11-6-2025. It doesn't feel like summer yet. Cold and cloudy days - it's more like a prolonged spring. But the cycles in nature are turning with an ancient force. The dance of the Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) - (in Swedish: blå jungruslända) - is at its peak these days. Wonderful blues are dancing over the streaming and whispering waters. The image is not cropped and shot with a 32 mm !!!! Vintage lens. Difficult task because they are very alert and attentive.
11-6-2025. I'm continuing to experiment with a lot of failures and some successful images. This Red Kite from Southern Sweden is one of my better moments. Icm with panning technique.
4-6-2025. I love being out in nature, the outdoors, photography, and experimenting. While frog-searching, we had a mesmerizing evening and night, and I couldn't resist doing ICM images of this lonely tree with the moon at its right. A triptych (triptyk) of images shot from 8-20 seconds of exposure. All 3 are each done in one shot. Single exposures.
4-6-2025. Days after the photofestival, I was roaming around in the various and biodiverse landscapes of Skåne. My main target was the European tree frog (Hyla arborea) - (Lövgroda), a small tree frog and the only one of its kind in Sweden, where it is rare and elusive. I spent days last year with my old Danish friend to get at it, but with no big success. So we made a new try this year. After good advice and some research, we finally managed to find it, and the males were displaying vividly and singing very loudly, overwhelming the strong voice of the singing nightingales and the European fire-bellied toad (klockgroda). //////// Getting this shot, I had to get low in the water and deliberately keep the bottom of my camera and vintage lens just touching the water surface. Shot with a diffused flash. //////// One has to be careful not to enter several ponds and thereby spread germs and fungus, which could threaten the frogs!
4-6-2025. Home again after a prolonged weekend tour to Skåne, the southernmost landscape in Sweden. My primary goal was lecturing at "Riksfototräffen" - speaking about photography, images, and creating emotions by various creative techniques. I was even a judge in their yearly photo competition. During the weekend, I saw a lot of great contributions, and some made an emotional impact on me. In a weekend event like this, it's joyful to meet old friends and colleagues, and of course, spiced with happy dinners. On stage - mobile-photos by Marie Kantermo.
29-5-2025. It's a strange life to be a photographer and live off it. Even though I'm partly retired or trying to be, it's still a lot of travelling, writing, workshops, lectures, etc. Here is what I`m working on now- A 9-page article about Australia and its unique nature and wildlife. A high-end and glossy magazine that is to be on the market next Christmas. The manuscript was delivered months ago. And tomorrow it's time for "Riksfototräffen" - the yearly congregation of the organisation for all Sweden's photo clubs. A lecture about "light and bokeh", and jury work is on my menu.
29-5-2025. I'm home for a few days and trying to wrap up my recent photographic odyssey to Costa Rica. Though I have been there on around 15 journeys before, my goal was to make images and collect material for some forthcoming books in my production. Hence, I was trying to create different and more imaginative images rather than illustrative ones. This is the same species of frog as posted the 9/5 but with a different technique: ICM + vintage lens + diffused flash. Nowadays, these kinds of images give me more satisfaction than those made years earlier.
23-5-2025. Farewell to the unique Costa Rica, with some of the biggest biodiversity in the world. Democracy, prosperity, modern thinking, the biggest Eco-tourism actor, and more rainforest now than 30 years ago. Unique in all senses - and no hunting. Animals and wildlife are abundant and not afraid of humans. White-nosed Coati in panning technique.
23-5-2025. Whenever I sit on the plane home after leading photo groups in Costa Rica—especially after nights of photographing in the dark—I exhale deeply and finally relax. No one was bitten by a Fer-de-Lance, and that’s always a relief. My biggest fear is straying off the path in the rainforest. This particular Fer-de-Lance was photographed with a 75mm vintage lens in Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio. It was lying just 20 cm from the main trail, where tourists casually walked by in flip-flops. The Fer-de-Lance is a highly venomous pit viper found in Central and South America. Known for its aggressive behavior and potent venom, it is considered one of the most dangerous snakes in the Americas. Its name, which means "spearhead" in French, refers to its distinct triangular-shaped head. The snake can grow over six feet long and is expertly camouflaged in leaf litter, making it a stealthy predator—and a danger to anyone who ventures too close.
23-5-2025. Briiliant Rainforest frog, Parque nacional volcán Tenorio. 32 mm Vintage lens for the ambient. A lovely frog, not timid, which I photographed many times before, but different now. The next image is why you should be careful where you spot many frogs.
23-5-2025. So many new images and different ones from landscapes to critters. The waterfall in Parque nacional volcán Tenorio comes down with minerals from the volcano. Great ambience and water. Hence the turquoise colour. ICM technique.
23-5-2025. I am a sucker for snakes and small animals. A new place for me was the Parque nacional volcán Tenorio, a small sleeping volcano I have always seen in the distance. We grabbed a guide, Ronald Chavez, and within 2,5 hours he found 2 Short-nosed Vine-snakes as in the image, 2 Eye-lash Pit-vipers, and 1 Fer-de-Lance. Wowwww !!!! Here shot with my new 32 mm vintage lens.
23-5-2025. Sitting in the airport in San Jose, waiting to fly home after 16 intensive days, photographing full time with wit friend and colleague Erik Malm. More different images than on my many previous tours here before. Arenal volcano is a landmark of character and dignity. Many, many birds in this area, sloths, and snakes as well. ICM technique - 20-second exposure.
18-5-2025. Another animal from the rainforest that I’m reshooting with vintage lenses - 32mm! - And this time, daring to get closer, is the Bullet Ant. It doesn’t run away but instead confronts you fearlessly. Deep in the shadows of the rainforest floor, the Bullet Ant marches - silent, unyielding, and feared. Just one sting from this inch-long warrior delivers a surge of pain so intense it’s been likened to being shot with a gun, earning its name and its legend. For 24 hours, the victim burns, sweats, and trembles- caught in a relentless wave of agony. The Bullet Ant does not sting without reason. It is a tiny titan draped in obsidian armor, moving with purpose through the green world. In the undergrowth, where giants walk on six legs, the Bullet Ant reigns - with pain as its weapon and courage as its creed.
18-5-2025. Some of the most challenging photography is night photography with flash, especially in environments with multiple reflections bouncing off artificial light. I often say that the use of flash should not be visible in the image. That’s why I’m pleased with this particular motive, which I have photographed repeatedly over the years. Capturing beautiful lighting and a dreamy atmosphere with a vintage lens was my primary goal. The Red-eyed Tree Frog is often photographed during the day, which is misleading since they are nocturnal and spend the day hiding with their eyes closed. This kind of photography is artificial and can seriously disturb the animals. The Red-eyed Tree Frog is a vibrant amphibian native to the rainforests of Central America and is, to some extent, a symbol of ecotourism in Costa Rica. Known for its striking red eyes, bright green body, and blue-and-yellow striped sides, it uses its vivid colors to startle predators. Despite its dramatic appearance, the frog is not poisonous. It spends most of its life in trees and is most active at night, using its sticky toes to cling to leaves and branches.
13-5-2025. The beauty of the Resplendent Quetzal is mesmerizing. It was considered a God in the old Aztec and Maya cultures. Here, the male is portrayed in flight, on a 1/40 of a second, with a wild avocado for its youngsters. //////// Before the sun's fifth birth, the gods gathered in fire. Among them stood Quetzalcoatl (the quetzal), the feathered serpent-wind-born, wise, unlike his brother Tezcatlipoca, who cloaked the sky in obsidian. Quetzalcoatl gave breath to bones in the underworld, shaped men from dust and memory. He taught maize, time, and the stars - a god who gave, not demanded. But gods clash as men do. Smoke rose. The mirror shattered. Betrayed, Quetzalcoatl walked east, flames at his heels, whispering: "I will return when the world remembers how to listen." Still, the wind carries his name.
13--5-2025. Our photographic quest is proceeding during heavy rains - it's the rainy season. We, Erik Malm and yours truly, are exploring various rainforests of Costa Rica. My mantra is not to photograph what I did on many previous tours, but to stay outside my habit of always getting a decent shot, hereby experimenting a lot now. ICM shot on 500mm of a King Vulture in Braulio Carillo NP. One exposure of 1.6 seconds, painting the environment instead of getting yet another sharp documentary shot. The King Vulture is a scarce and awesome bird, difficult to get close to normally.
11-5-2025. Resplendent Quetzal, a dreamy image (ICM technique), and my dreambird, and the goal of nearly all the 14 tours I have done to Costa Rica before. One of my old images can be seen in the rainforest gallery. But now it's time for a new photographic approach. In the emerald hush of dawn, the resplendent quetzal drifts between worlds - a whisper of jade and crimson spun from ancient dreams. Legends say it carries the breath of forgotten gods in its plumage, and when it soars, the sky remembers the songs of creation.
11-5-2025. We are 5 days into the tour, and images are starting to come. Long days with photography and nerdy photo-talks, and laughter. One of the gems I found in Braulio Carrillo National Park - a new national park for me. Just 1.5 hours from San José is a lush rainforest. It shelters jaguars, pumas, Baird’s tapirs, and over 500 bird species. Altitudes from 36 to 2,906 m create rich biodiversity and dense jungle. Of course, shot with a vintage lens. Many more pics about to come ;-)
7-5-2025. Sitting in the airport of Zurich waiting for the flight to Costa Rica. Costa Rica for the hmmm - "God knows which time" - but now with a new approach, together with ICM master Erik Malm. My goal is not to cover everything or reproduce what I did before :-). Before leaving I got the the Cowslip (gullviva), Snake's head Fritillary (kungsängslilja) and here pictured: Pasqueflower (backsippa). It's like an annual ritual to cover them while flowering, and it's a pity to leave Sweden now, spring exploding. Shot with my favorite vintage lens. The next posts will be from the rainforest.
5-5-2025. Orchis simia - the monkey orchid, is a subtle marvel of calcareous grasslands and open woodland clearings. It grows in shallow, chalky soils where competition is sparse and light is abundant. Atop the stem forms a dense spike of soft lilac to pinkish-purple flowers, a deeply lobed labellum resembling a tiny, dancing monkey, illustrated with elongated "limbs" and a central "body." The flowers carry a faint, powdery scent, understated but effective in attracting insect pollinators. Orchis. simia favors undisturbed, nutrient-poor sites, where its tuberous roots persist through seasons of drought and change. Though rare and localized, it is found in the Gargano limestone pastures.
2-5-2025. Ophrys fuciflora subsp. "apulica" is a distinctive subspecies of orchid found in the Gargano mountains. Characterized by its broad, vividly colored labellum and striking patterning, it closely mimics the appearance of certain solitary bees, an adaptation that facilitates pollination through insect attraction. In the Gargano Promontory, this orchid grows in a variety of habitats - from calcareous grasslands and rocky slopes to open clearings within woodlands. The Gargano is particularly renowned for its exceptional concentration of "Ophrys" taxa, with numerous endemic and localized forms, making it one of the richest orchid regions in Europe. Photographed with a vintage lens, of course, but also to show the flare of the sun, thus showing the incoming light.
2-5-2025. I have returned home after leading a photographic workshop, with a wonderful and dedicated group, in Southern Italy. The Gargano mountain and its extraordinary botanical richness have drawn me back again, having been there regularly for ten years. The Gargano Promontory rises like a green bastion above the Adriatic Sea, where limestone cliffs meet ancient forests and wind-carved plateaus. The Gargano National Park is more than a sanctuary; it is a mosaic of life, stitched together by time and shaped by the gentle persistence of earth and sea. Among its most delicate treasures are the orchids - over sixty species, each more intricate than the last. They appear in spring like fragments of forgotten dreams, their forms mimicking insects, birds, and even the subtleties of human gesture. In rocky pastures, these orchids thrive in improbable abundance. Here, the landscape is an ever-shifting dialogue between karst mountains, beech woodlands, and Mediterranean scrub. The Gargano does not shout its beauty; it invites those who walk slowly and look closely to witness its mysteries.
20-4-2025. Happy Easter to all. No chicken, lamb, or Easter bunny will be a symbol. But a 🐸. Normally, the common frog (vanlig groda) is lekking around this time, their ponds are teeming with life during the spawning. But this year, the display is already finished more than a week before normal time, due to the warm weather. The frogs are a welcome sign of spring and a symbol of a time full of life to come. They are shy, and it takes time to get close with a 32 mm vintage lens. Uncropped image ;-)
11-4-2025. I'm home now after a few days in the part of Sweden called "Västergötland". The main target was the beautiful and elusive hawfinch (stenknäck). The hawfinch is a shy species and therefore difficult to observe and study. It spends most of the day on top of high branches, all during breeding season. During the hawfinch's life, it can only be seen on the ground while looking for seeds or drinking water, always near trees. While drinking and eating like in our setup, it is aggressive and dominant, towards both its species and different ones, even bigger birds. The skirmishes last for only 1-2 seconds, and the camera and lens must be performing in "top modes" in autofocus and tracking. I " shoot" deliberately on slow shutter speeds to create the feeling of action in the movements of the wings. Difficult because only a few images will be ok out of thousands. Sigma 500mm + 1.4 extender.
11-4-2025. Even if the days generally are getting warmer, there will still be some cold days. The adders will be lying in wind-protected small spots and take every opportunity to soak some warmth from the environment. They are mostly very shy and will disappear at the slightest close movement. I went back to the same place as in the previous post. This black specimen is photographed with an old 200 mm East German projector lens adapted to my new Lumix camera. I got exactly the bokeh I had hoped for, experimenting a bit more with the new lens.
7-4-2025. They are out now and have been since the end of March. The days are getting warmer and the common adder takes every opportunity to sun bask now. Many have "milky" eyes a sign that they soon will be shedding their skin and even the cornea on the eyes. This female is photographed with an old 200 mm East German projector lens adapted to my new Lumix camera.
7-4-2025. After the yellow ones comes the "blues". Anemone hepatica - the common hepatica, liverwort, or "blåsippa" in Swedish is a real springtime messenger and they are commonly coloring the ground with strong blue rays in the oak- and broad-leafed forests around Stockholm. I'm extremely fond of this blue color. My new vintage lens is in action again as in the previous posts.
27-3-2025. They are already here - the first ones flowered a week ago. Tussilago farfara, commonly known as coltsfoot is one of the first wild spring flowers. Always appears around my birthday -happened the other day as well ;-). I love this plant - it's like small suns popping out of all the brown and grey and shining signaling a beginning of the return of life. Photographed with the new vintage lens from the previous posts. It makes a messy background into something painterly.
17-3-2025. The image title could be: the audience is arriving. Posting this on a Monday now - the day after a fantastic 3-day festival organized by the Norwegian Norsk Naturfotofestival (Norwegian Nature Photography Festival) is over. Many inspiring lectures and "great" meetings with a crowd of photographers and visitors, and international participation at this - the largest nature photography festival in the Nordic region. I was on stage with a picture show about Madagascar - and a great audience. Thank you 🙏
10-3-2025. Picture from last week, photographed with the new impressive Panasonic Lumix S1R II, and my new vintage lens described in the previous post. (PS: my poem)
4-3-2025. This image was taken with the new flagship Lumix camera and my latest vintage lens - a "happy marriage". The lens creates a beautiful sense of depth, naturally separating the subject from the background. I love how it gives a "layered" effect, making subjects pop with a smooth, dreamlike transition into the out-of-focus areas. - ---- The haircap moss (*Polytrichum*) has female plants with hair-like shoots that develop into spore capsules. A membrane at the opening enhances wind dispersal, shaking spores out through small ringed holes. In some species, these capsules are quite tiny.
26-2-2025. From last weekend’s eagle photography days. The main target was the Golden Eagle, but with mist, thick as a soup, and a perched adult White-tailed Eagle, the setting was perfect. Photography is about vision, not just gear, though I was given the fortune to work with the yesterday announced Panasonic Lumix S1R II - featuring a 44MP full-frame CMOS sensor, Phase Hybrid AF, improved IBIS, and impressive video specs. A beast in low light. But in the end, glass matters as well: sharpness, depth, and character come from quality optics. Here, I'm using the new compact Sigma 500mm f/5.6 - small yet powerful.
19-2-2025. I'm testing a new telephoto lens these days. Sigma 500mm f/5,6 DG DN OS Sports: an incredibly compact, lightweight, and sharp lens. Here is one of the first pictures taken yesterday in the southern part of central Stockholm: ------ The Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a strikingly beautiful waterfowl, known for its elaborate plumage. Males have vibrant orange "sails," a deep purple breast, and green-blue highlights, while females are brownish-grey with a white eye-ring. Native to East Asia, the Mandarin duck inhabits forested lakes and slow-moving rivers in China, Japan, Korea, and Russia. It symbolizes love and fidelity in Chinese and Japanese cultures. Though populations have declined in their native range due to habitat loss, escapees from captivity have established stable populations in Europe, particularly the UK. Recently, the Mandarin duck has begun appearing in Sweden, especially in the south, where it seems to be adapting well. Likely originating from European feral populations, its presence may most likely continue to grow in Swedish wetlands and woodlands.
12-2-2025. Mid-February in a relatively mild winter around Stockholm. Icy lakes, occasional snowfall, frosty nights, and some days with above-zero temperatures and sunshine. Some tits, a lesser woodpecker, and tawny owls have already begun their singing. The first signs of flowering are already visible on the common hazel. Its flowers appear very early in spring, before the leaves. The plant is monoecious, with single-sex, wind-pollinated catkins. These male catkins are pale yellow, measuring 5–12 cm in length, while the female flowers are very small and mostly hidden in the buds, with only their bright red, 1–3 mm long styles visible. This is an image of the male catkins covered in hoarfrost. I captured it on a cold, foggy day using my new lens, which I described in the previous post.
04-2-2025. Being a dedicated photographer is a constant process of refining your expressions and methods - hunting for the right visuals in your mind’s eye. I'm a sucker for vintage lenses and their bokeh, which gives me the artistic 3D look I love. I have many great lenses, but I've always felt there was another step ahead in my visual mind. There are a few iconic, very rare, and extremely expensive lenses, like the Dallmeyer Super-six, Cooke Speed Panchro, Ross Xpres, and HM Kino Plasmat/Makro Plasmat where the desirable ones sell for thousands of euros. Buying one is a little like "buying a pig in a poke." There is often very little evidence online of how they render or how to adapt them - the latter a difficult task in itself. --- I finally got my hands on a lens of the ones above. I'm now testing it and doing the trial and error, preparing for photographing in the field. --- Even when not in the field, training, and practice are essential for developing one’s skills. The subject here is an orchid I grew myself.
29-1-2025. A year ago, nearly at this time, I spent some time at Dalälven in Sweden photographing White-tailed eagles from a hide. I have been in quite a few photo-hides during the years: worldwide, but it's not my favorite way of photography. I enjoy moving around, "hunting" for the motive, and placing myself to achieve the best light and bokeh. From a hide your perspective is quite limited. Anyway .- I decided to shoot most images on very slow shutter speeds to get expressions of movement and ICM. Though I couldn't resist bumping up the speed to 1/80 of a second :-), when the eagle couple started to interact. And I'm very happy with the result. -------- The return of the White-tailed eagle in Sweden marks a significant conservation success story. Once near extinction in the country due to hunting, habitat loss, and pollution, the species has made a remarkable comeback in recent decades. Thanks to dedicated efforts in protecting their habitats, banning some chemicals, and active monitoring, these majestic birds have been slowly repopulating Sweden's coasts and inland lakes. Today, they are a symbol of resilience in Swedish wildlife conservation, with growing numbers of breeding pairs spotted across the country.
23-1-2025. I'm very happy to announce that I will be one of the key speakers at the biggest nature photo festival in Scandinavia: "Norsk Naturfotofestival", south of Oslo in March. It's a high-quality festival with presentations from well-known photographers from many countries. My presentation will be about Madagascar. See the entire program here, or just click on the image: https://nnff.no
23-1-2025. Gave a speech yesterday in Tyresö fotoklubb about photo competitions: Ideas, strategies and how to pursue your photography. "All-time high" partaking (1/3 of the total members) for the club which is Sweden's 4th biggest photo club. Lovely audience as always.
16-1-2025. One of my ever-favorite images. I took this photograph in 1996 in southern Morocco on the border with Algeria. It was a part of my project "al Jamal" (= camel) telling stories about the nomadic people in the Arabian deserts. My Berber guide Ali is showing a desert beetle (Abu Jeelan). The image is shot on Fuji Velvia - film - with a special flash technique used a lot by National Geographic photographers at that time. --- Once, images were timeless. They lingered in memory, etched onto film. They were slow breaths, lingering gazes. Now, they flare and vanish in an endless scroll, fleeting as sparks in a digital inferno. Each one is born to die young, smothered by the crush of the next, and the next, in an infinite kaleidoscope of fleeting impressions. AI feeds this storm, birthing thousands of images in moments, each pixel a brief flash of existence, each creation eclipsed before it can grow roots. Memory turns to vapor, and the timeless is devoured by the now. But this image lives in me forever.
7-1-2025. Hommage to the tree in the previous image.
7-1-2025. Almost a year ago I photographed this tree under similar weather conditions as these days. No fancy techniques: just a tripod, good enough aperture and calm flat light. Dalälven, Sweden. Since the formatting of this blog doesn't allow new lines and to set up a poem - my own ode to the tree will be shown in the next image as a screen dump.
31-12-2024/ 1-1-2025. As the year turns and the cycle begins anew, we stand at the fleeting and eternal time threshold. Each of us is but a fragment in the vast tapestry of existence, woven together with threads of cosmic history. We are born of stardust, our atoms forged in the heart of ancient stars that blazed their light across the heavens long before Earth took form. The turning of the year is more than a change of calendar; it is a chance to renew our commitment to living with respect, compassion, and awe. We share this world with our fellow humans and the myriad of creatures that call this planet's diversity their home. They, too, are travelers in this cosmic journey, each life a miracle of complexity and resilience. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU! We are not alone on this journey. Image taken on a starry night in South Africa.
29-12-2024. Transition days before the arrival of 2025. No white Xmas, mild weather and I heard a blackbird singing the other day. Very odd feeling - in winter!! I always (nearly) claim that you can photograph in most light conditions. And so this image came by on a very grey day, the darkness of twilight closing in. The image is an ICM moving the camera from ice on the lake through reeds to the treetops behind me over several seconds.
24-12-2024. Merry Xmas to all I know and you!
23-12-2024. Winter is not particularly lazy days, but the darkness takes its toll on outdoor activities. The solstice has passed on the 21st and the days are growing longer each day about a minute or two. It's part of our planet's annual journey around the sun and was celebrated by our Viking ancestors as "midwinterblot" a predecessor to today's Xmas. This polar bear was photographed in Svalbard.
13-12-2024. Today is saint Lucia Day in Sweden. Being a protestant secularized country - Sweden is not devoted to any catholic saints - but it's a day of light processions and part of Xmas celebration. The light is decreasing every day until the winter solstice, this year: Saturday 21 December 10:19 am. After that, the days will increasingly grow longer and the light will return. Though at a pretty slow speed ;-). January and February are still dark months as well, with only a few hours of daylight in Stockholm. This image that I shot the other day is for me that yearning for the light. Sunset just after 3 pm at the shores of Lake Mälaren, close to my home. Shot with a reversed 75mm oscillograph lens. Do I need to say that I'm longing back to Madagascar with its light, biodiversity, and human interaction?
8-12-2024. The greater bamboo lemur, is one of the world's most critically endangered primates, according to the IUCN Red List. Scientists believed that it was extinct, but a remnant population was discovered in 1986. Since then, surveys of south- and central-eastern Madagascar have found about 500 individuals in 11 subpopulations. The current range is less than 4 percent of its historic distribution. The reason for the endangerment is climate change and human activities which depleted the primary food source (bamboo). Greater bamboo lemurs appeared evolutionary even before monkeys. It feeds, like here, almost exclusively on a few bamboo species preferring the shoots but also eating leaves. It is unknown how their metabolism deals with the cyanide found in the shoots. The typical daily dose would be enough to kill humans.
8-12-2024. Hanging on! Despite the poverty and infrastructural chaos in Madagascar, there are still forests, wild places, and unique wildlife and flora. A positive sign is the increasing number of tourists - many nature-interested people such as birdwatching groups, herpetologists, nature photographers, etc. This is vital for jobs in rural communities and a flow of money. It brings directly very professional guides who are advocates in their communities and watching eyes against illegal logging, hunting, and collection of animals. It brings the attention to the government and communities that it's not the best to cut down all the forest, and reserves are being established. Wherever I went to the most isolated forests there would always be a local guide somewhere, who knew exactly what was to be seen and where and how. Perinet chameleon - sleeping during the night. Vintage lens and diffused flash.
8-12-2024. I have been home some days from my long journey in Madagascar. Feeling like a fish out of the water. Why? I can't stop reflecting on the injustices in this world. In Xmas time it's overwhelming - our mega-consuming world. Goods, foods, and items for sale everywhere you look - an abundance without words. Whereas Madagascar where I came from - is now considered the world's poorest country. Many people lack the essentials and are very hardworking and struggling to survive the next day. However, there is a warmth and a human aspect where everybody is communicative that we more or less have lost in Sweden. Two sisters from a poor fishing village digging for clams for the family evening supper. Their father came by and was so proud I photographed them. With a vintage lens, modified inside, for the softness and bokeh.
28-11-2024. I'm back in the rainforest since the beginning of this week. It is an area I have visited many times before, but this time I have walked in remote regions of the fragments of the once total-covering rainforest. And new chameleons - of course, they were the main reason to be here again. I love chameleons. This one is the Lance-nosed chameleon (Calumma gallus), also known as a Blade chameleon, and is endemic to eastern Madagascar. And it is endangered. Tiny - but with a lot of character. Just look at the bicolored nose. "Shot" with a lens from 1932 which is good for creating a mystic atmosphere.
22-11-2024. The absolutely "must have" bird here is the elusive and extremely skittish Long-tailed Ground Roller. The no.1 inhabitant between all thorns and twigs. With its striking plumage and distinctive, long tail, this rare species is notoriously difficult to spot in the wild. Preferring to remain hidden in thick underbrush, the Long-tailed Ground Roller is often heard more than seen, emitting soft, melodic calls from within the shadows. Its skittish nature and tendency to freeze rather than fly when threatened make it all the more challenging to locate. As a result, birdwatchers and researchers alike must exercise patience and stealth in hopes of catching a fleeting glimpse of this mysterious avian treasure.
22-11-2024. The night is approaching in the spiny forest. A mess of thorns, twigs, spines, and branches - difficult to get a clean shot of a very "messy" environment. But that's what makes it so magical. Octopus trees leaning against the south and the moist, baobabs with hundreds of years of age and many shrubs of precious medicinal use to the local population. This forest is as threatened and biologically valuable as the rainforest. 20 mm wide angle lens.
21-11-2024. Many lemurs are critically endangered and new science has established that more species exist than estimated. Now at a total of 108 species where many are restricted to small pockets of isolated forests. This small night active lemur is only found in "Parc National de Zombitse-Vohibasia". I "shot" it through the foliage to get more depth and mysticism in the image. And I was using Sigma's new 500mm f5.6. It is a wonderfully small and super compact telephoto lens and it is tack sharp with a lovely bokeh - all to my taste.
19-11-2024. I'm now in the far southwestern parts of Madagascar. It's dry and scorchingly hot - and the vegetation is like nowhere else in this world. The spiny forest can survive years without rain and it's a tantalizing world of very adapted plants like baobabs, octopus trees, and many other strange oddities. It's called the spiny forest because of the thorns many trees and bushes have developed to protect themselves. It's a world of strange animals as well all adapted to these harsh living conditions. And like the rainforest, the spiny forest is threatened with degradation and extinction, even more than the rainforest.
19-11-2024. Who can resist the ring-tailed lemurs? They are very difficult to get more vivid images off, constantly moving or shifting positions as soon as you get a good composition of them. The Anja reserve, where they are best observed, is a masterpiece of community protection of wildlife. Here "shot" with my favorite vintage lens.
12-11-2024. Sometimes it all comes together. Light, action, the animal, colors, and the bokeh. Uniditenfied small snake, 10 cm, from the rainforest of Ranomafana, like the last frog image. After extensive photo expeditions like this one, there is some extra work identifying a lot of the smaller animals. Vintage macro lens and natural light.
12-11-2024. Passing the city of Antsirabe on the high plateau I always photograph the rickshaws and especially the "pousse-pousse" where the chariots are drawn by running, often bare-footed. The "chauffeur" is Michel, 64 years old. Life is often hard here in Madagascar and I always feel humbled. We are spoiled and often whining over the smallest unimportant things in the richer world. Photographed at slow shutter speed to catch the movement and I especially like this image because the two movements symbolically show two different worlds as well.
12-11-2024. Several weeks have passed since my last update. Weeks spend leading a photo group for "Wild nature fotoresor" and on my own exploring the rainforests of Madagascar. Yes ;-) I'm still here - intense days, long strenuous hikes, humid and hot, and wonderful encounters with forest wildlife. This is a Starry Night Reed-frog, a species I have been photographing in the past, but never good enough. Now finally with a vintage macro lens and a diffused flash. When I look through the images from this long trip to Madagascar - until now - there have been a lot of different frog species. I love frogs!
22-10-2024. The crowned sifaka is a sifaka endemic to western Madagascar. And it was another target species like the Coquerel's Sifaka from my post of 17-10. It lives as well in the NW Madagascar where nature and its biological diversity face enormous and devastating consequences resulting from human activities. Habitat destruction, forest fragmentation, slash-and-burn agriculture, capture for illegal pet trade, and illegal hunting constitute major threats, and it's critically endangered like the Coquerel's Sifaka.
22-10-2024. Brown lemur, a common lemur species, was photographed in the Katsepy forest in the NW. When animals are not hunted they are unafraid. And it has been tabu on Madagascar to hunt lemurs until now. The modern consumeristic world with new ethics is making its entry. Photographed with a 75mm vintage lens!!
22-10-2024. We are back in Antananarivo after long, bumpy driving - often through a barren and eroded landscape. Madagascar has only about 10% of its previous forests left - and some pockets in the NW was our goal. on this first leg of my visit. Amongst them is the wonderful Ankaranfantsika NP - teaming with wildlife. But my heart is bleeding when I hour after hour pass through this beaten, barren eroded landscape. The outer world - the rich world could make an effort to help lift Madagascar out of poverty and thereby halt the destruction of the last remaining forests. Until now eco-tourism is a key factor for several of these forests to exist still.
17-10-2024. I have been in Madagascar for a week now and the first leg, of more or less, two months is here in the NW. It is a very hot and normally dry part of the country. It's said to be the hottest. My main goal has been 2 sifaka species found only in pockets of forests up here, the cryptic Mongoose lemur and some night lemurs, and the odd chameleons. Here is the beautiful Coquerel's Sifaka from Ankarafantsika NP. Their population has declined nearly 80% in the past 40 years, and the current population is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and hunting. They are not shy, some young ones are even inquisitive. But they move constantly and thereby difficult in the light of shadows and harsh light.
16-10-2024. Murielle and Zoly are 5 years old. They are collecting seeds from indigenous trees in Ankarafantsika NP to sell to reforestation projects. I'm always struck by the enormous difference in the lives of our, sometimes over-curled, children in the Western world compared to the hard life of the children here. I intended to make a double-image hence I had to photograph them in the same manner and background. The 3-D pop in the image comes from a classical vintage lens. I brought this lens on the tour just for this kind of image.
9-10-2024. Yes, I'm coming! Sitting at the airport in Stockholm waiting for the flight to Addis Abeba and then further on to Madagascar. Two months of photographing. I have been downsizing my gear for weeks to only what I think is essential - and that incorporates 9 vintage lenses as the one I used on this (Uroplatus garamaso) a split from Henkel's Leaf-tailed Gecko. It's a real disguise master and many of the animals on Madagascar are as intriguing.
6-10-2024. It was an unbelievable morning yesterday. I was with my workshop group in "bird photography", for 3 days; on location in Hjälstaviken (Sweden) before sunrise. Fog and the sun broke through the fog with the movements and sound of thousands of geese - a wonderful and enthusiastic group of 10 photographers.
2-10-2024. I'm thrilled to be featured in the most prestigious Norwegian nature photo magazine. Nature&Foto (Nature&Photo). Tom Schandy, an icon in Norwegian photography is interviewing me. He thought it would only take about an hour, but after three hours we still had a lot to talk about ;-). 12 pages with a story about life and photography and some of my favorite images. The magazine can be found here on their web platform: https://www.naturogfoto.no
1-10-2024. Very happy to have been a guest speaker at Ericsson Photo club. Thanks to a keen and interested audience. Subject - announced above.
27-9-2024. Autumn is here and so is migration time. I'm happy to live only 35 minutes from one of Sweden's best bird-lakes in Sweden - Hjälstaviken. It opens for spontaneous tours and my kids followed me there practically every other weekend when they grew up. So even yesterday when one of the sons called and suggested a tour. And what day! Between 5-10 000 geese and 6 species, cranes in their thousands, White-tailed eagles, tons of ducks and waders, Merlin (stenfalk), Hen harrier - a beautiful blue male (blå kärrhök), Rough-legged buzzard and many others. The geese were very active and here in the image are Barnacle goose and Greylag goose (vitkindad och grågås). I love to bring motion in the image but it takes a lot of shooting, tons of images, and camera work to get a few with some sharpness on low shutter speeds. LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3.
25-9-2024. Elderberry, "fläder" in Swedish, is a common small tree in the Danish wild landscape. Late summer, and the beginning of autumn are the peak times. From my childhood, I remember we loved the juice and a special fruit soup made from the black berries. Here shot with an iconic vintage lens.
24-9-2024. After nearly a week of sleeping in my mini-van in wild places, it's quite nice to be home. Though the van is equipped as a rolling photo studio and sleeping chamber with beddings, food, camping stove, etc it's not heated during the night, and cooking and most doings must be done outdoors. OK when it's good weather but very unpractical when it's raining, cold or strong winds. It needs a rebuild inside - an upcoming project.
24-9-2024. Home from more than a week roaming along the Danish West Coast. It's the wildlife area of my youth and draws me back year after year. Where the open sea meets the sky, with almost always present westerly winds and a barren landscape it's so much rooted in my heart. I returned home to Stockholm, though soon a long voyage to Madagascar is coming. This arctic tern is loading for an even longer voyage - to Antarctica. ICM technique.
20-9-2024. The wind shapes your form, mind, and character. I love the wind, even if it makes my photography hard sometimes. A lonely tree which I have photographed for several years always makes me stop - think - admire - and try to show its struggle and determination to survive. Bullbjerg area in Denmark, ICM of 4 seconds painting the structures and colors around with the movements of the camera.
18-9-2024. Skagen's light is fantastic. No wonder some of the most famous Danish and Nordic painters loved it here. The Skagen Painters (Danish: Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. This is an ICM of the Grey Lighthouse. It was also a delight to lead a group of enthusiastic photographers for the fourth year. My journey down the Danish West Coast continues - come back, soon new updates!
11-9-2024. It's time for Denmark: its west coast and most northernly tip Skagen. Every year at this time I load my van. First, to lead a workshop and second, to roam along the wild west coast. My childhood wilderness. A cool photography group, van life, photography, and open skies. Denmark is still in my heart.
3-9-2024. We found quite a few of these spectacular Red-nosed Lanternfly. The spectacular insect is a species of planthopper belonging to a group commonly referred to as lanternflies. Here portaried with one of my most beloved vintage lenses to get a hint of the environment. Kaeng Krachan National Park.
3-9-2024. Example of the "critters" mentioned in the previous post. Unknown iridescent beetle taking off from an orange Cup-fungi. Kaeng Krachan National Park.
3-8-2024. It's time to wrap up my Thailand photo tour, flying home today. As always some of the planning kicked in, surprises came and expectations were unmet. It's my experience that one needs a little distance and then when reviewing the material again, after a while, it looks better. The difference from May 2019 was much fewer birds due to the rainy season. Whereas small "critters" were more abundant. Also, it is reflected in the "image-harvest". Out of the blue came surprisingly a troop of Stump-tailed Macaques. Looking like small bears - here is the dominant male. In my mind, the little green leaf makes the difference. Kaeng Krachan National Park.
30-8-2024. Kaeng Krachan National Park is especially renowned for its extraordinary wealth of butterflies. When I was here first time in 2019 I was overwhelmed. I just had to return with a bunch of old manual vintage lenses. However, it takes hundreds and hundreds of shots to get the one where they are flying - dancing like how I have the image in mind.
27-8-2024. I'm in Kaeng Krachan National Park, and have been here for 4 days. I have been longing back to this pristine and biodiverse national park since I first visited it in 2019, having the great luck of encountering a King Cobra then. Now it's rainy season and few visitors and it has been slow the first days - finding-wise. But today it kicked off with several full memory cards and tons of sweat. I had to shoot this Oriental Vine Snake" (Ahaetulla prasin) close-up. It was giving clear warnings I was too close and one should listen to that. Suddenly he strikes but goes for my vintage lens. Puhhh. Anyway, this species is rear-fanged and not aggressive or dangerous. Only to lizards and frogs. Due to the extremely shallow depth of field, I had to stack this image of 3 shots to get some sharpness in the head. However, I love the bokeh of the curled-up body. Come back soon - more exciting shots will follow.
22-8-2024. Another plan was to search the used photo-gear marked for vintage lenses. Bargains can be found in Bangkok. I did though resist the buying temptation after finding a great lens in this shop ;-): image shot with the same vintage lens as the day before in the temple. A lens I brought specifically for Bangkok due to its oil-painterly bokeh.
21-8-2024. I'm in Thailand now. "Shooting-plan": Buddhism, orchid-selling, and the wonderful rainforest national park of Kaeng Krachan, on the border to Myanmar. Here a devotee is offering a lotus to Buddha. Wat Suthat temple.
15-8-2024. Another "shot" of the "Skogsfru" in English - "Ghost Orchid". Taken with another vintage lens than the first picture showed. It is really like a forest ghost.
15-8-2024. We found it after much searching in the deep forests of Jämtland. Several plants and my happiness was total. "Skogsfru" in English "Ghost Orchid" has received this name not only for its habitat, which is a shady forest with moist mulch, and rotting tree trunks, but more for its sudden, surprising appearance in an area where it has not been seen before. Such rarely seen plants have been called "meteor plants". The distribution of the species is quite extensive, but the known localities are few. The orchid often appears unexpectedly in the same place for a long time or perhaps disappears forever.
14-8-2024. Iphone picture from a week ago when we drove to the mountains, rivers, and deep forests of Jämtland in Sweden. Fishing, hiking, and photographing on an intense road trip. My primary goal was the rare Ghost Orchid. More images will follow.
31-7-2024. A small fishermen's cabin by the sea. A summer dream or a romantic cliche of a time already passed by. In good company - from the Swedish West coast this summer, when the evening turned from golden to blue, and the sea and air were at one. ICM image - one exposure of 8 seconds - painting with the camera.
24-7-2024. Three consecutive weeks of teaching photography are now behind me. Courses were "creative macro photography" and "the light and the camera". As usual, it was intense, challenging, and a lot of fun. It was also my 25th year at "Fridhem Folkhögskola" teaching summer courses. I want to thank all the wonderful participants for their enthusiasm, positive spirits with a lot of laughter, and amazing images. This dragonfly taken with my favorite vintage lens is from the last morning.
15-7-2024. Two weeks with two different classes and wonderful participants ended this weekend. I took a few days off to get the chance to do some photography "out of the box". I lured my Danish friend to join me along the Swedish West Coast. The first stop was Erik Malm's new exhibition: tantalizing images, grand opening talk, and inspiring meetings. We continued down the West Coast through the landscapes of Bohuslän and Halland shooting seascapes and nature. This image is deeply symbolic for me and is inspired by Erik's exquisite ICM techniques - one exposure of 8 seconds - painting with the camera.
6-7-2024. My first out of three weeks of teaching photography has ended. I am waiting for the second group to arrive. The first week's subject was light and how to see various lights and use them to your advantage. The upcoming week's subject is creative macro. My first group was a great group - dedicated and much laughter and good images. Thanks to you all! Here is Madeleine concentrating on a Damselfly. From my side "shot" with my favorite vintage lens.
3-7-2024. In southern Sweden now, teaching photography for three weeks in Skåne. Rains and cold weather and before hot, very dry and the result is less flowers than in my Stockholm region. BUT I found a lovely little spot for this orchid: Epipactis palustris, the Marsh Helleborine. The same Japanese lens as in the previous post.
28-6-2024. Close to summer peaking, most orchids are not in flower anymore, some are though still in bloom and others are about to flourish. This Red Helleborine - Cephalanthera rubra (röd skogslilja in Swedish) is getting more and more rare in Sweden. It's very beautiful but difficult to photograph - the red color in the camera is switching to a more bluish tone, the surroundings are often messy and the light this time of the year can be too hard. The lens I chose - did the job well, a modified old Japanese lens. I'm very happy with this image due to the light.
22-6-2024. "Midsommarblomster" or freely translated: Midsummer Flower ( in real English: Wood Cranesbill or Woodland Geranium) is related to the festival and celebration of Midsummer in Sweden. It is a highly appraised festival celebrated with family and friends and a modern myth of happiness, summer, and idyllic countryside. But for the ones alone it can be the opposite, sadness and a feeling of involuntary loneliness. What does this tiny, 2 mm long Scleropterus serratus (Humleblomstervivel) know about this? It's just trying to survive in a tiny area of Sweden in the eastern part of the landscape of Uppland. Vintage lens and diffused flash used.
17-6-2024. I am finally done with the editing of last week's orchid photography. As I wrote in my previous post, it's always a hunt for the image one has in mind. This one came quite close to it. So we will see next year if I return to the Lady Slippers for a 5th consecutive year ;-) My favorite vintage lens delivered even this time and the light was just perfect for a few minutes.
12-6-2024. Lady Slipper Orchid is flowering right now in some parts of Stockholm province and has already passed flowering in more southern and also northern localities. It is a strange spring this year due to cold pre-spring turning into summer immediately when it should be spring: and now back to normal temperatures. This orchid is gorgeous but difficult to photograph to give it a mystical aura. I'm shooting it for the fourth year in a row and not having the ultimate image yet. And where it grows there are billions of mosquitoes - not making it much easier.
7-6-2024. Went for a few days to a northern moor - 3,5 hours northwest of Stockholm. It used to be a very good place for photographing Red-throated Diver. But most of the trails in the reserve are now closed because photographers were leaving the trails, even not allowed to do so, and disturbing the divers. The area is still a great locality for northern birds, plants, and insects. Especially dragonflies.
2-6-2024. After spending 8 days on the wonderful and biodiverse island of Öland in the Baltic it's now time for the landscape of Skåne. To spend time with an old friend and both trying to look cool says little about all nice conversations and experiences shooting new images and discovering nature together. An old friendship is a treasure to guard!
29-5-2024. Yesss!! We nailed it, yesterday evening, despite being very early in the season. The Stag Beetle is Europe's largest beetle and is closely connected with old-growth oak forests. Öland delivers ;-). Vintage lens + diffused flash
28-5-2024. A photo I'm quite happy with despite the difficulties operating the homebuilt lens showed in the post of 22-5-2024. I like it because I wanted to show the greenery atmosphere of the lush old forest. Spotted woodpecker with a tree-living-beetle which I think is: Pyrrhidium sanguineum
27-5-2024. In action on the beautiful island in the Baltic - Öland. Enjoying a week with my old friend from college in Denmark and a photographer as well. Happy days.
27-5-2024. The new website is finally official after many years of inactivity on the old website. Spring is in full gear, and Öland is always wonderful where I am right now. Great photography these days and little sleep. Here is a green rose chafer.
23-5-2024. Under "shop" are workshops and tours now open.
23-5-2024. New rainforest gallery added
22-5-2024. Yeahhh the new lens works quite nicely. Though very difficult to work with. Wild Fritillaria meleagris - flowering beautifully right now in the Swedish spring.
22-5-2024. Trying to adapt an old lens from approximately 1925. 100 years old! Not easy - takes a lot of "stuff" and adjustments. See the result in the next post :-)
21-5-2024 - The spring is in full bloom. I am trying to be out as much as possible, but not enough. Here with vintage "glass," a (Viola canina) shot at sunset south of Stockholm. I'm quite satisfied with the dreamy character of this image.
20-5-2024 - Finally the new homepage is launched