Hero City Leningrad

© sahikon/4bh

The coin is dedicated to Leningrad, Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (now Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation). Leningrad was awarded with "Hero City" title for outstanding heroism and courage of city defenders, displayed during Siege of Leningrad and Great Patriotic War (1941-1945, part of World War II). The coin is part of "Hero City" collectible coins series that was issued by Central Bank of Russian Federation in 2000.

If you take a look at the coin, you will see two trucks traveling on the ice (it was the only way to deliver food to the city during the Siege), spray of water and ice shards from exploded shell (trucks were often bombed by German Naziests), waymark and in the background - outlines of Russian Admiralty.

The photo itself was made using Canon EOS 450D with kit lenses (EF 18-55 3.5 - 5.6) with Hoya polarizing filter (HOYA CIR Polarizing Super Quality Pro1, if you are hungry for details).

How did I get a reflection? I've just put the coin at the obvious mirror (see these two white dots? it's a dust at the mirror), setup the light carefully and use polarizing filter to minimize visibility of secondary reflections and maximize visibility of the primary one.