Let the beat take you away

During our trip back home from Austria and Lake Garda, we took some time to explore the lively city of Hamburg. And we learned that the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof clock serves as the city's heartbeat. Sometimes, it's best to go with the flow and let the beat take you away.

Our journey covered a distance of more than 3,100 km before we finally arrived back in Lomma and parked our car. A fair amount of kilometers through Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Italy with several charging stops. We didn't encounter any issues or long charging queues besides one. When you drive through the Brenner Pass and cross the border into Italy, you find a shopping center with a garage that has 6 Ionity chargers. Here we had to wait for a few minutes. It was the only time we faced a delay.

One helpful suggestion is to plan ahead by utilizing both your car's navigation system and a tool such as ABRP (https://abetterrouteplanner.com/). This will use the car's navigation system to optimize the battery for the quickest possible charge when you arrive at a charging station. ABRP, on the other hand, will provide information on the availability of chargers, how many are currently free, and if any are out of order. Additionally, it includes information on nearby services or amenities. Choose wisely.

But above all, enjoy the journey and avoid trying to beat the clock! Just go with the flow and you will be fine.

Partille Cup 2023

Partille Cup 2023 has come to an end, after a week filled with various experiences. Laughter and happiness, tears and letdowns, rain and sunshine, but most importantly, friendships formed, new acquaintances made, and heartwarming reunions. Of course, there was also plenty of handball played throughout the week. While some of our teams did not achieve their high aspirations, they will still cherish the memories of this week and eagerly anticipate the next tournament. ✨

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To view a selection of handball treats in Gothenburg, simply click the button.

Time flies

Time flies, weeks that hang like a tail on the present fade faster and faster. I think the speed increases exponentially the older I get. Therefore, it can be sound to actively stop for a while, reflect and maybe adjust some things if it feels necessary.

Being a photographer is an excellent way to make time travel when you want and maybe stop speeding in life for a short while. I do not necessarily mean a photographer as in your profession, but more that you regularly take pictures of what happens in life. Today, almost all are photographers and several social media help us bring back memories from the past. It's probably the most appreciated feature for me on these media.

Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 f/2 ASPH.

When I stop this morning, it is partly to reflect and look at what my photographs looked like taken with a digital camera without many modern superpowers. And definitely without a sophisticated focus system that automatically ensures that you always get the eye in perfect focus if you so wish. My camera can take 4.5 frames per second and fills up the buffer after 15. Startup times are like an old computer with a modern operating system. Lack of zoom lenses and no really wide or long focal lengths. A lousy camera for me that primarily photograph landscapes and action. A camera makes you slower to a very high degree, although you can use some methods to be more agile and fast in some situations. Street photographers often use zone focusing, but I will not go further into it in this blog. However, I can say that I often use this approach in sports and action photography with my M cameras.

It's only been four weeks since I last posted something on my blog. At that time, we had not bought an apartment in central Lund that was to be completely renovated. We had not inspected our villa in Vallkärra before the sale in early May or been inside our apartment in Lomma which we will move to in September. I had not been asked to photograph a wedding this autumn or have had an Easter party with my colleagues in Malmö. Nor had we had spring temperatures of 16 degrees Celsius or setbacks with minus degrees and snow. I had not seen one of my developers give an excellent presentation as part of his personal growth voyage or learned how to photograph a Dobermann for breeding ads. We had not celebrated Anna's birthday at a nice Tarek Taylor restaurant in Malmö, nor had I finished my work as a test crew for a girl who is a trainee in training special search dogs. I had not been spammed by commercials for a specific health and fitness company in Lomma. Had not changed the starter battery on the motorhome so we can go on a trip again or seen Emil's last handball game in the youth series for this season. A painful loss must be said. The pictures from Butja had not yet reached us and one of our most beloved comedians had not passed away.

Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 f/2 ASPH.

All this is only a tiny part of everything that has happened. Big and small, pleasure and sadness, satisfaction and grief. And of course, I have not documented everything myself with my camera. Many images come to us through various channels very fast these days.

But I have photographed everything I usually photograph with my Leica M11. Mostly with my 50 and 90 mm lenses and a few wider at 21 mm. During a short period with a 35mm that I had to borrow from Mattssons Foto in Lund while one of my lenses was at service.

Leica Summicron-M 35 f/2 ASPH.

Documenting our renovation in Lund and the progress in Lomma. Our young boys and LUGI's men and women elite teams playing handball. Golfer in a beautiful sunset. Exor both at full speed and posing in the hazy morning light. There have also been big landscape images and intimate details in nature. Flowers in glorious sunshine in the middle of the day and blades of grass at sunset. A few product images on the terrace in mixed light, both natural and flash. I have also had the time for a corporate event.

Leica Summilux-M 40 f/1.4 ASPH.

So how has it worked out then? Difficult! But above expectations, as you can see in the pictures. Of course, photographing sports and action with an M camera is not optimal and perhaps nothing a professional sports photographer would think of doing. If I look at the camera system I brought to the last elite match in handball compared to other photographers. My entire system with one camera body, two lenses, and a digital viewfinder would fit inside one of their lenses. The camera itself and a Summicron 50 mm in one of their lens hoods.

Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 f/2 ASPH.

Are my pictures as good as theirs? No! Not by any means, not technically nor when it comes to the ratio of keepers. Actually not in 99 out of 100 categories I would say. There's only one category I won: my pictures category, my expression, and there are several pictures in that category no one else took. If others feel the same about these images I do not know and it is not the most important thing either. And neither should you when it comes to whatever you are creating, doing or thinking.

Leica Summicron-M 35 f/2 ASPH.

One thing that can be said is that the feeling of taking these 20-30 pictures over 60 minutes of handball is fantastic compared to the 2, 3 or 4 thousand pictures I can bring home after a game with a Canon or Sony. They may be far better technical but not as fulfilling to shoot. I will continue photographing action with Canon in the future for sure. They have their professional place.

Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 f/2 ASPH.

Finally, back to social media and the company that spams me with advertising about diet and exercise. Of course, it's not really the company, but Facebook thinks I'm very interested in them. The reason is that I often stop and watch this company's videos. I'm not interested in the content of the message at all. I think they consistently use a strange camera angle in all their videos. So because of this, I stop, smile a little and believe that someone should help them. But no matter what, they manage to get me to stop scrolling, and then the purpose is achieved I guess.

If I look ahead four weeks, the plan is that it has happened at least as much stuff. The apartment in Lund should be finished or at least very close. We have celebrated Easter and I have been on a business trip to Bulgaria. Emil has been to the handball cup in Denmark. Family from northern Sweden have been visiting and spring should really have come to stay. And hopefully images of families reunited in Europe again.

Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH.

Happy Easter to you all!

Kodak Portra 800

A popular color negative film is Kodak Portra. It is available in three different versions, ISO 160, 400, and 800, and these are taken with the latter of them. I guess the most popular is Portra 400, and I probably agree with that.

I chose to photograph this film as an ISO 400 film, to give it more light than what is stated on the box, and I was pleased with the result. This means that I make the camera think that it has a less light-sensitive film, so it exposes the film a little more than it would otherwise. In my case, double as much light och sometimes even more than that. But that is not the right way. That's just the way I do it because I like the results.

Vallkärra, Sep 2020

Sunset Lundåkrahamnen, Sep 2020

Tripod and low ISO?

To succeed with landscape photos, in addition to a camera, you need a tripod. Generally, shooting at low ISO speeds to reduce noise in the images is also a good thumb rule.

It's definitely true when you make several different exposures to then join together when you get home. Sometimes the scene is too wide when it comes to light. The camera's dynamic range is not enough, so multiple exposures are a must to capture the image you experience with your own eyes. Sometimes you want to create a sharp image throughout the whole picture and need to focus the camera at different distances, from very close to infinity, and then create a sharp image in Photoshop by creating one image of many. Often I shoot when the light is not enough to take pictures handheld and also avoid blur due to that I am moving the camera a bit.

Straw at the beach, 2020

But it brings a lot of disadvantages as well. Apart from the fact that you have to carry the tripod and its extra weight with you, you do not become agile in your photography. You may miss a picture because you do not have time to set up the tripod or do not get the space you need.

This weekend we drove our motorhome on a trip. We stayed one night at a marina and one at a sandy beach. The weather was fantastic, and even though the sky was not so dramatic, the sunsets were magical. This was an excellent opportunity to test the camera's performance when it comes to built-in stabilization in conjunction with lens stabilization. Also, some pictures with high ISO numbers to see how the camera handles noise. I tried it after the sun went down, and I am delighted with the results. I definitely think those images can be used.

What do you think?

Emil, Summer 2020

Shutter speeds ranged from 1/400 down to 1/50 and ISO from 100 all the way up to 10,000. It should be said that it was basically no wind.

Maiden trip

There is a lot to learn, and it will take some time before we have the routines in place. But I think our premiere weekend with the motorhome has gone very well.

This weekend has also been a fantastic summer, almost too warm. But when we found a place by the sea where the breeze cooled nicely, it was only enjoyable. To find locations can be a bit tricky but are the whole purpose of a motorhome, I think. If you are looking for a site. Preferably with facilities such as electricity, emptying tanks, and refilling water, it is extra difficult when the summer is still rolling on at full steam. So Lundåkrahamnen was packed so dinner was by the road close to Järavallen. Tacos with at stunning sunset.

I had a backup idea to park at the beach car park in Lomma. Not the most charming place, but we would only sleep a short night and then drive home to Lund to leave Lukas. Worked fine, and while we finished breakfast, the bathing bastards started rolling into the parking lot. Shortly after that, we turned towards Vallkärra.

At home, we filled the water tank and then cruised up to Svanshall guest harbor, which I heard a lot about. There are only 5-6 places there, so when we arrived at lunch, it was full. We managed to squeeze in to an extra place, just to cook lunch and swim in the harbor for a few hours.

With food in the stomach, the energy could be used to find a good place for the night. I had read about Persköps Ställplats outside Örkelljunga. They have a live updated site with status regarding occupied and vacancies. When we drove, there were two places available, but when we arrived, both were already taken.

We were met by the same information in a friendly way by one of the people who run the place, but we were offered a special extra place they had. Without electricity and 100 meters from the service station. Lush and beautiful located by the lake. Could not get better in our eyes. The children played in the lake before we had a barbecue, drank some great wine, and rounded off the evening with a Gin and Tonic over a game of Yatzy on our mobile patio. 3 - 0 to me by the way!

On Sunday, we took a long and easy morning. Anna and the children swam in the lake after breakfast and I editied some images. Then we drove on speculation down to Svanshall again. This time there was a place for us. We got the first parquet with the sea as our view with a lovely breeze. To lie down on the bed after lunch. To take a short afternoon nap, it is so nice to have the bed with you. That is a big part of driving around with a motor home.