Yes, it’s that time of the year where I go over my year, month by month, in the form of pictures and a bit of text, just as I did in 2007 and 2008 !

The biggest change this year is that I’ve sort of settled down now in my hometown (Madrid, Spain). I’ve been using weekends to photowalk with a number of like-minded photographers around the city and sometimes visiting other towns. I would say that for me, the highlights for this year (photographically speaking) are probably the heavy snow experienced in Jan, my trip to India in Feb and my trip to Italy in Sep. However, there is much to see so do have a look!

So as not to make this post any longer than it already is, I’ve added links to relevant posts or flickr sets where more photos from the mentioned event can be seen. All links open up in a new browser window so don’t be afraid to click on them, you won’t lose this page.

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January

The year began with some fireworks for the three kings parade (part of the Christmas traditions followed in Spain). The first highlight of the year was that it snowed in Madrid… and heavily! Newsoutlets said it hadn’t snowed in the capital this much in decades. The city collapsed with all sorts of problems (mainly transport), yet kids and photographers rejoiced at being able to enjoy the snow everywhere . Snow wasn’t the only thing that invaded Madrid in January, during a couple of weeks the city was covered with cow sculptures whose designs ranged from the creative to the bizarre. During this month I photographed some recently built skyscrapers in Madrid (Amongst the tallest in Europe) and attempted to do some hiking in Peñalara (which was snowed up). We also celebrated the Chinese New year in the city centre and visited the Star Wars exhibition in Madrid.

February

Madrid kept on getting invaded, this month however it was done by Zombies! A relatively new and certainly welcomed tradition consisting of hundreds of Zombies around the city terrorizing by the masses. Apart from Zombies in Madrid, most of my photos in February were actually taken during my 2 week trip to India where I visited 2 cities (Mumbai and Amristar).

March

Having returned from my trip to India, I came back eager to travel even more – although I had to make do with locations somewhat closer such as La Granja de San Ildefonso (which has a famous Glass Factory) and San Lorenzo Del Escorial. Within Madrid (city) I visited three parks; Parque Enrique Tierno Galvan (which contains our IMAX and our Planetarium), Parque Quinta de Los Monlinos (Which had many Almond trees with blossoming flowers) and Parque del Capricho (where I attempted my first “model shoot”).

April

April featured a trip to Toledo, which aside from the usual Toledo-tourist photos also included visiting an abandoned house. I also checked out an air show in one of Madrid’s smaller airports for private planes and took photos of Hannah Montana when she visited Madrid to present her film. I also participated in a general photowalk across Madrid’s city centre (although we are many photographers in Madrid we don’t do this very often anymore).

May

May seemed like a month in which I took fewer photos. It consisted of the San Isidro fair (a very Madrileño tradition), a medieval market and flashmob in Atocha Railway Station. I also visited a skatepark in Alcobendas and managed to take a photo of some lightning during a storm. I also photographed a small concert where a friend played the guitar in a small guitar shop and visited Faunia (Madrid’s 2nd Zoo).

June

Halfway through the year! If you’ve made it this far you may want to take a coffee break or something since there is plenty left! In June I visited the wonderful windmills of Castilla La Mancha (much like they are described in the famed novel of El Quijote), The town of Ávila and attended a BubbleMob (during which I appeared on tv blowing bubbles ) as well as a Bollywood dancing event in the city centre. I also visited the Rastro (Madrid’s famous flea market).

July

In July I participated in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk both in Madrid as well as in Guadalajara. I visited the village of Pedraza for their annual candle-lit night event and took photos in a concert an old school mate performed in. I also took some photos of the new offices my employers were moving to later on in the year.

August

In August I was sent to Reading (UK) for a three day business trip (which if you recall is the town I lived in during a year some years ago). I visited Madrid’s Metro motor museum and took photos of a cement factory in the middle of nowhere. I also attended the celebrations of India’s independence at the Indian embassy of Madrid and attended my first “Bull Run” in Alcobendas. I also  visited the town of Chinchón and used a wirelessly triggered flashgun to create some selfportraits.

September

I think September was probably the most photographically intensive month in the whole year, I went to Barcelona for a weekend (Friend’s wedding, World Tournament of Women’s Beach Volleyball, Coldplay concert), spent a week in Italy (Florence, Pisa, Rome) and attended the Madrid’s olympic games bid (we lost ). These three “events” produced over 800 photos!

October

After the huge backlog of photos that arose from September, October was a relatively slow month. I finally got to go hiking in Peñalara (where we failed to complete the route in February due to the snow), visited Madrid’s horse races and went to The Fray’s concert. We also celebrated Diwali this month and did a short photowalk across the city centre.

November

We had a  late Autumn this year and even in November we weren’t sure if it was really there, yet I tried to capture the seasonal change this month at the Parque del Capricho. I also went to a circus, went to JapanWeekend (cosplay), participated in a LAN party held at a rural house and visited an exhibition of vintage buses organised by the regional government’s public transportation department. I also visited Madrid’s official Rose Garden.

December

December has always been all about Christmas and as is usual for me in this season, I work at my family’s business so I had very little time to take photos. In fact, the few photos I did take were mostly Christmas themed (except for The Prodigy’s concert) so happy holidays everyone and have a good 2010