That Old Tree

If you look closely you can see the red fruits on the Swedish Whitebeam. A popular snack for the local birds.

Autumn at the farm

To get to the old tree you pass by this farm, the Välsta horse farm. The colors in front of the farm house changes every day now. Here are two recent photos that shows you just that.

I hereby declare...

... the new commuter station in Tungelsta for open. The Mayor of Haninge, Meeri Wasberg, assisted by Mattias Sjöström Varg and Gunnar Hammar cutting the tape during the official opening of the new commuter station in Tungelsta yesterday afternoon. Around 150 people had turned up for the opening and they could all be seen enjoying cake&coffee. It's been a long time coming this, the station and the surrounding area has been a construction site off and on for the last decade. I have a flickr set with photos that you can see here or over at flickr.

Kenny Leckremo

So yesterday I showed you a candid photo of a guy standing out on a pier at a lake with his bicycle. I called it Moment of Zen. I had shot that the previous day. Then, yesterday the guy came biking towards me in Handen! So I waved to him, he stopped, took off his headphones and I then told him that I had a photo of him and showed it to him. He turned out to have an interesting story. This is Kenny Leckremo. A well known musician. Used to be the singer in the band H.E.A.T. They toured around the world, including gigs in the USA and in Japan. Back in 2009 the band took part in the Eurovision Song Contest and became famous overnight. A few months before that when the band had just released their first album Kenny had a scare during a gig and was rushed to hospital with an ambulance. Later he got some help from Hollywood star Peter Stormare and two days after that he had heart surgery in Stockholm. Kenny left H.E.A.T the following year. Today he is back in Sweden again after living in London for ten years. Kenny is working on a new musical project at the moment. He has written a lot of songs during the last seven years and a new band could be presented soon. I asked a few questions about it but it is still a secret, but they will play melodic American classic rock. Oh, and funny thing. When Kenny told me his full name I realised that I had taken a portrait of his brother, André a few years ago If you want to hear some of Kenny's music check out these YouTube videos.

Moment of Zen

Visiting the Rudan nature reserve I stopped at the southern end of the Lower Lake. Whenever that happens I will walk down to the cliffs for a look at the lake and perhaps a chat with a fisher. On this occasion one man was trying his luck against the fishes but he was on the losing side this time around. Down at the cliffs I spotted this Moment of Zen on one of the piers. Just by looking at that private moment I felt a little stronger and I'm guessing that the guy on his bike savoured the moment as well.

Green Road

The colorful season of Autumn is here. The colors are changing everywhere, and quickly. This is Mulstavägen at Välsta in Tungelsta. I use this road most everyday,(the old tree is in the area). If I remember I will stop here for a comparison photo next month.

Birch Bench

You can rest here if you get tired while playing frisbee golf at the Rudan nature reserve.

Bus 841

Not long now before all that green is gone. Bus 841 at the bus stop opposite the mall in Handen.

Röd Flugsvamp

Don't eat it.

Entrance ramp

Construction work on both sides of the Gudöbroleden motorway at Trafikplats Handen this Autumn. This will be a new "påfartsramp" (entrance ramp), to the motorway to Stockholm. Part of the big traffic project that also involves the work at Trafikplats Vega that I have showed you before. Took this photo from the pedestrian bridge where I sometimes shoot panning photos of cool rides. This is near a birch forest behind the Biltema store.

No Sign of The Big Bad Wolf

There's been a lot of press coverage this Summer of a, (Norwegian), wolf that has been seen in this area. And even a Facebook group for the sightings. As you can probably guess some people have gone ballistic. Politicians in both Haninge and Tyresö have asked to have the animal put down. Concerned parents that have seen the wolf in their garden were afraid that the wolf would eat their little ones. It feels like there's a new wolf story every day. What we do know for a fact is that the wolf killed a sheep in this pasture a while back. This is in the Tyresta national park and they asked for money to set up a better fence two years ago, but as no one had ever seen a wolf here back then, they were refused that funding. Chances are that they will get that money now. No sign of the wolf during my stakeout at the pasture earlier yesterday.

Scaffolding

Decided to go "arty" after shooting a few normal snaps of the apartment buildings at the construction site at Lillgården. This was the result.

Apartment Building

This is a new living area currently under construction at Lillgården in Tungelsta. More photos in my flickr set.

Höstfärger

I never want to shoot Autumn photos because when I do it means Summer is over and that is never a good feeling. So this year I tried a different approach. I decided to go out and look for signs of Autumn/Höst/Fall. The title means Autumn colors. As seen along a path at Håga in Västerhaninge.

No Return

A biker from No Return MC enjoying a ride on his Harley in the almost Summer like temperature that we enjoyed today. As seen from my cafe chair at Malmens Konditori in Handen. Their headquarters is just down the road btw.

And so it begins...

Autumn. Höst. Fall.

Vegastaden

Vegastaden, or Vega City in Haninge is growing every day. I haven't been following this as much as I should have. Here are two an aerial views filmed by Jimmy Striger showing the new city.

New Park

New trees and bushes planted at what will be a new park in Tungelsta, near the new houses at Stav/Lillgården. Still some work left here, including paving the walkway/bike path that runs parallel to the stream. No rain despite the dark clouds. Both photos shot with my new 85mm lens as panoramic images and then cropped a bit.

VELOTHON Stockholm 2017

My last post of this years Velothon Stockholm bicycle race. A collage and a slideshow. In it you can spot the photographer that came home with nearly 4000 photos. To see the photos at flickr press here. It was a good day for cycling, great weather and many happy riders out on the roads. I met one woman at the FikAnn cafe who after the race rode back on her bike to the cafe, (an extra 20km),for a well deserved rest and a bite to eat.

Panning Shots

Four panning shots of cyclists taking part in the VELOTHON Stockholm race that took place yesterday. I'm still going through my photos. I took around 800 photos and was quite pleased with that number. Then as the closing car drove by in the early afternoon I invited two photographers that I had just met to coffee at the FikAnn cafe and was impressed by both of them. Both when it came to equipment and numbers. Lars told me that he had been out since five in the morning! He shot at f/11 when snapping cyclists coming directly at him so to speak. He used a tripod and didn't move around much, very unlike my method as I prefer the panning action. The other guy, (didn't get his name), used a zoom lens ten times more expensive than mine and he had taken 3800 photo during the race. Expect a few more posts from this bike race in the coming days.

VELOTHON Stockholm

The third annual VELOTHON Stockholm took place on Södertörn today. Around 2500 riders took part in the race. After a few cold days the sun ant warm weather returned just in time. You could choose three different routes. The longest one was the 180 kilometres race, and that's the one that I focused on. I took my fixie bike and my old Canon,(with the silent zoom lens), and headed out to document the event. My first stop was in Tungelsta, just a kilometre from home, and that's where I snapped these two shots. When I'm done showing you photos from this event you will probably never want to see a photo of a cyclist ever again!

That Old Tree

Walked over to the old tree earlier in the week. The sun came out as I made my way down the path, that continues down to and around Klems Hill. No one else around on this my 521th visit to the Swedish Whitebeam. Shot with my Yongnuo 35mm lens.

The Birch

Took a walk in a birch forest yesterday. in Handen. Came home with enough photos, taken with my new Chinese 85mm lens to make a collage, so that's what I did.

Crime Prevention

There were a couple of community service officers patrolling the Haninge Gatufest,(street party), that took place in Handen last Saturday. One of them was very photogenic so I walked over and asked for a portrait.

Sam Paris

It was the day after the terrorist attack in Stockholm that killed 5 people back in April of this year. Suddenly a man started to sing in honour to the victims. The song he sang was Amazing Grace. He did it with the help of a choir, (thanks for spotting my bad spelling Umepojken). He stood among the flowers at the stairs at Sergels Torg and his song moved a lot of people that day. This is that man, Sam Paris. I took this photo of him on Saturday when he performed on the big stage at Poseidon's Square in Handen, during the Haninge Day celebrations. www.facebook.com/JoelOsteen/posts/10154267048181695

That Driving Beat

That Driving Beat on stage at Poseidon's Square in Handen during the Haninge Day celebrations on Saturday. Great performance as usual. They play Northern Soul. It was a busy day for the band, after this gig they packed up their instruments and made their way to another concert, that one at Hasselbacken in Stockholm at the Rockers vs. Mods meet-up. Enjoy the slideshow. If you can's see the photos check out my flickr album with the band. Spotify. Facebook.

Ronny Johansson

This is Ronny Johansson, but no one calls him that. He is known as Santa from Brandbergen, or in Swedish Brandbergstomten. I wonder why. I met him during the Haninge Day celebrations on Saturday. Ronny is the perfect description of the Swedish word Eldsjäl. Someone truly dedicated to his or her work. In Ronny's case it is all about a popular dance arena that he works with and has helped save a few times now.

On Patrol

This is Robert Landén. A familiar face for anyone visiting the mall in Handen, because that's where you can find "Robban" patrolling most days since at least three years. He used to work in the Stockholm Underground and is known to patrol on his own in and around the mall. I met him at Poseidon's Square on Saturday during Haninge Day.

Grand Prix Raggarbil 2017

It took me a few days to go through the photos I took at the big greaser meet, Grand Prix Raggarbil, (it means Greaser car). I have uploaded around 200 of them now. All shot with the Canon 6D using two of my new Chinese lenses, mostly the 100mm. So enjoy the slideshow. And as per usual, if you can't see the photos Press Here to see them at flickr.

Faces You Will Notice

A few more faces from the big greaser meet. For every year at this event (this was my tenth year), I see more and more face tattoos. That is a long time commitment.