Sunrise

Mosjön

Skating on Mosjön near Lit a week ago. It was really windy and if you made the effort of skating upwind for while you were rewarded by being able "sail" all the way back again!

Midsummer

Midsummer fortunately doesn't mean we've reached the middle of summer yet, summer only arrives up here in July and lasts until the end of August.
We attended the midsummer festival in the village which got off to a rainy start and forced us to seek cover in the old church.
The rain didn't last for long though and we could go outside and enjoy the show again.

Waiting for the hail and heavy rainfall to end from inside the church


Lorienne and Rhiannon taking a look at an old memorial stone


The rain quickly ended and the festivities carried on

Spring At Last

A spicy scent outside, shifting weather, misty forests and birdsong...Spring is here!

Crocodile boots?


Flower watch


Where's the fairy?

Still Cold

The old church in Kyrkås on a moonlit night at -25 C.

Dinosaurs

Helping our little dinosaurs survive the winter cold.

Frozen Dew

Like fairy jewels the frozen dew sparkles across the field in the morning.

Update On the "Hunting Season" Post

To avoid any misunderstanding, a Swedish version will follow.
I apparently gravely insulted a small (as far as I know) group of hunters in the village by my earlier post regarding the hunting season. The party of hunters in question drew parallels between my website and child pornograpy and I was told to go to a warm place. I was shocked by their reaction and insulted by their comparison between my website and websites containing child pornography.
I love this village and I love the people living here which makes their reaction even more shocking to me.
I feel it is necessary to post an update to clarify my views and intentions here on this website.

I am not against hunting and I understand the necessity for hunting, but I don't understand the enjoyment of hunting, I never will. We all have our different interests.
The intention of my website is to inspire me to photograph and if I can update family and friends with the latest pictures of my family or show my village in a good light, all the better, but basically I write and take photographs of whatever interests me. This website will never contain any form of pornography.

This is not an apology for my earlier post. Perhaps I would have considered removing the post if their views were handled in a more appropriate manner, all this happened in front of my family when we went to congratulate the hunting party on a successful hunt.
I sincerely believe their manner was not representative of the residents of Kyrkås. The people I know and have met here have always been kind and considerate.

SVENSKA:

Tydligen blev en liten (så vitt jag vet) grupp jägare i byn djupt förolämpade av mitt tidigare inlägg om jaktsäsongen. Gruppen ifråga drog paraleller mellan min websida och barnpornografi och jag blev ombedd att sticka till en varm plats. Jag blev chockad av deras reaktion och förolämpad av deras jämförelse mellan min websida och websidor som innehåller barnpornografi.
Jag älskar den här byn och jag älskar människorna som bor här vilket gjorde att deras reaktion chockade mig extra mycket.
Jag känner att det är nödvändigt med ett inlägg som förklarar mina synpunkter och intentioner här på denna websida.

Jag är inte emot jakt och jag förstår varför det är nödvändigt att jaga, men jag förstår inte glädjen i det, det kommer jag aldrig göra. Vi har alla olika intressen.
Avsikten med den här websidan är att inspirera mig att ta bilder och om jag kan uppdatera min släkt och vänner med de senaste bilderna på min familj eller visa min by i bra ljus så är det en bonus, men generellt tar jag bilder på vad som helst som lockar mitt intresse. Den här sidan kommer dock aldrig att innehålla någon form av pornografi.

Syftet med det här inlägget är inte att be om ursäkt. Kanske kunde jag ha tagit bort inlägget ifråga om deras synpynkter lagts fram på ett bättre sätt, allt detta skedde inför min familj när vi gått fram till dem för att gratulera dem på en lyckad jakt. Jag tror verkligen inte att deras sätt var representativt för de som bor i Kyrkås. Alla som jag träffat och känner här har alltid varit vänliga och omtänksamma.

Hunting Season

I can't make up my mind about hunting. I understand the need to hunt, I can't complain about the poor animals either since I'm not a vegetarian. What I can't understand is why people enjoy it so much? How does killing animals become fun? I could do it out of necessity, but never for enjoyment.
On Saturday we watched as a female moose was airlifted from a bog by helicopter. I couldn't help feeling sorry for her watching her dangling from her neck up in the air.



The makeshift butchery in a barn where she'll be chopped up and divided into little bits.

Landscape

Dramatic sky over Bringåsen on one of our weekend walks. Did we bring the raingear?

Waffles

Why not have some waffles at the local summer café on a rainy day? Henrik just can't get enough of them.

Flower Power

I have an ongoing battle with Dandelions.
They must be the most successful, virile and irritating plant (weed!) that lives around these parts. Anything you do to them just makes them come back stronger. They start out a pretty yellow, but soon afterwards - if you're not fast enough with the lawnmower - they grow a white afro which would put Don King to shame. The white "afro" consists of countless seeds designed to fly around your garden and build green nests where they spawn new flowers to continue their campaign. The Campaign of taking over our lawn completely.

I swear these little guys actually duck when they see the lawnmower. If I mow the lawn in the evening then sure enough they're back again the next morning. In fact, yesterday one of them spontaniously "puffed" all of it's seeds towards millions of different potential nesting sites just seconds before I shredded it with my 4-stroke 125cc Stiga with a mulcher function. Coincidence? I think not. It did it just to irritate me. To have the last word.

Last year I made a point of pulling them out by their roots to rid myself of them for good. Well guess where most of them grow now?
I give up. Yellow is a nice colour isn't it?


Help...!

Mist

A misty view in Bringåsen, Jämtland. Oh, and that's hail on the ground not snow.

The Running of the Ants

Try panning your camera on one of the more erratic little creatures around. Run 5cm stop, change direction, stop, run back 5cm, repeat...
Besides being under attack by their little buddies running up my legs and looking like an idiot to neighbours who happened to see me, it was a lot of fun too!




Their red bodies are lit up by the sun

Calypso

A temptress in Homers story of Ulysses, the name of Jacques Cousteau's ship and also the name of a very rare orchid which grows in Brynje, a neighbouring village to ours. I first heard about it almost three years ago. Last year I went looking for it but I was too late since it had already finished blooming. Finally this year with the help of Vivi-Ann our local flower expert, I managed to photograph it.

Flowers

Does anyone know the name of this flower? Please leave a comment if you do. All I know is that it grows from a bulb in spring.

Macro

Lately I've enjoyed using with my macro lens because it opens up all sorts of possibilities since there are literally thousands of subjects all around you almost wherever you are. That's a dream come true when you are a father of two with a full time job! All you need to do is lie down in the grass with a macro lens to discover a whole new world right around your feet.

Anemone hepatica


My son Henrik holding the same flowers


A "bug"...

Spring Sign

First sign of spring is the Flower "Colt's Foot" or Tussilago farfara
Today we saw our first one this season breaking through the roadside.

COPYRIGHT!

It has come to my attention that some of my images are being printed. While this is flattering, I ask those who wish to have printed versions of my pictures to contact me first. I own the copyright of all the images on this website and even if you print images with the noblest of intentions you are still using my material without permission.
I always reduce the quality of the images to make them unsuitable for print so if you would like a copy then all you need to do is contact me for a more suitable version.
From now on I will also add a copyright logo before uploading images.

Hitting the Target

These country boys certainly know how to shoot. For two years in a row now I have had the honour of being appointed photographer for the annual shooting competition held in Kyrkås wintertime. The distance to the targets range between 350 to more than 500 metres and no telescopic sights are used. Skill and focus allow you to hit your target anyway. Lying in the snow with a side wind and a gentle snowfall makes it just a little bit harder.
Why is it held in wintertime? I still have no idea. I must remember to ask the next time.