Portrait in Monochrome

I used the set-up shown here: Portraits in small places

Hälleforsnäs, Sweden.

Hamlet and Ophelia - Helsingør Station

The statues of Hamlet and Ophelia, from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", grace the railway station in Helsingør. They apparently are only here temporarily after being moved to several locations since they were crafted in 1937. They have been here since 2008, and I hope they stay here as they really fit with the beautiful architecture of the station building, and of course they have a view from here of the castle in Helsingør that is believed to have inspired Shakespeare as the castle that Hamlet was based in. They were made by the Danish artist Rudolph Tegner, who was also supposed to do a statue of Shakespeare at the same time but apparently, for some reason, never got around to doing it.


Isn't history fun!? :-)

Ducks and Jetty - Lake Esrum, Fredensborg, Denmark

So I finally found out the actual name of Lake Esrum! I live and learn every day. :-)

Looking at history in Helsingør, Denmark.

There is a lot of history here in the land of Vikings! If only these old streets could talk, I'll wager they could tell us a lot about the original inhabitants and their daily lives. The origin of this place dates back to about 1231, with one debatable document claiming it's history goes as far back as 70BC. Whatever it is, I feel a great affinity with this whole area because, after all, my Scottish ancestors were from Viking stock originally!

I am having a lot of fun here in Scandinavia! :-)

Ferries arriving - Helsingør Harbour

These ferries shuttle people, cars, buses and trucks back and forth all day long from Helsingborg in Sweden to Helsingør in Denmark, linking the two "Helsings". Normally you can see Helsingborg quite clearly from Helsingør harbour, but the mist is shrouding it almost completely in this shot. Just to the left of this picture (out of picture) is the castle that Hamlet was based in from Shakespeare's play.

Typical Swedish country scene

Early Morning Walk in Fredensborg Palace Gardens

Walking through the Fredensborg Palace Gardens down towards the royal boathouse (Skipperhuset) at the lake, you can just make out the building erected by Frederik IV for the royal yachts. The mist gives it all a kind of magical quality! Well worth braving the winter cold.

A Fearsome Terror in the Woods!

Mooring Posts - Fredensborg Lake

Inside the Kyrka in Mellösa

A Swedish Farm in Södermanland

I went for a drive in the Swedish countryside today and I really love the landscape here! This is a typical Swedish farm in a province called Södermanland.

The Fredensborg Palace in Denmark

The Danish Queens spring and autumn residence in Fredensborg, Denmark. Nice little place, no?

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX, hand held, ISO400, f2.8, 1/30s. Just love this lens as a light walkabout on the D90!

It's in the Details! 2

Close Encounters of the Scary Kind!

Coochy, coochy, coochy coo!

SNAP!

Looking down onto Paradise

The previous photo was taken from the bend in the river that you can see on the left of this photograph of the Vaal river.

I had to wait for a while for a break in the clouds to let some sunlight through onto "Paradise".

Portrait of a Man

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and in photography we can capture that part of the reflection of the human soul for all the world to see. Isn't it all the more important then to make sure that all of our photographic skill is focused on capturing a persons eyes first and foremost and deal with the rest of the person as being only secondary to a successful portrait?

Am I an artist now?

I heard somewhere that you are not a true photographic artist until you have photographed a toilet. These are urinals, do they count? Am I an artist now or should I keep trying until I make it? ;-)

Abstract Art From Film

The bokeh from my 50mm f1.8 Nikkor is just simply wonderful!

Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, Fuji Superia 200 iso cheap consumer film, developed and extremely badly scanned by my crummy local lab. Edited with the Gimp.