Photography
Exploration is not just travelling. It’s how you look at the world, how you try new things, and how you learn.
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Heading back to Avalon for an afternoon of heavy lifting. moveing all of the barbed wire into a construction sack and pulling more and more out of the pond.
Another Saturday, another drive up to Avalon. This time with a friend of mine in the van along with Merlin. Bit of a tight squeeze to be honest and not sure anyone enjoyed this trip. But we were productive.
As there was little I could do on the Thursday I took ownership, I naturally came back on the Saturday with a van full of tools and an extreme misunderstanding of how much land 15,000 sq meters actually is.
I kept telling myself ‘it will be late by the time the paperwork is done and everything will be dark’ ‘It’s daft to drive up after work to just stand on an empty plot of land just because you bought it’ but I also loaded Merlin into the van with me when I went to Vänersborg to do the final steps to owning Avalon.
After getting hold of the estate agent to find out more, he put me in contact with the owner and we agreed to meet up on the and and he’d show me around and give me a bit more information.
My second trip up to Avalon lead me to a great idea more confusion over what land was actually included in the sale and what was not. At this stage I was thinking the small grove at the top of the stone hill was not included, which was enough of a disappointment I almost didn’t continue.
For years, I’ve had a search on Sweden’s main property search tool, Hemnet, for land in Sweden, less than 5km from water, over 1000 sq meters and under 500,000 KR. Occasionally one or two has caught my fancy, but they’ve always been too far to get to, or not quite what I was looking for.
I bought tickets to Taylor Swifts N3 Stockholm concern the moment I could, and it’s been something I’ve been looking forward to for months.
Due to dog related commitments, I didn’t manage to sign up for the Half Marathon this year, and only manage to pop along for a moment to capture a few images of the runners as they passed Arkaden at the 15km point.
There is a new member of the Tog’s Trek travel team. Merlin the Bernedoodle. More model than photographer, I met Merlin when he was just six weeks and four days old at his breeder, Bestcoast Kennel.
Saturday evening, I went along to the Open House at Majorna’s Co-Working Space, “Creative Spaces” offering a photography studio, recording space, co-working area and a jacuzzi. Aside from general good vibes and fun, three local artists performed live music for us all
A concert in Slottskogen featuring some big and not-so-big names of the nineties and early two-thousands
I've been lucky enough to do a fair few gigs in the past, primarily in small venues like 12Bar or the Windmill in Brixton, but also at some bigger venues like main stage at the Garage in Islington. Whilst I've written about my experiences doing these shoots, I thought it was about time to write something more detailed about my considerations when doing a gig.
Another walk through the forest and I found, aside from a random pumpkin, a few animals.
Another trip through the forest let me find a few more animals. Some elusive, some quite common.
With a brief break in cloud cover over the new forest, I was able to handhold a shot or two of the moon with my new Canon R5 and 100-400mm lens. The massive image resolution allows some pretty incredible cropping to be done and I'm really happy with how much detail can be seen.
For the first time in two years, I was back in the UK. It was also my first time using my brand new Canon R5 camera.
Organised by Sounds of Gothenburg, this gig was at a record store along Andra Langatan in Gothenburg. The session started with interviews with the bands before moving into the music.
Sound of Gothenburg is a new initiative of artists bringing local music to Gothenburg at Dirty Records cafe and the world through YouTube streaming.
Brunnsparken often has Palestinian protestors bringing attention to the ongoing situation between Israel and Palestine.
Much like my wander on Christmas Eve, I took an hours break from obsessively scheduled cooking to get some air and sunlight in the nearby Slottskogen Park. Winter sun is a tricky thing, it can be very bright, but its so low in the sky that you get long shadows or it is easily hidden behind low hills or high buildings, plunging your photos into the gloom.
Still waiting for my replacement tripod to arrive, I once again decided to do some handheld shots of the moon.
With Covid restrictions keeping me from my usual Christmas back in the UK, or my more adventurous winter breaks in places like Jordan, I spent my first Christmas in Sweden since starting to work here in December 2015. Perhaps it is appropriate that five years later, a month or two before I become a Citizen of Sweden and through it rejoin the European Union that I am here for the winter solstice and Jul celebrations.
Today I discovered that my new apartment's lounge windows offer a great viewing spot for the moon on those rare days when it is not covered by Gothenburg's near-permanent grey clouds.
Sometimes you just chance on strange things. Outside my window, a stream of motorcycles, all dressed as Santa passed along Linnégatan. Beeping their horns and revving their engines they gathered a surprised audience.
Despite the Coronavirus, more than four hundred cities around the world have marched in protest of George Floyd death and the lack of accountability for the detaining officers. Gothenburg's march brought thousands out in peaceful protest.
Recently, the Elk (or Moose if you are American as the North American Elk is a different species) in Slottskogen park have given birth to two calves (or Mooselings). These babies have caused much excitement and many visitors.
Every year, the Oscar Fredriks Kammarkör, the church choir for Oscar Fredrik's Church in Linne sings at my new building.