Girl in a Blue Dress

We had a fantastic Autumn day yesterday. Warm and sunny from a clear blue sky. I decided that I should take at least one street portrait. This girl in her blue dress and knee-high black boots came walking towards me near the Haninge mall and I knew that I had to ask her for a photo. Her name is Zhan Xinhua. She comes from Jiangxi in China, but lives in Sweden since about three years. Xinhua works at one of the restaurants at the mall. So it's no surprise that one of her hobbies includes cooking. I'm guessing fashion is also important for her.

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The colorful season is here. The days are still warm, at least if you stay in the sun, but Autumn has arrived to Haninge.

Super Blood Moon my ass

Well that wasn't much fun. I spent the last ninety minutes (from 4 o'clock in the morning), up on the hill here at Bergdalen in Tungelsta, in the dark, looking for that Super Blood Moon. I'm sure it was there but all I could see was clouds. So just before I walked back home i took this four-second exposure of the filling station. Back to sleep now I hope!

Hood Ornaments

Hood ornaments are fun to shoot. Here are a few that I photographed at the Classic Cars & Customs show. The Spirit of Ecstasy is probably the more expensive, but I like the other face more. Shot one with the silent zoom lens and the other with the pancake lens.

Cool Cars

A few cool cars from the Classics & Customs show at Sundby gård. A Clénet. A Ford. Something registered as a Moberg, and of course Black Betty.

To The Hupmobile!

Spotted a Hupmobile at the Classic Cars & Customs show. This is a Hupmobile Luxe 8 from 1929.

Miss Marla Kay

This is Miss Marla Kay. She is the real deal when it comes to pin-up girls, just look at that dress. She is part of a group called Swedish Top Pinups. They describe themselves as a group of lady bombshells based in Sweden. I will not disagree. I met Miss Marla Kay at the Classic cars & Customs event.

1954 Monarch Lucerne

A Canadian Monarch Lucerne from 1954. Spotted at the Classic Cars & Customs show at Sundby gård. This is the only one in Sweden. Only 252 cars of this particular model was ever produced. The owner is the guy with the white mustache, he told my buddy Bengt that he would never ever sell the car.

Poupoupidou

There was a pin-up contest at the big Classic Cars & Customs show at Sundby gård. This is one of my favorite pin-up girls at the event. Carin Oxanna Backlund. She was very photogenic.

Fat Dream

I visited the big Classic Cars & Customs at Sundby gård recently. The place was filled with cool cars and more. This is the latest project by Sven Sandberg from Tyresö. He has been designing Hot Rods and what have you for something like fifty years. This is called Fiat "Fat Dream" 1949 Topolino.

Museum of public objects

The artist Anna Ådahl have filled the square at Stora Arken in Handen with trees, benches, lamp posts, a litter bin and crush barrier seen here. The objects comes from all over Europe. One bench originates from the Beyoğlu Municipality in Turkey. Another comes from Russia and a third from Paris. There's a palm tree, a Norwegian spruce and one Japanese cherry tree. The lamp posts also originates from other countries. The installation is called Museum for public objects and it opened today. As the art curator Åsa Mårtensson told us about the project I sat down on the Turkish bench with a friend, and enjoyed a free French lunch from the Le truck food truck.

Autumn Colors

Bike ride to the Tyresta National Park earlier in the week. Sunny, and around 17C. No real signs of Autumn until I walked down towards the new bird watching tower.

The Smiling Police

It was a busy day for the police on Sunday with the big Velothon bike race and the Haninge Day celebrations. They were everywhere, in full force. Arriving to Poseidon's square I noticed a police van and standing next to it talking to a few citizens I spotted a familiar face. And a very pretty face I might add. I had my first encounter with this police officer two years ago at another local event. She happily posed for a few photos and that of course made my day. Oh, and a friend mailed a copy of this photo to the police and it looks like they want to buy the photo and possibly use it in brochures and what have you.

Dust

Last act to perform on the stage at Poseidon's Square during Haninge Day on Sunday was Dust. They play Rock 'n' Roll! The band signed a record deal just two weeks ago and they recorded this gig for a future live album. If you recognize the singer, Roger Solander, it's because he also sings in another act that I have photographed several times before, Lugnet.

Love Antell

Love Antell, singer in the band Florence Valentin made a solo performance at Poseidon's Square on Sunday during the Haninge Day celebrations. He dedicated one song to Tompa Eken (second photo), and another one to local punk band (back in the day), Dom Vässade. Antell became a household name in Sweden last year when he participated in the TV show Så Mycket Bättre. While Love was singing I took some candid photos of the crowd.

Velothon Stockholm

The first Velothon race in Stockholm (and Sweden), took place on Sunday. Good weather conditions. A bluish sky and maybe 15C, not much wind and the rain stayed away. Three thousand cyclists took part in three different races. One 80 km race and one 160 km race, both open for everyone. And then of course one race for the elite. I had a window of maybe ten seconds to get a few snaps of the elite (with the Swedish National team among them), as they passed me by at Fors in Västerhaninge. A little later I took the bike to another place, many kilometers later for the then tired riders, where there's a short climb and I knew that I could get a few good panning shots from there. Many roads in Haninge and neighboring municipalities were closed off because of the race, and that caused a few problems. One motorist assaulted a race organizer in Tungelsta! Further south in Nynäshamn one bystander was hit by a car. In the end the race was won by Marko Kump from the Adria Mobil team in just over 4 hours. If you are interested you can see the full result list here.

With a little help...

...from an engine kit. Spotted this guy at the Easy Rider Festival last weekend but never got any good shots of him, but I had better luck yesterday at the big car show in Huddinge. The bicycle is an old Hermes, a bike that was first produced back in 1894 by Adolf Fredrik & Janne Nyman. Many more photos to come from this event, which was all about Classic Cars, Customs, and pin-up girls, but I figured a motorized bicycle would be a good start.

Let's Ride

A few of the bikers at the Easy Rider Festival at Vegabaren. I'm off to another classic car show today, this one with a great bonus, a pin-up contest, sure sounds like fun!

The Planet

This bike is unique. Registered as The Planet. Seen at the easy Rider festival.

Hell of a bike

This was probably the most photographed motorcycle at the Easy Rider Festival. A blue Honda Gold Wing. I gave up counting the chrome skulls after a first look. The blue camper was a bit special. It was called Hell 666. Bit of a bummer me thinks as the real number to the Devil is 616 if you feel like giving him a call. The nerd sneaking up behind me on the fourth photo is my friend Jim.

Rock'n Roll Heaven

Rock'n Roll Heaven will hopefully open in Stockholm in a not too distant future. It will be a theme restaurant with live music and a museum. This bike will be there. I met one of the guys behind the project during the Easy Rider Festival. As you can probably guess they will focus on Elvis Presley and music from that era. As I'm typing this the Swedish artist Brolle is using the bike in the recording of a new music video. The motorcycle is equipped with lots of fun details like two guitars, a drum set, a piano (although you can't play it) and a couple of microphones. It is also signed by Reggie Young from the TCB Band.