Powder running

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Can running in fresh powder snow be as thrilling as skiing?

My good friend Anders Andersson owns almost every outdoor gear you can imagine. It seems like he can squeeze in way more than 24 hours in day. Running, kayaking, multisporting, mountainbiking, hiking, climbing, cycling…

When I asked him if he wanted to be a “powder model” for a few hours he thought about it for about one millisecond before turning his face into a big friendly YES. Thanks Anders.

So, back to the question. Is it as fun as skiing in knee deep powder? No, not really but nevertheless a fun thing to do.

Happy new climbing

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Winter climbing in Sweden can be frustrating cold, but on the very first day of the year we got a window of sunshine. The winter here in Sweden is keeping its grip on us, forcing us to work on our plastic project most of the climbing days. But when there’s a window of sunshine we fight the cold. What is better than start 2011 with a bouldering session with some good friends in a stunning environment out on the island of Öckero, just outside of downtown Gothenburg. After only 30 minutes on the island I dipped both my feet in almost knee deep freezing water… The rest of the day was spent in climbing shoes.

Cold? YES.

We find what we think is yet an unclimbed problem just right of Gullik’s Surf’n Turf. Carl-Johan Svensson trying it:

Family portraits

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Christmas means spending time with my family. Swedish meatballs, beatsallad, herring, and other classic pastries are all part of the family holiday. But it’s very easy to forget to document the people you hold most dear. I took the opportunity to remedy that…

Simple setup on the following photos: one SB800 on each side. The right one with a +0.7 warming filter in a softbox, and the left one into a silver reflector.

Same setup as above but this time with a blue filter on the left flash:

Lesson learned: it’s sometimes very hard to work effeciently in small confined spaces using multiple flashes. It took many tries to get the setting right when using this setting.
You need to be careful when using side lights, especially with a colored filter, so you don’t light up the wrong part of the face.

The following photo below is taken in a very small stairway, with a Elinchrom Ranger with a 20 degree raster together with a SB800 with a blue filter at the bottom of the stair. In my left hand I’m pointing a silver reflector to lighten up the shadow in his face.

The following photos are taken into a woodshed with SB800 with a +0.7 warming filter inside the shed, and two flashes on the outside, on one of them I again put a blue filter.

Backlight and front side light:

Winter wedding

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A winter wedding in Sweden can be a real gamble if you want to do the shooting outdoors. Per and Lina Granlund got married on the beautiful island of Marstrand just outside of Gothenburg, and plan A was to do most of the shooting outdoors. The weather in Sweden can be very unpredictable; you need to be prepared for anything between very cold with lots of snow to very wet with heavy rain. And sometimes you feel very lucky and can actually spot the thing we call sun…

The weather turned out to be mostly on our side even though it was cold and occasionally windy.

Here are some photos from the shoot:

Using flashes and big softboxes on windy days and close to water makes the job impossible without a good trustworthy assistent. My nephew Alex made a terrific job making sure the Elinchrom Ranger flash stayed dry on land.

The moped wasn’t only used for props, it also served for effective transportation between shooting sites.

Bouldering in Fontainebleau, France

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Once again I headed down to more southern latitudes for some more world class bouldering. Last trip in March got me in love with the thickly forrests around the small city of Fontainebleau, just south of Paris. Fontainebleau is truly magical; thousands of top quality boulders in a beatiful setting. This time we stayd in a gite in another nice little village called Boutigny-sur-Essonne, located a little west of the major bouldering areas.

Magnus Palmestål on the dazzling problem El Poussif 7A+:

We’ve heard of a brilliant problem called La Baleine 7A+ in the area Petit Bois. Even with a GPS we spent close to an hour finding the parking for this small place. Surprisingly the area turned out to be packed with swedes that we know a bit from home. We had a nice, friendly few hours there before we took of to Bas Cuvier. However, we did find La Baleine and quickly sent it, and what a nice problem it was. Recommended! Here’s an american strong girl trying it:

Again, the area Franchard Cuisiniere was in the end one of the favorite areas. At the end of the day we found a really nice, sharp arete which offered a perfect backlight photo scene:

After a long day out climbing hard, you need to treat yourself with a taste of the french cuisine:

Our local security force consisted of the sturdy german shepherd Elsa. One evening when I was leaving the gite she scared the shit out of me when I opened the door to step outside. There she was, only a foot in front of me, like the muscles from Brussels… I jumped, and
so did she! Then she wagged the tail and wanted to play with the ball as usual…

The approach to the area of Apremont:

And last but not least: remember, you are never alone in the woods…

CD cover shoot

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Local music artist Sandra Oldenstam was looking for a special type of portrait photo for her CD cover. We spent an afternoon in the studio shooting, and finally we got what we wanted.
She had a mental image of what the photo should look like, but it took a while before we got to the point where we both were happy with the result.

Here are some photos from the shoot:

Finally, after many hours of shooting we got a few good photos that we both felt could do the work, like this one:

For those interested in the flash setup, here’s what I used: