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!

Summer Photos

Rhiannon and Henrik's aunt Delia


Henrik is a fast runner and is getting increasingly difficult to catch, even with a good camera


Ballet in the field

Assortment of Holiday Photos

Another trip to wonderful Laholm in the summer. This time my Dad and his family joined us as well and gave me the opportunity to take a Hagström guys family photo. The only one missing was 12 year old Brodie who lives in Australia with his mother.
Here is an assortement of holiday photos.

Dad


Dad and male offspring


Relaxed holiday mood




My favourite girls




Don´t worry, I helped him shortly after taking a few photos


My niece

Gåxsjö

We visited a little village called Gåxsjö on Saturday. It celebrated it's 600th anniversary!

Henrik's friend and Henrik (centre) checking out the lake.


Gåxsjö church shortly before a rainstorm.


Parkour Henrik!

Still Cold

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

Cycling

I helped a friend the other day by taking some photographs while his cycling club was trying out a new track. I hardly ever venture into sports photography, but I think I should do it more often. It certainly helps to hone your speed! The sun kept going behind clouds all the time which made it even more of a challenge getting the exposure right.


Up the hill...


...and down the hill


A tight turn gave me a perfect chance for a wide angle close up


Afterwards there was lots of hanging over the handlebars spitting and discussing of tactics

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

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"...

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.

Journey

This circular rainbow reminded me of an old song by Journey called "Wheel in the Sky":

"The wheel in the sky keeps on turning
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turning"

Aron

I was asked by our friends Cristiana and Kjell to take some photographs of their baby boy Aron. These are some of the photographs.

Digging In

Mount Everest Monday night the 9th of March: Clear, but with 85 km/h winds and a windchill of -69 Celcius.
So I stayed inside my bivouac... at home, in Jämtland, in Sweden, 20 metres from our front door! =) There is no place like home.
Henrik loved the snow cave I made for him! So did I. Here is me playing in it with my camera in the evening.

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.

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!







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.

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.

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.

Nacreous

Like mother of pearl these high altitude ice crystal clouds light up the evening sky.
I was going through my archives looking for pictures of skyscapes after being in contact with an artist friend of mine Helena Schüssel, when I came across these photographs which I took a while back of "nacreous clouds". I haven't seen any this season, but they are always a spectacular sight.
You can read more about them here.

Right Now

It was Mark Twain who said: "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
We live on credit and we have lived on credit for a long time now. I'm not talking about bank loans, but the other much larger credit that we all share. We owe the world.
For example: If you make a fire to warm yourself, do you also plant a new tree to replace the wood you burned? Probably not. I know I don't. We should, but somehow it becomes someone elses problem although -ultimately- it is up to every single one of us to take responsibility. Don't wait for your governement to do something because it probably won't. Instead give a thought to what actually happens to all those things you throw away, where does it all go? Is there any way you can create less rubbish by shopping differently? Do you really have to use your car as much as you do? If you do, then how do you drive it? And what kind of car do you drive?
I believe we were meant be the gardeners of our world and not the rulers of it.
If you want to change but don't know how then find out! There are two great resources at the bottom of my webpage. Take a little time and click on them to find out what you can do.
Life is always right now, this moment. Don't waste it, do something. Now.