Armed Forces Day: A shortcut

I had toyed with the idea of heading to the Armed Forces Day main event in Holyrood Park but only because I had enjoyed shooting the Red Arrows so much with the Zenit-E the night before. It felt good to be using it again and I didn’t feel guilty with my cheap film.

There was a parade by the various Forces and Veterans from Edinburgh Castle, down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyrood, followed by a couple of fly-bys…which I had just heard fly over my house so I had missed most things by this time. I had heard there was a main event on at Holyrood Park (behind the Palace of Holyrood) through Twitter but knew nothing about it. Armed Forces Day is relatively new in the UK; it replaced Veterans Day a few years back and neither of these had ever been on my radar (excuse the pun) until now.

I wanted to shoot though so I headed off with a couple of Kodak Colorplus 200 films in my pocket and the Zenit-E over my shoulder once again. Having all this very near my house was handy as I knew a shortcut along the back of the Palace to the park and event area. As I did, a small group of around 30 people gathered around the rear entrance to the Palace. I looked around and couldn’t see much activity but spotted a well dressed guard standing by the gates. Perfect! I framed my shot and was about to take it when two police officers stepped into view…I froze, this was annoying…if I had only been a few second quicker I would of had it. Within moments people started to come out the Palace gates and I couldn’t believe my eyes:

Pictured: Charles (Prince of Wales), Camilla (Duchess of Cornwall), Prime Minister David Cameron.

Of course, if only I hadn’t had a 58mm lens on and something bigger, but not bad for what they are.

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  1. iainkendall posted this