Woodlands

Went for a stroll in the woods yesterday in the company of three generations of women from the same family, actually my new family, to fully enjoy the wonderful spring weather. Did I find anything worth shooting? Of course I did, the woodland pennyworts are in full bloom now.

House sparrow

Don't know quite how it happened, but all of a sudden I found myself really out in the country. Not that I'm complaining though, I'm there with my lovely girlfriend and her daughter and grand daughter. Birds are chirping everywhere, like this little house sparrow sitting on the roof staring at me.

Thief

I may have to bring in the cops on this one. Last night someone stole an entire hour from me!

A pale journalist once tried to explain daylight savings time to an old Indian chief, the response he got was dead on:

"Only the white man is stupid enough to believe that if you cut off a strip on one end and then saw it back on the other you would get a longer blanket."

Escapee

The past couple of days small tortoiseshell butterflies have been fluttering here and there, so now it definitely is spring. Spring feelings have arrived too, I'm filled with butterflies and head over heels over the most wonderful lady I've ever met. The winged creatures roaming the countryside may actually be escapees from me.

On that note, this weekend will be rather quiet here at the blog as I'll be spending it with my newfound love and want to devote as much time as humanly possible to her and her alone. See you all in a couple of days.

Art Nation

Art Nation live at Headbangers Eve in Flen, Sweden, in May 2018.

In the blue

Warmest day so far this year and I'm out with the Alpha of course. Where else would I be? Saw a couple of small tortoiseshell butterflies while I was out, but they fluttered away before I could shoot them. I got some nice scillas though, stying in the blue with the florals trying to adapt to the color of the year.

Sports

This is the year when I intended to shoot some sports, if there is anything there's a lack of in the archive it is sports, and of course that damn Murphy raises his ugly head. Even sport events are being cancelled.

Walla Rockers

Johan Larsson of Walla Rockers live in Valla, Sweden, in June 2018.

Awakenings

With everything more or less closed and events being cancelled due to the pandemic there's not much left to shoot but nature, so there will be a lot of that stuff and not much else the coming weeks I'm afraid. Except for occasional archive images that is. It's a good thing there will be a lot of awakenings as nature's slowly coming to life again.

Spring florals

Windy as hell today, but I did defy the weather and went for a walk. Time is ripe to start generating spring florals as the pennyworts are coming into bloom which means that all other flowers aren't far behind.

JD Miller

JD Miller live at Brygghuset in Borås, Sweden, in May 2014.

Pennywort

This weeks theme at Fototräffen is pennywort, here's one of my contributions...

Twiggy

Sometimes the birds are too quick and flee the scene before you can get a shot leaving only a remnant behind, maybe a feather on a twig.

Worship

It's a work in progress, had an initial session with what will become a "Childhood's End" image called "Worship" just to see how the components will turn out through the camera.

The Hawkins

The Hawkins live in Västerås, Sweden, in April 2018.

Sunny disposition

Outside it's cold and gloomy, spring just ain't here just yet. Not that this matters to me, for me everything is sunny today for some reason and I stumble around in reality with a silly little smile while waiting for spring to arrive.

Emotions

Last week there were two deaths among my friends and acquaintances. Of course I feel sad about this, but I can't really muster as much sadness as I probably should having fallen in love with the most wonderful little woman at the same time. Does this make me a bad person?

Altered reality

It's been a somewhat eventful weekend leading to a rather altered reality for me. For my birthday I got the most wonderful gift ever, I was blessed with a lovely girlfriend and I'm in love. When looking back it's in many ways thanks to my love for rock and metal music that led her to me so my love for music grown even deeper and I am most thankful to it for bringing her my way.

Solo

And there it came, the e-mail I was just waiting for but didn't want. The photo company with which I have a sponsor deal will cease operations the coming months due to the pandemic which means I won't be able to get the enlargements needed for the solo exhibition this summer in time. Crap, crap, crap! Oh well, I'll save the exhibition for next year then.

With everything being cancelled or closed I'm beginning to feel like Pinkie when he wants to drink more but the bottle is empty.

Uneventful

With the ongoing pandemic all events are cancelled, there won't be much to photograph except for nature I'm afraid. Not that I dislike nature, but I was looking forward to shooting a lot of concerts and other events. Another floral from yesterdays excursion, a blossoming scilla.

Forsythia

One day of sunshine and then back to that gloomy, grey crap today. It's a good thing I went on my short excursion yesterday so I have a bunch of new photos to choose from. Spring is on the way though, even the forsythias are budding.

F-ing Millennials

I've been watching the television series "The Magicians" and in one episode there is a thousand years old dragon who says "Fucking millennials!". I just can't help smiling when she does, been around for a millennia or so and still todays millennials are the worst compared to previous generations.

Today I was inclined to utter the very same phrase. On my way home from the local diner I met a friends 20-yearold daughter and after exchanging a few words with her I realized she was standing way to close for comfort. She told me she and her boyfriend both had been sick for almost two weeks with cough and fever, she thought it might be covid-19 (the disease caused by the corona virus). When I met her she was going to the local convenience store.

Thing is, following the advice of the authorities she should not be gallopping around the village but stay at home in isolation until two days after the symptoms are gone. Instead she runs off to the store spreading the disease and putting elderly people at risk when her parents who live just a couple of hundred yards/meters away could and should go to the store for her. In fact one of her parents is unemployed and have all the time in the world to help the daughter.

Fucking millennials!

Belly Shot

Another little sign of spring, a scilla in full bloom, and also another belly shot from this mornings excursion out into reality.

Smash Into Pieces

Smash Into Pieces live in Västerås, Sweden, in April 2018.

Spring!!!

Finally the sun decided to make an appearance again and I of course went out with the Alpha. Forget me having a slightly dirty left knee, this time I went all in and laid down on my belly so now the whole front of me is brown. I do believe spring is about to burst into bloom around here.

Resting

It's been if possible even more hectic the last couple of days and the weather's been as bad as usual. Today I had to go out in the pouring rain to take the bus into town to do some major shopping for the little feast on Saturday when I'll be celebrating my birthday with a bunch of dear friends. Now I'm browsing summer images in hope of getting some warmth back in my frozen body, for your enjoyment here is a dragonfly resting on a strand of grass.

Born a saint

I may not be a saint, but I do share this day with Saint Patrick as I saw first light this day 55 years ago so Happy Me Day and Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Childhood's End - Bookworm

Lousy weather, again, so I'm playing around in the studio with Pinkie. Got to brighten my day with something amusing and what can be more amusing than playing with a pink kitten?

Droplets

Busy day with loads of things to get done and places to be, but I did get to go for a short walk in the morning to check on the progress of nature's awakening and the snowdrops are in full bloom.

Cancelled

The spring and pre-summer season will be very slow indeed, now it's official that an event in the neighboring city of Flen in May and with it the Headbangers Eve section will be cancelled as well due to the pandemic. Soon all that will be left for me to aim my camera at will be flowers, bugs, birds and other animals. Here's a shot of Alfahanne from last years edition.

Signs of spring

After more than a week of working with translations 10-12 hours a day I decided to take a day off for a much needed break, with some blue skies and sun the decision to do so was an easy one. On this mornings excursion I met a woman who declared me being out with the camera a sign of spring while smilingly looking down on my dirty left knee. The state of the pant knee is default for me, to get close to things I usually go  down on one knee, therefore it's almost always a little dirty.

Exhausted

Although the corona pandemic is no good it has brought along with it a large number of documents in need of translation and this in turn makes me earn quite a bit as I charge 600 SEK (60 USD) per hour for these jobs. I am exhausted though, it takes it's toll working with the grey matter beneath the wig.Just as well as the weather is keeping me from galloping around the countryside shooting everything and everyone with my camera. Today the skies opened up totally and a lot of freezing cold water is pouring down.

The coming months will be rather quiet while on the subject of the pandemic. As of yesterday no events with more than 500 attendees will be allowed which means that there won't be the annual photo fair in Stockholm, the travelling international food market may not be able to be travelling and a number of other events will be cancelled or possibly will be moved to a later date.

Luckily I have my 2,000,000+ image archive to dig up photos from to share with you. Here's a shot from the photo fair the year before last.

Jay Smith

Jay Smith live at Big Bang in Borås, Sweden, in January 2014.

White

Still lousy weather so I'm playing in the studio for the time being. Roses are red the rhyme says, but that's not always the case.

Bird Watch

I can't wait for spring and summer to arrive so I can go out to shoot some birds. Shoot with the camera that is. An inventory has been made on where to find many species, for instance where herons nest, where cranes, swans and geese make pits stops in their migration, where buzzards and goshawks both nest and hunt, where european goldfinches, wagtails, bullfinches and other small birds roam and many more.

This young European goldfinch came for a brief visit below my balcony the summer before last and now I know where to find him and his mate and their nest, maybe I can get some nice shots of the new generation too.

The Mary Major

Erik Molarin of The Mary Major live in Borås, Sweden, in February 2012.

Next challenge

Returning to the weekly challenges at Fototräffen for a moment with an image submitted for the current one which has the theme "Reflections". Also see the previous post on the photo related Facebook groups.

This one is part of the Childhood's End project and is called "Reflecting".

Rust

In one of the many Facebook groups dedicated to photography that I'm a member of, Fototräffen, there is a weekly inspirational challenge on various themes with free interpretation and every now and then I submit an image or two to the challenge. One such theme challenge was "Rust" which got me out on a long walk looking for rusty old things and boy did I find some, people just don't take care of things these days.

Contagious

Sorry for the great silence the last couple of days. In addition to being a photographer I am also an approved and registered interpreter and translator, for at least three days I have been tied up with some heavy duty translating of various documents such as science reports related to a certain contagious little bugger pestering the world and there haven't been energy left at the end of the day to also edit images and writing posts.

Nope, I can't divulge what the reports say or even who ordered the translations, I am bound by professional secrecy for 70 years after doing such an assignment and it's regulated by law so I could actually end up with some extended vacation at the expense of the state if I did expose anything. Let's just say that I now know far more than I would have wanted to on just how volatile the situation might become.

Anywho, time now to get a little rest listening to some music at a not so neighbor friendly volume.

Corroded

Tomas Jacobis of Corroded live at Västerås Rockfest in Västerås, Sweden, in April 2018.

This is getting old

I'm seriously considering moving further south where the cold season is shorter and spring comes earlier. This crappy weather is getting old fast, more precipitation yet another day and this time it's snow one minute and rain the next. I want sun, warmth and young maple trees budding.

Mario Cart?

I'm not even a little bit interested in sports, but a lot of people are. This summer memory is for you. Nope, it's not Mario carting, in fact it's not even a guy but a young girl behind the wheel.

Sunlight

No wonder people are becoming depressed with so little sunlight, yet another grey and gloomy day. Continuing browsing the image archives to brighten everyones day.

What a day

What a day it's been so far and it's not over yet either. For six hours straight I have been doing interpreting by phone in a court case and there may still be an hour or two before it's done. At the moment I feel less vital than the old barn found last week.

The Hawkins

The Hawkins live in Västerås, Sweden, in April 2018.

Freezing

As the weather Gods were unable to decide I made a decision of my own to defy their uncertainty and went for a walk with the Alpha, but damn it was cold outside and I didn't more than a few hundred meters when they finally went with the shroud of clouds. I did get a few shots though, unfortunately I couldn't get these flowers defying winter as close as I would have wanted as they were in someones garden and I didn't want to trespass just for a few florals.