Currently we’re receiving a lot of snow here in Stockholm. The airport is closed, the public transportation system is out, but the roads are still pretty ok.
It may sound strange but I kind of like these situations (as long as nobody gets hurt), because it brings people together. Everybody is friendly, and starts to talk to each other without anything more to talk about than the current weather. Maybe that explains why Londonders and Dubliners are among the most friendly people in the world (due to all rain)?! 🙂
This is a pic from the early stages of the snowfall, and it actually snows even more right now. But as long it’s possible to stay inside there is no reason for complaining.
“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, whenever and however it happened”
@Pedro Hansson – Winter morning Norra Mälarstrand, Stockholm – Nikon D7000
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
― Steve Martin
The first snow has arrived in Stockholm just in time for Advent.
Cold days like this are super for a morning stroll, and when it comes to many photographers best time of the day, “The Golden Hour”, it’s great for us Swedes that we easily can combine a good long sleep and still enjoy those early moments. At least in Winter….
One of my first posts on this blog was about which iPhone Photo-apps I preferred. And since then I now and then have posted and reposted that list.
Instagram
(link to app-store) – From my previous post
If you like filters and sharing images with the rest of the world you’ll love Instagram (my nickname on Instagram is @pedrohansson). I’m surprised how creative and actually really beautiful images that are shared at Instagram. And many of those just using their iPhone (1) What I think separates Instagram from many other “filter-apps” is their strength as a company. You can feel the quality.
(1) A portion of the images at Instagram are shot with professional equipment
Perfectly Clear
One of the downsides with “phone-photo” is usually noise, and dealing with the small sensor. With this app I’ve rescued many images that sometimes get to dark, with to much noise, and so on.
It’s not a traditional photo app with ton’s of filters and picture bending operations, but it’s a great tool to use to enhance images.
I think that almost everyone that’s interested in taking pictures with the iPhone have come across this app. In my opinion it’s one of the easiest out there to use, and it comes with quite a lot of features as well.
I downloaded Snapseed quite a long time ago (in technology terms) and I immediately liked the GUI. Professional and really easy to use at the same time. I can’t say that this app is the best in terms of amount of filters or in number of parameters you can change, but I think it’s one of the best apps in quality and GUI.
Startscreen in Snapseed
Photoshop Express
(link to app store) – From my previous post
I guess Adobe don’t need any further presentation. In the image-industry they are one of the biggest, and the Photoshop-software have been around for quite awhile. With Photoshop Express you get one feature that I think is necessary if you’re keen on getting the noise out of your pictures, Noise Reduction (this feature is actually the single feature that I use in this app but Noise is almost always a problem when you’re using mobile phone cams so I use it on almost every pic I share).
Below you have the same picture, with and without the reduce noise function in Photoshop Express.
iPhone-image of Visby sunset without reduce noise function (Click image for large version)
Same picture as above, but now with reduce noise (Click image for large version)
A note to using this function is that, when you reduce noise, also loose details so the result will, as always, differ depending on what you want to show. Photoshop is free but you have to spend a few bucks on getting the Reduce Noise Function
One of the apps that I’m using the most. The iPhones built-in functionality for HDR is quite good but this app is so far ahead in terms of control and image quality. If you don’t know what HDR is and are interested in getting some new ideas for your photographic session I suggest that you look into it. In short HDR is using several exposures (over- and under exposed) to create one image. By using several exposures you can use the lighter information in the under exposed image and vice versa. HDR-apps can also being used for creating motion and ghost-like effects.
Another side-effect with HDR is that you can find colors that otherwise aren’t possible due to over- and under exposure-difficulties.
A side effect of using two images is that you need keep the camera absolute still, otherwise you get some blurry effects.
This is, together with ProHDR and Photoshop Express the photoapp I’m using the most. I started off with using the “junior-version” but upgraded to the full version later. What I really enjoy with PhotoToaster is that it has some really nice filters to enhance the picture without making them look “too funky”. Focus on many of the filters are almost like a pre-set Photoshop app.
The last app on this list is PowerCam. This is app that I only use when I wan’t to do Tilt-shift images. With Tilt-shift I don’t just mean the effect when things will look like a miniature world. I use it more frequently when I wan’t a nice bokeh (from Wikipedia: the blur,or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image). This app does that better than any of the other I’ve tried on the market.
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver
Sometimes we pass those persons with a really strong character. It doesn’t matter if they stand up and shout, or as this woman, just sits at a bench, they have an aura.
Before I took this photo I exchanged some words with her, and I really got the impression that she was so calm and satisfied with her life, the way she had lived it, and I guess that gives an aura in itself.
At the end of our small conversation I asked for permission to take a photo, and she just said ok, and went back to her earlier calm, relaxed pose…
I think Autumn has a special purpose in terms of reflection. The autumn isn’t always sunny, warm or cozy but it gives us time to breath and reflect. To stop, and listen to where we are, what we are, where we’re going and maybe serve as our yearly soul examination.
Soon the “bright white winter, the alpine season, the long walks in snow-season” will be here…
This is a photo i took last year while walking along Nacka Strand. It was a really great feeling in the summer air, and this couple really draw attention. I can’t really say what I like with this photo other than it, for me, reflects life.
“Where there is love there is life.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
I’ve always enjoyed different forms, and I guess there are always nice things to search for while we’re enjoying our lives.
This photo is taken in Spain from the restaurant in a hotel where we stayed during some days, for playing golf. I think the proportions came out pretty well.
“Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens”
― Tony DeLiso
Monday is a special day, it’s almost like a mini 1:st of January. Every week I try to set some goals for myself. A goal might be a burden if you tell everyone what you have in mind, so I always try to keep them for myself. For me, this is a way to make sure that I’ve made some progress, and actually a way to make me feel better when I know that I either reached the goal, get closer to it, OR maybe the goal has changed for some certain fact that I didn’t know about before the week started. Anyway, the goal keeps me at focus and brings meaning to my actions.
The upcoming week is full of great activities even on evening time, Keane-concert tonight, Soccer game on Wednesday and a night at Magic Bar on Thursday, so I guess I’ll have to try to just enjoy every bit of the week to gain energy together with all the great people I will spend my time with.
@Pedro Hansson – My life story is the story of everyone I’ve ever met – iPhone Photography
It was a cold and moist evening in Stockholm. One of those evenings when the sky is pitch dark, and the lights hit, in contrast to the sky, the ground with that magical reflection. While walking at Söder, towards Medborgarplatsen I thought that the lighting, and the people walking to their next destination felt really special.
This image was shot on a cold winter evening in Stockholm in December, almost a year ago. I think it was my third attempt, using my “walking technique with an open shutter”.
The image is taken on the pavement just outside Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm. If you look carefully you’ll discover a person moving against me.
This little story was sent to me by a friend of mine. I think it’s a really telling story of how things can turn out when you just go ahead with something, and never stops for a minute to reflect, train or think.
The photo is taken in a national park just outside Stockholm. This photo suffers a bit from Chromatic Aberration (look at the purple around the edges) which I will soon make a new blog post about, and how you can clean it up. Other than that I think the framing and composition in the photo went pretty well.
I hope you will have a good day
Busy
Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter ask for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The paid was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”
Very motivated for the boss’ words, the woodcutter try harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he try even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees.Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”
– Stephen Covey
During the last year I’ve experienced quite a lot with using an open shutter while walking with the camera hand-held. To be honest I’ve created many many bad photos while experimenting, but a few of them I’ve really enjoyed and for every day I learn a bit more when to use this technique, and when I shouldn’t.
One of the things I’ve learned is that composition will be even more important because I won’t be able to use depth of field as I would do on a normal photo. I think it’s also important to remember the lines, and where the eye will move along the photo when you’re using blurry techniques.
For those of you that aren’t so into the technical parts of photography, the shutter functionality is to open and let the light into the camera lens, and then close again. This will then create the image. For obvious reasons; the longer the shutter is open, the more light there will be on the camera lens.
With an open shutter in this case, I mean when the shutter is open many seconds.
If you’re using your iPhone for this purpose, I can recommend the app “SlowShutter”
This is an image I created last week while walking in the forest, that I think turned out pretty well. The shutter speed in this case was 3 seconds. What I really enjoy with these types of photos is that they can keep your imagination busy for a longer time than a normal photo. In short, I think they last a little bit longer.
Yesterday, our small harbor had its closing time for the year which means that the club is closing down and start to prepare for the winter. Since the seasons in Sweden are pretty sharp, in the sense that we really have them all, this also comes with a meaning, that the winter is soon here.
While cleaning up I took a few pictures.
I hope you all have a great start of your working week
Every day there are so many stories posted on Facebook, and I thought that I might share a few of those on this blog. Unfortunately I don’t know the origin of this story but I think it’s a great one. I hope you have a great Wednesday
Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil. The first seed said, “I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust above me . . .
I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring . . . I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!”
And so she grew.
The second seed said, “I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts . . . what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.”
And so she waited.
A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.
Moral Of The Story. Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.
Yesterday I made a short trip to Ekerö, a small island west of Stockholm City. On my way back I made a stop at the royal castle Drottningholm, which is typically amazing this time of the year.
As the readers of this blog might know from last year, I truly enjoy this season of the year; the Autumn.
If you want to get a feeling of the size of Hurricane Sandy, Nasa is sharing satellite images. I’m not sure how often these images are updated but the current ones are from 20 hours ago.
I wish all New Yorkers, and the geographic places around NY the best of luck.
Best wishes! Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Sandy will be in her best mood when entering land.
Twitter-accounts to follow: @NHC_Atlantic – National Hurricane Center @WSJweather – Wall Street Journal @breakingstorm – Weather updates @capitalweather – Focus on DC weather @weatherchannel – Weather updates @NASA – Showing satellite pictures from the storm @fema – The official Federal Emergency Management Agency @twc_hurricane – The Weather Channel @alroker – Al Roker, meteorologist of NBC’s Today Show @cnnbrk – Breaking news from CNN, including storm updates @wunderground – Following weather from around the world
Last week I had to make a decision about a matter that I spent much time worrying about a while back, but suddenly, out of the blue the final question was asked and a decision needed to be made. Should it be yes, and continue like before; or no to make that final decision and move on in another direction? Suddenly it wasn’t a decision anymore!? Of course I should move on and let go of the worries, and the thoughts that kept me so occupied for a long time a while back. Suddenly it was clear.
@ Pedro Hansson – Birds on a red light. Not a good picture photo wise. Taken from an open roof top bus in Barcelona. Without the house in the background it may have been ok. But I think the image reflects the topic well – Go, or no go?
I was really surprised that the decision was so easy to make because this has been a long process for me, but then I realized one thing I heard a few years back.
When you can make a decision without any regrets, you tried everything, you’ve been truly honest to everyone involved and all that’s left is just worrying AND the most important part, you can let go with a smile and wish everyone the best; then you’re finally ready.
At the same time, it’s important to remember, if you need time and don’t make a decision – that’s also a decision…
Isn’t it strange that sometimes the most ridiculously small task can feel like moving a mountain, but another really heavy one just feels like a swift? Some years back I had a CEO that always told me the quote in the subject of this post, because he was so sure, that if you’re not really enjoy your work you can’t be really good at it.
Of course there are many degrees of that saying, but I think it actually makes a lot of sense. This quote (in the picture) is almost the same one. But I think this quote is more focused on actually finding what we believe in, and through that find interest and energy, both in our professional life, as in our private dito.
I hope you all have a great Wednesday, a day that’s sometimes called “little Saturday”in Sweden.
@ Pedro Hansson – Leafs over our open roof while going on a sightseeing tour in Barcelona – Nikon D7000
I’ve just logged in to the app Soundtracking on my Spotify account, right after I’ve got the news about this new music and image sharing app. I think the idea behind the app is really good; to instantly and easy share your music among your friends straight from your mobile or from within Spotify and add your own Instagram pics attached to your suggestions.
My user name in the app is (of course 🙂 ) saarimner; so if you wan’t to find your first friend there just add me.
As you might have discovered in the screen capture above I didn’t figure out that I should have deleted the first image from my first choice 🙂
If you’re using Spotify you’ll find the app under the app finder on the left hand side. It’s currently down on 28:th place in the app list, but as it’s featured in the app suggestions so I guess that may change rapidly.
For me it sounded a bit strange at first to mix your music suggestions with your images, but the more I think about it, I guess it’s all about creativity and I think they’ll actually fit quite well together.
Soundtracking – Screen Capture iOS
In the iOS app you find all the functionality you’re searching for easy accesible. If you’re used to use apps like Shazaam for capturing music around you, you’ll find a way to that as well in the app. On the downside, if you don’t have a Spotify account you’ll just have the possibility to listen to previous or buy the songs from iTunes. Other than that I really think that this will be an app that I use quite often to discover and share new music and fitting pics to it.
If you currently are a user, or you try it out for the first time it would be great to hear you thoughts around it.
As I’ve written in the Photography section I’ve just arrived back home after a few days abroad together with a colleague of mine. On these journeys there is always an opportunity to talk about things that there otherwise isn’t time to talk about (during normal work weeks). On this journey I think the main topic was being upright, and why people so often choose the opposite.
First of all, I really need to point out that no one is perfect, and there are certainly times when I don’t live up to this myself; and of course sometimes you don’t have the possibility to tell everyone everything due to keeping a secret for a friend/family, directions from the board or there are just plain simple business secrets that prevent you from being as upright as you wish.
BUT, those things aside I strongly believe that being upright will make a person (all others aspects alike) more successful, in their lives. When you experience the opposite – people that doesn’t speak up for their opinions, I sometimes wonder why they aren’t.
We started talking about this when we had a discussion about a customer project, and we’ve always felt that this company is so easy to work with because they are always telling their opinion, and when we know their stand point it’s really easy for us to decide whether we have the possibility to be a good supplier or not. The company in mind is a really successful one, and I think one of the reasons is actually that they are “hard” in many peoples minds because they always speak up their mind, but I think the opposite.
Over the years when I’ve been in the fortunate position of being a customer I must say that I’m sometimes surprised how many sellers/business men react when they’re meeting an upright opinion about their product, their services and so on.
In my personal life I think this is as important as in the business life, BUT of course when you speak about personal matters (which might as well be personal matters in your professional life) there are so many aspects that needs to be addressed that it’s often harder to just being upright. If you don’t pay respect to the other parties person, you might end up on a difficult route.
I think I could write about this for pages, but as this is just a thought so far, I’m leaving the subject here. This is more of a moral, and actually business compass for myself. When we’re choosing and working with our partners, suppliers and customers (yes we’re choosing customers as well to make sure that both parties can achieve success) this is one of the key components.
Almost every time I visit other towns I choose one day to get up really early in the morning to experience that particular town waking up.
Last week I was in Barcelona for work and I decided to try to portrait two areas that felt extra important in these hard economic times for Spain; people that we might not see otherwise during our hectic days, those that live their lives in the dark and have nowhere to go. The other topic was to show the town getting ready for a new day.
The first photo is from the first category. This is a woman I came about while walking over Plaça de Catalunya, and I really felt for her. A woman, without almost anything besides her stroller; but still she quietly stood there and shared her bread with the birds.
The moment really did have a mix of emotions. Sadness for her situation, compassion for her willing to give but also calmness since she, a few moments after this pic was taken carefully smiled at me and then continued to feed the birds. But most of all she made think of how she ended up there.
I couldn’t imagine how it must be, to have a life like that, and moments like this always brings perspective of the differences in the world. I’m really thankful of how Sweden have tackled this recession that has hit southern Europe so badly (even though there are things that also can and must be improved in Sweden as well).
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.
– Marian Wright Edelman
At the moment I’m in Barcelona for work. While being here I’ve tried out a new photo app – 645 Pro. This is quite different iPhone photo app than many others due to it’s layout, and ambition to be a “close to professional” iPhone app.
Screen dump
I really like the graphical layout and the feeling in the app, but sometimes the adjustments are a little bit tricky due to it’s tiny buttons. On the other hand I wouldn’t (like one of the comments indicated in App Store) like to have a smaller preview screen either so I guess it’s just a matter of priority.
Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona
At the moment I’ve just used it for essentially B&W-photos which I think are really good. I especially like the feeling the B&W pics get. On the other hand I think that one of the best strengths is the quality and control factor (like the focus handling and live preview solution), but I haven’t explored all the possibilities yet. I can comment on that in a later post.
Arlanda Airport – With 645Pro
This is an app that I think I personally will use more and more often because there are continuously things to explore within the app, and sometimes – as other things in life – the best things are the one’s where you don’t see it all on your first look.
A quote shared by my friend Beth inspired this post today: (check out her blog here)
“You are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn’t making you stronger, they’re making you weaker.”
― Timothy Ferriss, The 4 Hour Workweek
Doesn’t that quote make you step back and think?
Think about who you work near and interact with the most. Think about who challenges you, inspires you, motivates or aggravates you. Think about family members, neighbors and friends. Think about it all and then ask yourself this: Who’s on yourBoard of Directors? Is it time for a re-org?
Saarimner.com 
