Oslo's Royal Palace on 17th May

Last weekend Norway celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Constitution on what is regarded by all as its National Day: May 17th. One of the charming traditions of this day is the parading in front of the king and other members of the Norwegian royal family by all the school children of Oslo. Everyone is dressed in their best –sometimes national costumes- flags are waved, bands play and there is a bright and vibrant atmosphere. Often the weather is benign. This year it certainly was! There are many other events this day, from concerts to parties to impromptu dances, and this year was particularly grand in all respects. But the children's parade is still my favourite part of it. I watch the start of it on television (for it lasts for hours) and then stroll the five minutes it takes me to get to the palace to watch the last part of it –by which time there is slightly less of a crowd, and I am always able to get a good position. if you look very carefully on the side of the picture you will see a lady in blue watching from one of the palace windows. This is the queen of Denmark who was visiting. As Norway was partly celebrating its independence from Denmark it wouldn't have been right for her to be on the balcony with the king and queen of Norway – but I can well understand her enthusiasm and delight in wanting to see the parade nonetheless! Location: Oslo, Norway

Westminster Bridge

Another bridge in my ongoing –and admittedly quite casual– project to photograph all the bridges that cross the River Thames. This is one of my favourites, and certainly one of the most famous: Westminster Bridge, leading to (or from) the Palace of Westminster and the Parliament buildings housed there. This was taken from the embankment further upstream, so the perspective is a little compressed, but it shows the dramatic wonder that is the London Eye. Once again I was eager to get a shot of a red double-decker bus as it crossed the bridge, and I was delighted that the one red gondola on the eye happened to be midway at the same time, providing a nice little colour echo, as does the white of the wheel and the cranes further back. I deliberately did not include the water in this shot -it was the bridge itself I wanted to give priority too. The shot is a little blurred because of the distance it was taken from (and this is one of the few times I wish I had a bigger lens), but I liked the bold combination of urban wonders and the overhanging trees, and the colours and of course the fact that it is another shot of my favourite city! Location: London, England

Another Face

Another in my series of faces that I keep seeing –once you start being aware of this you see them all over the place, but perhaps most frequently on buildings -I found this one particularly vivid and amusing. It is actually a military building at the castle in Oslo, but the look of surprise created by the unusual round windows give the impression that this facade seems to be looking straight down at us with alarm. Location: Oslo, Norway

Boat on the Beach

Back at last - I have been having severe network problems over the last few weeks, so this is my first post in a while. However, I have been photographing a lot and one of the things I discovered by not being online for a while was that I had far more time available! And this has given me the opportunity to sort out pictures and have a general spring cleaning and organizing session of my archive. And I have also been learning more about light – which is what it is really all about. I will soon be out on the road again, and am looking forward to some exciting new photography projects in the coming few months. Meanwhile here is a boat I came across on a beach on the eastern coast of Corfu last summer. I was a perfect day and the boat was perfectly cute –like a toy boat really, although it is actually a little fishing vessel. I like the colours and the brightness of the sea and sky. Hopeful this summer will be equally bright and equally colourful. Location: Corfu, Greece