Chelsea Football Club Champions Parade 2015

Another year, another piece of silverware for Chelsea Football Club and therefore another Victory parade....

As is my tradition now, I headed outside to capture some of the fans and team during the parade to celebrate Chelsea winning this year's Premier League. There were lots of families out and about enjoying the day, lots of celery being thrown, lots of beer being drunk, and a happy, celebratory atmosphere. The crowds grew as the time for the bus to arrive neared, with a TV helicopter circling above. A few other people were there to take photos, but most people were blue-adorned fans.

 

Eventually the bus came into view around the bend in the King's Road before it came to a standstill at Eel Brook Common for a while. I was further along the New King's Road, and chatted to a Chelsea fan who'd come from Essex with her daughter to watch the parade. As the bus finally moved towards us, the flag of a fan in front of us blocked the view until it had almost reached us - very annoying! I snapped a few shots, and just managed to see John Terry and a couple of others at the front of the bus, but the bus passed by quickly.  No sign of Jose or Roman this year - they must've been on the other side of the bus.

Behind the buses a brass band followed, before the crowds poured onto the streets, following the bus as it headed to Parsons Green.

I headed home for a bit, but returned when the crowds began to clear, and was rather aghast at the mess that had been left. Shreds of celery were everywhere, and the pavements and common were littered with empty beer cans, bottles and other rubbish. Some children played football, while other kids stood in the road throwing celery at each other. A couple of hours later I took the dog out and most of the mess had been cleared up, most of the fans had returned home, and cars poured along the road as if nothing had happened. Until the next time....

30 Day Photo Challenge - Week 2

My 30 day photo challenge, inspired by Photocritic, is now at the end of week 2!

Day 14 - Sometimes I...
Sometimes I spend hours photographing frosty leaves. There have been four frosts so far this autumn/winter and I've been out in the local park for each of them, photographing the beautiful frosty leaves and grass. Here is my favourite from this morning. More can be found on my website.

Tomorrow's subject is "4pm".

Day 13 - Distance

The photo I've chosen for today's subject of "Distance" could easily be for tomorrow's subject of "Sometimes I..." as sometimes I like to take photos of planes out of the window! They are the most distant objects that I can see from my window, apart from the clouds.

Unfortunately I live under the flight path, and apart from the long-gone sight and sound of Concorde the planes are pretty unwelcome. Occasionally I see planes pass through a rainbow or passing through stunning sunset skies, but mostly it's just an unwanted, continuous grumble in the sky. Today they look quite pretty, though, passing through fast-moving low clouds, lit up in the sun. I Googled to check the distance and think they're at about 3,000 feet above sea level when they pass over me here in Fulham. So this photo of distance is 3,000 feet!





Day 12 - Play

I feel as if I'm losing momentum a little. Today's subject is "play" and I didn't want to do another picture of the dog (which would have been an easy one, as he insists we play ball if we go to the park). Instead today's photo is of a bunch of young lads playing football - probably a scene seen all over the country (and world, in fact). It was raining slightly, with annoying washed-out skies. I also tried some time-lapse shots of the hubby and dog playing, but wasn't massively impressed with the results, given the white skies.





Day 11 - Work

I spent the day taking part in a great photography project - #lapselondon - where 60 of us went off to create some time-lapse shots around London, organised by TriggerTrap, which has produced a dongle and iPhone app to help take time-lapses. Today's photo challenge subject was "work" so I captured one of the TriggerTrap team (Thomas) demonstrating how to use their dongle and app. Work doesn't have to be boring...

Day 10 - Happiness

Today's photo challenge subject is happiness, something that seems pretty easy to depict. I could've taken a photo of my dog (but he was yesterday's star), my hubby (he's at work), my camera or a host of other things that make me happy, but as a typical tea-obsessed Brit I thought I'd capture a simple symbol of happiness - a cup of tea in my favourite mug (Scottish Highland Stoneware, purchased in Ullapool in 1997). You just can't beat a good cuppa!

Day 9 - Fear

This was a tricky one. How do you depict fear? I guess I could've walked down a dark alleyway at night, but I don't actually want to do that. And it's a bit obvious.

The next thing I thought of was how Henry, my dog, always hides under the coffee table when he's afraid of something - me approaching him to put on his raincoat or with a grooming implement (without an edible bribe) are the main two. I'm trying to avoid taking too many photos of him during the photo challenge, but he is a handy subject. So here he is, under the table, peeking out to see if the coast is clear (has the comb gone...?).

Day 8 - Mother Nature

As soon as I saw today's topic - Mother Nature - I thought of a couple of little trinkets that I picked up in Cusco, Peru, back in 2001. They are small pewter statues, representing Pachamama and Pacha Kamaq - Mother Earth and Father Earth. I rarely collect souvenirs on my travels these days, so it was nice to dig them out again!

For Week 1 - have a look here.