My dad carefully saves his father’s medals. I’ve seen them a lot of times and about a year ago I thought to photograph some. And only now I’ve finally made this thought to reality. My choice was this very medal called “Medal of Patriotic War”. Here I should give some explanations. The point is that in Russia (earlier in the Soviet Union), the Second World War always was conditionally divided on two parts: WWII (from 1st September 1939 till 2nd September 1945) and The Great Patriotic War (from 22nd June 1941 till 8th May 1945) which means that after the Nazi invasion to the Soviet Union territory, WWII became a patriotic war for the Soviet people. That’s why this medal has such a title. That’s my granddad, Leninslav Korovkin (by the way, his name “Leninslav” is quite interesting nowadays although it was very normal in the Soviet Union, and it means “Glory to Lenin”): On the photo, you can see that he got a squint eye. That’s a result of a splinter hit. Here, he’s a Guard Sergeant of the Red Army. He started WWII in the infantry as a Private in 17 years old (he lied about his age in the recruitment office). He accepted the baptism of fire in Stalingrad in winter 1942-43. Since 1943 till the Nazi capitulation, he was a scout of the 41st separate reconnaissance troop. He’s got five combat awards including medals “For Combat Merits”, “For Warsaw Capture”, and “For Berlin Capture”. I do remember him but I didn’t know him well. He didn’t like children even if they are his grandchildren. He almost nothing told about the war. Then, when I was 7 years old, I didn’t understand why. Today I’m 40, I’ve never been to the war but now I know why. P.S.: Follow me on Instagram –...
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During the mentioned bus trip almost the whole country around, we saw several places where I dream to come again. If you’ve never been to Montenegro, you should undoubtedly visit any place in the Tara river canyon… …including but not only the Durdevica bridge, Biogradska Gora and Durmitor national parks, and, of course, the Kotor sea bay. What personally I liked the most? I think the Crno Ezero (means the Black Lake), a glacier lake on the altitude of more than 1400 meters above the sea level. There’s a gorgeous silence. I don’t mean a complete absence of sounds of course. I talk about nature’s silence: the sounds of the wind, lake waves, and the seldom cry of birds. I’m not a real new dish lover, therefore, I don’t usually taste anything that never tried. But I strongly recommend you to take the dish called Jagnjetina ispod sača (means “the lamb from the big cauldron”). If you have ever heard about the meat that melts in the tongue, this is the exact case! You won’t regret! To conclude, a couple of words about the sea. It’s wonderful! Not as salty as the Mediterranean but very clean and warm. As a photographer, I also liked its color. Well, as said in the heading, that was a contradictory vacation from which I understood two things for the future: never buy a bus trip again and don’t try to combine the photo trip with the sea holidays. P.S.: Follow me on Instagram –...
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When in 2011, I and my wife came back home from our first abroad vacation in Croatia, we faced with our different friends’ multiple late advice: “You definitely should have to visit Montenegro!” In response, we both just kept silent because didn’t have anything to say. That was our very first abroad trip and we couldn’t compare it to anything! (Back to that Croatia vacation, I can say that we still recall it as one of the best adventures in our life so far). So, this time, in autumn 2019, we eventually decided to go to well-advertised Montenegro. And what have we liked there? To be honest, just three things: nature, sea (but not beaches!), and national cuisine. From all the places in the World we have visited by now, I would place Montenegro somewhere in between Croatia and Turkey. What do I mean? Croatia is one of the cleanest countries I’ve ever seen! I like Croatian’s attitude to their land, and especially its nature so very much! It’s very close to mine. Moreover, I think many nations should take an example from Croatians, and most of all it concerns Russians. Perhaps, that’s one of the sides which I didn’t like in Montenegro: they smoke almost everybody at any place including beaches, and cigarette buts are wallowing everywhere around. On one hand, the sea in Montenegro is clean and beautiful. On the other hand, in Kotor town, for instance, we couldn’t find a single working shower. A view from the mountain above Kotor sea bay is simply amazing but the entrance to the mountain is paid (only cash by the way!) and no single light on steps of the long stairs at all (that’s just wonderful during the night-time descending)! While the bus trip we purchased, we saw lots of amazingly beautiful places. But the stops they allowed us were too short. In the Tara river canyon, for example, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, we had five minutes to stop. I’m not kidding. Five minutes! I timed because we were told we have 15 minutes… Trifles but unpleasant. Well, I’m fed up talking about the cons! Let’s better about the good. To be continued… P.S.: Follow me on Instagram –...
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You may probably know such an international photo community called Viewbug. If not, I will explain it in a few words. That’s a huge community which unites a whole bunch of photographers of different level from around the World. They constantly run photo contests on various themes. Prizes vary as well. From time to time, these are very valuable items such as, for instance, Canon 5D Mark III camera. I can say that it’s quite cool to win any of these contests. A few days ago, I became a finalist of the “Interior Design” photo contest on this website. Yes, the finale isn’t a win, but still, I’m glad! For me, that’s another step further up on the road. P.S.: Follow me on Instagram –...
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It happened already a year ago. Of course, I didn’t remember you every day. Ah, no, maybe I did. But you know, the farther away the day of your leaving the bit less pain I felt. More often I can recall you with a smile. I still feel a lump in my throat quite frequently but not every time already. I will always love you, my dear. Rest in...
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A couple of days ago, I and my wife gathered to go to the spot that I noticed about two years ago. At that moment, I just drove by and couldn’t help but notice this absolutely amazing tree! Back then I firmly decided to visit it again with my camera. Finally, we did it. And I was photographing it with rapture while Polina (my wife) has captured me during this. By the way, as I wrote in my previous post, she’s a wonderfully creative person. (And I say like this only because she’s my spouse. Just kidding! She’s really immensely talented. You can check it by yourself just visiting her Instagram account: @polina_po_kudelkina.) And here’s what I got at that moment: And another photograph that I took then: I think it was a great photoshoot despite we shouldn’t go to another country or somewhere far in ours to get it. Therefore, I can repeat the words of one of my favorite photographers: you don’t always have to go far from home to catch something amazing. P.S.: Follow me on Instagram –...
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