SpaceManSpiff
TalkEmount Top Veteran
Bidding us farewell with a glorious show of the northern lights on the bus ride to to the Keflavik airport, we said Goodbye Iceland!
(The Accidental Tourist: The other Iceland)
A red-eye flight later... and Hello Sweden!
To save money of an expensive hotel and avoid the hassle of finding parking in Stockholm, we stayed in a campground cabin in a suburb to stockholm that was within walking distance to the subway.
While coming up with a game plan for the day (ok fine, it was more like trying to figure out how to buy subway tickets), I grabbed this shot. The not-a-serious-DSLR look of the NEX-6 works for street photography...as does the tilt screen.
SELP1650 16mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec
20 minutes later and we went from a slightly dystopian concrete jungle to the cobblestones of the Gamla Stan (the Old City). Invigorated after a perfect cup of coffee, I backtracked back to the subway station where nice light was hitting Södermalm. I was drawn to the spires of the old buildings, and the tension between the old and the new.
SELP 1650 47mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec
I was hoping to get a shot with one of the more contemporary subway cars beneath the tower of Laurinskahuset and the spires of Mariahissen but I ran out of time. I am thrilled with capturing the face of the lone passenger.
OM 135 f/2.8, f/8, 1/400 sec
I enjoyed this view of Riddarholmen and its church while waiting on the doorstep of Riddarhuset (The House of Nobility) for our appointment to discuss genealogy findings and get a personal tour.
SELP 1650 16mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec
My aunt did a bunch of genealogy research for our friend (the gentleman in the Blue jacket in the first picture) and found out (to his great surprise) that several of his ancestors were noblemen and were pretty important players during the height of the Swedish empire. For me this was interesting as this personal connection made some of the Swedish history come to life in a way I hadn’t experienced before.
As we meandered toward the Royal Palace, I enjoyed this vibrant, but not overly crowded area of Gamla Stan.
SELP 1650, 38mm, f/9, 1/25 sec
Of all the street photos I took that afternoon, it is this B&W one that resonates the most with me.
SELP 1650, 50mm, f/9, 1/500 sec
In the middle of this busy intersection as city life swirled and pulsated around them, this couple tried and failed to say goodbye. They were so in love; it was unmistakable, beautiful, and inspiring.
Down by the the south side of Gamla Stan where the ferry to Djurgården leaves from there were two men huddling over the LCD screen of a big DSLR with a honking big grey lens. Drawn in by the allure big glass --was that a Canon 1DX and a 300 f/2.8? As I approached, I realized that they were talked animatedly in English.
Accidental Tourist: “Hi, do you mind if I ask what you are you gentlemen are doing?”
1Dx man: “We are photographing sea gulls.”
Accidental Tourist: “Really? Any species in particular?”
1Dx man: “Oh yes, Baltic Gulls! I am here in Stockholm on holiday from England for three days just to see them.”
Accidental Tourist: “Oh wow! (gesticulating at the seagulls floating on the water) Are they all Baltic?”
1DX man: “No no no, they are all the much more common Herring Gull except for one on the far right. You see, that one is a second calendar year Baltic Gull and if you look at the feathers”…[lengthy technical discussion edited here for brevity and sanity].
After a lengthy discussion of the the ins and outs, what have yous, and other intricacies of sea gull identification they asked where I was from.
Accidental Tourist: “USA. I live in Arizona.”
1Dx man: “Arizona? That is close to California isn’t it? I was just there this spring for 10 days.”
Accidental Tourist: “Oh, really? What did you photograph when you were there?” (I couldn’t help but think of all the different things I would love to photograph in California—Yosemite, redwoods, beaches, sunsets, surfers, San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge, oak trees, the Sierra Nevada mountains)
1Dx man: “Seagulls, of course!”
I decided it was time to leave singularly focused avian photography man to his pursuit. As we headed toward the subway station, many of Stockholm’s bicycle commuters were homeward bound as well.
Southern Commute OM 28, f/?, ISO 200, 1/500 sec
Once back at the campground after a decidedly lackluster pizza…despite being tired, a feeling of restlessness settled over me. I realized I wasn’t quite done with Stockholm yet, I needed to go back. Another subway ride and I was back where I had started the day.
If you enjoyed the Steig Larsson trilogy, the burrough that the protagonists (Lisbet Salander and Mikael Blomkvist) live in is Södermalm. This is, perhaps, one of its more picturesque views.
South by Night, OM 50, f/8, ISO 100, 20 sec
Historically a working class neighborhood, commuting workers rode the public elevator located in the building with the black spires (Mariahissen, bottom right in the picture) to gain access to the steam-driven ferries along the waterfront.
I enjoyed the clash of the old and the new in this shot of the Norstedt publishing building as traffic was streaming out of the central part of Stockholm.
Central Exodus OM 28, f/8 or f/10, ISO 100, 10 sec
The narrow streets of the Old City were much more tranquil than earlier in the day.
In o Bli Fin OM 28, f/11, ISO 100, 15 sec
Even intrepid seagull photographers had called it a night.
With the wind picking up and the rain starting to come down, I let this shot of the Af Chapman “boatell” (the ship is a youth hostel) be the last of the night.
Af Chapman Sleeps OM 135, f/11, ISO 100, 25 sec
As I hurried to catch the last subway train for the night, I felt content.
Accidentally yours,
(The Accidental Tourist: The other Iceland)
A red-eye flight later... and Hello Sweden!
To save money of an expensive hotel and avoid the hassle of finding parking in Stockholm, we stayed in a campground cabin in a suburb to stockholm that was within walking distance to the subway.
While coming up with a game plan for the day (ok fine, it was more like trying to figure out how to buy subway tickets), I grabbed this shot. The not-a-serious-DSLR look of the NEX-6 works for street photography...as does the tilt screen.
SELP1650 16mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec
NEX-6
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
16mm
f/5.6
1/160s
ISO 100
20 minutes later and we went from a slightly dystopian concrete jungle to the cobblestones of the Gamla Stan (the Old City). Invigorated after a perfect cup of coffee, I backtracked back to the subway station where nice light was hitting Södermalm. I was drawn to the spires of the old buildings, and the tension between the old and the new.
SELP 1650 47mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec
NEX-6
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
47mm
f/5.6
1/500s
ISO 100
I was hoping to get a shot with one of the more contemporary subway cars beneath the tower of Laurinskahuset and the spires of Mariahissen but I ran out of time. I am thrilled with capturing the face of the lone passenger.
OM 135 f/2.8, f/8, 1/400 sec
NEX-6
----
1/400s
ISO 100
I enjoyed this view of Riddarholmen and its church while waiting on the doorstep of Riddarhuset (The House of Nobility) for our appointment to discuss genealogy findings and get a personal tour.
SELP 1650 16mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec
NEX-6
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
16mm
f/5.6
1/400s
ISO 100
My aunt did a bunch of genealogy research for our friend (the gentleman in the Blue jacket in the first picture) and found out (to his great surprise) that several of his ancestors were noblemen and were pretty important players during the height of the Swedish empire. For me this was interesting as this personal connection made some of the Swedish history come to life in a way I hadn’t experienced before.
As we meandered toward the Royal Palace, I enjoyed this vibrant, but not overly crowded area of Gamla Stan.
SELP 1650, 38mm, f/9, 1/25 sec
NEX-6
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
38mm
f/9.0
1/25s
ISO 100
Of all the street photos I took that afternoon, it is this B&W one that resonates the most with me.
SELP 1650, 50mm, f/9, 1/500 sec
NEX-6
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
50mm
f/9.0
1/500s
ISO 100
In the middle of this busy intersection as city life swirled and pulsated around them, this couple tried and failed to say goodbye. They were so in love; it was unmistakable, beautiful, and inspiring.
Down by the the south side of Gamla Stan where the ferry to Djurgården leaves from there were two men huddling over the LCD screen of a big DSLR with a honking big grey lens. Drawn in by the allure big glass --was that a Canon 1DX and a 300 f/2.8? As I approached, I realized that they were talked animatedly in English.
Accidental Tourist: “Hi, do you mind if I ask what you are you gentlemen are doing?”
1Dx man: “We are photographing sea gulls.”
Accidental Tourist: “Really? Any species in particular?”
1Dx man: “Oh yes, Baltic Gulls! I am here in Stockholm on holiday from England for three days just to see them.”
Accidental Tourist: “Oh wow! (gesticulating at the seagulls floating on the water) Are they all Baltic?”
1DX man: “No no no, they are all the much more common Herring Gull except for one on the far right. You see, that one is a second calendar year Baltic Gull and if you look at the feathers”…[lengthy technical discussion edited here for brevity and sanity].
After a lengthy discussion of the the ins and outs, what have yous, and other intricacies of sea gull identification they asked where I was from.
Accidental Tourist: “USA. I live in Arizona.”
1Dx man: “Arizona? That is close to California isn’t it? I was just there this spring for 10 days.”
Accidental Tourist: “Oh, really? What did you photograph when you were there?” (I couldn’t help but think of all the different things I would love to photograph in California—Yosemite, redwoods, beaches, sunsets, surfers, San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge, oak trees, the Sierra Nevada mountains)
1Dx man: “Seagulls, of course!”
I decided it was time to leave singularly focused avian photography man to his pursuit. As we headed toward the subway station, many of Stockholm’s bicycle commuters were homeward bound as well.
Southern Commute OM 28, f/?, ISO 200, 1/500 sec
NEX-6
----
1/500s
ISO 200
Once back at the campground after a decidedly lackluster pizza…despite being tired, a feeling of restlessness settled over me. I realized I wasn’t quite done with Stockholm yet, I needed to go back. Another subway ride and I was back where I had started the day.
If you enjoyed the Steig Larsson trilogy, the burrough that the protagonists (Lisbet Salander and Mikael Blomkvist) live in is Södermalm. This is, perhaps, one of its more picturesque views.
South by Night, OM 50, f/8, ISO 100, 20 sec
NEX-6
----
20s
ISO 100
Historically a working class neighborhood, commuting workers rode the public elevator located in the building with the black spires (Mariahissen, bottom right in the picture) to gain access to the steam-driven ferries along the waterfront.
I enjoyed the clash of the old and the new in this shot of the Norstedt publishing building as traffic was streaming out of the central part of Stockholm.
Central Exodus OM 28, f/8 or f/10, ISO 100, 10 sec
NEX-6
----
10s
ISO 100
The narrow streets of the Old City were much more tranquil than earlier in the day.
In o Bli Fin OM 28, f/11, ISO 100, 15 sec
NEX-6
----
15s
ISO 100
Even intrepid seagull photographers had called it a night.
With the wind picking up and the rain starting to come down, I let this shot of the Af Chapman “boatell” (the ship is a youth hostel) be the last of the night.
Af Chapman Sleeps OM 135, f/11, ISO 100, 25 sec
NEX-6
----
25s
ISO 100
As I hurried to catch the last subway train for the night, I felt content.
Accidentally yours,
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