Two photographers

A couple of photographers down by the water at Söder Mälarstrand on Södermalm in Stockholm. They were busy photographing the same scenes as me. I liked the wild look of the Asian guy closest to me. Smoking a cigarette, something that you don't see too often here these days. And also his polka dot travel bag, that tells me that he is probably a tourist. Both men with way more photography power than me. I only had my 85mm lens with me. Drop by tomorrow to see what they were shooting.

Suits

Biblioteksgatan. Stockholm. Lunchtime walk.

The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House in Stockholm. From the late 1890s. The location is pretty good. At Gustav Adolfs torg. Close to The Royal Palace. The King's garden, and Arvfurstens palats, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The view here shows a popular café called Grodan. The Frog. I shot this while eating my lunch, sitting in the shade from a big sculpture group. It is a panorama from eight photos. The opera house is in dire need of renovation. It is more or less falling apart according to the people that work there. The government have rejected two proposals to renovate it. I'm guessing because of the cost. We are probably talking about one billion SEK. Oh, and there are nightclubs nearby and earlier this Summer the opera cancelled an evening performance because of noise pollution from Café Opera, a place I used to visit back in the day.

That Old Tree

I owe you a couple of photos of the old tree. First photo taken two days ago after riding my bike in a Summer rain for 22 km. Already soaking wet, so I figured I might as well pop over for a visit. And it gave me a chance to see if the unused umbrella in the bike bag still worked, which it did. The second photo is the blooming tree. Photo taken in late May on what was a late Spring, early Summer day.

The old town

Some people enjoy trainspotting. I prefer people spotting. Or, as in this case, tourist spotting. So here are ten photos from a recent photo walk through the old town. It was a glorious Summer day. Stockholm was packed with visitors. One fun thing is that no one knows that I am not a tourist myself. Especially not the King's Guard in the last photo.

Skylift

Good with modern technology sometimes. As seen at Haninge Park a few days ago. Shot as a panorama with my old Canon 77D, using the 60mm lens. I could have walked further away to get less distortion. But it is tricky to get a perfect panorama as you tilt the camera.

Chevy Van

Norr Mälarstrand, Kungsholmen.

Scenes from a flea market

I checked out the weekly flea market at Hötorget in Stockholm. Or "loppis", short for loppmarknad. I never buy anything at these markets, as I know full well that I don't really need anything they have on offer. But as a photographer, it is always fun to stroll around a market. I did spot a few old cameras that might have been fun to try out. And a couple of books and paintings. So lots of interesting items, but tricky to cycle home with!

USCGC Eagle

America's Tall Ship anchored at Skeppsbrokajen in Stockholm. The ship was there for four days. I was there twice taking photos. There were guided tours for anyone who wanted to take a closer look, but I opted to stay on dry land. This is a 13 photo panorama, btw because if you can complicate things, go for it.

Girl with pearl earring

Girl with pearl earring. Or US. Coast Guard Officer, Hartman. Photographed at Skeppsbrokajen in the old town. She spotted me and closed her eyes. And then she turned away from the camera, so possibly a little photo shy. Tune in tomorrow to see how she got there.

School's Out!

The tradition with secondary school students riding around on flatbed trucks on graduation day dates back a few decades. There used to be a very wild affair, and it can still be, but it is more regulated today. The rule is, no drinking. Which of course means that some of the students are already drunk when they get going. And that some don't follow that rule. They then ride around the neighborhood shouting screaming whistling, anything to get noticed, really. People shout back. Motorists honk their horns. All in good fun. My photos are from a few different places. I snapped the top photo in Handen. The second one is a little different. Some students born in other countries often bring a flag from their native country with them, and that made for a silly discussion in social media this year, as some people say that you should only ever use the Swedish flag. I took the third photo near the Royal Palace, where a group of secondary school students were celebrating in style on an old ferry. Oh, and two of these photos were taken from the bike, while waiting at a stop light. The last one at Medborgarplatsen.

The $250 million yacht

Do you have $250 million? If so, why don't you get your own yacht. This one belongs to Charles Simonyi. Delivered to him in April this year. Built by Laurssen in Germany. Designed by Espen Øino. It is named Norn. George Town. Made from steel and aluminum. The yacht have a beauty salon, which is always good I think, especially if you have a very young, Swedish wife. Oh, and a beach club. It has a maximum speed of 17 knots. I spotted it at Skeppsbrokajen in Stockholm a few days ago. Built to look like a military vessel. Oh, and it also features a helicopter if you run out of milk while out on the water.

Aston Martin DB5

An Aston Martin DB5 parked outside Grand Hotel at Blasieholmen in Stockholm.

Green Pantsuit

Street photography at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Mother and daughter, (my educated guess), out walking in Stockholm on a beautiful Summer day.

National Day Horse Race

A few more photos from the Nationaldagsgaloppen at Gärdet in Stockholm. The first two photos show Angelika Berg. As a teenager, she visited this event with her parents. Already a horse girl, she decided on the spot that this type of horse racing was something she wanted to try. A few years later, Angelika have 425 starts and 43 wins in her career so far. This was my first visit to this event. I watched three horse races but spent most of my time walking around in the Summer heat snapping away with my two Canon cameras right and left.

Nationaldagsgaloppen

We celebrated our National Day earlier this week. I decided to check out the highlight of the Swedish horse racing calendar as it is usually described. The Nationaldagsgaloppen. At Gärdet in Stockholm, where a temporary racetrack have been set up on this day for the last decade. And as you can see in this first post, I was not the only one there. There were a number of horse races, a hat parade, some fun for the kids and more. The weather was perfect. 21C, maybe. Gärdet is a massive green field, usually when I bike across it, I will meet a few people running, or walking their dogs, but as you can see here there were thousands of happy people celebrating Nationaldagen.