There's a spring in my step...
For a few days it was un-seasonly warm and toasty around these parts of the world and sun worshippers came out in droves in parks in the city. I too felt the need to get some fresh air and move my legs a bit after being a bit too sedentary for too long, so out to my regular walking area I went - to the Skryllegården recreational area outside Lund, Sweden. However, unlike my usual 3K walk I chose to do the 5K one this time, since I was by my lonesome and not with my dad, who finds the 3K plenty enough for his liking!
The light is back!
On March 2 I took my Fujifilm XT-3 and a 35 mm lens with me to the monthly photographers’ get-together in Malmö, Sweden where we fill our bellies with various delicacies on offer at the Coffee Square restaurant (I strongly recommend it to anyone in the vicinity!) and then we do a little stroll together for an hour…and sometimes a bit longer. It’s a very nice way to see old friends and geek out about photography and whatever else we can come up with to talk about. And eat some good food…which I’ve already mentioned I suppose…moving on!
Cold by the coast
When the sun shines on a cold winter morning (the thermometer was at -6 C or 21 F) it feels just right to pack oneself and the constant photo partner (a.k.a. Dad) into the car and head down to the coast at Falsterbo. There’s just something special about seeing that horizon line that makes me feel more harmonious inside!
Walking in a winter wonder land...
…well…that might be pushing it a bit to call it a winter land around these parts in Sweden, but we did get a couple of hours of snowfall the other day so there was actually a little bit of accumulation of snow on the ground. So I will go with the winter wonderland reference for now. It’ll all be gone again in a day or three since we’re getting rain soon.
Today though we had clear, blue skies which made for very good winter light, perfect to capture a few quick snaps while I took a walk in my small town neighborhood. Given how many kids I saw with various forms of sleds used to slide down the minuscule hills we have I wasn’t the only one enjoying the rare bit of sunshine combined with the snow!
Out in the green stuff again
I’ve recently come home from an absolutely amazing vacation to Texas where I got to see and photograph some pretty outstanding things (the total eclipse, the Texas spring wildflower explosion and the indescribably fascinating desert at Big Bend National Park to name just a few). I will share stuff from this trip eventually of course, but it’ll take awhile to go through the 2,000+ exposures so that will have to wait. In the meantime I will share this brief one day little outing to the nearby Dalby Söderskog National Park, Sweden, where I took a short (about 2.5 hours or so) walk through the woods, capturing the last few spring flowers still showing off their white hats before the trees’ canopies of leaves block them from the sunlight.
Small town market time again
It’s been quite a few weeks since I posted to this blog, mostly because I haven’t really felt I had a coherent group of photos to post as a “story”. I’ve been out and about photographing the oncoming spring, but not to the extent that I have a selection of photos to share. Today though I think I do have a little something to share.
Sunny days are their own reward!
Slowly but surely the light is returning to the northern hemisphere and when we had a rare sunny day I just had to enjoy the last few hours of it on the streets of Malmö before my photo club’s bi-weekly get-together. The shadows were pretty harsh, but I enjoyed working with them, rather than cursing them for “interfering” with my images. That sunlight was almost warm on the face…so who am I to complain about it?
Photography in a new place
As someone who has been out and about in the local area with a camera since around 2000 it is increasingly difficult to find a brand new location within, say half an hour’s drive from home. Therefore it was a bit of a thrill to head out there today when I found a brand new nature preserve not too far from home. The fact that the weather was different from the rain, rain, rain was also adding to the excitement. Not to mention I’ve been under the weather myself for a few days until yesterday so I was eager to go. There was even a faint hint of a blue sky as I stepped out the door to the car…fancy that!
Festival at the Harbor
For the past three years the number of public events have been somewhat limited (for obvious reasons) so seeing more and more festivals, concerts and other public events take place is a good sign for sure! That’s why I suggested to my dad we go to the recently re-kindled Harbor Festival in Limhamn (a part of the city of Malmö in Sweden), an event we’d gone to a few times before the plague descended upon the world.
Street photography again...I'm so rusty!
For the duration of the pandemic I’ve stayed away from one of my favorite types of photography…street photography. I’ve always enjoyed walking around city streets, camera at the ready to capture something interesting that people do in an urban setting…not so much during 2020 and 2021 so far, because of obvious reasons. In fact I’ve only done three or four walks in a major city, camera in hand since March of 2020 and I miss it! Now though, as more and more people get both shots of the vaccine I think I will do more of my favorite type of photography!