A Candid Portrait

Whenever I visit my favorite cafe, Malmens Konditori in Handen, I have the camera ready, just in case. Because there's a lot to look at. When I took this candid portrait earlier in the week, I made a friend a bit nervous as he thought I came to close to my subject. The girl spotted me, so I gave her a wave.

That Old Tree

Guess what? The old tree is blooming again. Took these photos yesterday afternoon. And it is on time as it is supposed to bloom in June. A good proof that Summer is now officially here.

The White Amazon

I met the white Amazon in Handen, while on the bike. It was driving up Eskilsvägen towards the Haninge mall. I just had time to grab the camera and take a quick shot. The driver looked pleased. A couple of hours later I spotted the car parked at Poseidon's Square so I stopped for a little photo shoot. This is a Brenizer Method photo. Shot with the 85mm lens.

The Fitness Fanatic

How could I not ask Emelie Stenman for a portrait. There she was at Poseidon's Square in Handen the other day. Walking towards me, tanned, tattooed (and sweaty). Emelie lives in Tungelsta. She is a fitness fanatic who works as a personal trainer at a gym in Västerhaninge.

Showing a bit of leg

Moa is a secondary school student that would like to work in the fashion industry in the future. I noticed her long black slit dress and figured I needed to take her portrait. Top portrait shot with the 85mm lens, second photo with the 18-55 standard lens.

Energy, vitality and enthusiasm

This is Martin Eriksson from Hudiksvall (way up North). He was in Haninge visiting his girlfriend. He has been working in Norway for a while, at the Baneservice (Railway company). He used to compete in Mountain bike trial and has won the National Championships and finished second in the World Championships, so he has to be pretty good at the sport, despite giving it up a few years ago. When we met he had been out riding in the forests around the Rudan nature reserve in Handen. Today is Theme Day. Zest. That means Energy, vitality and enthusiasm, and I really think Martin has all of that.

Bengtson

This is Bengtson. It's not his real name, he was born Janne Håkansson. Bengtson was one of the first punk rockers in Stockholm. A band wrote a song about him and that's how he got the nick name. Today he works at Kafé 44 booking bands with local legend Tompa Eken, whom you have seen here a few times. Together they have a band called Dödsknarkarna. The Death Junkies. The band who plays acoustically will perform at this years Hultsfred festival. They haven't performed since 2004. When they do they often talk between them selves during the gig. As I'm typing this they are in a car heading towards Småland as the gig takes places tonight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmiZmcjsYI

I have been called worse

This is Daniel. We met in Handen a few days ago. It was his red hair and beard that I noticed. He is in to online games and can easily spend a night, (and longer) playing non-stop. Sounds a bit like you are addicted to it I said. I have been called worse, was his response.

Saga

Cool teenage girl of the day. Saga was out with her electric powerboard when I spotted her on a bench at Eskilsparken in Handen. The powerboard can go as fast at 30km/h. It is very heavy, probably weighs around 20 kilo. Saga lives in an apartment building, so she has to carry it up and down the stairs every day. She is a 7th grader and when she's not out with the skateboard she is busy being a scout.

Hanna

My eyes were drawn to a very fit and healthy looking beautiful blond girl with a nice tan. How could I not notice that? Hanna is a bit of a fitness freak, so she really has the best job she could ask for. She is a fitness instructor at iForm in Haninge. She often works with kids and she teaches them to dance. Hanna also does a lot of Cross-fit workouts. When we met on Saturday she was helping out with the 10K run which was part of the annual health week in Haninge. She also claimed not to be very photogenic. I beg to differ.

Hardware

I came out from the grocery store just as the commuter train left the Tungelsta station. A few seconds later I spotted a tall girl dressed in black walking past me on the other side of the road. It was Jasmine. She was on her way to the hairdresser but had time for a few photos. She is a student who might have a future in the fashion industry. She has a fan page at Facebook called Hardware. There are some very interesting photos of her there. I'm planning to meet her again for some hardware photoss.

A Concerned Citizen

The Elections to the European Parliament are over. This is Ellinor. She had just voted when we met a couple of days ago in Västerhaninge. Despite being a member of the Left Party, she voted for Feminist Initiative, and it paid off as the party won it's first ever seat in the new parliament. I recognised Ellinor, but it took me a while to figure out who she was. The reason for that is that she looked a bit different a year ago. That portrait called The Law Student can be seen here.

Dimples & Piercings

From the bike I noticed someone with very red hair walking out from the commuter station in Jordbro. She looked familiar, but when I stopped her and asked if we had met before she said no. This is Nathalie. She works as a mailman and bikes year round. That is a good way to stay fit. Nathalie enjoys painting and photography, as well as horseback riding and working out at the gym. Second portrait is shot using the Brenizer method.

The Cybergoth Girl

Now that Summer has arrived I will probably start shooting a lot more portraits. I was at the Rudan Nature reserve when I noticed a very colorful girl. She was busy filming the buildings and when I came closer I recognised her, although she had to help me a little. This is Rontti. Last time we met in January of 2012 she was a secondary school student and looked very different compared with today. She graduated last year and was now producing a number of videos for the municipality.

The Red Amazon

You know that it is Summer when Gerry takes out his convertible for a spin. The Volvo Amazon that he has rebuilt himself turned fifty years old recently. When we met this time Gerry was getting ready to drive it to the vehicle inspection.This is a Brenizer method photo. Umpteen photos shot with the 85mm lens at f/1.8. I aimed at the right head light turned off auto focus and started shooting.

A Lipstick Portrait

I have a confession, a brightly colored lipstick will make me look twice. This is Foroozan Bahrami, (Iranian name). And she really has a lipstick that is hard to miss. I noticed her in Handen yesterday and decided to ask her for a portrait. She seemed very pleased to be photographed and that always makes me very happy. Foroozan lives in Haninge. She is a secondary school student, and a future engineer. She works extra at a restaurant. On her free time she enjoys hanging out with her friends.

It was 1952...

...she had just turned 18. When she got a job she needed a bicycle to commute. So she bought a Crescent. Years later when she moved to Stockholm she took the bike with her. Sixty-two years later she still uses the bike on a daily basis, (weather permitting). Most of the parts are original, but she has changed the saddle and the rack. I know all this because when she came out from my favorite cafe yesterday I told her that I had just photographed her bicycle. So she figured she needed to tell me the story about the bike.

It's Dandelion Season

Dandelion season at the little horse farm between Västerhaninge and the Bronze Age burial ground in Jordbro. Normally the pasture is open for the horses but as it was empty I walked in for a few photos. Back in the late 1970s my mother and an uncle used to make wine from Dandelion. It was illegal back then. They used my grandparents basement and I can confess to "removing" quite a few bottles during my teenage years, and I can also say that I will never ever drink that stuff again.

A Summer Portrait

We were heading the same way. She was on foot, I was on the Steel Horse. It was the combination of the black stockings, black skirt, and the sleeveless white top that made me ask if I got get a few portraits. Sara lives in Stockholm and works as an electronic engineer. She grew up in Haninge and was a keen horseback rider before picking up her new hobby. Bouldering. I told her about two places where she could climb. One of them just a few hundred meters away, The Elephant Rock. Sara shoots with a Nikon and was interested to learn more about photography so I told her to set up a flickr account and to join a few Nikon groups. She also claimed not to be very photogenic but I think I have proven her wrong now.

Rock Cairn

Someone took the time stack stones by the side of the new walkway at Krigslida. This was yesterday. It had been replaced today with several lower less cool cairns.

That Old Tree

Last Winter on a cold January day I made my way towards the old tree. Just ahead of me wading in the snow was a couple heading the same way. We talked for a bit and I asked them to pose at the tree. Yesterday I was on the bike and just behind me where that same couple, also on bicycles. So again I asked them to pose at the tree. Just for the fun of it I decided to see if I could combine the two photos.

The Forgotten Greenhouse

I took the Steel Horse for a ride to one of Tungelsta's forgotten greenhouses. This is Stenvreten, at Karlsro in Tungelsta. Many years ago a woman called Viran Eklöf lived and worked here, but the greenhouse and her little home have been abandoned for many years now. In a few weeks time the fields around the old greenhouse skeleton will be filed with wild flowers, but I did see a few on yesterdays visit.

A one-man job

It's been a very cold Spring so far, but from today it is supposed to get warmer. The new owners of my favorite cafe Malmens konditori in Handen have hired a handyman and this week he has been busy constructing a new outdoor seating area on the lawn. The lawn is very uneven which probably makes the job more difficult. I took this snap two days ago when the handyman was enjoying lunch and a Danish indoors. Hopefully I will be able to test the new deck in a day or three.

Want a job with a view?

Are you afraid of heights? If so this is perhaps not a job for you. Crane Setup. Took them two days to finish the job. Not sure I would like to climb around up there, despite having no trouble with Acrophobia. Anyway, this is Stora Arken (The Big ark), in Handen. I showed you a few panoramic images from this construction site back in November of last years. Since then they have been busy rock blasting, and by the looks of it, it is now time to start the construction of the 222 new apartments that will be built here.

The Footballer

I noticed a bit of bling in Jordbro yesterday. It was Bobo Bola. A football player from Kinshasa. He joined Landskrona BoIS back in 2005 and scored a few goals in the Allsvenskan. He has made 23 appearances in the Rwanda National Football Team. And he knows how to dress.

The Swedish Colors

You know how it is. You grab the camera and the inspiration really isn't there. Happens to me every now and then. This was yesterday. This was all I could find worth shooting. A container with the Swedish flag painted onto it. But one fun thing happened. I circled around Handen (on the Steel Horse), looking for something to aim the Canon at, when I spotted a photographer in the Brage park. He was going macro on a few yellow flowers and I figured a portrait might be the snap of the day. And a few minutes later we were shooting portraits. But it was him shooting me. That doesn't happen all that often. I have met him before and he doesn't want his photo taken. So we did it the other way around. If it turns up on the web somewhere is a good question, if not he might pop in for a comment here one day.

Tulip season coming to an end soon

Still blooming on a lawn in Handen. But not for much longer.

That Old Tree

The lousy Spring weather continues. A couple of minutes after I jumped on the bike it started to rain. Luckily for my camera it stopped for a minute or so as I took this photo of the old tree. And then it began to rain again so I headed home.

The ungoogleable Lars

The Swedish word Ogooglebar was removed from a list over new words back in 2012. By request from Google. It means Ungoogleable. This is Lars. We met for the first time yesterday, but I recognised him immediately. He runs a unique online diary. It is handwritten! And because of that ungoogleable. I found the unusual diary a few years ago when I noticed a "glasspinne" glued to a wooden bridge in the nature park Slätmossen. You check out his diary here.

Buy your tickets here

The clowns and the acrobats have arrived. Buy your tickets here.The circus show tonight at Ribby in Västerhaninge will be performed by Cirkus Maximum.

I ate these

Healthy eating and an ice cream. The new team at my favorite cafe Malmens konditori in Handen are trying some new recipes. Including this bread that contains filmjölk. You probably don't know what that is so read up on Filmjölk here. I nicked the ice cream at Blomorado yesterday. There was no one at the checkout-counter, and that is a bad combo if there's ice-cream nearby! This was a new licorice icecream and very tasty if you ask me. I might even pay for the next one.

Gangster Ride

A 1952 front wheel drive Citroën Traction Avant. Back in the day it was seen in many movies and over here it was nick named the gangster ride. Found it outside the Handen Museum a few days ago. There's a vibrant B11 Club in Sweden and I'm pretty sure that I have seen this car at a Summer meet.

Blooming Trees

I usually take one photo per year of these trees at Nederstaleden in Västerhaninge. And it is always at this time of the year, when they bloom. Shot with the 85mm lens, so this is a bunch of photos stitched together. The Brenizer-effect might not work perfectly here, but you can't have everything.

Last House Standing

This old house near Nynäsvägen, at Tuvvägen in Handen, is surrounded by modern student apartments, built on a former soccer field. A new retirement home that opened last year. And two big housing cooperatives, Slätmossen and Valhall. Just behind the house there's a small hill with a mysterious runestone. Up until last week a small forest grew just to the left of the house. But now the builders are closing in and the old house will be gone sometime next week. I believe that the last owner made a small fortune as several companies wanted to buy the property. A year from now this area will have changed completely as a number of new apartment houses will be built here.

Ultrahuset Exhibition

The legendary music scene Ultrahuset at Källvägen in Handen ended after an occupation and a fire that destroyed the building. For eight years back in the 1980s it was a very active music scene and every punk band that ever existed probably played there. Now a quarter of a century later an exhibition about those years opened at the Handen Museum at Getporsvägen in Handen. During my visit to the museum yesterday a few people that were active during that period during the 1980s spoke about their involvement. The photographer here is Lars Epstein from the big morning paper Dagens Nyheter. If you understand Swedish you can read his blog post about it here.

That Old Tree

Another week another look at the old tree. Cycling home the other evening ( and a chilly ride it was), the sky turned dark blue so I knew that the light might be a bit special and that it was.

Walpurgis Night Celebrations

We celebrated the arrival of Spring last evening during Valborgsmässoafton. All over Sweden bonfires where lit and choirs where singing songs about Spring. I visited the celebrations in Västerhaninge together with around a thousand people. I missed the torch march but I heard all the songs.