© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning

Stockholm In October

In the realm of photography, I’ve always been an all-or-nothing kind of person. There are times when I dedicate countless hours to honing my skills, while at other moments, I may go two months without touching my regular camera.

However, the allure of autumn never fails to captivate me. The vibrant colors, crisp air, and overall enchantment of the season always reignite my passion.

Just yesterday, I awoke early to capture the beauty of Stockholm. The weather forecast had predicted a splendid morning, and they were spot-on! It was truly breathtaking.

Wishing you all a delightful autumn!

© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm - October Morning
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm – October Morning
© Pedro Hansson - October - Sunny morning
© Pedro Hansson – October – Sunny morning

If You Want To Know Where Your Heart Is

This is a quote that comes in many shapes. I’ve heard it in my professional carrier as “Where your mind goes, your energy flows”, but I guess this one is a more private one. Anyhow, I think that there is a lot of truth in these simple words.

The photo is taken in Vemdalen – Sweden

whereyourmindgoes

For Those That Have Almost Nothing At all

The day after New Year Celebrations in Barcelona, I walked around a silent Barcelona, and there was one image that really stayed in my mind.

This man; a few hours after thousands of people have surrounded him, cheering in champagne, launched fire crackers and so on, this man rested against a door. Alone.

He had his open can of olives, his shoes and a bottle of water. I just wondered, how did he end up here? Our world is getting better all the time (yes it is), and I really hope that no one, in a future not so distant will say there wishes for a new year, in conditions like this.

Lonely man Barcelona

Lake Como – Italy

A fortnight ago, I had the pleasure of attending an entrepreneur conference in Italy. During my return journey, I joined three fellow entrepreneurs for a shared ride, and we collectively decided to pause for lunch at a picturesque village situated along Lake Como’s shore. I must admit, this location ranks among the most stunning places I have ever visited!

What I find peculiar is that I had traveled past this enchanting spot numerous times, yet never thought to stop. To anyone passing by, I highly recommend taking a moment to explore this breathtaking gem, with its misty mountains framing the opposite side of the lake.

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Photos from Barcelona – New Years Trip

This year I spent New Years in Barcelona, a town that I’ve visited many times before, but it seems like I never get tired of it. I love the pace, which is like half the pace of Stockholm, which is perfect pace for spending spare time and relax from work.

What I haven’t experienced before was going to a home game with Barcelona, which was an awesome experience. In Barcelona football seems more like a religion, a way of belief, rather than a sport, and you sure can feel that in the arena. Barcelona had a really good night and beat Real Betis big time. However there are these “small” pieces of flavor that makes watching Barcelona so great.

The Spanish people are really good at living their life in the present, and New Years Eve isn’t any different. The party held on during the night, and many people went to sleep between 6 and 8 in the morning. This is what the streets looked like at 10 AM. 🙂

20151231 Barcelona Nyår-12

 

New Years Day at 10 AM
New Years Day at 10 AM

I hope you’ve had a great start of your 2016!

New Words We Should Incorporate In Our Day to Day Language

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I’ve seen these photos on a number of sites on internet, but I’m not sure of its origin, so I don’t know who to link / credit. If you know? Please leave a comment so I can give credit to those who have created these great words / photos.

Stockholm – January

As those who follow this blog a little bit more in detail, you might have figured out that I like “clean” photos, in the sense of straight lines, and not to many disturbing objects. But sometimes it’s interesting to go in the absolute opposite direction, to take photos with many details, but still have interesting lines and perspective. A photo with many details also have the benefit that you’ll find new details every time you look at it.

In this photo I’ve tried to achieve just that. I tried to have the roads as the lines, and the opening at the right attracts the eye at the end of the little road. The girl with the dog keeps the rule of thirds intact and so on.

What are your thoughts around Clean, or detailed photos?

<More posts about photography>

© Pedro Hansson - Stockholm 20150124 - Sony RX-100
© Pedro Hansson – Stockholm 20150124 – Sony RX-100

Repost – I Wish You Enough – The True Christmas Spirit?

©Pedro Hansson - Landscape Sweden - Sony RX-100 - http://www.facebook.com/saarimner
©Pedro Hansson – Landscape Sweden – Sony RX-100 – http://www.facebook.com/saarimner

Life is, at least for me, in many ways is about finding ways to appreciate what every moment means. I think that the hard days truly serves a purpose to keep us from being blasé, when we have the really good ones.

This is a story on that subject; the thin line of being “happy” and being “sad”. There is a cliche in Sweden, that everything is best when it’s “lagom” (a Swedish word for “not to much”, and “not to less”) and maybe happiness is just that; lagom?

I wish you enough

At an airport I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together. They had announced her plane’s departure and standing near the door, he said to his daughter, “I love you, I wish you enough.”

She said, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.” They kissed good-bye and she left.

He walked over toward the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied.

Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my Dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me. So I knew what this man was experiencing.

“Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?” I asked.

“I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral, ” he said.

“When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”

He began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” He paused for a moment and looking up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more.

“When we said ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them,” he continued and then turning toward me he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Good-bye.”

[ Original story by Bob Perks, in Chicken Soup ]

San Francisco – Architecture

This is a photo of one side of the famous “Cliff House”, an awesome place for photography since the sun sets right outside the restaurants window.

If you ever visit San Francisco, don’t miss out on this amazing place.

© Pedro Hansson - Cliff House - Nikon D7000
© Pedro Hansson – Cliff House – Nikon D7000

San Francisco And Vegas – Photos

During the last few weeks I’ve visited San Francisco and Vegas. Two amazing cities. San Francisco when it comes to being cozy, friendly and open, and Vegas when it comes to craziness. Not a bad “crazy”. More in terms of a place that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.

This will the first post in a series, of these great cities. I hope you enjoy.

Best wishes for a new week.

© Pedro Hansson - Inside the "French shopping mall"
© Pedro Hansson – Inside the “French shopping mall”

 

© Pedro Hansson - Bellagio  - Las Vegas
© Pedro Hansson – Bellagio – Las Vegas

Best Photos From National Geographic Photo Contest

Today I browsed the internet for some photo inspiration, and came across this National Geographic’s photo contest site, and talk about inspiration! Amazing photos!

Here are some of my favorites…


Photo by Hasan Baglar


Photo by Henrik Nilsson


Photo by Istvan Kerekes

For more photos from the same contest, click here

Decisions

This week has been all about decisions.

Since I’m working with Active Decision Support, I have started to think a lot about decision processes; and how decisions are made – both professionally as well as private.

One thought that really keeps spinning is how many of our decisions/crossroads that we actually are passing/making all the time without noticing/knowing it, and how big these non-decisions really can be.

The photo is from a trip last weekend, to Gotland / Visby on a really foggy day.

© Pedro Hansson - Visby - Gotland - Sony RX-100
© Pedro Hansson – Visby – Gotland – Sony RX-100

One of the best time-lapse clips I’ve seen – Lake of dreams

On my bucket list, Burning Man is high up there. Seems like nothing else in the world. Over the years some good photographers have put together some amazing time-lapse videos from the event, but I think this is one of the best ever.

Look especially at those amazing long exposures of the night sky at 3:15!

Hope you enjoy the clip!

Lake of Dreams from roy two thousand on Vimeo.

Beautiful City Of New York – Freedom Tower

This is a photo of the Freedom Tower, taken from bottom viewing up. The shape of the tower almost makes it look like a pyramid when photographed from this position. Maybe the photo would’ve been greater with a blue sky, but at the same time, this is a place that calls for reflection and respect, so a damp milky sky suited quite well.

Freedom Tower - New York - © Pedro Hansson
Freedom Tower – New York – © Pedro Hansson

Beautiful City of New York – 2

As I wrote in my first photo I tried out a few different kind of photo styles in these NY-photos. This one is kept really clean, trying to benefit from the situation.

This is a photo of the IRT Bridge in Harlem. We went to a close by steak house at a night with heavy showers (actually there were flood warning sent out), which created a perfect opportunity to benefit from the street lights, and the dark skies.

I’ve added some sharpening, cropped it slightly and lowered the blue a bit in Lightroom.

New York - Harlem, IRT Bridge - © Pedro Hansson
New York – Harlem, IRT Bridge – © Pedro Hansson

Beautiful City of New York

Last week I visited New York for some work, and while being there I also spent some time taking photos, so I thought that I would share some of them here.

It’s tricky taking photos of a city that’s been so well documented already, but I tried to find some new angles, and some new styles in the photos.

The first photo is taken at a long distance with a fast aperture to get it dark, then I pulled the aperture up afterwards in Lightroom. This created the grainy and foggy effect since all the details will not be seen. After that I added some sharpening.

Statue of Liberty - New York - © Pedro Hansson
Statue of Liberty – New York – © Pedro Hansson