A chilly day at the lakes

I counted fifteen ice fishers at the lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve yesterday. Cold, -7C. The sun was out for an hour or so, but with the wind chill factor, it was just a tad too cold for my liking. No real fish luck either, according to one of the guys out on the frozen lake.

Park Animals

The sculpture park in Västerhaninge. Fifteen sculptures at Åbyparken in Västerhaninge, made by Sofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren from the design group Front. Snapped this photo yesterday. The park opened in June of 2018, and I remember being late to the official opening. When I got there on that day nearly four years ago everything looked brand new, even the grass, but now, on this Winter day the wildlife, (almost), looked like they belonged there. Click here to see 40 photos from the park on the opening day.

Picnic Cancelled

I just came home from a chilly bike ride. The temperature read -7C. Add the wind chill factor according to SMHI and it felt like -12C. It snowed for a bit last night so it looks like Winter again. This is a picnic table in the park next to the library in Västerhaninge.

That Old Tree

A woman out walking her dog at the old tree yesterday afternoon. It was a chilly day, around freezing when I snapped this photo.

Ice skating on natural ice

Cycling home from Stockholm, I will often make a little detour to a beach at Lake Drevviken. It is called Hökarängsbadet. The beach is popular in the Summer. There is a boardwalk promenade here with benches, and I will typically take photos from the boardwalk. There is a lot of construction going on nearby, and in a few years time thousands of people will move into this area. During the Winter the place is a lot quieter, at least until the lake freezes that is. When the ice is around 15 centimeters thick, the municipality will plow it for the ice skaters. The track is six kilometers long and will take the skaters through four municipalities. Stockholm, Huddinge, Tyresö and Haninge.

A Red Rose

At the end of the 888-meter-long The Seven Springs Way at the Woodland Cemetery, you will find the Chapel of Resurrection, designed a century ago by Sigurd Lewerentz. The sculptures in the tympanum were made by the sculptor Ivar Johnsson. I found the red rose on a pillar next to the chapel. I was thinking about going in, but I think there was a service in progress.

A Stone in the Forest

Two photos of the new crematorium at the Woodland Cemetery, at Enskede in Stockholm. Designed by renowned architect Johan Celsing. He won the right to build the crematorium in a big international contest back in 2009. He named his entry, A Stone in the Forest. In Swedish, En sten i skogen. The brick building is connected underground to the old crematorium, a few hundred meters away. It was finished around a decade ago in a forested area. It won a big Swedish architectural award before it was found out that it was water damaged from a leak in the roof. The City and the architect firm then spent several years, and millions of kronor, fighting over whose fault it was. In the end, the only one that came out as a winner here were the lawyers.

Photos of the Year

Theme Day. Best photo of the year. Not easy to pick just one photo, so I decided to go for a few categories. I'm a big fan of symmetry, facades, and windows, so this photo showing Stockholm Waterfront was my best Windows photo of the year, shot from across the water at Riddarholmen. Street photography is the most fun category if you ask any real photographer. Back in the early Autumn while cycling through Stockholm I noticed the long arm of the law hard at work, so I jumped off the e-bike for a few quick snaps. I managed to get two categories in one photo in my third shot. It was only in September of last year that I decided to explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Skogskyrkogården with my trusted canon cameras, so this photo of the Meditation Hill takes care of both Autumn and Favorite Place. And to finish off, two more categories in one shot. My long time project, The Old Tree seen here in Monochrome.

Smörgåstårta

The brother came home from Barcelona for Christmas and the new year. Now it looks like he will stay on for a bit longer thanks mainly to the pandemic. Yesterday he decided to play Chef and made this Smörgåstårta. I'm not going to give you the recipe, but there are plenty around if you wanna give it a go. I just came back home from a longish e-bike ride in the 5C weather, where I got a few cool Winter scenes that I will show you in a couple of days time. Eating a big portion of the smörgåstårta at the moment and it is preety good. Happy New Year.

The picnic table

Here is a fun trick I use now and then when I'm out with my full frame Canon, and a good enough lens, in this case the Sigma 50 mm f/1.4. This is the same place as in yesterday's post, the lower lake at Rudan. This spot is popular with anglers, and they often use the picnic table when they take a break from the fishing. Back to the trick. I shot this at f/1.4 to get the shallow depth of field. After taking a first photo aiming at the table, I turned off the AF and took three more photos to get a wider view. I then stitched the photos together, and the result is a bokeh panorama.

The Lower Lake

Snow and ice covering the Lower Lake, Nedre Rudasjön, at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen. From my visit yesterday. A few people out walking around the lake, but not over it as the ice might not be thick enough for that.

Different Ways

The walkway to the right is kept free from snow and ice during the Winter. So you can easily run and cycle there. The one to the left, not so much. I took this photo which, is actually four photos stitched together, on my way home from the Rudan nature reserve earlier today. If you have a photographic memore of sorts you might remember that I snapped a very similar photo at this exact spot back in January.

Four Steps of Separation

The brother, Tomas, lives in Spain, in Barcelona. He has a brand-new office in Athens, Greece. Last he was there, he got a guide book about Sweden! From his Swedish colleague, Peter, who is married to an American woman. Lynn, who has a British friend, Neil, who after living and working in Sweden for twenty years wrote this guide book about Sweden. So I will now read it to figure out what I have been doing wrong all my life! Oh, and the brother got the guide book about Spain btw.

Winter Count 2021

My twelfth Winter Count. The year started with snow in January, that was soon followed by a lot of flooding around Tungelsta so that is my January photo for this year's Winter Count. A couple of the usual suspects were out and about here and there in the first half of the year. So my February photo is a photo from one such outing, at Ytterjärna where you can find some interesting architecture. I photographed quite a few local construction sites around Haninge. The March photo comes from Vegastaden. I climbed three or maybe even four hills in April. One of the hills featured a Vårdkase in Sorunda. I saw a few palaces and castles this year, this one, Tullgarn is a favorite, I stopped by there back in May. I bought a very expensive e-bike in the early Summer, so a photo of the Gazelle Ultimate 8, shot in Tyresö represents June. July saw a lot of rides around Stockholm with visits to many places, including a few beaches like this one at Hornsberg. I saw at least four bands playing live music in Stockholm during the year, so a photo from Götgatsbacken showing Ladies Got the Blues will represent August. Always fun to photograph the long arm of the law hard at work, so that is what I did on a sunny day in September. October means Autumn photos, so here is one such photo from Södermalm. I took a lot of photos of famous buildings in Stockholm this year. City Hall, or Stadshuset is probably the most known and photographed building in the nation's capital. Seen here from Riddarholmen on a day in November. The main focus for me and my photography this year was Street and Stockholm, so here is one such snap from Gamla Stan.

Shopping in Gamla Stan

Four places in the old town. Milkshake, or maybe smoke salmon in bubble waffle. Café Gråmunken. A tourist café in the old town. Too expensive for my taste, but if you are just visiting, it might be worth a visit. Humorous sign at the optician at Munkbroleden. And who doesn't need a coffee mug with that most important Swedish word written on it. There is always time for another fika.

Walking in the old town

A few more street photos from Gamla stan. In the top photo, two photographers outside Stockholm's oldest photography store, Brunos Bildverkstad. Bruno's has been around since the 1970s, although this store in Gamla Stan opened fifteen years ago. The guy looked kinda familiar, we didn't talk I just smiled and walked on, but he might be a flickr photographer who enjoys shooting with analogue cameras. The girl with the smartphone is definitely a local. The young couple were probably out shopping Christmas gifts.

Street

Three street photos from the old town in Stockholm. I was shooting with my full-frame Canon, with a 50 mm lens. Auto ISO and 1/250thof a second. The light changes a lot here and I didn't want to shoot at full manualmode, which is how I usually do it. I took these three shots within ha couple of miutes. The woman in green stood out a bit, as did the guy walking his moped. I snapped the coffee to go woman seconds before taking yesterday's photo.

Ölutkörare

Very old Swedish noun of the day. Ölutkörare. Beer delivery guy at Gamla stan in Stockholm. Delivering beer from Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri, a microbrewery that makes very tasty beer. My favorite is the... wait, all of them, really. Nynäshamn is a neighbouring municipality to Haninge and if you would like to remember what scenes from Nynäshamn you have seen here on the blog over the years, press here.

Gamla Stan

Usually the streets in the old town in Stockholm are packed with tourists. But if you know where to look there are many parts of Gamla Stan where it will be just you, the camera and maybe a local or two. These photos show the narrow winding cobblestone streets of Kindstugatan, Prästgatan and lastly Yxsmedsgränd.

Christmas Market

This is a bit special. The Christmas market at Stortorget. The most famous market in Stockholm, in the old town. It dates back to 1837, but there has been other markets here for something like seven hundred years! The big square is filled with forty or so red booth where you can buy hot chocolate, mulled wine, waffles and coffee, hot dogs, and of course julmumma. You could try the tombola and maybe win some chocolate. On my visit last Thursday the square was filled with international tourists, school classes and a bunch of locals. If you want to see more photos, I put 27 photos in a flickr album called Stortorgets julmarknad, which is the official name. Oh, and if you would like to see the market from above have a look at the photo at the official web site.