Available Seating

Looks like a Tungelsta couch potato has decided to buy a new sofa. Nice touch to place the old one by the side of the road, probably means that he, she, they aren’t too happy with the local wooden benches. Or that they are complete morons?

A sign of progress

If you have a good memory you might remember a post I wrote in January of last year. It was about an abandoned gas station in Tungelsta. Well the good news is that it isn't abandoned any longer. Later in the year this will be a Gulf station.

Stone Wall

Funny how the mind works. As soon as I noticed the stone wall in Handen I thought about The Music of Chance. If you haven't already done so, read the novel by Paul Auster. Or if you are lazy, buy the DVD. When this work is finished there will be two stone walls here. One hundred meters long on both sides of the new walkway that will take you to and from the Port 73 mall. I tried my best to talk with the wall builder, but we couldn't understand each other I think he was from Eastern Europe somewhere.

Snow layers

This looks a bit like a wide-angle shot. Crossing the field at Nedersta I noticed the snow layers at the ditch and figured I could make a fun photo from this, so using the Tamron zoom lens I took one photo aiming for the snow layers at the bottom. I then turned off auto focus and shot another seven photos on manual. The stitching is automatic in any software these days. I made the collage with the help of picasa so that you could see all photos I used.

Sixteen Snaps V

From my most recent photo promenade. Sixteen snaps from Krigslida, Nedersta and Välsta. It was another cold day. I walked over a field my family once owned. It was filled with leftover materials from the recent renovation of the commuter platform at Krigslida. I used the new exit at the platform and took a short-cut over another field to get to the old tree. On the way I spotted a couple of skiers and a man out trekking. I took two photos of a house that sits just behind the new noise barrier along the railway line. One of those snaps was taken far away from a hill top at Välsta.

Jump around!

Another fine sign of things to come, (spring). A zebra spider out walking in the sunshine. This jumping spider has eight eyes so it saw me coming like a mile away. Or at least one meter. I was enjoying a mug of coffee in the spring winter sunshine when Jack joined me on the stairs at Bergdalen.

Monochrome Corridor

Peas, Cauliflowers & DDT

Snowy field near the rebuilt commuter platform at Krigslida (to the right).When my dad was young he sometimes worked here as my family owned the land along the railway line. They cultivated peas and cauliflowers here. He told me that they used DDT on the crops. It wasn't very good for his overall health, but they didn't know that back then.

Sixteen Recent Snaps IV

Another collage with sixteen recent snaps from around Haninge. And, no, you haven't seen any of them here at the blog before, although you have seen photos of some of these places here before. The farm house at Nödesta. Rail-road switch in Jordbro. The Colorado on a frozen lake. Lichen on the old tree. Hare in a forest. Old shed at Rudan. Building at Port 73 being teared down. Yellow house next to the beach at the upper lake at Rudan. Telescopic boom lift at a building site in Handen. Cottage at Nödesta. Tree lined avenue at Nödesta. Me. Row house in Västerhaninge. Shed at Nödesta. Frozen-in pier at the lower lake at Rudan. Seagull called Pete.

Barbed Wire

A barbed wire fence in front of the Coca-Cola plant in Jordbro. Not sure about the barbed wire as anyone can walk freely on either side of the fence, but thanks anyway as it gave me another photo opportunity.

Modern Day Runestone

This is a modern day runestone. Made by the talented Kalle Runristare. You can find the stone in Handen, the inscription reads something like: Residents from many different cultures from the housing cooperative had the stone raised after forty good years, may happiness and peace reign on Earth. Kalle did the carving. It's a beautiful work of art if you ask me. To see more of Kalle's work check out his web site here. Oh, and I did of course shoot this in the Brenizer style so this is 12 photos shot with the nifty fifty lens. I hunched down close to the runestone, took one shot with auto focus on. Turned it off and shot the rest on manual. Setting used:f-stop 1,8. Shutter speed (1/3200). ISO 100 and white balance on Sunny.

Festival of the Equinox

One of the more poetic words in Swedish, and one of my favorites is Vårdagjämningen. Or in English, the spring equinox. If you have survived another long,dark,snowy, and cold Swedish Winter, Spring is something you long for. We got the first snow fall of the season in late November. Since that day we have had snow on the ground. That is more than 110 days. That is a long time. Last week we suddenly had a few warm days and I was hoping that Spring would arrive. Sadly that didn't happen. The cold spell is back and now in combination with three days of snow fall. This photo is from a couple of days ago. It is the narrow birch alley at Söderby in Handen. Festival of the Equinox.

New Mall

The latest addition to the Port 73 mall in Handen will open for business in August. This is how it looks today. Use the Time Machine to see the same place four months ago. Both scenes are four photos shot in the portrait mode and then stitched together, I did that so that you could get a better view.

Another Mystery

The weird runstone at Ribby Allé in Västerhaninge. It appeared mysteriously on the grassy hill back in 2007. There are two inscriptions. Both written in the runic alphabet. Translated to English one of them reads. Each and every one of us stands alone on the heart of the earth. A mobile phone through the body like an arrow, suddenly the batteries dies out. So now you know that!

Sixteen Recent Snaps III

The old Hammarbo estate in Tungelsta. Horse in a pasture at Mulsta. Anna,my first real attempt at shooting a bokeh panorama portrait. The old Hammar estate. Same estate shot from the other side of the new railway fence. The Eyelash Amazon in Handen. Old farm building turned into changing room and cafe at the Rudan nature reserve. Apple pie. Ice hole at Lower Lake Rudan. Old farm building at Upper Lake Rudan. Firebugs. Ice skater on the still frozen Upper Lake. Closed X-ing at Krigslida. Stairs at a new apartment building at Poseidon's square in Handen. New mall building at the Port 73 shopping centre. Mulsta Länsmansboställe in Tungelsta.

Walking on ice

It has been very cold the last couple of weeks, and the lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen is still frozen. I wanted to take a bike ride over the lake, but the ice was very unfriendly to the bike tyres, so I had to walk. Here are two photos I took during the promenade. It is the same buildings on both photos. Very happy with the bokeh on the grass photo.

Stenbumling

Swedish word of the day. Stenbumling. This big stone was placed here to prevent cars, four-wheelers and anything with an engine from driving down the path leading to the old tree. Shot this using the brenizer technique,around 20 photos stitched together. The tree in the background is not the old tree, but a birch that I have photographed a few times.

Available Seating

Benches and table at Lower Lake Rudan. There's a barbecue spot here, and the benches are normally very popular with sunbathers and anglers. Not too many of those around during the winter. Not even any ice fishers there today. This is nine photos stitched together. Shot with the nifty fifty at f 1.8. There was a guy nearby checking me out while I took these photos, I wonder what he was thinking...

Brenizer Method Explained

How to shoot a photo in the style of Ryan Brenizer, or my friend O Caritas. The effect you want is an impossible shallow depth of field. For this photo of the sculpture The Tower by Jan Håfström, I used my fixed 50mm lens at f1.8 (the smallest number),and a shutter speed of 1/1250 sec. It was a sunny day so I shot at ISO 100 with the white balance set on sunny. For this scene I used the 20 photos you can see in the screen grab. I shot using small JPG. If you use RAW, your computer will probably protest when it is time to stitch the photos together. I then positioned myself close to the object and took one photo with the auto focus on. I then turned to manual focus and started covering the object, shooting from left to right with a lot of overlapping. If you need more info and a free stitching software read this article at photojojo.

Can you dig it?

Stopped at the cafe for coffee and a chat with the usual suspects. Asked one of them, Jim, if we should check out the latest exhibition at the Cultural Centre. As the art wasn't much to write home about we took a short walk in the area, checking out the atrium of a newish apartment building, that's the white building to the right. The atrium was snow filled so we walked down the stairs and found a digger. Finally something worth shooting! The background for this mirror photo is City Hall.

Broken-up Asphalt

Asphalt from the temporary road near the new bridge at Krigslida. I am probably the first photographer to try the Brenizer method on broken up asphalt! I took fifteen photos with the nifty fifty. Cropped a way a few as I didn't like the panorama version.

Proof of Spring

There's a dead tree trunk next to the cellar door here at Bergdalen. It is the home of a few hundred Firebugs. They are a good indication of the arrival of Spring. This year they sent out this little guy to see if it was time to come out. He reported back that it was. Oh, and this shot was pretty enough to make it to my morning paper where it was published yesterday as a sign of spring!

Sixteen Recent Snaps II

The wooden bench on the beach at Årsta Havsbad. Buildings at the Berga Military Base. Guy with chainsaw was busy cutting down trees and building benches. Red berries against a blue sky. Hay bale in front of the repainted Church School. Street lights at the ferry port. Two ferries at the same port. Tracks on the ice made a nice pattern, seen from the dive-board. Boat leaving the Berga base. Silo at the Stadsberga village. Detail on the roof to the Årsta castle. Dive-board steps. Stable at Årsta Säteri. Trygg Hansa life buoy on a pier. Old cottage turned into Paint Ball Headquarters. New house near the golf course at Årsta.

The Pink Amazon

Twice this week I have met this cute Amazon. And twice I have asked her for a photo. She was very shy at first and blushed a bit when I approached her. I complimented her on her eyelashes and I think that did the trick, because she gladly posed for the photographer on both occasions. I told her that she could expect to see the photos on The International Women's Day. I used the Brenizer method for the first and the last photo here.

That Old Tree

It was still windy on my latest visit to the Swedish Whitebeam, after a stormy night, and not surprisingly no one else around. Looks like spring is on it's way now. At least we are seeing a few sunny days and some of the snow have started to melt away.

National Park Living

A winter visit to Tyresta. To the right the Jansson Farm house at the old village in the National Park. This is where the caretaker of the farm usually lives. The last caretaker was Göran Egerhamn. He had been working on a new museum but last I heard there had been some controversy regarding the museum and Egerhamn is no longer around. Second photo shows the farm and surrounding buildings. To see a very large version of the panorama press here and wait for the photo to load.

Anna

We have had a few sunny days of late. So yesterday I decided to shoot at least one portrait, and this is it. I was taking some photos at Lake Rudan when I struck up a conversation with Anna. She was out walking her dog. She had recently taken up photography again after a ten year break and was planning to get a few photos of the dog. Anna told me that she is an outdoor person, two other interests include painting and jewellery design. We talked a bit about photography and I tried explaining the Brenizer method that I have been experimenting with for a while. Follow this link to see a portrait in that style that I tried on Anna.

Tombstone Necklace

Frönäs is a farm at the Gålö peninsula. Owned by the same family for eight generations. Walfrid, who is buried here at the cemetery in Österhaninge was one of them.

Sixteen Recent Snaps

A collage with recent snaps. A couple of planes in the sky over Välsta. Three cross-country skiers at the Tyresta national park. Postman on his bike at Hanveden. Christina and Stefan at the old tree. Nuthatch enjoying a bit of apple pie at Bergdalen (shot through the window). A red rose at the cemetery in Västerhaninge. A horse in a pasture. New row-houses in Västerhaninge.Graffiti on a wall at Nedersta (shot through a fence). Danuta and her new dog Bork. Overfull garbage can at the Tungelsta school. A bird on a plant near the veranda.

Patterns on the ice

If you take a bicycle ride on the warmest day of the year (9C), and end up on the beach, Årsta Havsbad, where the Horsfjärden Bay is still semi-frozen, and if you walk out onto one of the piers and climbs up to the top of the dive tower and shoots a fifteen photo panorama/composite with the Canon, this is the interesting result you will get.

Cafe Chairs

This was an easy Theme Day. Cafe Chairs. I often have the camera ready at my favorite cafe. At least when the weather permits outdoor sittings. And here is a collage from Malmens Konditori to prove that. The sexy legs belongs to Anna who you have met once or twice on this blog. Most of the chairs are comfy at the cafe, except for the green ones. Spotted in the middle is local legend Tompa Eken (he has his own Wikipedia entry). He is talking to Petra, a girl I photographed after she received an award from the municipality. The guys in the top right photo are a few other frequent quests that you might have seen on this blog.