In late august I got news that Dagens Nyheter (DN) ran one of my photos from Kalymnos, Greece, on the cover. DN published my feature story about climbing and life on the small and beautiful island of Kalymnos. This was my first cover on a major news paper, very happy about this.
Kalymnos is an awesome place to go if you’re looking for a quite place combined with world class climbing. Go there.
The little Greek island Kalymnos is the perfect destination if you’re looking for a climbing and family combination. If you stay in the small village of Massouri you will have many of the major crags within walking distance, as well as the beach and all the other facilities in the village. If you want the flexibility to choose from all the crags on the island you should rent a scooter.
Last year I was contacted by Calle Magnusson, a journalist and writer, who was looking for good publishable photos of the Swedish elite ice climber Markuz Lindgren. A couple of years ago I worked with Markuz a few times in Norway, so my ice climbing archive was good to go. I was happy to be able to contribute with a few photos, which I hope will inspire the readers. Finally, this fall the book Adrenalin was released, and when I got a copy in my hands I was very pleased to see it in print.
The book is a very solid piece of work with lots of adrenalinish photos. Calle devotes each chapter to an adventurer, with a good mix of personal portraits, stories and anecdotes. Adrenalin will guide the reader through parachuting, alpinism, surfing, mountain hiking, river rafting, climbing, free diving and glacier hiking in Sweden and Norway.
A while ago I was in Björlanda to shoot the photos at René and Cajsas wedding in Björlanda, just outside of downtown Gothenburg. After the traditional photos at the ceremony in church we headed out to a tiny island called Grågåseholmen. Lots of gear to carry but it was fun to see this picturesque scenery. Very swedish. As always with a wedding shoot it’s a challange to keep the schedule, as well as finding good ways to avoid the high contrasts during mid day.
My friend and colleague Fredrik Schenholm recently released his first book, on a subject I’m sure will attract a lot of readers; how to survive as an action photographer. Especially in a small country like Sweden there are lucky few who can actually find a way to make a living out of shooting action sports. Fredrik is one of them, and one of the best in this genre.
Fredrik phoned me early this fall and asked if I wanted to be part of the content; as an climbing photographer expert. I was of course very honored, and contributed with a few of my climbing images as well as my thoughts about shooting climbing.
The book is a great piece of work, where Fredrik and co-author Anders Wingqvist thoroughly takes the reader through Fredrik’s work flow, mixed with interesting and funny anekdotes and short stories.
A great tool for those who want to get into the business, or just want to improve as an action photographer. The book is full of very useful hands-on tips and tricks, as well as pure inspiration.
More info at Calazo Förlag.
I was honored with the assignment as the photographer at the wedding of Frida and Christian in late August at the beautiful manor of Åbonäs, just outside of Tranås in Sweden. Built in 1860, Åbonäs is still one of the youngest in the region, and for a wedding photographer a manor like this one offers a great deal of stunning interior, and exciting light conditions. At the end of the photo session we found a really cool looking room that took us back to the 19th century. I thought we were all done for the day, but still wanted to play around in the room a bit. After a while I realized that this is it, the best scene of the day so I called in the bride and groom again and made them pose for a few last shots. They turned out to be pretty nice looking!
We all had a great day together, even though the weather god didn’t respond to our prayers. It was great fun to get the chance to experiment with the soft and beautiful natural light from the big windows. Many of the best shots was captured with natural light and a big reflector. Here are a few more shots from the day:
Which one is your favorite?
When you really think about it, the world we live in is pretty big. Really big. Before I became a proud father of baby girl Alice I didn’t realize how fragile we all are, and how enormously big the world is. But, at the same time, it’s very small. Alice doesn’t care, or even take notice, if we go climbing in Fontainebleau in France or if we just go down the road to the nearest playground. Her world is confined to the space we give her. It’s pretty cool when you think about it, isn’t?
Babygirl Alice wants out to play with the dog. Big dog, three times her size…
Local guide book author Tomasz Ratajczak just released his third edition of the climbing guide book over the Gothenburg area. I talked to Tomasz a few days ago, and I was very happy to hear that for the second consecutive time one of my photos from Utby, a crag near downtown Gothenburg, is on the cover. This edition contains info about an impressive 1662 routes on 46 crags, with good topos and descriptions. Tomasz decided to go all-in with color photos (the second edition, released in 2006, only had the cover in color) in the new edition, which adds to the quality feel.
More info about the book and how to order it can be found here: http://www.gbg-guiden.info/site/order.php
The second edition had more of a green summer-ish touch on the cover:
Sandsjöbacka, a nature reserve park about a 30 minute drive south from Gothenburg, is probably one of the best bouldering sites winter time. Around a dozen of problems in the 7-grade spectrum, many of the also being fast drying. One particular problems is recommended to do when the cold weather holds a grip on Sweden is Oscarsgalan (swedish for Oscar Academy Award). It’s a tall wall on very solid rock that sits along the side of a small swamp, and when the swamp freezes it’s a lot easier to access the rock.
