Erik Koffmar: Blog

Long time and no post

Thu, 19 May 2022 20:07:34 GMT

It has been way to long since I posted anything here in the blog. I decided to share some of the pictures captured so far this spring.

CrocusCrocus Anemone hepaticaAnemone hepatica

Anemone hepaticaAnemone hepatica

ScillaScilla, Easter 2022

Memories from the African plains

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 21:13:30 GMT

I have been inspired by all pictures from friends that have been in Safari recently. Lovely pictures of lions, cheetah, leopards and rhinos. A few days ago I found a folder on my hard drive with pictures from my visit in Kenya 2017. There were several pictures I haven't shown earlier so I thought I'd share a few with you.

We saw this lovely male cheetah, in the Masai Mara.

CheetahCheetah, Masai mara 2017

This is one of the 25-30 black rhinos left in the Masai Mara.

Black RhinoBlack Rhino, Masai Mara

Northern lights over Uppsala

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 19:19:35 GMT

This weekend has been great it has possible to see the Northern lights over Uppsala. I was out both on Friday and Saturday night to try to capture the magical lights. On Friday I was out a bit too early, the Northern lights were more powerful later in the evening, when I was back home in my bed. On Saturday evening my son and I took a walk down to Hågadalen, where we both could enjoy the Northern lights.

Dipper at Ulva Kvarn

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 19:11:14 GMT

I have not been blogging lately, I have mainly been posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook. On the 26th of December I visited Ulva Kvarn to see if I could get some new pictures of dippers. I only found one dipper this time usually see two or three, maybe the others will popup later in the season. Dippers are such cool birds, jumping in and out in the stream no matter what season or weather, to catch food. Once they find a nice little nymph larva they bash it around a few times prior to eating it.

I like to thank you all for visiting, commenting and liking my pictures and blogs both here as well as on Instagram and Facebook.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Autumn is here

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 14:01:45 GMT

Autumn colors are here and the leafs are turning into beautiful yellow, orange and red. The lovely long summer evenings are gone replaced by shorter days. One benefit is of course that now you don't have to get up as early to catch the lovely morning light.

A few weeks a go I created a small bird feeding station with a tiny reflection pool in our garden. I have already realized that reflection pool actually is to small to work well as a reflection pool, but on the other hand I'm not sure I want a lager one in our garden, it will have to do for now.

Blue titBlue tit, Norby. September 2021 NuthatchNuthatch, Norby. September 2021 NuthatchNuthatch, Norby. September 2021

Vacation time is soon over

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 15:41:32 GMT

It has been some time since I posted anything here in the blog. I have been on vacation both from work and from blogging. Now when I soon return to work I'll try to blog more regular. It has been a great summer and I have been photographing lots of butterflies and flowers during my vacation, I will write a blog later showing you some of all the beautiful butterflies I have seen.

However today I'll show you some pictures from yesterday evening when I was stalking roe deers in Hågadalen. In the evening it is getting quite dark now, especially in the forest, this makes it more difficult to get good pictures. I'm happy that the technic in the new cameras are so good. I had to increase the iso sensitivity up to 6400 and 12800, even then I get shutter speeds as low as 1/25th of a second. I did manage to get some sharp pictures handholding my old 400mm lens.

Taken close by

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 18:39:45 GMT

I'll show three brand new pictures taken yesterday and today. It will be a variety of motives and styles, all pictures are taken within a few hundred meters from our house.

Beautiful tulips

Wed, 26 May 2021 18:36:49 GMT

The tulips in our garden are in full bloom and so beautiful that I just had to take some pictures of them.

TulipsTulips, in our garden. May 2021

Close encounter

Tue, 04 May 2021 17:35:43 GMT

Yesterday evening I had a close encounter with some roe deer in my local nature reserve. I love to sneak up on these beautiful deer, it takes some practice, sometimes it works some times they sens you before you even notice them. Yesterday I was lucky, once I was within good photo distance I sat down, took some pictures and then one of them got a bit curios and came right at me, stopped and stared, then slowly walked away. All in total I saw six roe deer on my evening walk.

All pictures are un-cropped.

Roe deerRoe deer, Hågadalen. May 2021

An evening walk

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 18:10:23 GMT

This Friday I made an evening walk down to Hågadalen, the local nature reserve, where I meet both an hare, pheasant and three roe deers. Just love having nature close to home.

HareHare, Hågadalen. April 2021

Roe buckRoe buck, Hågadelen April 2021

They are awake now

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 21:15:27 GMT

The adders are have woken up from their winter sleep and are sunbathing to get the blood flowing again. I saw six adders at once relaxing in the sunshine. One needs to look where to set the foot when in snake area, not to hurt any snakes.

AdderAdder, March 2021

They are here now

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 20:52:08 GMT

Today I saw the first Anemone hepatic, liverwort or pennywort. All names of the same fantastic little blue flower, that is one of my favorite signs of spring. There were only a few of them, in a week or two there will be plenty.

Back up and running again

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 18:48:21 GMT

My webpage have been down for a while but is now finally up and running again. Yesterday weather changed and snow covered our ground once more. So in the evening I took the opportunity to spend some time out in the snow. I took a walk in and around the castle area in Uppsala, where I found some nice views and off course I couldn't resist to visit the bird pond outside Cafe Fågelsången för some late night bird photography.

MallardMallard, Uppsala March 2021 MallardMallard, Uppsala March 2021

Taking a bath in the cold stream

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:06:37 GMT

Dippers are really cool birds that don't fear cold water, snow and ice. I visited my local dippers at Ulva Kvarn last weekend to see if I could get some pictures of them in the winter landscape. I'm happy that I found one Dipper that volunteered to have his picture taken.

DipperDipper, Ulva Kvarn. January 2021 DipperDipper, Ulva Kvarn. January 2021

Weekend in Orsa

Sat, 09 Jan 2021 20:08:23 GMT

Last weekend we visited the cabin up in Orsa to get some snow and winter. November and December was extremely grey and dull, now finally the sun has reappeared. We had a few lovely days with some sunshine and really cold weather, -15 degrees Celsius. I captured some of the birds at the feeding station as well as some winter scenes in the lovely afternoon light.

Blue titBlue tit, Orsa 2021

Great titGreat tit, Orsa 2021

WinterWinter, Orsa 2021

New year and new opportunities

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 18:53:21 GMT

It's a new year and it will be filled with many new opportunities/challenges and meetings. The blogg has not been updated in six months, however that doesn't mean that I haven't been taking pictures. I plan to update the blog more frequent this coming six months, I will also update the webpage with new content and I have already started by adding my first Wildlife story.

Wildlife stories will be a series of slideshows/movies showing a special place, plant or animal. In this the first Wildlife story I will take you to Knuthöjdsmossen a bog outside Hällefors in Västmanland, well known for it’s nesting red throated loons. I visited this area a weekend early in May just when the read throated loons started their courting and nesting. I got a some wonderful mornings and evenings among the loons, golden eyes and Canadian geese.

Thanks for all the comments and visits during last year and I'll hope to see you here in 2021.

Long time since last post

Sun, 19 Jul 2020 20:29:19 GMT

It has been a long time since I posted any thing here on the blogg however, that doesn't mean that I haven't been taking any pictures. Yesterday I was on the outskirts of Mora together with my friend Patrik spending some hours crawling around with our macro lenses. Thanks a lot Patrik for a great time and a for showing me around among the flowers and butterflies.

Updated galleries

Tue, 12 May 2020 18:42:53 GMT

I have uploaded a few new pictures in the flower gallery. Many of these pictures have been posted on Facebook and Instagram but not being uploaded on my web page.

Anemone hepaticaAnemone hepatica 2020 Anemone hepaticaAnemone hepatica 2020 Anemone nemorosaAnemone nemorosa 2020

Now is the time

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 17:48:56 GMT

Now is the time, if you want to see the pasqueflower in full bloom, just love these hairy flowers.

My dear, roe deers

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 19:15:49 GMT

Last week I visited my local nature reserve, Hågadalen, just a quick walk from where I live. I hade two fantastic evenings in the reserve with several meetings with roe deer.

Morning trip

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 19:11:27 GMT

Today, I made a morning trip to a nearby nature reserve called Dalkarlskärret. It was a beautiful morning with sunshine but the night had been cold, so cold that there were ice on the lake, only a few small patches with open water, where the birds thrived. I did see a lot of birds and animals like the Golden Eye, Whooper swans, Greylag Goose and Great spotted Woodpecker but I did also some Hares and Row deer.

HareHare, Uppsala. April 2020

Pallas cat (Captive)

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:23:47 GMT

In these times with viruses and travel restrictions I have done a trip within the digital archive and found these lovely pictures of the elusive and rare Palla's cat. These pictures are taken at Eskilstuna Zoo, a few years ago.

In bloom

Sat, 14 Mar 2020 18:26:58 GMT

The Crocus are now in full bloom on our lawn. Today when the sun was shining from the clear blue sky, I took the opportunity to lay flat on the ground trying to catch their beauty. Love the spring!

Old story

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 19:01:50 GMT

I wish to show you pictures from an old job trip to Wisconsin, U.S.A. Just next to where I stayed there were a small river. One day when I took an afternoon walk I did hear a crunching sound, I stayed still for a period of time and eventually I carefully moved closer to the sound. Suddenly I saw this fellow eating his dinner. After watching the beaver for while it decided to swim away. This is the closed I ever been to a beaver.

BeaverBeaver, Wisconsin. USA

Exhibition is over

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 17:46:17 GMT

A few days have past since my exhibition at NATURFOTODAGDEN in Västerås. I would like to thank all that visited the exhibition and for all the positive feedback I received. It was a great weekend listening to interesting talks/presentations and meeting new and old friends. The weekend left me with a lot of inspiration.

Visitor viewing my exhibition.

Reflections in one of my pictures.

One of the pictures in my exhibition.

Utställning NATURFOTODAGEN 2020

Sun, 09 Feb 2020 18:47:51 GMT

Nu är det mindre än en vecka kvar till NATURFOTODAGEN i Västerås. Det har blivit till en tradition att besöka NATURFOTODAGEN och de senaste två gångerna har jag även haft en egen bildutställning. Jag kommer även i år att ha en egen utställning så kom gärna förbi och säg hej om ni besöker NATURFOTODAGEN eller är i närheten. Att besöka bildutsällningen är gratis, vill man höra på ett av alla de spännande föreläsarna kan man köpa ett pass till föreläsningarna, tryck på "bannern" nedan så kommer man till biljettförsäljningen.

It's less than a week until NATURFOTODAGEN in Västerås. It is a tradition to visit NATURFOTODAGEN and the last two years I have also had my own exhibition. I will have an exhibition of my own this year as well and if you are around please come by and say hi. Visiting the exhibition is free if you want to listen to one of the great talks you can buy a pass, if you press the NATURFOTODAGEN banner in the picture below you get linked to where you can buy tickets to the talks.

Owl meeting

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 18:48:29 GMT

Last November I had the opportunity to meet this northern hawk owl. It was a very dark and dull day and I only managed to get one sharp and reasonably good picture of it.

In pursuit of...

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 20:23:15 GMT

Today I went of in pursuit of the Great Grey Owl, but no success. I did not see any owl this morning, however it was a beautiful sunny morning. In lack of owls I had to do with some lichens and green leafs of lingonberries.

LichensLichens, Uppsala. January 2020

ForestNåsten, Uppsala. January 2020

Digging in the archive

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 19:08:04 GMT

It has been some very grey and dull weather lately. During such days it is perfect to dig in the archive for some pictures you missed before. Below is such a picture of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

A visit to the sea

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 19:12:40 GMT

I love walking along the coast hearing and seeing the waves crashing towards the rocks.

Quick stop at Getterön

Sun, 05 Jan 2020 18:42:58 GMT

While visiting my parents on the west coast it is custom to make a quick stop at Getterön nature reserv. Today I watch some white tailed eagles, majestic as always.

Christmas stroll in owl country

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 13:53:55 GMT

This morning I took a stroll in a near by nature reserve to see if I could find the mysterious great grey owl. I was not alone in the forest this morning, it has been reported that there is owls in this area and there were a few fellow photographers looking for the owl. I think that I was among the first on site and I managed to get some pictures of this lovely bird. I had about 45 minutes with the owl before it decided to fly further into the forest to rest. Every meeting is as magical as the first one when it comes to this owl. If I'm lucky it will stay for a while and I might get a second chance to meeting it.

I would also like to thank every one that has visited my site over the year and the ones that has left any comments most appreciated.

I would like wish you a Happy New Year!

Silhouettes

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 20:08:51 GMT

It has been a dark and wet November and start of December. We have had a few days with snow but it disappear as quick as its arrives. Today I managed to get out with the camera and get some bird shots. Since the weather was grey and rainy, I decided to try to capture some silhouettes of the lovely bohemian waxving and the more common fieldfare.

Carlton hill

Mon, 04 Nov 2019 18:38:00 GMT

Last week I was in Edinburgh, one of my favorite cities. On one morning my son and I decided to go up on Carlton hill and see the sunrise. Luckily this time of the year you can do this without having to go up to early. On our way back home we managed to get a quick wildlife moment with both the grey squirrel and some brown rats as well.

Autumn is here

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 19:12:05 GMT

Autumn is here with rains and colder weather. The leafs on many trees turns into bright colors while the ferns all goes all brown, but I still love taking pictures of ferns. I find them very photogenic specially if you can catch them in some nice light.

Autumn is near

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 19:37:40 GMT

Last weekend I visited friends in Mariefred for some traditional crayfish party. While in Mariefred I took the opportunity to spend the morning in the lovely deer park. It was a beautiful morning and I managed to get some pictures of the fallow deer, before it was time for breakfast.

Gotland

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 18:24:53 GMT

Gotland the place to be... I love Gotland, we recently spent two weeks in the small village called Lau on the east coast of the island. Gotland is a summer paradise for both people as well as birds. Below I share some of the pictures from our trip.

White tailed eagle flying in from Lausviken the evening light.

Small fishing cottages in Lau. Next to the small houses the barn swallows were swirling around and feeding their you ones.

Next to Lau is the village of När and at Närsholmen you can see my favorite lighthouse as well as a lot of common terns.

Busy days for our small feathered friends

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 18:51:46 GMT

A while ago I visited Dalkarlskärret a nature reserve near by. I was actually hope to photograph some grey herons, but there were none this morning. However, that didn't matter since I got the possibility to follow the busy morning of the white wagtails. The parents chasing small insects to feed their little ones.

Lovely lupines

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 14:59:15 GMT

It's been a long time since last blogpost but I haven't stopped taking pictures. It has just been a lot of other activities going on.

I know that the lupine is an invasive art, that takes over from other domestic flowers. However, I can't help it, I really like them. I have played around among the lupines trying to capture them in a new and different way. I hope you like it.

LupineLupine. June 2019

Spring green

Fri, 10 May 2019 18:07:35 GMT

I love the fresh green birch leafs, captured in the last rays from the sun.

Norby konstvandring

Fri, 03 May 2019 19:11:15 GMT

On the 1st of May I participated in the first ever "artwalk of Norby". There were 14-15 people exhibiting artwork in their own gardens. I showed nature photos from Scotland, Kenya and Sweden, for somewhere between 50-100 visitors.

Liverleaf

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 19:33:32 GMT

Each spring I try to get to Linné hammarby, one of my favorit place to photograph the lovely liverleaf. Photographing liverleaf is a sure sign of spring.

Black grouse lek

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 19:15:47 GMT

After work last Friday I met up with Daniel from birdsafarisweden whom guided me to their hide for black grouse. I installed myself in the comfortably hide, looking out over the moor. I spent the evening relaxing with good food and a great magazine infront of the stove, just waiting for darkness to arrive. Got to bed early since the alarm was set to four a clock next morning.

Black grouse hideBlack grouse hide

Twenty past four I took my camera gear and in the light of my torch carefully stepped out on the moor to a tent hide a bit closer to where the black grouse hopefully soon would appear.

At quarter past five the first sounds of the black grouse could be heard. Still, way to dark to photograph, I could see three black grouse outside. Gradually the light got better and I could start taking some pictures. At most I could see six to eight birds out on the moor at the same time and another eight to ten playing in the reed.

Black grouseBlack grouse, April 2019

Black grouseBlack grouse, April 2019 Black grouseBlack grouse, April 2019

Black grouseBlack grouse, April 2019

Half past nine all the black grouse had left the moor, I could still here some playing far a way in the distance. Very satisfied, I crawled out of the tent hide and my first black grouse lek was over.

Black grouse hideBlack grouse hide

Yet another one sign

Sun, 31 Mar 2019 18:35:58 GMT

Well the signs of spring are visible everywhere. The willow and it's fussy soft catkins for sure is one.

CatkinsCatkins, March 2019

Until the leafs are green

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 18:47:21 GMT

Until the leafs are green, the old ones will have to do.

LeafsLeafs, Uppsala city forest.

Looking for signs of spring

Sun, 10 Mar 2019 18:34:37 GMT

This afternoon I took a quick walk in the city forest to see if I could find any signs of spring. King Bore have been active the last couple of days covering the forest once again in snow. I found buds on some branches but no major signs yet. Well I guess I just have to wait a bit longer.

Leafs to beLeafs to be, March 2019

Evening walk around the castle

Sat, 02 Mar 2019 18:50:48 GMT

Last Tuesday I took an evening walk around Uppsala castle, while my daughter were attending her art class at Bror Hjorts house. Maybe not the obvious pictures from the area but still the motives might be recognizable by some.

Meeting lady moose

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 18:53:13 GMT

It has been a week since Naturfotodagen and my exhibition. I wish to take the opportunity to thank all whom visited my exhibitions, I really enjoyed meeting and talking to you.

This weekend was spent in Orsa, Dalarna with my family enjoying the winter, but now I really longing for spring. Back home in Uppsala today, I saw the first "snow drops" popping up on the lawn. It sure is a good sign that spring is cooming.

Before leaving Orsa this morning, I took a morning-walk in the nearby forest where I met this lovely lady moose. We spent a few minutes together, I took some pictures and left her to go on with her business and I went back to the cabin for breakfast.

Wish you all a nice week.

MooseMoose, Orsa. February 2019

Upcoming exhibition at Naturfotodagen 2019

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 20:05:03 GMT

I happy to inform you that I will have an exhibition at Naturfotodagen in Västerås the 16th of February. This years Naturfotodagen has a great lineup of photo exhibitions and speakers.

I strongly recommend a visit, the exhibitions are for free but if you want to listen and see any of the great shows you’ll need a ticket.

I welcome you all to Västerås and Naturfotodagen 2019 and my exhibition.

Northern hawk-owl

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 20:02:23 GMT

Finally met the northern hawk owl after an unsuccessful attempt last weekend I found it sitting in the lovely snow draped tree.

Autumn leafs

Sat, 12 Jan 2019 20:12:21 GMT

Went through some old pictures and found these lovely pictures of autumn leafs from last October.

Autumn leafAutumn leaf, October 2018.

New Year

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 20:31:05 GMT

I spent New Year up in the cabin in Dalarna. I visited Orsa Rovdjurspark, a Zoo specialized on bears and other predators. All bears was sleeping except for the polar bears. The polar bears really enjoyed the snow and cold weather, not sure the other animals did. The lynx and the Persian Leopard were fairly still, saving energy I guess. However the displayed them self and collaborated well, so managed to get a few decent pictures.

Thanks for all your visits and comments on my blog/webpage last year, much appreciated.

Polar bearOrsa Rovdjurspark, 2018

LynxOrsa Rovdjurspark, 2018 Persian LeopardOrsa Rovdjurspark, 2018

Winter light

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 21:50:56 GMT

Winter light in Stadskogen.

Kneeling down

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 19:31:16 GMT

This young moose was kneeling down to easier reach the lovely green grass. Mother moose standing close by making sure that all was safe.

MooseMoose. Orsa October 2018

Misty morning

Sun, 21 Oct 2018 19:30:28 GMT

My family and I was up in the cabin in Orsa over the weekend. I took a walk yesterday morning in the surrounding area, it was a beautiful misty morning. A few hundred meters from the cabin I found these two in the mist, mother moose and her calf grazing. After five minutes they gently took of into the nearby forest and I continued on my walk.

MooseMoose. Orsa, October 2018

Wonderful morning

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 21:03:25 GMT

A while ago I had a wonderful morning at Bälinge mosse half an hour drive north of Uppsala. I actually saw my first red deer stag in Sweden, I have heard them many times but never seen them. As soon as I got the first picture, the stag step right into the forest and totally disappeared.I also had some nice encounters with both roe deer and female red deer.

Red deerRed deer, Uppsala 2018. Roe deerRoe deer, Uppsala 2018. Roe deerRoe deer, Uppsala 2018.

Autumn

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 17:52:18 GMT

I enjoy the early autumn when the air is crisp, the leafs are changing colors and the forest is filled with mushrooms.

Airborne

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 19:42:12 GMT

Last weekend there were a large military air show here in Uppsala, it's estimated that there were nearly 150 000 visitors on the show. I wonder how many photos were taken, I took loads of pictures. It was a great training opportunity for shooting fast moving things in the air, however a lot easier that flying birds. I'll show some of the colorful airplanes from the show below.

SK 16 Harvard

SK 50 Saab Saphire

Team 60

I just love this island

Tue, 14 Aug 2018 18:31:17 GMT

I have just returned after a week of vacation on Gotland, the largest island of Sweden. This is one of my favorit places in Sweden. In my mind I had planned to photograph birds but browsing through the pictures on the memory card I realize that I had mostly been doing landscape photography. For more pictures from Gotland visit my gallery: Travel and places, Sweden - Gotland.

Blood moon

Sat, 28 Jul 2018 18:26:32 GMT

Last night we had a blood moon here in Sweden, I drove to "Kung Björns hög" a huge old barrow where I expected to able see the moon. There were a lot of people waiting at for a glimpse of the moon. The moon was only visible for about 15 min here in Uppsala, at least during the time I was awake. I managed to get a shot a the blood moon before it disappeared behind the clouds again.

HågadalenHågadalen, July 2018

Blood MoonBlood moon, 27th July 2018

Revisited

Fri, 20 Jul 2018 19:04:59 GMT

I revisited the majestic Great grey owl and managed to find the family once more. This time however the chicks decided to sit too high up the trees to get any decent pictures of them. The mother was more cooperative and yielded quite a few new pictures. Two of them is shown below.

Great Grey OwlGreat Grey Owl Great Grey OwlGreat Grey Owl

Deep in the forest

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 19:46:44 GMT

It is always a magical moment to meet an owl, today I meet three. Deep in the forest the Great Grey Owls were found, a mother and her two young chicks. I love these impressive owls, they are so elegant. The young chicks might not be so elegant now, but will soon be as elegant as it's mother.

Summer butterflies

Sun, 01 Jul 2018 18:02:54 GMT

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph butterflies on the outskirts of town. I'm not an expert on butterflies but believe that the first picture is of an brown argus (Aricia ageists) and the second one is a sacred heath (Coenonypha hero).

Midsummer

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 21:34:33 GMT

Celebrating midsummer in Dalarna Sweden is as much midsummer as can be, with maypole, dancing and folk music. However it is also prime time for a lot of flowers. Here the lovely fireweed.

FireweedFireweed, Orsa. June 2018

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 19:08:29 GMT

I have been lucky to find several Great Spotted Woodpeckers breeding close to our home. I just love woodpeckers they are so beautiful, even when you just see their silhouette.

Sunset

Fri, 18 May 2018 19:10:11 GMT

Sunset at Knuthöjdsmossen.

Yet another one

Sun, 13 May 2018 18:43:31 GMT

Just had to post another picture of the beautiful Red-throated loon.

Knuthöjdsmossen

Wed, 09 May 2018 19:27:43 GMT

Last weekend I visited Knuthöjdsmossen nature reserve a fascinating place with several small ponds in a muir or moorland like environment where the Red-throated diver or as it also is called the Red-throated loon breeds. A fabulous bird with a lot of character.

The alarm was set to 4:00 am to get in position before the sunrise, just to be able to capture the birds and in beautiful morning light. This area is famous for misty mornings witch creates magical pictures. During my two mornings there were unfortunately no mist.

Along with the loons there wear several Golden-Eyes and Teals in the area fighting for their females hearts.

Golden EyeKnuthöjdsmossen, May 2018 TealKnuthöjdsmossen, May 2018

Anemone hepatica in B/W

Sat, 28 Apr 2018 06:42:44 GMT

Anemone hepatica now in black and white. Sometimes you don't need the colors to show the beauty of the flowers.

The fabulous Anemone hepatica

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 19:57:08 GMT

Yesterday I visited my favorite location to photograph the Anemone hepatica. They were already in full bloom. I spent a good hour on my knees and belly to capture these beauties. This has become an must do in the beginning of the spring as this is one of my favorite signs of spring.

Dare to be different

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 21:25:05 GMT

Sometimes it pays off to see things from a different angle. On these flower pictures I have chosen to view them from the backside rather than the more common front or side view. Both flowers are turned towards the light.

Echinacea purpureaEchinecea purpurea

Anemone nemorosaAnemone nemorosa

Winter in the city forest

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 19:23:12 GMT

During the winter the roe deer are easier to get close to. Stalking deer is always an adventure. Getting close to these beautiful animals without scaring them is tricky. The importance is not to stress them so if they chose to leave you, let them. Eventually you’ll get your pictures.

Roe deerRoe deer, Stadskogen Uppsala.

Landscape photography

Sun, 04 Mar 2018 17:14:46 GMT

I find landscape photography with wide angle lenses difficult, not sure why but I just can’t get the hang of it. I guess I need to practice more, however you can do landscape photography with other lenses, here I have used my 400mm.

OrsaWinter landscape. February 2018

Winter rose hip

Thu, 22 Feb 2018 18:24:35 GMT

A few weeks ago I took a walk in Hågadalen, a nature reserve close by. I brought my camera and an old Meyer Görlitz Orestor 135mm lens with me. I found some rose hip in great light it was a perfect opportunity to play with the old lens. The old Meyer Görlitz have a fabulous bokeh, when used correctly.

Naturfotodagen 2018

Sun, 18 Feb 2018 21:29:28 GMT

I spent last weekend at Naturfotodagen in Västerås where a splendid mix of photographers entered the stage where they gave inspiring talks and showing their pictures.

I exhibited nine pictures from Bass Rock and Isle of May, at Naturfotodagen. I would like to thank all of you whom visited my exhibition and a special thanks for all the positive feedback I got.

Yesterday I delivered three of the pictures from the exhibition to a new home in Västerås.

Lovely winter day

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 22:00:07 GMT

Last weekend I took a walk down to Hågadalen, our local nature reserve, to see if I could capture the winter beauty. I’m not really a winter photographer, I tend to take a lot less pictures during the cold months compared to spring, summer and autumn. However one can’t sit inside when it is beautiful whether outside. Last Sunday it was a lovely and crisp winter day, sunshine and between 5 to 10 degrees below zero.

Hide and seek

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 20:41:47 GMT

Last weekend I was at Ulva Kvarn, an old mill not to far from where I live. In the stream next to the mill it is not uncommon to see dippers. This time I only saw one dipper and it tricked me totally, it displayed it self for a brief moment just when I arrived but disappeared and didn’t show until it was time to head home. Therefore I’ll show you some pictures from last year when I visited Ulva kvarn and the dippers were more cooperative.

IceIce, Ulva Kvarn. 2017 Uppsala

DipperDipper, Ulva Kvarn. Uppsala 2017

Exhibition at Naturfotodagen

Mon, 08 Jan 2018 20:56:30 GMT

I'm exited to tell you that I will have an exhibition at Naturfotodagen in Västerås on the 10th of February, I will be showing pictures from two fantastic Scottish islands, Bass Rock and Isle of May.

Naturfotodagen is a one day event focused on nature photography where you have the opportunity to see great photographic exhibitions, listen to photographic talks from famous nature photographers and meet a lot of friendly people.

If interested in nature/"nature photography" and you haven’t visited Naturfotodagen before, I can strongly recommend it. For more details check the link ”Boka Nu” on my blog sidebar.

A new year

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 21:06:41 GMT

I wish to start by thanking everyone that visited my site last year and for all wonderful comments and positive feedback on my pictures. 2018 holds a lot of new challenges and opportunities, I will have at least one exhibition, more to come on this shortly. I will try to develop and improve my photographic expression in my pictures, I started of this journey last year.

I have updated the look of my webpage, I hope you like it.

Below are a fresh picture from this year, it is an ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) picture of a birch forest just a few hundred meters from our cabin in Orsa.

Memories from Africa

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 19:39:49 GMT

Browsing through som pictures from December two years ago when I visited my sister and her family in Kenya. Found these two evening shots, just a typical savanna landscape and then the fabulous little Thomson gasell.

Masai maraMasai mara, December 2015

Common magpie

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 20:22:34 GMT

Common or not, the magpie is a beautiful bird that have a plumage that switch in colours from blue to green to black. Here it is portrait both as a silhouette and nice back light.

MagpieMagpie, Hågadalen. Uppsala 2017

Tenerife

Fri, 10 Nov 2017 21:07:28 GMT

Recently returned from a wonderful week at the island Tenerife. Spent most of the time relaxing with the family at beach or the pool. One day my son and I rented a car to see the island, we did a few stops on the way up to the volcano Tiede (3718m). Teide is the third largest volcano in the world, but have not had any eruption since 1909. After a short coffee break we continued up to the northern parts of Tenerife to visit the Anaga forest. It was a huge difference between the northern lusher areas and the stony volcano areas. A few pictures were taken but mostly it was a great day out with my son.

TeideTeide, Tenerife Novemeber 2017

Lynx in snow

Sat, 21 Oct 2017 20:02:35 GMT

This picture of a Lynx in snow is a few years old, but have never left the hard drive before. The picture were taken at the Orsa bear park up in Dalarna, Sweden.

LynxLynx in Snow. Orsa bear park.

A ladybird

Sat, 14 Oct 2017 21:32:04 GMT

Just a lonely ladybird among the autumn leafs.

Lovely Highlands

Sat, 07 Oct 2017 20:57:23 GMT

Looking back on the quick trip to the Scottish Highland this summer remembering the nice weather and the fabulous views. We drove up from Edinburgh to Ballaculish and fort William through beautiful Glen Coe, a trip I would strongly recommend any one visiting Scotland. First picture show the often depicted Black cottage with the Buachaille Etvie mor in the backgrond. Second picture is of Buachaille Etvie mor and lastly the great view in Ballaculich.

From the archive

Sat, 30 Sep 2017 18:41:38 GMT

I browsed through some old folder on the hard drive tonight and found this action shot from 2014. The picture is of three sea eagles fighting for the best spot in the tree. Sometimes it is good to revisit old folders.

Quick visit

Sat, 23 Sep 2017 20:09:08 GMT

Today I made a quick visit into the city forest. Rain was in the air which made the forest to show off in all greens. There are mushrooms everywhere now after all the rain, big ones, small ones, red, yellow and purple. Might make another since my daughter wants to pick a few for school next week. They have a mushroom theme at the moment.

Darkness within

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 19:21:17 GMT

The light and lovely birch forest can also sometimes seem rather dark and mysterious. Here are two different black and white pictures from the birch forests of Orsa, Dalarna.

Inspired

Sun, 10 Sep 2017 19:54:12 GMT

Inspired by Niklas Virsén last uploaded video on his YouTube channel (Click on the green link) I went to the City forest in Uppsala in pursuit of mushrooms. There were quite a lot of mushrooms in the forest but the trick is to find the right ones, in the right spot and with correct lighting. I used three different old lenses (Meyer Görlitz Orestor 135mm f2.8, Meyer Görlitz Triopan 50mm f2.9 and Pentacon 50mm f1.8) to creat the pictures below.

Sometimes a small walk is all you need

Wed, 06 Sep 2017 18:57:09 GMT

I just had to get out today, out with my camera, just for a short walk. I ended up behind the children’s school maybe 200m away from home in a small area with a few trees. I wanted to capture the last light before the sun set.

Looking for roe deer

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 20:12:27 GMT

A few weeks ago, we were visiting my parents down on the west coast of Sweden. One evening my son and I took a walk looking for roe deer. We did see four different roe deer and the best part was that he spotted and pointed out all four to me. He was really thrilled, since he saw them before me.

WiliilamWilliam

Squirrels

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 19:36:10 GMT

In nearly all parks in Edinburgh you can find the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel has out manoeuvred the native red squirrel in nearly all of Great Britain. In Edinburgh botanical garden, it is fairly easy to get close to these cute little creatures.

Isle of May

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 21:59:13 GMT

Yesterday I visited the Isle of May a small island in the firth of forth, outside Edinburgh. Isle of May is a national nature reserve, on the island nearly a quarter of a million sea birds spend their summer. Among the inhabitants are guillemots, razorbills, shags and the lovely little puffin. My main interest on this trip was the puffins. Puffins, also called clown of the sea, are so beautiful with their colourful beaks.

It was a while…

Fri, 07 Jul 2017 19:22:41 GMT

...since I managed to post anything. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been out with the camera, just that I haven’t spent time in front of the computer. We spent midsummer up in Dalarna in Sweden and in between all traditional dancing around the maypole etc. I sneak off to visit the curlews at Lindänget a nature reserve just outside Orsa. I managed to get a few pictures of them, some traditional and some more experimental.

CurlewCurlew, Orsa. Midsummer 2017

Spring time in the forest

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 18:55:09 GMT

I love walking around in the forest during spring, you can feel the plants, trees and flower waking up and taking over the forest, making it green and beautiful. One of the favourite flowers are the Lilly of the valley, with their small white flowers and their wonderful scent.

Among the maple leaf’s

Thu, 25 May 2017 20:10:27 GMT

I love spring time when everything in the nature is wakening and life is bubbling. Earlier this week I visited the city forest, most of the trees in the forest are green now. I had some fun playing around with the maple leaf’s and the last rays of sun light.

Soon all is green

Sun, 07 May 2017 06:18:28 GMT

May is here and the temperatures is rising, last Friday we had over 19 degrees. With the warmth, the spring is in high speed and nature is exploding. Soon all trees will be green again. It is busy times for birds and other animals with young ones soon on the way.

Anemone nemorosa

Sun, 23 Apr 2017 19:20:16 GMT

Finally, the wonderful Anemone nemorosa is here. I’m trying out new ways of portraying these beauties, below are some examples. More to come...

Back again

Mon, 10 Apr 2017 19:58:11 GMT

Yesterday I was back for a visit to the great forest to see if I could get a glimpse of the magnificent great grey owl. I try to manage to visit them at least once a year. This year I brought my father with me, so I hoped that we would get lucky to see one,and we did, it was a first for my father.

First attempt

Sun, 02 Apr 2017 19:38:45 GMT

So here they are, this years first attempt with the Anemone hepatica. This is a true sign of spring, each year hoping to get a that perfect shot that just screams, “Spring is here…”

Wonderful colours

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:31:51 GMT

The Crocus is in full bloom on the lawn, yellow, white and blue/purple. The pictures are both double exposures made with an old Pentacon AV 80mm projector lens. I haven really figured this lens out yet but I’m sure that in the right conditions it will produce magical pictures, I just have to continue to experiment I guess.

CrocusCrocus, Norby. March 2017

The colours are coming back but...

Sat, 18 Mar 2017 18:38:38 GMT

In the garden the colours are slowly coming back after the winter. After trying to capture the newly pop up crocus, my focus shifted towards some seeds hanging in the nearby tree. So even if the colours that fill me with sense that spring is really on the way, pictures of them will have to wait until another time.

SeedsSeeds, Norby. March 2017

Finally, I got them on picture

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 19:46:36 GMT

It was a long time since I manage to get any squirrels on picture but during last visit up to the cabin up north I managed to get some. At the bird feeder, there were two squirrels visiting. Squirrels a so cute, I really enjoy taking pictures of them.

SquirrelSquirrel, Orsa. February 2017

Playing with new stuff

Tue, 21 Feb 2017 20:18:50 GMT

Not too long ago I got hold of an old Pentacon AV 80mm projector lens that I have modified with an M42 fitting. Today I had the first opportunity to play with it, among the lichens just outside our cabin in Orsa. It is quite tricky to get the sharpness right (read a lot of pictures in the bin…). This is the first decent picture but I’m sure there will be more in the future.

LichenLichen, Orsa. February 2017

Digging for gold

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 20:30:11 GMT

I went “gold digging” in some old folders from last summer to see what I could find. I found these pictures of a wood sand piper worth showing off. These pictures were taken at Getterön nature reserve.

Ulva kvarn

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 19:32:13 GMT

I have been visiting Ulva kvarn twice so far, this year in pursuit of good pictures of the dipper. The first time there were a pair whooper swans, in the open water. After a short time, they decided to take off and didn’t get back, at least not as long as I were there. There were several dippers around but they all kept their distance, so no close ups. The second time the dippers were a bit closer but this time the lighting was poor and the results as well. I guess I need to visit soon again to see if I can get the pictures I’m after.

DipperDipper, Ulva kvarn. January 2017

The tradition goes on

Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:56:55 GMT

As some of you might have read before I have a tradition to visit the hides at Getterön nature reserve together with my father when visiting back home. The visit tock place in the days between Christmas and New Year, it was a dull, dark and grey day. However, the luck of timing visit when the feeding of local the sea eagles tool place made up for the weather. Sea eagles are very impressive birds, there were as many as five of them at the same time feeding. The quality of the pictures could have been better but happy with what I got under these circumstances.

Borrås skåra

Fri, 06 Jan 2017 21:32:00 GMT

The days after Christmas was spent on the west coast of Sweden, at my parent’s place. The winter can be quite mild and humid at times, down there. The weather was dull and the moments with sunshine few. I visited the Borrås skåra, Borrås skåra is a gorge or a crack in the mountain. The gorge is approximately 100 meters long and 10 meters deep and rather narrow from half a meter up too two meters at it widest. I been to this place many times since it is just a few kilometres from where I grew up, but it still fascinates me. This time I brought my old camera and a Meyer Görlitz lens that recently bought on the net, which I wanted to test out. I’m quite satisfied with the results from the lens.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Wed, 21 Dec 2016 18:56:35 GMT

I would like to thank all of you whom have visited my webpage this year and to all of you whom have comment on my pictures, much appreciated. I know that the update speed on my blog lately have been a bit slow, let’s see what the new year brings.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Winter appleWinter apple, December 2016

Still around

Sat, 03 Dec 2016 17:17:24 GMT

It’s been some time since I last updated the blog, but I wanted to share this early autumn picture. Taken late September this year in the city forest of Uppsala. There are a few beech trees around in the forest and this is one of them, not yet started to get yellow.

And it melts away

Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:57:24 GMT

We have had snow for over a week now, now it slowly melts away. The snow surprised a few plants that were still around and covered them in snow.

SnowflowerFlower in snow, November 2016

SnowSnow on tree. November 2016

A tiny beech forest

Thu, 03 Nov 2016 20:44:51 GMT

In the city forest of Uppsala there is a small area with planted beech trees forming a “tiny beech forest”.
The beech trees are not normally living this far north. The trees were planted in the early 1920’s.
Me and the kids took a ride on the bicycles to the forest and while they enjoyed some cookies, I managed to get some pictures.

Clematis

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 17:29:14 GMT

Just outside our door we have a Clematis, the small lilac flowers are truly magnificent. I have tried to capture their beauty, not sure how many pictures I have of these beautiful flowers, I show my two favorites.

ClematisClematis, Norby. September 2016

Mandarin duck

Sat, 08 Oct 2016 18:03:03 GMT

Here are some more pictures of the fabulous mandarin ducks.

Visitors from far away

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 20:15:33 GMT

Last Friday I took the opportunity to visit some of the new celebrities around the Fyris river in Uppsala. For the last week or so there have been a pair of Mandarin ducks swimming around in central Uppsala. These are truly beautiful birds.

Among birches

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 19:03:53 GMT

The sun is setting earlier and earlier now. I got out and to capture the setting sun among some lovely birches.

BirchesBirches, Norby. September 2006

BirchesBirches, Norby. Septemebr 2006

The lovely little wren

Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:43:58 GMT

The wren is a lovely little bird, with a lot of attitude. However, they are not that easy to get good pictures of, they are small and quick :o)

WrenWren, Norby. 2016

Common merganser

Fri, 02 Sep 2016 17:49:22 GMT

On one of the last days of our visit to Gotland I went down to the beach to see if I could get a picture of the Ljugarn lighthouse. Among the rocks next to the shore I saw this lovely Common merganser with its little chick lying next to it. Well I never managed to get any decent picture of the light house but I’m quite satisfied with this picture.

Still around

Mon, 22 Aug 2016 19:00:06 GMT

The wonderful butterflies are still around and I hope they will be for a while longer. Finally, the weather allows me to do some macro photography. It has been a very windy summer this year. The pictures are of the Geranium Argus butterfly.

All yellow

Sun, 14 Aug 2016 07:19:13 GMT

Yesterday I was out in the garden out just before the last light disappeared. I was playing with an old lens of mine, a wonderful little Meyer Görlitz Trioplan 50mm. I like the old lenses because they are full of surprises, they handle light in a different way compared to new lenses that are “super corrected” to minimize flares, correct for all optical errors etc. I love all my new “perfect” lenses, but sometimes it is fun to use the old ones, especially for more artistic pictures or close-ups/macro.

HoverflyHoverfly, Uppsala. August 2016

A few bugs

Sun, 07 Aug 2016 07:32:56 GMT

Well this summer have yielded in a few bug shots, maybe not as many as usually but I feel that still can change. The last week I have had some time for photographing bugs in the garden. Below are a picture of a hoverfly and a moth, not sure what kind of moth it is.

HoverflyHoverfly, Uppsala. Agust 2016

MothMoth, Uppsala. Auguast 2016

Summer time

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 18:09:21 GMT

This summer have been great, I have had lots time off from work to spend with my family. There has been some time for photography as well and today I’ll show you some of the flower pictures from the last couple of weeks. First off is a pink flower that I have forgotten what is is called, second off is the lovley lilac and last is the wonderful fireweed.

LilacLilac. Orsa, June 2016

Fire weedFire weed. Orsa, July 2016

Folhammar

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 20:24:35 GMT

Last week me and my family visited our favourite island in Sweden, Gotland. This time we stayed on the east side of the Island in a lovely village called Ljugarn. Just outside the village there are an area with “raukar”. A rauk is a geological landform of a steep, often vertical, column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast. We visited this area several times to climb and look for fossils.

FolhammarFolhammar, Ljugarn. July 2016

Summer visit at Getterön

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 18:43:59 GMT

It has become a tradition for me and my dad to visit the bird hides at Getterön nature reserve when I back home. This year there were a spoonbill visiting, but I never got managed to see it. However, you always bring home some nice memories and new pictures. This year a managed to get some pictures of a young water rail.

No need to hurry

Sat, 09 Jul 2016 14:41:50 GMT

It is vacation time and there is no need to hurry. These snails are leading the way they seem to be in no hurry anywhere. Plenty of time to work with light and composition before the moment is gone.

Garden birds

Fri, 01 Jul 2016 06:31:32 GMT

It was a while since I was uploading any new bird pictures. The first one is of a house sparrow shot through some greenery, to hide away our white picket fence it was sitting on. The next two are of a spotted flycatcher nesting next to our cabin in Dalarna. It is busy days for the flycatcher feeding their young ones.

Some catching up

Sun, 26 Jun 2016 20:00:39 GMT

Summer vacation is here and I have started to do some catching up on my spring/early summer picture processing, still a long way to go. Below are a sample of the latest ones.

BirchBirch, spring. 2016

Buttercupsbuttercups, Orsa. June 2016

Close, but no cigar

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 19:56:41 GMT

I was happy to see my picture of a great grey owl as the runner up in the monthly competition in the last issue of NATUR&FOTO, a great Nordic photo magazine. It is the second time I have had a picture among the highly commended, maybe third time lucky.

Great grey owlGreat grey owl, 2016

Stalking deer

Sun, 12 Jun 2016 06:39:11 GMT

Stalking deer is fun and challenging. Yesterday evening, I walked down to the local nature reserve to see if I could stalk some roe deer. It was quite windy witch can be an advantage as long as you manage to walk against the wind. When walking against the wind the deer have a hard time to catch the smell of you and is less likely to run away. If you are lucky you can get really close.

Roe deerRoe deer, Hågadalen. Juni 2016

Summer evening

Mon, 06 Jun 2016 20:17:23 GMT

Last week after the kids fallen a sleep I went out to Hågadalen, a nature reserve next to where I live. I just love to take a walk on a summer evening. Below are som pictures from that evening.

Roe deerRoe deer, Hågadalen. June 2016

HågadalenHågadalen, june 2016

It’s been pouring down

Sat, 28 May 2016 06:30:27 GMT

Last couple of days it has been raining a lot, but If you get your butt of the sofa and get out the forest it actually quite rewarding. Life in the forest still goes on even if it is raining and wet, the birds were all singing and chatting while the raindrops dripping of the leafs.

Birds

Thu, 19 May 2016 20:34:21 GMT

There haven’t been any pictures of birds on the blog for a long time, it is time to change that. I have been visiting Dalkarlskärret outside Uppsala a few times this spring. Below are a few pictures from my visits. The first two are of the wonderful wagtail, a bird that is very friendly and always makes me smile. The last one is of the shyer red necked grebe with a newly caught northern crested newt.

Tradition

Fri, 13 May 2016 19:36:04 GMT

It has become a tradition to visit Kungsängen outside of Uppsala and see all the snake's head fritillary flowers. This time of the year the meadow is full of these lovely flowers.

A tree to the left

Sat, 07 May 2016 18:11:45 GMT

This is three new pictures where I have focused on the background or actually the unfocused background. I tried to catch the feeling when the light penetrates the dark forest.

City forestCity forest, May 2016

Scilla

Mon, 02 May 2016 18:35:43 GMT

On our front lawn the Scillas are in full bloom. I just love to have all these lovely flowers around.

ScillaScilla, Norby. Uppsala May 2016

The magic of light

Tue, 26 Apr 2016 15:00:00 GMT

When the light plays along and you find the inspiration, magic can happen. I really love the evening light especially when it is slightly diffused. I continue chasing new ways of depicting the anemone nemorosa, this is my latest attempts from yesterday.

I just can’t get enough

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 05:18:39 GMT

I just can’t get enough, as the old Depech Mode song goes, so here are a few more pictures of the wonderful Anemone nemorosa. This year I have focused on trying to capture pictures that stands out among the more traditional pictures of Anemone nemorosa.

They are so lovely

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 20:14:20 GMT

I just love the Anemone nemorosa, the are a true sign of spring. This is last week's attempts to capture it's beauty.

They’re here

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:41:46 GMT

The Anemone nemorosa are now in bloom here in Uppsala. Here are some of pictures from the last couple of days.

Late evening photography

Thu, 07 Apr 2016 20:07:30 GMT

Earlier this week I went out and tried some late evening photography. I had an Idea of using the forest as foreground and street lights background. I need to work further on the Idea, but here is first try at least.

So we meet again…

Sun, 03 Apr 2016 05:56:43 GMT

…my friend from the great forest. Earlier this week I took a drive to see if I could find and photograph the great grey owl. It was two years since last time I visited the area and I was glad to see that the owls were still around. I got some nice pictures but didn’t get the picture that I have in my mind but maybe next time. I love the challenge in nature/wildlife photography, you never know what you encounter and what pictures you will get.

Different looks

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 05:13:16 GMT

Usually when I post I’m trying to have images that in my mind works together, pictures taken at the same photo shoot, a theme or just the same colour scheme. Well one could argue that there is a theme, for example spring or that the pictures are taken during one trip. However, I think these pictures have quite different look and feel. The first one is Whooper swans flying in for breakfast on the fields at Hansjö, the second is birds on a wire (starlings) and the last one is of the melting ice at lake Orsa.

Lake OrsaLake Orsa, Orsa. March 2016

Easter morning

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 16:21:01 GMT

It is Easter holiday and I spent my morning out in the forest playing with the lovely morning light and the lichens among the old fir trees. Trying to capture the magic of the forest.

I wish you all a great Easter.

LichenLichen, Orsa March 2016

It’s here...!!!

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 20:15:57 GMT

Finally, spring is here!

Yesterday I saw that the crocus had popped up on our lawn, bees were visiting the crocus and I also saw three butterflies in the air. I sat outside today and enjoyed a cup of coffee in just a T-shirt, without freezing.

CrocusCrocus, march 2016

BeeBee, march 2016

In the forest

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 20:13:30 GMT

I while back ago we had a school holidays and during the holidays we spent some time up in Dalarna. I played around with my old PENTAX camera and an old Pentacon lens, the pictures are from the woods just around the cabin. The pictures are quite different the "golden forest" and the "cold blueberry" in the mist.

Elephant orphanages

Sat, 05 Mar 2016 20:26:34 GMT

I decided to show yet some more pictures from my trip to Kenya. There is just so many wonderful memories and so many pictures to process. Today’s pictures are from the David Sheldrick Wildlife trust in Nairobi where they take care of young elephants that have had a rough start in life. Many of them have had their mother killed by poachers and some have had other misfortunes. The young elephants stay in their care for up to six years before released into the wild again. Over the years the trust has fostered and released over 150 elephants.

One hour each day they open up the orphanages to visitors and then they show and feed the young elephants meanwhile they tell each individuals story, how long they been at the orphanages, what happened to them in the wild (before they ended up being orphanage). It is amazing what love and dedication the care takers show.

Longing for spring

Fri, 26 Feb 2016 06:30:20 GMT

I’m tired of winter now. I’m longing for sunshine, warm days lying flat on the ground playing with macro lens. Here are a few ones from last year.

BumblebeeBumblebee, 2015.

EarwigEarwig, 2015

Among the twigs

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 20:47:02 GMT

A few days ago found out that a few blueberry twigs that once had been in a bouquet of tulips actually had started to bloom. I just had to try to capture them in the lovely light from kitchen windows.

Inspired

Sun, 14 Feb 2016 20:36:43 GMT

After a great weekend at Naturfotodagen in Västerås filled with wonderful, inspiring talks and picture shows, it is time to wake up again and get out with the camera and capture the beauty of mother nature.

Rhinos at Solio reserve

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:57:01 GMT

While staying at Aberdare country club we visited the Solio Rhino reserve, the reserve has a god number of rhinos. We saw several small herds of rhinos, truly amazing animals. They look really powerful and prehistoric. I also learnt that rhinos does as dogs, after making their "dump", they kick up some dirt to cover-up.

Kirk’s dik dik

Thu, 04 Feb 2016 20:40:31 GMT

These pictures is actually photographed from the window of the cabin we stayed in at Aberdare Country Club in Kenya. From the window we saw Kirk’s dik dik, zebras, giraffes, baboons, Eland antelope and warthogs. The dik dik is a very small and cute antelope, living in eastern Africa.

Afternoon light

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 07:30:40 GMT

Well it if you were hoping for some more pictures from Africa you’ll have to wait a bit longer, I promise that I’ll post some more soon. I just wanted to post this picture from yesterday afternoon. I played with my old Pentax camera and an old Russian Helios-44 lens and some rosehip, below is the result.

Bling bling

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 20:50:15 GMT

Well I can’t just post images from Africa, we have had some really nice cold weather so far in January. Unfortunately, it seems to be getting warmer and the snow is melting outside at the moment. This image is from beginning of the month when we visited Orsa.

Big cats

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 21:00:25 GMT

We did manage to see lions a few times in Masai Mara, however no big prides. The most we saw at one time were three lions. One day we encounter a lioness just lying on the side of the road, resting we stayed for ten-fifteen minutes waiting for her to wake up and walk away. Eventually she turned over on her back with the paws in the air just like an ordinary cat and continued to rest. It was clear that she had no interest or intention to move. The images are from three different encounters.

Big and magnificent

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 21:23:37 GMT

It has been raining a lot in the Masai Mara this autumn, which means that the grass was long and green. If that’s the reason why we saw so many elephants, I don’t know. We saw elephants on every drive and a several times we saw herds with fifteen or more. Elephants are really magnificent animals; not sure how many pictures I have taken of elephants on this trip.

Early mornings

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:45:39 GMT

I woke up around five a clock and it was all silent and pitch black outside. I lay there in the tent and waited, listened and slowly I could hear more and more sounds, birds started to sing half past five just before it started to get light outside, then some rattling and mumbling from the tent next door. It was time to get up and get some clothes on. When on safari you don’t get sleep ins, the morning drive normally starts just after six a clock. However, it is definitely worth getting up this early. The light is fabulous and the wildlife is most active in the mornings and evenings.

The Masai Mara, in Kenya, is a great place to visit if you want to do safari and experience the African wildlife. In Masai Mara it is still possible to see “the big five”. Elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo. You will also see the great plains and all the herbivores living on the plains. We visited Masai Mara in December and most of the wildebeest and a lot of the herbivores were in Serengeti, Tanzania, but there were plenty left to see and photograph.

There are also other things to photograph, not only wildlife. Each morning several hot air balloons takes of with tourist, that wants to get a view from above.

SiluettesMasai Mara, December 2015

RainbowMasai Mara, December 2015

Looking back…

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 06:41:15 GMT

… at 2015 it was a great year, filled with joy and adventures both at home and abroad. Visiting Thailand in the spring, Denmark in the summer, Scotland in the autumn and now just returned back home after visiting my sister and her family in Kenya for two weeks. I’m sure you will see a lot of pictures from Kenya in the next coming blog posts :o)

I would like to take the opertunity to thank you all for visiting my blog during 2015 and for all your wonderful comments, they are really appriciated. I hope to see and hear from you all during 2016.

Masai MaraMasai Mara, December 2015

Bee-eater

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 19:39:41 GMT

The bee-eater is a fantastic bird with all it’s colors and it’s skills of juggling insects with its beek. These pictures are from my trip to Thailand earlier this year however there were a pair of bee-eaters breeding on an island called Öland, in Sweden, during this summer.

Bee-eaterBee-eater, Thailand 2015

My old town

Sat, 28 Nov 2015 07:21:52 GMT

I lived in Edinburgh many years ago, it is one of my favorite cities in the world. My wife and I revisited earlier this year for a weekend trip. We had no ”must do’s”,we just hung around and enjoyed what the city had to offer. We visited museums, pubs and took long walks.

Garden walk

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 07:51:32 GMT

Yesterday I took a quick walk in the garden since the weather and light was lovley. However after 15 minutes I had to get in, I didn’t have any gloves on and it was -5 degrees below zero, my fingers were freezing.

On the wire

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 20:58:21 GMT

This picture is from last year, when I revisited the area where I once had photographed the magificent great grey owl before. This time however the owl had moved further in to the forest and was a bit tricker to get a photograph of. I found this picture hiddden in one of the folders on my laptop and I thought I share it with you.

The colours are gone

Sat, 14 Nov 2015 07:00:18 GMT

The birch trees bright autumn colours are gone here in Uppsala. These pictures are from earlier this autumn.

BirchAutumn birch, Uppsala. 2015

O deer...

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 21:19:20 GMT

I processed a few more pictures from Gripsholms deer park, this time in black and white.

Wood sandpiper

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 20:48:29 GMT

I found an old picture of a wood sandpiper in autumn colur in the archive.

Wood sandpiperWood sandpiper, Uppsala.

Autumn leaf

Sat, 31 Oct 2015 07:08:48 GMT

Now the leafs are falling and only the most stubburn ones are still hanging around.

Autumn jay

Sun, 25 Oct 2015 05:51:16 GMT

I found this Eurasian jay last weekend when I visited Gripsholm deer park. It was perched so beautiful with all the autumn colours, that I just had to take a picture.

Gripsholm deer park

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 19:19:56 GMT

This weekend me and my family visited some friends in Mariefred and on the Sunday morning I took the opertunity to visit Gripsholms deer park, just outside Mariefred city. It has been a deer park in the area since 1890, today there is about one hundred fallow deer in the park. The fallow deer is a magnificent animal, so elegant and beautiful.

Temperature drop

Sat, 17 Oct 2015 05:30:05 GMT

Now the autumn is here for sure, temperatures are dropping and we have frost in the early hours, but still the sun heats up the teperature during the day. Insects and bugs are still around but are getting a bit slow and tired this late in the season. I have been out playning around among the lovely New York asters in the graden.

A Red Amiral in New York aster

Sun, 11 Oct 2015 05:53:14 GMT

The New York aster is in full blom in our garden now. The flowers attracts the last of the active insects. A few days ago this red amiral butterfly visited and was kind enough to let me take a few pictures before it flew away.

Autumn is here

Tue, 06 Oct 2015 19:31:57 GMT

Well autumn is here, cold morning, mist, light fall off. This year I started in time to try to capture the lovely colors before they suddely gone. I usually start to late and miss it all. I started with soft colors we'll see if I get some more intense colors later on.

Little ringed plover

Fri, 02 Oct 2015 19:24:41 GMT

I found these pictures in the archive, they are from the summer 2011. I find it interesting that a picture can look to be in a very beautiful and natural surounding, but the reality is something completely different. These pictures are both from the old dried out slurry ponds of the sewage plant just outside the city center. As long as you focus on some details, in this case the little ringed plover, you can leave the not so nice looking things outside the frame and still end up with a decent picture.

Among harebells

Wed, 23 Sep 2015 16:40:21 GMT

In english this flower is called harebell, in Sweden it is more commonly known as bluebell. However in england bluebell refer to a different flower. We have a few bluebells in our garden and amongs them I found these small garden snails.

HarebellHarebell, Norby. Summer 2015

Shelob's Lair

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 17:08:48 GMT

I remember so well when I found this spider, it had built a thunnel web towards it's lair. The picture reminds me of the Shelob's Lair in the Lord of the Ring. This european garden spider or cross spider as it alos is called might be smaller but definitely the queen of this lair.

Evening gold

Sat, 12 Sep 2015 05:07:13 GMT

I really love taking picture in the last light before the sun sets. It gives the pictures a loveley golden light that can turn an ordirnary motive into something quite spectacular. This picture of a Field Scabious was shot in Orsa, earlier this summer.

The lovely fireweed

Sun, 06 Sep 2015 20:09:20 GMT

This year I tried several times to capture the beauty of the fireweed. Beolw are two of my favourites.

FireweedFireweed, Orsa. Summer 2015

Summer night

Tue, 01 Sep 2015 19:43:58 GMT

These pictures are from earlier this summer when I visited my parents. I usually take a short walk late evenig to see if I can spot some bats and other wildlife. I really love these short walks in the summer night.

BatBat, Väröbacka. Summer 2015

Horseland

Sat, 29 Aug 2015 05:39:52 GMT

These pictures are from an evening earlier this summer when I had a walk down in Hågadalen a nature reserve close to where I live. I this nature reseve there are plenty of horses grazing. I have plenty of pictures from this evening but I really love these ones where I was shooting towards the sun.

HorseHorse, Hågadalen. Summer 2015

Beautiful demoiselle

Mon, 24 Aug 2015 19:34:06 GMT

Inspired by Åsa Vadings lovely pictures of the beautiful demoiselle, I had to see if I could find these shimmering jewels along the Fyris river as well. It did not look promising, I walked along the river but did not see any. However in my hunt for the beautiful demoiselle, I did see my first swimming water vole as well as a mink.

After walking up and down the riverside for at least an hour, I found the magical spot. I had found them, now several beautiful demoiselle were flying around me. I tried to capture them in flight but no succéss, I did however get a few pictures of them sitting still and posing.

Labradors

Wed, 19 Aug 2015 20:05:19 GMT

My parents have had labradors since the day I moved out. At first they only had one but nowadays they have two. I don't know how many pictures I have of these lovely dogs. This summer they got a new little puppy. These pictures have all been taken this summer.

The Gasteruptiidae

Sat, 15 Aug 2015 04:49:37 GMT

The Gasteruptiidae belongs to the family of apocritan wasps. This is a female, you can tell that from the long ovipostor witch they use to lay eggs in the nests of solitary bees and wasps. The Gasteruptiidae larvae then prey upon the host eggs, larvae and provisions.

Butterflies and beetles

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 06:52:31 GMT

Just back from a few days vacation up in our cabin. I spent some time playing with my macro lens along the side of a small road. The side of the road was filled with flowers and insects. I found the lovely Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly along with the Geranium Argus butterfly, I also captured the Fairy-ring Longhorn beetle.

Morning glory

Tue, 04 Aug 2015 06:32:13 GMT

Yesterday morning the sun was shining outside. After breakfast, I just had to get out. I didn't have go far before finding a great photo opertunity. This grass was nicely lit by the sun and I just laydown and played with my macro lens and tried to capture the beauty of it all.

Hobby and starlings

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:37:01 GMT

When I visited Kungsängen last time I saw a falcon rounding up the starlings, I thought it to be a Peregrine falcon but when looking closer at my pictures I found it to be a Eurasian Hobby.

The fox and the hare

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 15:09:11 GMT

Yesterday I decided to visit Kungsängen and see if I could take some photos of wood sandpipers. There were several wood sandpipers around but they were not interested in posing for any pictures at least not as I wanted. However there were also a redfox hunting out on the fields. I saw the fox on the field when drove by before I parked my car. The fox was far out and I saw no possibillity to sneak up on it over the fields. When I was tired of trying to capture the elusive wood sandpiper, I gave it shot. I walked towards the field and to my surprise I found the fox quite close and it was heading my way. I sat down for a minute waiting for it to get closer when suddenly a hare popped up just next to the fox. The hare made him self as big as possible and ready to take of if the fox decided to engage in a chase. The fox decided that it wouldn't have hare for supper this evening and walked onwards.

Travel back in time

Tue, 21 Jul 2015 05:35:47 GMT

A few weeks ago I trvaled back in time to the early to eraly 1800's, to a small village called Äskultsby on the west coast of Sweden. There were only four small farms in the village, Göttas, Jönsas, Bengts and Derras. Today Äskultsby is open for visitors and they try to show how the life in the 1800's was.

Down the road

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 20:01:28 GMT

Two summer flowers with the similar colors are the foxglove and the fireweed or rosebay willowherb as it is also called. I found these down the road from where I grew up, when visiting my parents earlier this week.

FireweedFireweed, Värbacka. Jluy 2015

Yellow wagtail

Sun, 05 Jul 2015 06:24:20 GMT

Last week I visited Kungsängen, a naturereserve located just outside of Uppsala. I was hoping to take pictures of the Kestrels again, but no success. I saw the Kestrel but to far away for any pictures. However I saw the beautiful yellow wagtail hunting for insects in the long grass.

On the savannah

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 18:27:32 GMT

Yesterday I took a walkabout in the closest we have to a savannah withinn walking distances from where I live. Well it is not a real savannah but rather a some grassland or open area withinn the nature reserve called Hågadalen. I usually see roedeers there and I had not to walk far before I alomost ran into this lovley roebuck. After a looking at each other for a few moments the buck decided to walk into the high grass.

I saw where it went and thought I'd try to sneak up on it for some close-ups. When I was close to were I thought the buck were to be it were nowhere to be seen. I thought it was strange since I walked against the wind and were really careful. I stood there watching when my phone rang, no reaction no buck runnning away. I reallized then that I must have tricked me and sneaked away in the high grass.

Then I saw it just 4-5 meters away laying resting in the grass, they are so well camoflaged. He was so calm tilted his head a bit and looked at me several times, I think I waited at least ten minutes before he heard a barking dog passing by far in the distance then he finaly stod up. I got my close up and then he slowly walked away 10-15 meter and started to eat from a bush. Then I saw another roedeer, sun was getting lower and I wanted to try to get a back lit shot of the roedeer. I had to change position so that roedeer between me and the sun. I got a few shots but it was tricky in the high grass. The best one is shown in the end of this blog post.

Pied flycatcher

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 19:25:50 GMT

During midsummer we stayed in the cabin up in Orsa, Dalarna. In between all festivities, I stepped out and whatched the pied flycatcher working hard raising their young ones. Constant food transport by both parents to the nest.

Arctic starflower

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 19:55:51 GMT

Arctic starflower or chickweed-wintergreen as it is also called is truly a wonderfull little flower as it stands there in the green forest with it's white flower.

Triangeloxalis

Sun, 14 Jun 2015 19:21:07 GMT

Triangeloxalis shot earlier this spring. The Triangeloxali is a lovley type of wood sorrel, we have one growing in a pot in our window.

TriangeloxaliTriangeloxali, Spring 2015

Kestrel

Wed, 10 Jun 2015 19:30:44 GMT

Last Sunday while my daughter was at a birthday party, I popped down to Kungsängen here in Uppsala to see if I could find any birds to photograph. I knew that there are Kestrels breading in the area and was hoping to get an opertunity to get a shot of the beautiful Kestrel. I managed to get some close shots of one, using the car as a hide.

In the lilac tree...

Sat, 06 Jun 2015 18:48:54 GMT

...I found this little fellow.

Forest drummer

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 20:11:58 GMT

Earlier this spring I met this little drummer boy in the forest.

Hectic times

Tue, 26 May 2015 19:22:35 GMT

A few days ago I visited our next door neighbours, a family of blue tits. They were really busy rushing back and forth feeding the young ones, not paying to much attentions to me. Blue titBlue tit, Norby. May 2015
Blue titBlue tit, Norby. May 2015

Blue titBlue tit, Norby. May 2015

Thousands of flowers

Wed, 20 May 2015 19:38:21 GMT

In the beginning of this week I visited the Kungsängsgärdet, here in Uppsala. I wanted to see if the snake's head fritillary was in bloom and there were thousands and thousands of snake's head fritillary in full bloom. I really love these beautiful flowers. The second picture is just to show the sheer masses of flowers.

The end

Fri, 15 May 2015 05:53:26 GMT

A few days ago I spent some time out in the garden following some tiny snails when they were exploring the flowers and grass straws.

Sea of blue

Mon, 11 May 2015 19:33:56 GMT

In one of the corners of our garden we have a lot of these lovley blue Bird's-eye speedwell. They creates almost a blue sea, truly wonderful to dive into with the macro lens. After playing around this is what I ended up with.

The last three

Thu, 07 May 2015 20:09:34 GMT

This is the third and last post from my visit to Dalkarlskärret. I'll show you three pictures of three different spices, the common goldeneye, the teel and the coot.

Red neck grebe

Sun, 03 May 2015 05:55:37 GMT

Well this posting will show pictures from my last trip to Dalkarlskärret a week a go. I had the great opertunity to meet the Red necked grebe at quite close distance. I was surprised how close it would get, but I guess it didn't see me as a threat since I was lying flat on the ground.

Full action

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 19:36:05 GMT

Last weekend I visited Dalkarlskärret a bog/wetland area not to far from where I live. The common goldeneye were corting, the Greylag goose were calling and making noise all around and there were territorial fights among the coots or it might have been fights for the hand (or mabye a wing) of the ladies. For higher resolution pictures visit the bird gallery.

Monkey buisness

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 17:26:24 GMT

Before I left for our vacation in Thailand, I searched the internet for any possibility to do a jungle trekk/photo safari. I found a web page where they offered this service, I even had mail contact and it all sounded great. When we arrived at the hotel I arranged a family trekk with the same company to check them out before planning a more serious photosafari/jungle trekk.

I learned that good looking web page easliy can fool you. The company was not what I expected. However the family jungle trekk was OK. We did see the jungle and the kids enjoyed it.

We did take a tripp down to Koh Lanta national park, down south on the ilsand. This is a place where you easliy could find and see the wonderful crab macaque.

Old Uppsala

Sun, 19 Apr 2015 20:14:36 GMT

Visited old Uppsala and the old royal mounds to see if we could find any pasque flower. Luckily the pasque flower was in full bloom everywhere on the slopes.

Old UppsalaOld Uppsala, April 2015

Scilla

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:46:51 GMT

Spring is slowly making its way. The birds are singing and flowers appearing one by one. The lovley Scillas fills our front lawn with blue dots. The last picture is a double exposure, with a slightly blueish tint, that I haven't removed/corrected since I think it suits the image well.

ScillaScilla, Norby April 2015
ScillaScilla, Norby April 2015

Liver leafs

Fri, 10 Apr 2015 19:08:10 GMT

Last day of the Easter holiday I managed to get out and visit Linnés Hamamrby a place where I know the liver leafs thrive. It is a tradition to photograph these lovely fowers, the difficult part is to try to capture them in a new way every year. This is the first effort this year, will see if I get another chance before they are done.

Lanta lanta

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 06:11:46 GMT

A few weeks ago we were on an island called Koh Lanta in Thailand. During our visit, there were a local festival in Old Lanta Town, called Lanta lanta festival. Once the sun had set and the temperature dropped a bit, the streets fill up with people. Food of all kinds were prepared and sold along the streets. There were also caroselles, ballons, music, dancing etc. all that is needed for a great festival. After a few hours of fun, shopping and dining, we returned to our hotel for some rest and sleep.

Strömsbergs ironworks

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 19:57:31 GMT

Today I have visited Strömsbergs old ironworks to see a photo exihibition by Lotta Lund. She showed some of her lovely photos in an old building in the ironwork. The exhibition was one among several that is included in Tierps art show "konst på väg". The plan was to also visit Carina Bodin but unfortunately we ran out of time. If you have the possibillity to visit Tierp I recommend visiting Lottas exhibition as well as Carinas witch I'm shure is great as well.

Among the plam leafs

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 20:44:13 GMT

A few weeks ago my family and I was in Thailand on vacation, spending a lot of time in the pool and at the beach. However I did take a few pictures as well :o)

One day when returning from the pool, I saw this bird among the palm leafs, I rushed in, grabed the camera and got this shot just outside from our balcony.

Hidden

Sat, 21 Mar 2015 20:22:37 GMT

The plan was to try to get some photographs of liverleafs today but they were all hidden below the snow that arrived yesterady evening. Instead I decided to go to the city forest to see if I could get some more pictures of "my" roe deer but they seemed to be hiding as well. However the sun was not hiding, so I managed to get home with a few nice pictures of the forest in golden light.

Wake up time

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 19:20:55 GMT

Spring is here and with it comes all the lovely signs. Today I saw the first coltsfot, I have heard that the liverleaf is around, haven't seen any yet. Soon the snakes and slow worms start to wake up and lay around in sunny spots trying to heat up. This picture of a slow worm was taken a few years ago.

Slow wormSlow worm, Väröbacka 2012

From within

Sun, 22 Feb 2015 20:53:05 GMT

This picture is from within a pine tree and shows some lovely lichen. The tree is growing just outside the cabin up in Orsa and this morning the sun was shining and melting away the frost from the cold night.

Still around

Sun, 15 Feb 2015 19:43:37 GMT

So far I have been out three times this year looking for roe deer. I have found three roe deer each time and they seems to be in the same area of the forest every time. I hope that the roe deer will stay put during spring and summer. It would be nice to be able to take pictures of them in the lush green spring/summer forest as well. I guess time will tell. However it is really nice being able to get this close to them without really disturbing them.

Slowly melting

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 20:18:52 GMT

Drip... drop... the snow is slowly melting. The temperature is above zero degrees nearly daily, even if it drops below zero during night time, the snow is slowly disappearing. However I believe that it is too early to say that spring is on its way. There will be more snow before spring truly is on its way.

A year ago

Sat, 07 Feb 2015 20:16:30 GMT

It’s been a year since I visited the eagle hide in Gysinge. Time flies, so to celebrate the anniversary I’ll post a couple of newly edited images. I had the opportunity to see more than ten different sea eagles and a lot of ravens.

RavenRavens, Gysinge. February 2014

So we meet again…

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 20:02:48 GMT

I was out this Saturday looking for roe deer and it was snowing, the snow actually is still falling down outside. I revisited the same area in the city forest of Uppsala. Just when I decided to go home they turned up. It was the same three roe deer as last time, they were just as cooperative this time as last time. I spent about 20 minutes with these lovely animals, before I decided to leave them and go home.

Dark forest

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:13:20 GMT

Even if the forest is very dark at this time of the year there are always some light, you just have to search for it. These two pictures were taken early in January this year.

Needles

Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:03:25 GMT

We spent New Year in our cabin up north and the weather was truly beautiful. When we were closing in on Orsa (the village where we have the cabin), the sun was setting behind the mountains in the distance, the ice and snow was crisp and glittering diamonds. We had a couple of lovely days with some friends, skiing, sledging, dining etc... Then after a few days when I finally came around to bring out the camera, the snow had started to melt and the sun were nowhere to be seen, but sometimes you manage to get a decent picture even if the weather is dull. For example this picture of a pine tree.

Golden light

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 20:27:44 GMT

Sometimes the light is just all you need. In these two pictures the golden light makes the picture. It is very different light but just as golden and magic. These pictures were photographed during Christmas leave on the west coast of Sweden.

Life on a straw

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:08:40 GMT

Well I did some digging in the archive tonight. Looking at the images got me longing for spring and summer. These little bugs are colourful, bright red and orange, which makes them stand out nicely against the green background.

BeetleOrange Beetle, Väröbacka 2012

City forest

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:35:57 GMT

In the beginning of the week I took a walk in the nearby city forest meanwhile my son was on a birthday party. I was thinking of photographing some birds and I located a great spotted wood pecker when I suddenly saw three row deer. I slowly closed in on them and in the end they were quite trustworthy. I managed to get a few shoots even if it was getting really dark in the forest, had to crank up the ISO to 4000.

Blue tit

Sun, 04 Jan 2015 20:47:42 GMT

Sometimes it is the busy moments that sticks to your memory (card). This little blue tit was photographed in my parent’s garden on a thirty minutes photo break, during Christmas day.

Merry Christmas

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 20:32:11 GMT

I wish you all

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Christmas

I would like to thank you all for your visits on my blog and all your kind comments this year, I really appreciate it.

Best regards,

Erik

The friendly Fieldfare

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:07:50 GMT

A few years ago I decided to try to portrait the Fieldfare. It is a common bird where I live and not always liked, since it eats the berries in the gardens and makes quite a lot of noise. I find them quite cooperative when it comes to photography, at least the ones in the city. These pictures are all from Uppsala city and a small park called “Höganäsparken”. For more pictures of Filedfares look at the gallery Fieldfare project

Old stuff

Sat, 13 Dec 2014 19:47:29 GMT

Lately I have been inspired by several photographers that manage to get pictures with out of focus blur that is truly wonderful. I have found out that they use old lenses often made in the old Eastern Europe or Russia. I thought of finding an old lens on internet but the time and effort hasn’t been there. Then one day last week I just realised that I had all what I needed to start playing around. I remembered that my father’s first SLR was a Zenith and that should be somewhere in the attic. In the back of my mind something said that it was a 58mm lens on that old SLR and it turned out to be a Helios 44, 58mm f2.0, lens. I had a converter ring between m42 and PK target mount laying around and I managed to get it all to work on my old PENTAX K10D. Below are two examples from earlier today when we had a bit of sunlight.

PionsPions, winter 2014

Winter flowersFlowers, winter 2014

Night rest

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 17:19:10 GMT

I remember this evening well, it was quickly getting dark, I just wanted to catch the feeling of the sun setting and the evening dew setting in the grass. A small fly had found its place for the night rest, in the top of the grass.

Darkness

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 20:45:52 GMT

It is dark when I leave for work and it is dark when I get home. It leaves little opportunity for photography. However here is a fresh picture from today. It's the view from one of our window.

Below zero

Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:57:17 GMT

The temperature is dropping below zero outside but no snow yet. Waiting for some nice frost outside so that I can dwell into all the small crystals with my macro lens, but until then you’ll have to do with this picture from earlier this autumn.

Autumn lightAutumn light, Norby. 2014

Black & White from the Zoo

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 20:44:48 GMT

Found these pictures from Eskilstuna Zoo on the hard drive. This is an attempt of artistic interpretation of a flamingo from me.

Where is the light

Sun, 16 Nov 2014 05:45:10 GMT

It has been a while since I was out with the camera. There is a lot going on and when I have had the opportunity to take the camera for a walk the weather have been grey, dark and dull. This means that I spent some time looking at pictures from earlier this year. This is a picture is from end of September.

Once again

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:01:43 GMT

It is the second (or maybe even third) time I start to put together images for a small book from my gannet pictures from Bass Rock. Every time I go through the pictures I find another picture that I missed last time. Therefore I decided to show you yet another picture that I just processed for my “new book project”.

Small reflections

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:56:59 GMT

On one of the rainy days last summer, I captured this wet bud in my parents garden. I even managed to capture some of the lovely reflections in the rain drops.

Natur 2014 (Vårgårda)

Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:32:04 GMT

I have one picture on exhibition at Vårgårda Nature photography festival that is taking place this weekend. It is the third time I manage to get one of my picture to be included in the NFF (Naturfotoforum) exhibition, that is shown at Vårgårda.

Below you can see the picture on display.

Low number of bird pictures

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 19:54:13 GMT

There haven’t been much bird photography lately, not sure why, but I guess that the time and the mood have been missing. However here are two fairly reason bird pictures, taken this autumn.

Dark and moody

Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:33:46 GMT

Sometimes dark and moody feels so right.

RosehipRosehip, Norby. 2014

Just play along

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 19:33:52 GMT

Just play along with wind, the rain, the grey dull weather. Just play along with autumn and have fun.

Double exposure

Sun, 12 Oct 2014 06:00:14 GMT

I while ago I realized that I really missed the option do double exposure in the camera, as I used to with my old PENTAX. I solved this longing for double exposure by pulling out my old gear from one of my drawers. These two pictures below are the result of me playing with the double exposure.

WeedWeed, Uppsala 2014

Pink RosePink Rose, Uppsala 2014

Autumn is here

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:44:07 GMT

Well there is no way trying to pretend any longer, summer is gone. Autumn is here with all its colours as well as rain and grey dull weather. However this weekend we had some sunshine and I managed to capture the autumn glory.

Memory of a rainy day

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 19:51:46 GMT

This summer was truly amazing with terrific weather, more or less sunshine all my vacation. Yet I have a few pictures from a rainy day on the west coast of Sweden. When I look at the poor bumble bee all drenched in water I wonder if it ever managed to fly away.

FernFern, Väröbacka 2014

Bumble beeBumble bee, Väröbacka 2014

End of the season

Mon, 29 Sep 2014 05:54:02 GMT

The autumn is here and time is of the essences for the insects and flowers. Currently the New York Aster is in bloom in our garden and it is luring most of the insects to its flowers.

Hairy

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 20:02:16 GMT

Last weekend I visited the green house in Uppsala botanical garden. I found some hairy plants that triggered my imagination. This is the result.

The story of the hare…

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 04:52:17 GMT

When I was editing these photos an old song from the seventies popped up in my head. It is a song or story told by the great band Jethro Tull. If you want to hear and see the video from the seventies clic on the link or just read text below.

This is the story of the hare who lost his spectacles.
Owl loved to rest quietly whilst no one was watching. sitting on a
Fence one day, he was surprised when suddenly a kangaroo ran close
By.

Now this may not seem strange, but when owl overheard kangaroo whisper
To no one in particular, ``the hare has lost his spectacles,'' well, he
Began to wonder.
Presently, the moon appeared from behind a cloud and there, lying on
The grass was hare. in the stream that flowed by the grass -- a
Newt. and sitting astride a twig of a bush -- a bee.
Ostensibly motionless, the hare was trembling with excitement, for
Without his spectacles he was completely helpless. where were his
Spectacles? could someone have stolen them? had he mislaid them? what
Was he to do?

HareHare, Uppsala. May 2011
Bee wanted to help, and thinking he had the answer began: ``you
Probably ate them thinking they were a carrot.''
``no!'' interrupted owl, who was wise. ``i have good eye-sight, insight,
And foresight. how could an intelligent hare make such a silly
Mistake? '' but all this time, owl had been sitting on the fence,
Scowling!
Kangaroo were hopping mad at this sort of talk. she thought herself
Far superior in intelligence to the others. she was their leader;
Their guru. she had the answer: ``hare, you must go in search of the
Optician.''
But then she realized that hare was completely helpless without his
Spectacles. and so, kangaroo loudly proclaimed, ``i can't send hare in
Search of anything!''

HareHare, Uppsala. May 2011
``you can guru, you can!'' shouted newt. ``you can send him with owl.''
But owl had gone to sleep. newt knew too much to be stopped by so
Small a problem -- ``you can take him in your pouch.'' but alas, hare
Was much too big to fit into kangaroo's pouch.
All this time, it had been quite plain to hare that the others knew
Nothing about spectacles.
As for all their tempting ideas, well hare didn't care.
The lost spectacles were his own affair.
And after all, hare did have a spare a-pair.
A-pair.

HareHare, Uppsala. May 2011

Outside the door

Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:36:08 GMT

Sometimes you just have to step outside the door to take great pictures. This picture of a Clematis is photographed just a meter away from the door. ClematisClematis, Norby Uppsala. 2014

Flying high (II)

Sun, 14 Sep 2014 05:09:48 GMT

Yesterday it was time again for Martin Södergrens Invitational MTB big air competition. I was there with my two kids to see these dare devils again. We were there last year as well. This year I only brought an old pocket camera, since I was alone with the kids and the focus was to enjoy the big air jumps.

I had the camera set on miniature setting this means that it automatically defocuses om areas in the camera, not sure that it was a wise decision, but I wanted to see if it was possible to get something that looked a bit different. The miniature effect is similar to what you can get with a tilt-shift lens but done with software in the camera.

Well after enjoying a few really cool big jumps we decided it was time to back home and do something else.

Catch of the day

Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:30:16 GMT

... and I’m not referring to any fishing trip here. When I was picking up apples that had fallen down on the lawn I suddenly heard a buzzing sound right by my ear. When I looked around I saw a spider that had caught a fly in his net. I ran inside to get the camera and the macro lens, when I got out the fly was already silent and the spider in full speed spinning the fly round and round and "mummifying" it.

Frogs

Sat, 06 Sep 2014 05:29:32 GMT

When the family and I were out on the island Rävsten last month we had a few encounters with both frogs and toads. I took the opportunity to crawl around on the ground, got down to the frogs’ level to get some pictures of them.

FrogFrog. Rävsten, Uppland August 2014

Workshop

Sun, 31 Aug 2014 20:05:07 GMT

Today I attended a small workshop lead by Mats Wilhem and organized by Biotopia (Uppsala) in ”Stadsskogen”. The assignment for the day was to find a motive in the wood and try to work that motive, find all angles, test different apertures, and work with your lenses to get as many different expressions/pictures as possible.

This was a good exercise since it is so easy to rush when you are out with your camera, at least I know that I tend to do that. You are in a hurry to find a great motive and sometimes you give up and move on to quickly. Today I spent over an hour crawling around just one tiny fern. Below are some of the pictures from today.

I underexposed the pictures to enhance the feeling of beeing in the dark wood.

Aperture f4.5, 1/125th of a sec at 190mm. Underexposed -2 stops.

Aperture f3.2, 1/160th of a sec at 115mm. Underexposed -1 stop.

Aperture f3.2, 1/320th of a sec at 100mm (macro). Underexposed -4 stops and some added greenery in front of the lens.

Aperture f3.2, 1/80th of a sec at 100mm (macro). Underexposed -0,7 stops and some added greenery in front of the lens.

Aperture f5.6, 1/100th of a sec at 400mm. Underexposed -1 stop.

Colours

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:32:44 GMT

Autumn is coming with all its lovely colours but there is still some fragrance and colours of summer left.

LeafColourful leaf, Norby Auhust 2014

Northern Grass of Parnassus

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 13:49:32 GMT

Northern Grass of Parnassus or Bog star as it is also called grows on the humid marshes. This lovely flower is common in all Scandinavia. There is an old saying that when this flower is in bloom, it is time to mown the temporary grass on the bogs and marshes. This picture was taken late one evening on the island Rävsten.

Northern gannets

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 18:39:32 GMT

Last night I took a deep dive in the archives and found some pictures from last year when I visited Bass Rock outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, to photograph the wonderful northern gannets. These birds are truly beautiful with their orange/yellowish coloured head and blue ring around the eyes.

Before they take off from the rock or when they land, they have a ritual where they look up in the sky with their beaks and nods towards each other. You can see some of this ritual on the pictures below.

The nearby thicket

Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:37:32 GMT

Yesterday evening I decided to take a short walk to the nearest thicket, I brought the camera with me. I didn’t see much then just before I decided to go back home I saw that the fieldfares had started to party on the rowanberry. They were very shy and flew quickly away, but I did manage to get one picture that I’m satisfied with.

Visit in Smallville

Mon, 11 Aug 2014 18:57:16 GMT

Today I took the camera and the macro out in the garden to visit Smallville or the macro world. It is fascinating to crawl around and see all the beauties and all the beasts in the garden/nature. Hoverflies or flower flies as they’re also called are quite friendly and easy to work with, especially if you’re not after flight pictures. Today I was satisfied with them just sitting still :o)

Rävsten

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 06:12:17 GMT

Last week we visited an island that is in the archipelago outside Öregrund just two hours’ drive northeast from Uppsala. We rented a small simple cabin, no water inside, no TV, outside loo etc. Rävsten is a truly beautiful island with a lovely relaxing pace, stunning scenery, no cars, no roads and almost no inhabitants except for the family taking care of the rental cabins and running the pickup boat and.

Each morning we packed a small picnic bag and took stroll around the island to explore its beauty. The afternoon we usually spent bathing, the weather was perfect sun and 25 degrees until the day we should leave for home. Then the sky opened and the rain was pouring down, the thunder and lightning almost delayed our boat ride back but it all cleared just in time.

It was not the last time we visited this island that’s for sure.

When going through the pictures from the trip I realized that I'm not a landscape photographer, as long as the macro or tele lens is fitted I'm OK but with the wide angle I'm really struggling.

Below are a few pictures from the trip, the last picture from when waiting at the boat house for the bad weather to clear before heading back home.

RävstenRävsten, Uppland Sweden 2014

Lovely Allium

Mon, 04 Aug 2014 05:22:00 GMT

Last week I have been on an island in the archipelago outside Öregrund called Rävsten with my family enjoying the summer. More about this will come at a later stage, I have not had time to process all images yet. Therefore I’ll show you two images of Allium aflatunense from earlier this spring. These lovely flowers grows in our garden.

Traditional summer stop at Getterön

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 05:06:16 GMT

If something have happened more than once and is highly likely to happen again, you might call it a tradition correct? My father and I have visited the hides at Getterön nature reserve/bird sanctuary again this summer. Last year I managed to get some picture of Grey heron and Bearded reedling. This year the Herons were less cooperative we saw five or six of them but all too far away for any great pictures. However the young Starlings were more cooperative. There were large flocks of Starlings flying around in the reeds giving us the opertunity to capture them at close distance.

Encounters in the dark night

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 06:44:17 GMT

Last week I spent on the west coast of Sweden where I grew up. I experienced something that I haven’t experienced since I was a small boy, I saw seven moose in one field, six bulls and one cow.

I also had a very short encounter with a young badger. I can’t remember when I saw a badger the last time (not counting the unfortunate ones lying on the road side).

BadgerBadger, Väröbacka July 2014

Capture the beauty while it lasts

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 05:00:53 GMT

We have pions in our garden and they have been in full bloom for a while but now their flowering season is over. This year I’ve tried to capture their beautiful flowers. Below are some of pictures.

PionsPions, Norby Uppsala 2014

All you need is light

Sat, 05 Jul 2014 04:17:30 GMT

Or was it all you need is love? I don’t remember... Sometimes good light is all you need. With great lighting you can turn almost anything into a good picture. The picture I show below is a good example of this, without the magical light it would be rather dull.

Finally Wild boar images

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:47:46 GMT

I had seen Wild boar only once before yesterday and that was a long time ago beside the highway. That means I was travelling at 110km/hour and swoosh there they were and then they were gone.

Yesterday however I had the opportunity to look at them for almost an hour, before they moved on into the forest. However they were at quite a distance but I managed to get some pictures of them. I know that the image quality isn’t the best, but still I like the pictures and it was a wonderful experience. The images were taken with a Canon 7D, 400mm and 1,4 converter.

Thanks Åsa for hinting where they could be found.

A late Midsummer report

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:19:35 GMT

Last weekend we were up in our cabin in Orsa, Dalarna to celebrate Midsummer. Midsummer festivities is an old tradition in this area. This is some pictures that summarize our Midsummer.

MidsummerMidsummer, Orsa June 2014

MidsummerMidsummer, Orsa June 2014
FlowersFlowers, Orsa June 2014

OrsaBuilding in Orsa, June 2014

Once again…

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:56:33 GMT

Just as a year ago we had a stunning encounter with a moose just next to our cabin in Orsa. It was actually on the exact the same spot and the moose showed same cool behaviour, not stressed or concerned by us. Once I got my pictures a backed off and returned home meanwhile the moose kept on munching away. The picture is taken with the 70-200 at the long end and cropped to fit the 30x40 format.

MooseMoose, Orsa June 2014

Lilly of the valley

Tue, 17 Jun 2014 05:16:15 GMT

You buy the best lens you can afford to get your pictures sharp, then sometimes you want a different feeling in a picture and you do all you can to get the picture soft instead. In this case I used plastic film (cling film – Glad pack) to get the picture soft/fuzzy. However I still wanted a bit of sharpness so I made a small tear/hole in the plastic sheet that I stuck between the lens and the lens hood. These two images of the beautiful Lilly of the valley was all shot a dull and rainy day inside, they were in a vase on our kitchen table. Sometimes you want to take pictures but you don’t want to step outside.

The sinking city

Tue, 10 Jun 2014 04:57:54 GMT

According to studies the sea level is slowly rising and the houses in Venice will by time setting even further into the ground. However the city have been around for quite some time and will not disappear in the near future. I found Venice fascinating with all the waterways and bridges. The famous gondolas are now mainly used by tourist but really help to gives the city its character.

GondolGondol, Venice June 2014

GondolasGondolas, Venice June 2014

Apple bloom

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 18:47:48 GMT

A couple of weeks ago the apple tree in our garden were in full bloom and I just couldn’t resist to plunge straight in the middle to see if I could capture the beauty of the wonderful white flowers.

Not worth it...

Tue, 27 May 2014 19:17:58 GMT

Last Sunday I took a trip to look for the mighty Great grey owl. I know a place where this lovely owl has been nesting for several years. The owl used to be hunting in a field with good light and great access for photographers and ornithologist with almost no disturbance to the owl or it's hunting. It seems that the owl now has decided to start hunting in another field. Unfortunately this field has poorer access and to get any view or photos of the owl you need to be standing almost in the field.

There were several photographers in the area last Sunday. When the owl finally appeared a number of photographers came running from close by (texed/called in by some of the other photographer). I guess that there were six or seven photographers in total. We all were shooting away to get a picture of the owl, some better than others I guess. When the owl decided to take of too another pole, cameras were turned in that direction but it was too far away for some and they decided to move closer. I was almost caught in the heat of the moment and on my way to join them but I realised that I in my mind they were going too close and I stayed behind.

They were almost cornering the owl, mabye not aware of it, all just focused on getting the best picture. The owl finally decided to fly off into the forest again.

I have seen and photographed Great grey owls before and they are majestic birds. I know that I haven’t got the picture that I’m dreaming of yet, but it is not worth disturbing a bird or animal in this way for any picture. I will most likely not go back to this place in the near future.

I hope that the owl manage to raise their young ones, it seems to be a lot of food this year, and these owls are pretty used to photographers. I hope that the owl goes back to hunt in the old field where the photographers don’t have to be in the middle of the hunting ground to get a picture.

Great grey owlGreat grey Owl, 2014

Hard work pays off

Thu, 22 May 2014 19:43:29 GMT

I been trying to get catch the pion buds and their visitors the ants in a new way. Today I think I nailed it, I got what I wanted. I hope you will enjoy it.

Bird's-eye speedwell

Mon, 19 May 2014 18:55:31 GMT

This lovely little flower is called bird's-eye speedwell and fills a small corner in our garden. They come into bloom quite early in April/May and relay fill me with joy with their light blue colour.

Off I go…

Wed, 14 May 2014 19:11:49 GMT

It is time to see the world, to start a new life. The dandelion seed flies away on new adventures. This year we have a lot more dandelions in our lawn than last year. Let’s hope this seed flies away to the neighbour’s lawn. In my opinion the dandelions are most beautiful just before the seeds leaves into the air.

Goldeneye

Sat, 10 May 2014 19:35:48 GMT

This Goldeneye in English or “Knipa” in Swedish was photographed at Fyris river, Uppsala, earlier this spring.

A Sunday stroll

Tue, 06 May 2014 19:40:19 GMT

Last Sunday I took a walk down to Hågadalen to see if I could get some starlings on picture. Just as I closed in on the area where I seen the starlings I saw the back of a row deer. I tried to close in on it and for once the wind was blowing in the correct direction. I managed to get quite close and get a decent snapshot of it before it slowly disappeared into a shrubbery.

Roe buckRoe buck, Hågadalen May 2014

Snake's head

Fri, 02 May 2014 05:32:05 GMT

... or snake's head fritillary as it is also called is in full bloom now. Yesterday I visited Kungsängen (Kings Meadow) just outside Uppsala where these flowers are growing wild and have been since Carl Linnés time. A popular myth is that the snake's head fritillary is growing on the meadow since a battle between the Swedes and the Danes. The battle ended with a great victory for the Swedes. For each of the Danes that died in the battle there is a red/purple snake's head and for each dead Swede there is a white. That is why the white snake's head are so few and rare.

Back online

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 04:59:12 GMT

Sorry for being offline, there have been some technical issues with my domain name. Meanwhile I took the opportunity to do some modifications to my page and I hope you will like it.

Spring is here for sure now with flowers everywhere and birds tweeting away. I spent Easter on the west coast of Sweden at my parents place. Where the wood anemone was in full bloom.

Empty Museum

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:32:39 GMT

This weekend I visited the National Museum in Stockholm. The Museum was emtpy no art at all. The reason is that they will renovate the museum, it will reopen in 2017. The removed all curtains and let the light flood in as intended when it was built. They had also opened up areas that have been closed to the public. My favorit room was the old small library, really cozy feeling in that room. I can imagine how lovley it must have been oce with a lot of books on the shelfs.

On the play house roof

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:38:49 GMT

We have moss growing on the play house roof. When the children played inside, I played outside, trying to create an interesting picture. Well this is the result.

MossMoss, Norby. March 2014 Uppsala

I have seen them… fairies

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 18:51:19 GMT

They do exist, fairies, last weekend I actually saw some. They were happily dancing in the afternoon sunrays. These lovely little creatures must have been welcoming the sunshine and the warmth of spring.

They are finally here

Sun, 23 Mar 2014 20:07:47 GMT

Today I had the opportunity to visit Linnés Hammarby and the lovely Anemone hepatica were in full bloom. I been visiting this place the last couple of years to photograph these blue/lilac beauties. This is this year’s first try, I hope you’ll enjoy them.

Pussy Willow

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 20:06:26 GMT

Spring was here, but seems now to have disappeared again. Snow is falling heavily outside I would guess we got approximately 10-15cm since we got home today. This picture of the lovely pussy willow were taken last weekend.

Northern Goshawk

Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:54:59 GMT

This is a juvenile Northern Goshawk. You can see that it is juvenile on the stripes on the breast of the bird. On the juvenile the stripes goes vertical and on the adult the stripes are more horizontal. The adult Goshawk are dark grey and white mean while the juvenile is more brownish. Even the eyes changes by age from yellow to dark orange or even red.

Evening crow

Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:10:08 GMT

Every day the sun is setting later and later in the evening. Now the sun sets just after supper, therefore today I got the opportunity to poke my head out the backdoor and see the beautiful sunset. I found a crow sitting in a distant tree, ran upstairs got the camera and the 400mm lens and to my surprise when I got back the crow was still there. Usually when you get the camera ready to shoot the subject or light is gone, but not today :o)

In the air

Sun, 09 Mar 2014 05:24:32 GMT

Most of the time the eagles were sitting in the tree tops on the other side of the mire but every now and then they took off into air. This young white tailed eagle did a low flyby straight over the hide. I managed to get a picture of it just before it passed the hide.

Soon time again

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:28:03 GMT

Every spring I’m going out to try to capture the spring flowers, every year the pictures look different. Different angles, lights, compositions, soon time for this year’s version of picture of the lovely Wood Anemone or Anemone Nemorosa.

Hugin and Munin

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 05:55:18 GMT

The name Hugin comes from an old Scandinavian word for “though” and Munin from “memory”. The ravens flew all over the world and brought news and information to the god Odin. The picture below is my artistic interpretation of these two ravens.

Inspired

Sun, 23 Feb 2014 06:41:31 GMT

Yesterday I was at Naturfotodagen in Västerås. Naturfotodagen is arranged by Camera Natura one of Sweden’s best photography Magazine. I listen to several interesting photography lectures, watched the beautiful images in the exhibitions and meet fellow photographers. I had one Picture on display at the exhibitions it was the same as in Vårgårda last year. You can find it in my gallery “Pictures been in exhibitions”. I got inspired and I’m now longing for the spring and summer. Therefore I will show you two pictures of Woodland germanium from last summer.

Call of the wild

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 21:04:13 GMT

Here is another Picture from my day in the eagle hide. The ravens are fascinated birds both curious, suspicious and clever. I have just bought a new laptop with windows 8, installed Lightroom 5 and are testing the new Photoshop CC, I just realized that it will take some time to get used to.

RavensRavens, Gysinge February 2014

Where Eagles dare

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 07:14:25 GMT

I continue to show some more pictures from when I visited the eagle hide in Gysinge. These pictures were all taken during that one time that the eagles actually went down for feeding on the salmon that they are fed. The eagles was flying around chasing away some of the ravens before finally landing on the branches in front of the hide. Once all was safe and secure they left the branches and went down to the ground eating.

Back from the hide

Tue, 04 Feb 2014 19:43:00 GMT

This weekend I have spent one full day in a hide looking for white tailed eagles, the largest raptor in Scandinavia. I left home at 4:15 in the morning it was pitch dark outside. I entered the hide at 6:30 still dark outside, the reason for entering so when it is dark is that the eagles, raven and crows are very observant and cleaver birds. If they would see you enter the hide they would never come down to the bait (food). These birds are so cleaver that they can count the number of people entering a hide and figure out if all have left or not.

Well when the day light finally arrived I could count up to 11 eagles in total. They were all sitting in the tree tops on the other side of the bog it took until lunch time before the dared to come down and eat and they were only there for a short period of time. I’m satisfied with my stay in the hide, I did get to see the eagles and I did get some pictures of them. Unfortunately it was grey and dull weather leading to high ISO. I show you some pictures from my stay in the hide, more to come; I have not had the time to process all pictures yet.

A little light

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:12:37 GMT

Last summer I was visiting my parents on the west coast and one evening I took a walk and found this lovely honeysuckle spreading some light in the dark forest.

Not been out…

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 15:52:03 GMT

I have not been out with the camera for a while. We are refurbishing/renovating our bath room and this has taken up all extra time for photography lately. I will therefore show you a picture from last summer. I was out late in the evening and all the fields were covered in thick mist. Suddenly I saw some ears sticking up through the mist. I stopped the car and tried to get focus, not the easiest thing when it is dark and misty. Switched to manual focus and I managed to get one picture where the roe deer was visible and reasonably sharp. The dark areas in the fore ground are bushes.

Finally it’s here

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 18:35:19 GMT

The winter arrived last Friday/Saturday since then we have had snow and sub zero temperatures. Not too long ago I was visiting the city forest with my daughter looking for the Pixie Hollow where Tinker Bell lives. Then I met a man walking his dog and he told me that he used to see roe deer along the path and that they were not very scared of people. I realized that I had to check this. Last Saturday I took an early walk in the snow covered forest. It was quite and I didn’t see any animals for over an hour, suddenly I saw a hare that jumped away quickly, but on my way back along the path I actually did find a resting roe deer. It was resting not far of the path and I managed to get a picture of it before it slowly strutted deeper into the forest.

Roe DeerRoe deer, Uppsala 2014

Roe deerRoe deer, Uppsala 2014

She loves horses

Fri, 10 Jan 2014 21:39:11 GMT

I dedicate this blog post to my three and a half year old daughter. She is very fond of horses and has been for a very long time. Last summer my daughter and I had a picnic in an area with lots of horses, not too far from where we live. I’m not sure for how long and how many times we walked back to see these horses. She just adores them. I took some pictures of the horses to make her happy.

HorseHorse, Hågadalen. Uppsala Sweden

Still no winter

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 06:12:12 GMT

A new year has begun but no change in the weather, at least not here in Uppsala. Temperature is above zero and no snow, just rain and grey dull weather. I have been digging deep in the archive and I found some old pictures of some cold house and tree sparrows. These pictures are from the winter 2009.

House sparrowHouse sparrow, Uppsla 2009

Tree sparrowTree sparrow, Uppsala 2009.

Big cats in snow

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 07:34:03 GMT

Last year at this time I visited the Bear Park at Orsa Grönklitt, mainly to see the polar bear in a more natural environment of snow and ice, than in the lush green of the Swedish summer. At this park they have all the big wild carnivores in Sweden, Brown bear, Wolf, Lynx and Wolverine. They also have several other big carnivores that are endangered such as Siberian Tiger, Snow Leopard, Amur Leopard, Polar bear, Kamchatka bear.

They way the Swedish government is currently handling the questions regarding the big carnivores we all might have to visit Zoo’s and wildlife parks if we want to see these beautiful animals in the future.

All pictures below are from Orsa Bear park.

LynxLynx, Orsa Bear Park 2012

Lynx is the smallest of the big cats in this series of big cats and the only one that lives wild in Sweden.

This is the Amur Leopard another big cat that lives in snow.

Last of the big cats in this series is the Siberian Tiger.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!

I thank you all for visiting my blog this past year and I hope to see you in 2014.

Merry Christmas

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 06:34:23 GMT

Merry Christmas everyone!

Jack Frost doesn’t seems to visit us this Christmas let’s hope that Santa will! I show a picture from February when we had both snow and cold weather.

FrostFrost, February 2013

A test picture

Thu, 19 Dec 2013 21:05:11 GMT

I while ago I bought my self an old canon x 1.4 extender (ver. 1). I got it for a reasonable price and I think it might get in handy when the 70-200mm or the 400mm is lacking reach. This is a test picture with my f2.8 70-200mm + x1.4 extender. I think it works quite well. Maybe just slightly softer than the f2.8 70-200mm. I haven’t tried it yet with the 400mm lens. Will test this under the Christmas holidays.

Bearded Reedling

Sun, 15 Dec 2013 06:36:57 GMT

Bearded Reedling or more commonly known as Bearded Tit is a beautiful bird, especially the males with their orange beak and black moustaches. This picture is the best one I got this summer; it is from when I visited Getterön bird sanctuary in July. I saw these birds several times during the evening but they were always far away. Just before the sun was setting this little fellow came to sit next to the hide. Since it was quite dark it was difficult to get a traditionally portrait picture, but then again there are several portraits pictures on the web (however no portrait pictures in my archive, not yet maybe next time).

Let there be light

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:40:35 GMT

It is dark times in Sweden, it is November and no snow yet. It is almost dark when you go to work and it is almost dark when you go home. A while ago at our children’s day care they had an event called “ljusfesten” or celebrations of light. Hand colored lights done by the kids where hanging in the trees and there was other things created by the children on display in all the day care center’s windows.

LightsLights, ljusfesten, 2013. Uppsala LightsLights, ljusfesten 2013, Uppsala

From the archive

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 20:37:01 GMT

I was just browsing in the archive and I found these pictures taken in May 2010 just two days before my little daughter was born. It is an close encounter with a bathing house sparrow inte the local park.

Memmory of summer

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:08:08 GMT

I found this picture of lupinus among my pictures from a summer visit up at the cabin in Orsa, Dalarna. I just had to show it, since it reminds me of the summer evening crawling around trying to catch the lupinus in my own way.

LupinusLupinus, Orsa. Dalarna 2013

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Sun, 17 Nov 2013 07:20:09 GMT

It is fun to see how different images can be. These two pictures are taken a few years apart, with different camera equipment and in totally different light. The first picture is taken in 2010 with my old PENTAX in the afternoon, at Telefonplan Stockholm, the last picture with my CANON in the last sunlight of the day, Norby, Uppsala 2013.

A Forest walk on Fathers day

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 20:56:22 GMT

Today I took a walk in the forest next to where we live. It was raining a bit and very dull weather. I went further and further into the forest without seeing anything that ticked my inspiration. Finally I found a little gold crest, but it was way too quick to be caught in a picture. I meet a man that was walking his dog and he mentioned that he had heard a wren about a hundred meters from where we meet. So off I went to find this little bird. Just before I decided to go back home I managed find it and get one decent picture of it.

WrenWren, Norby. November 2013

Autumn flowers

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:22:47 GMT

All stages of life are beautiful. These are one of the last traces of the flowers left in the garden.

Vårgårda Natur 2013

Sat, 02 Nov 2013 05:58:16 GMT

This weekend Sweden’s largest nature photography festival, Vårgårda Natur 2013 takes place. This festival has a lot of camera manufactures showing of the latest equipment, exhibitions and photo talks by several great photographers. I have a picture in one of the exhibitions. This is the third time, 2009, 2012 and now 2013, I have a picture included in the NFF’s exhibitions at Vårgårda festival. You can see my other pictures that have been in exhibitions here.

Morning mist

Sun, 27 Oct 2013 18:39:08 GMT

A few weeks ago I was in Mariefred and visited friends. We had a lovely evening with a really nice dinner. When we woke up next morning I could see the sun rising and the lovely mist on Lake Mälaren. I took my camera and went on a short walk down to the waterfront. I took some nice shots before the sun rose to high. When I returned back the breakfast was already on the table, a perfect morning.

Still looking good

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 04:41:47 GMT

I had a stroll in the garden yesterday morning and enjoyed the lovely autumn weather. I realized that the Pions are beautiful all year round, even now. It’s now a long time since they were in full bloom but still they add color to our garden. At the moment they are red/brown.

Autumn colors

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:36:03 GMT

Now is the time to catch the lovely autumn colors, at least here in Uppsala. I really like the rosehip they are so beautiful with their red color and yellow/red/green leafs.

These two pictures were taken during the weekend, the first one in Mariefred and the second here in Uppsala.

RosehipRosehip, Mariefred. October 2013

RosehipRosehip, Uppsala October 2013

Flying high

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:09:47 GMT

A few weeks ago there were Mountain bike competitions in Uppsala. I brought the family to the Botanical garden to watch the “crazy” bike riders, these guys seems totally fearless. My kids were really impressed and the day after it was full speed on their kick bikes (they do not have real bikes yet) at the BMX track next to the playground.

Evening bird

Sat, 05 Oct 2013 05:41:17 GMT

This is a memory from the past summer. I had been trying to capture some wood sandpipers that were situated just outside the town. I did not get one decent picture of the sandpiper and was a bit disappointed. When I returned to the car I found this little fieldfare a few meters away, drinking from a small pool of water.

Mixed messages

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:25:58 GMT

This is a picture from a street in Pythagorion, Samos. When I showed my wife this picture she immediately came up with the brilliant title "mixed messages".

Bass Rock 3

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 18:19:45 GMT

…or if looks could kill. Well I think it is time to bring out some more of my pictures from the lovely Bass rock. The gannets are fantastic birds that have really great facial expressions. These birds live extremely close to each other so naturally quarrel between neighbors occurs. In rare occasions even blood wound happens, luckily I did not witness any.

GannetGannet, Bass rock. June 2013

Shooting from the balcony

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 06:10:24 GMT

It has been a while since I updated the blog. I have been on vacation in Samos, Greece for a week and after that I had to go on a work trip to Paris. The trip to Samos was recreational, playing with the kids in the pool/ocean and enjoying the sun. It was really nice. I did not do focus on photography on this trip (more on having fun with the family) however a few decent pictures was captured. The picture I have chosen to show you was captured from our hotel balcony; actually quite a few of the good ones were captured from the balcony. I might show some of the others in the future.

Autumn colors

Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:04:09 GMT

Soon the lovely colors of autumn will be here again. I don’t know why but when looked back on the pictures from last year I seemed to have missed to capture these fantastic colors. Luckily, I will soon get another chance.

Autumn colors

Hanging around

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 20:09:39 GMT

I have been hanging around in the garden chasing bugs a few days. Once the macro lens is attached to the camera a new and facinating world opens up. Below are a few pictures of my friends that I meet during my garden safari. The spider is a harvestman also called daddy-longlegs. This spider is a predator that hunt in the night, they eat other insects and spiders.

Bee

Spider

The lovely Great grey owl

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 19:22:54 GMT

Yesterday I went through some old pictures in the archive and came across these pictures of the Great grey owl. During spring and early summer of 2008 I had the opportunity to meet this lovely owl a couple of times. These three pictures are from beginning of June. This owl was very friendly and these pictures are taken at a distance of maybe 4-5 meters. I remember that there was another photographer with a 500mm lens and that he carefully tried to back off to get the owl in the frame until he almost fell of the road we were standing on. Since then I have only seen this lovely owl once.

It was sitting on a fence pole looking for water voles, after a few minutes on this pole it flew away to another pole 20-30 meters further away.

Great Grey Owl

Fern forest

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 04:21:48 GMT

I really like the ferns, they can look so different. If you get close enough and crawl under you can almost get some jungle feeling. Ferns are very old plats they have been around for over 360 million years. Ferns are lacking flowers and seeds and reproduces by spores.

However there is an ancient Slavic folklore belief, that the eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when ferns bloom. Prosperity, luck, discernment and power would befall on whoever finds a fern flower. Therefore, on that night village folks would roam through the forests in search of magical herbs and especially the elusive fern flower.

Below are two different pictures of Fern taken this year.

Ferns

Fern

Hitching a ride

Sun, 18 Aug 2013 05:53:16 GMT

I found this little free-rider on the garden fence this morning. This is the Burgundy snail or roman snail. I do not think that the parents care for their young ones after they are born anyway this free-rider is way too big to be a newborn. Therefore this must be a clever/lazy free-rider.

Burgundy snails Burgundy snails

Shaken but not stirred

Wed, 14 Aug 2013 19:53:41 GMT

I have seen quite a lot of fine examples pictures from other photographers that have used different techniques to create these effects. Usually you set a long exposure time and shake or move the camera to create a blurry painted feeling to the picture. I have tried several times and usually I do not find my experiments good enough to save. However this time I personally like the result, I hope you will too.

Shaken not stirred

Bass Rock 2

Thu, 08 Aug 2013 19:50:13 GMT

It is time for a new post from my trip to Bass rock. Today Bass rock is home to more than 150 000 Gannets but this has not been the situation. A few hundred years ago the island were grazed by sheep’s but today there are no grass left at all due to the birds and all the guano. On Bass rock there is a lighthouse, it is not operating any longer. When you land with the boat you have to follow the path up through the light house and up to a little area witch the guide from the Scottish seabird center marks out. This is area and the pathway is where you are allowed to be and photograph from.

Below two pictures, Bass rock from the sea and the light house on Bass rock.
Bass Rock

Bass Rock

At first it seems to be such a small area for ten photographers to be in but it showed out to be sufficient and I managed to get a lot of different pictures of these beautiful birds. Normally the gannets should have had small chicks when I visited the island but due to a late and cold spring the hatching/chicks were at least delayed by two weeks. So unfortunately there were no chicks visible.

Gannet

Gannet Gannet Gannets

Garden visitor

Sun, 04 Aug 2013 20:04:01 GMT

The last couple of days we have had visits of Great spotted woodpeckers in our garden. One morning we had three woodpeckers outside our kitchen window. It seems that they have found my birdfeeder where there were some Sun flower seeds left. I really like woodpeckers, they are such beautiful and charming birds. I think these pictures came out quite OK for being taken just outside the door to the terrace.

Great spotted woodpecker

Hågadalen

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:15:19 GMT

Yesterday evening I decided to take a walk down to Hågadalen a recreation area and nature reserve. When I got there I saw a beautiful summer setting in front o f my eyes and I just had to take a picture of it. There were two girls leading a white horse across the meadows while the sun was setting in the distance.

Hågadalen I strolled along when I suddenly heard a roebuck barking not too far away. I just got a glimpse of it as it set off. I tried to walk in the direction of where the roebuck were heading to see if I could manage to get a picture of it. After I while I saw the roebuck in front of me, it was a huge buck. It crossed the road where I was standing and into a field. The buck stopped and sniffed in the air before it set of again. This time I was prepared and got some pictures.

Roe buck

Getterön Nature reserve

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 04:49:20 GMT

This last week I have been on the road with my family. We have visited Astrid Lindgrens world where we meet Pippi, Emil and all the other characters from her books. After that we went to my parents place on the west coast. During our visit I took the opportunity to sneak off to Gettrön Nature reserve a bird sanctuary. I spent a few hours in one of the hides and managed to get a few decent pictures. Below are three pictures of a grey heron that I saw several times during my short stay in the hide.

Grey Heron

Grey heron fishing.

Grey Heron

Grey heron flying towards night rest.

Grey Heron Grey heron ready for night rest.

Kiss of death

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 05:12:03 GMT

This spider lived just by the side of a dirt road and it had just caught this little fly when I tock this picture. I believe that this spider is just about to give the kiss of death.

Common garden spider

Wildlife moment

Mon, 08 Jul 2013 05:24:52 GMT

Two days ago we were at the playground. My son suggested that we should pick some flowers and we went to the borders of the playground where the grass were uncut and some flowers were growing. Suddenly a fawn jumped out, just two meters in front of us. We got a really good look at cute little fawn before it jumped a way into the comforting forest again. This encounter reminded me that I had a nice picture of roe deer and fawn that I haven’t shown before.

Roe deer and fawn