be going in 2020 as it’s the same weekend as Metal Magic. I’m really looking forward to Denial of God at Metal Magic 2020.

Brutal Assault is making a big announcement on October 1. I’m guessing it could be as many as 30 bands.

I’m thinking about doing one or two new festivals in 2020. The short list of possibilities include Bang Your Head (Tankard, Heathen, Riot V, Unleashed, etc.) or Dynamo MetalFest and MetalDays.

Posted on September 26th, 2019 under Other. Tags: AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR DX lens, brutal assault festival, concert photography, electric wizard, metal, Nikon D500. Comments Off on Brutal Assault band announcement for 2020

@CarcassBand #carcass #brutalAssault2019 #brutalassault

Posted on September 23rd, 2019 under Other. Tags: AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8-4E ED VR DX lens, brutal assault festival, carcass, concert photography, metal, Nikon D500. Comments Off on Metal Monday

@MetalMagicDK @UliJonRoth1

Throwing it back to my first Metal Magic Festival and a love affair that hopefully won’t end anytime soon. The 2020 Metal Magic Festival will happen in early July, and I hope to be there. Blaze Bayley has already been announced as one of the acts. I skipped that era of Iron Maiden so now it’s time to go back and see if I can get into The X Factor and Virtual XI, the only two Iron Maiden releases that I’m not intimately familiar with.

Posted on September 19th, 2019 under Denmark. Tags: concert photography, metal magic festival, Nikon D500, Tokina AT-X 11-20mm F2.8 PRO DX, uli jon roth. Comments Off on Throwback Thursday