Summer easy

Great downhill cyclist and motorcycle fanatic Rolf von Steinhausen occupying one of the piers at the Lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve. We are expecting a few fine Summer days now. Rolf had an accident last year which resulted in a nasty injury, followed by surgery so he had to give up motorcycle racing but he can still be seen out on the roads riding his bicycles. After I shot this candid snap of him I walked out onto the pier for a chat. The piers at this lake were constructed (in first hand), for anglers and there can sometimes be discussions about who has the right to be there, but I think Rolf made it very clear that it was his pier on this occasion!Rolf lives just across the road from my favorite cafe Malmens konditori where he is a regular guest.

Built and tested in the mountains

Spotted this beauty as it was driving towards me in Krigslida yesterday so I decided to wave it down for a chat and a few photos. A Reading Standard motorcycle with a sidecar, from 1917. Made in Reading, Pennsylvania. Now living in Tungelsta since a quarter of a century. Once, during a holiday ride to Norway with the Reading Standard, Olle, the owner was stopped by the police. His wife and young daughter were riding in the sidecar, and he figured he must have broken a few traffic regulations and that there would be trouble. But it was just one of the cops who was really interested in the bike and wanted to know more. There used to be a club for people with this type of motorcycle but it died out as there were so few bikes still in circulation. Built and tested in the mountains was the company's slogan btw.

Harley-Davidson Police Motorcycle

A 1948 Harley. Used as a police motorcycle before it was imported to Sweden. The current owner bought it 25 years ago for 50 000SEK. Since then he has spent 100 000SEK to keep it in mint condition. He visits lots of bike meets and I'm sure i will see him at the Easy Rider Festival next month.

Max Tomsby

Spotted a musician from a distance yesterday. I was on my way to a bridge in Handen from where I sometimes shoot cool cars. He came walking towards me with the guitar on his back so it was an easy guess, but I still asked him if he was a musician, and the answer was yes. This in Max Tomsby. He has played in a few different cover bands over the years. But at the moment he is a one man band. Max told me that he also does some busking every now and then. He plays a lot of music from the 70s and 80s. He is a big Tom Petty fan. If you check out his Soundcloud site you can hear a few of his Swedish songs. I took a few snaps of him and promised to email them to him.aaways good to have an updated profile photo online when you are a musician. If you check out his Soundcloud site you can hear a few of his songs where he sings in Swedish.

Kimmo Kangasvieri

As I made my way to the old tree yesterday I spotted a guy with a tripod slung over his shoulder, walking past the now world famous Swedish Whitebeam. A few minutes later after I had taken my snap of the tree I caught up with him. This is Kimmi Kangasvieri from Tyresö. A very dedicated birdwatcher. He found this spot earlier this year and have been back a few times. He had already spotted the fox family that I have tried to photograph this Summer. Kimmi has 405 birds on his list. The record in Sweden is around 450 species. He had seen five owls here, ( I have the worlds worst photo of one of them). Kimmi had a very expensive Swarovski spotting scope with him. It costs more than twice what I paid for my full-frame Canon! The tripod was also of a very high quality, as was the binocular in his left hand. He told me that last year alone he spent more than 800 hours at Sandemar, a nature reserve a few miles from here that he has been visiting for five years now. Kimmi also informed me that he is one of those guys that will jump into his car and drive for a few hours if there's a report of an unusual bird somewhere in the country, that is dedication!

Dance Performance

Twenty-four kids aged between 16 and 21 performs at Poseidon's square in Handen. Part of a Summer project called Invånare, Citizens. Created by the choreographers Elin Samuelsson and Emelie Wahlman. They represent six places from around Stockholm, Haninge, Hässelby, Järfälla ,Kista, Nacka and Österåker. They have all worked very hard for this, practising for many hours per day for two long weeks. They danced to hip hop and Disco and they were really great.

Still There

Remember that little house that I fought to save? Eight months later, (sadly), it is still there. They didn't have enough time (and money perhaps), to save the whole building. At least that is what they told me. They removed the windows and a few other details worth saving and then just left it like this. The builders were coming they said. Three new houses would be built here in the early Spring. That was the story back in March. It is now mid July and absolutely nothing has happened here.

A Summer visit to the beach

On a normal (sunny), Summer day this tiny beach at the Upper Lake at the Rudan nature reserve in Handen would be filled with sunbathers. Not so today. It was so cold that my hands almost turned white while on the bike.

Sixteen July Photos

Bluebells at Nödesta. The walkway to VH with a blooming canola field. Sunbathers on a pier at the Rudan nature reserve. Gerry's Amazon. Female cyclist at Gudöbroleden, I would never ever bike there. Guy with girlfriend and leg tattoos. Ladybug. The traffic island flower bed. Girl crossing the road, shot from the cafe. Licorice ice cream cone. Renovations at Quality Winn Hotel in Handen. Harley Davidson couple in black leather. The narrow birch alley green again. Two teenage boys on a moped in a roundabout. Swedish "Raggarbil" of the day. Raspberry.

Canola Field

A big smelly canola field is blooming at Nödesta Västergård. One week ago it was green, today it is very yellow. I have tried shooting it from different places and with different methods. On the first snap you can see the red stable at the farm, it started to rain just as I took that photo btw. The last photo shows two bolts from the Krigslida bridge.

Spot the Odd One Out

Vehicles. Photographed from a pedestrian bridge crossing the ever busy Gudöbroleden in Handen

Honda Guy

Here is a fun story. I took this photo from a pedestrian bridge (you can see it in the reflection), in Handen yesterday. As soon as I saw the blue Honda I aimed the camera at it. Five minutes later and I'm still out on the bridge snapping away when a woman walks over the bridge and strikes up a conversation. She asks if I'm getting any good shots so I show her a few and tells her about the panning technique. She then asks me if I by any chance got a photo of the blue Honda that drove by a few minutes ago? Long story short, it was her husband out driving so last night Iemailed this photo to both Anna Lena and her husband Per.

The Mauritian Girl

This is Luka. A very photogenic girl. Spotted her at the lakes on Thursday. She was out walking her dog. Luka is an aspiring writer. She enjoys making comics, but is yet to publish anything of her work. Her studies takes up most of her time. She grew up on Mauritius, her big hobby back then was swimming. I haven't taken as many portraits this year so it was fun with an impromptu photo shoot with the photogenic redhead! Enjoy the slideshow.

Holding Hands

Another fine Summer day with 22C from a very windy sky. Spotted this fine candid scene at Vikingavägen in Handen while enjoying coffee with my buddy Jim at Malmens Konditori.

That Old Tree

Busy days on the fields surrounding the old tree with the hay harvest. Nice Summer day for that sort of thing with 22C from a blue sky. My 475th photo of the Swedish Whitebeam.

Summer rides

Lots of fun vehicles out on the roads this time of the year. Shot these two from a pedestrian bridge in Handen. The first one is registered as Frick-28, the other is a Hot Rod.

Traffic island flower bed

The municipality have planted thousands of summer flowers here near the Port 73 mall. Zoomed in like on the top photo you can't see that the flower bed is a sixty, (?), meter long traffic island. A very clever move if you ask me and all the busy bees. Among the flowers you can find vallmo (papaver), färgsporre, (Moroccan toadflax), and klint,(knapweeds), in different colors.

Smultron

One of the best things with Summer. Smultron, and I have a secret smultronställe.

Four-spotted chaser

Spotted a Four-spotted chaser at the Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve on my latest visit. Had to chase it for a while.

Sixteen Snaps From June

Cool bike bell that I spotted on a green bike. Eighty-five year old Janne driving away from the cafe in his 1983 Yamaha, he is also learning English at the moment for a trip to Ireland. Motorcycle mirror selfie. Local legend Tompa Eken signing a get well card for Elisabeth, who collapsed a while back and ended up at the emergency room. She is a (retired, but she doesn't understand the concept) ,waitress at our favorite cafe. Careful, thin ice at the nature park! Pipe. UFO light in Västerhaninge. Tommy riding his motorized tandem bike. Someone taking a nap on the lawn in front of the library in VH. Jeep problems in the roundabout. Crescent cyclist. Selfie in acornflower field . Logo. Seaside living at Årsta Brygga. The Hesslingby Estate in Österhaninge. No photos please!