Saturday, 21 February 2009

Cold Repairs

I usually drive alone and when I drive alone I play the radio. The other day I switched it off because of a song which was too noisy and that's when I heard it: The other noise. The noise of metal grinding against metal, the unmistakeble sound of brake pads completely worn out. I bought new ones straight away and decided to fit them as soon as I got home. In Botswana - my previous country of residence - this wouldn't have been a problem. I had all the tools I needed back then and it simply meant opening an ice cold "Redd's" cider and getting to work. This was different. First of all it wasn't warm, it was -15C and there is no heating in the garage. Metal becomes painful to touch at that temperature and you can't really wear gloves either because they make you too clumsy.
I spent about 30 minutes looking for tools I didn't have and another hour and a half to do the actual the job after borrowing tools from a neighbour. All the time visions of feet and hands blackened by frostbite fluttered through my mind.
I didn't get frostbite, but couldn't feel my feet or my hands at the end of it. Anyway, I prefer taking photographs from getting hypothermia while reparing old cars.

Cold 001

Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Enter the Light

Today started out at -23C, but We are slowly leaving the dark time of year behind us. The light is changing, the days are getting longer and people are spending more time outside again. The air sparkles with tiny illuminated ice crystals, leafless trees are laced with a billion diamonds and behind a tangle of frozen branches, there it is, the sun!

Frosty Tree 001

Frosty Tree 002

Frosty Tree 003

I'm often jealous of photographers in warmer parts of the world, of the warm sunsets, bright colours unhidden by snow and ice. At the same time I count myself as fortunate to have the opportunity to experience this winter wonderland in all it's icy glory. These three photographs were all taken within a 50 metre radius of our house.

Sunday, 15 February 2009

Sick

Tired, sad and glassy eyed our little boy Henrik has been fighting a stomach bug the last few days. Today is the first day that he's kept his food down.
One feels useless as a parent only being able to comfort and convince him to take some liquids which rarely stayed down anyway.

MH_Henrik_006

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Cold

30 degrees below outside my office window today. Getting stuck outside in the "bush" without proper clothes or resque would kill you. Brrrr...
I have to add some summer photos!

_NIK5152

Secret Garden 002

_NIK3199

Sunday, 08 February 2009

Henrik

A thoughtful Henrik gazing into our fireplace.

MH_Henrik_005

Saturday, 07 February 2009

Happiness...

...is when your big brother has already gone to bed and all your parents attention is on you while getting dressed in a fresh new pair of pyjamas!

Rhiannon_0013

Wednesday, 04 February 2009

Nearby

I'm married, we have two small children, we both have fulltime jobs. It's not that easy to go away for a few weeks and document some interesting event on the other side of the world. That's why most of my photos are taken in the near vicinity of my home, office or on the way to either. Fortunately there are so many beautiful scenes to photograph right around us as long as one doesn't forget to look. Even ice crystals on a twig can look interesting when viewed through a macro lens.

Ice Crystals

Sunday, 01 February 2009

Town On Fire

Östersund on Fire! At least that's what it looked like from my office window while the sun was setting the other day. The windows in town were reflecting the sunset directly my way and made it look as if part of Östersund was on fire. I had to photograph through a locked tripple glazed window so the image didn't turn out as sharp as Nikon intended when they built my lens.

Östersund on Fire