Springtime joy

Remember those Peanuts comics telling you that happiness is a warm puppy or a big bunch of dry leaves? What I especially like about these drawings is that they make you appreciate the small things in life.

So every now and then I try to do the same. To share a little happiness. Back in the winter of 2009, happiness to me was a warm fireplace, while some months earlier happiness was rediscovering one of my butterfly shots, as it made me realise just how fantastic summer in little old Denmark can be.

Right now, on this particular April Saturday, happiness is springtime. We are enjoying one of the first really sunny and almost warm days of 2011. On such a day, you don't have to do much else than simply look out the window, and a smile immediately appears.

So: Happiness is...one of the first beautiful spring days following a long winter.

The picture today is obviously from Paris. Here spring sprung a little earlier than in Denmark, giving us the opportunity to enjoy European springtime when we went there in March.

Three towers

More by coincidence than by plan we came across a small coastal town in northern Italy in the beginning of spring one year. Too early for tourists, really, though we still found ourselves there. I'm quite sure that in the summer the beachfront of this town is a lively place boasting laughing kids, smiling parents, yelling vendors and nice seafood restaurants.

Now, however, though the sun was out, the weather was still chilly, the waterfront restaurants were mostly empty, and the beach chairs were all covered up.

Preparing to drive on to the next town along the way, at the end of an alley we spotted a peculiar sight. Not one, not two but three tall, medieval towers stretching for the sky side by side. We parked the car, wandered down the alley and suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a maze-like, old town with rough churches, sunny squares and strong fortifications.

Looking up, you could see the blue sky through the narrow spaces between the buildings, sometimes interrupted by the occational line of laundry. Once we had turned the first corner, the noise of the cars on the busy road just outside was completely gone. The streets of the Medieval village were empty at this point, people probably being at work at that particualur hour. Because it wasn't deserted - the laundry gave that much away.

Walking along these narrow alleyways, it felt like taking a step back in time. You could almost sense children running around, merchants offering freshly caught fish, while chasing away the occational rat, and soldiers defending the inhabitants dwelling behind the city walls.

The contrast of this place compared to the busy and frankly quite bland town outside the walls was amazing. This place was tranquil, interesting and exuding hundreds of years of history. A place of both then and now, as our adventure took us to a beautiful square with a nice restaurant offering us a sunny spot to enjoy lovely treats and spectacular service.

Standing guard

The street in this shot, Nørrebrogade, is one of the absolute busiest in all of Copenhagen. So busy, in fact, that it's main bus line transports a staggering 65.000 people around each day! The street is also the lifeline of the Nørrebro quarter, which is very multicultural and quite lively - sometimes a bit too lively. With so much going on, it's great to see these little fellows standing their ground, while bikes, cars and pedestrians are swooping by.

Actually these guys embody much of what I love about my neighbourhood: the mix of small, weird shops (to one of which these figures belong), the many cultures, scents and impressions all rolled into one central avenue.

And for my foreign visitors a little bonus info: The yellow wall in the background hides a large and very beautiful churchyard, where prominent Danes such as the fairytale father Hans Christian Andersen, the singer Natasja, the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and the scientist Niels Bohr are laid to rest.

Happiness is....

...a warm fireplace on a cold, stormy night.

Right now the wind is howling, the rain is pounding on the windows and the trees are bending so as not to break, while daring cyclists are fighting to stay on their bikes though hardly getting anywhere.

Oh yes, Denmark is having its first true winter storm. On a night like this, a warm and cosy fireplace like the one in this picture post would be nice to have. This particular fireplace, however, is a French one. I took the photo last year in november, while enjoying a late autumn holiday in the French Alps.

Creepy-crawlies

To those of you who might experience a true sense of disgust, when faced with creatures like these, I do apologize. Had these small bugs been more...well...spider-like, I can assure you that I would have never got anywhere near close enough for a close-up. These, however, fascinate me with their large eyes and sort of alien-like appearance.

Therefore: Enjoy...or don't - it's completely up to you.

Sicilian Summer!

Not really loving all the rain in Denmark at the moment, I'm already reminiscing about our fabulous summer holiday in Sicily two weeks ago. So here goes: A couple of pictures that I feel capture some of the amazing essence of the Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sleepy Sunday

I think we all know the feeling. I do, at least, and I bet that you do too. That sleepy, dreary feeling that life, at this particular point in time, is best lived asleep. Maybe it's very hot outside (yes, that actually does happen in Denmark once in a while), you've had a bit too much for lunch, and suddenly that siesta-thing makes sooo much more sense to you.

Or maybe it's just Sunday. Maybe you were out last night and are now battling a throbbing head, something which we all know is best done from deep under the covers. Or maybe that sleepy Sunday feeling has just got a hold of you, for no particular reason, but, hey, it's the weekend, so why get up, when you really don't feel like it. And even if you do get up, a little nap on the couch in the late afternoon feels like the best idea you've had in a long time.

Today, on this particular Sunday, I woke up with a bit of that feeling, loving the fact that sleeping late was definitely an option. Therefore I wanted to share some pics (pun intented) with you that I feel capture the essence quite well.

In colour!

It's spring and the world is full of colours. And this year the shops are full of them as well, as summer fashion is an explosion of bright colours to light up the world in these times of crisis.

To quote Ole Henriksen, I LOVE it! Therefore, this post is dedicated to life in colour - enjoy!

Graffiti Love

Now, I will make this short, and leave it up to my photos to speak for themselves this time. Just wish to share that I happen to live in the midst of graffiti central, aka Nørrebro, here in Copenhagen - for better and worse. Now, in my opinion this street art has two sides to it: one which is simply annoying and destructive, that is, the constant scribbling of words everywhere. But it also has another side to it - the art side. Because grafitti can actually be quite interesting, making the urban scene colourful and expressive, when done "right", whatever the recipe for that is. And, for my purposes and interests, it definitely makes for some great shots, I think.

I would love to hear your opinions on the subject!

So here goes: The Graffiti Love mini-collection - named after the first of the photos.

Staging product placement?

Now, this picture may make the most sense to you, if you are a Dane - or speak Danish. Therefore, here goes a translation and explanation: The sign says "Det danske vejr er Gajol vejr", which translates into "The Danish weather is Gajol weather ". Gajol is a Danish cough drop, making the slogan well suited for a country with some quite, let's just say, schizophrenic weather, where sun may quickly turn into bitter-cold wind and rain - and an accompanying cold.

However, once in a while the Danish weather shows its more pleasant face, like on the day this picture is taken. I was strolling down Vesterbrogade, a central avenue in Copenhagen, together with a friend of mine, enjoying one of the first real spring days here in DK, when we came across this neon sign. Now, that kind of ad board has been around for ages, making it as central a part of some cities as the town hall or well-known tourist attractions. Just think of Piccadilly Circus in London or Times Square in New York - or, for my Danish readers, the Irma hen by Dronning Louises Bro.

While these signs definitely demand attention at night, at daytime they normally seem more anonymous. But this Gajol ad is actually quite brilliant (pun intented), as it, whether planned or not, works as product placement with all the sky as its stage. On this day, the slogan came across with a positive note, however, no matter the weather, the sign fits - because the changeableness of the weather IS the essense of the message.

So, in an age when micro-targeting through social media is replacing - or at least competing with traditional mass media advertising, this sign, to me at least, still works. It's concise, it's culturally adapted (let's face it, we Danes speak of the weather quite a lot), and it's brilliant. Nothing more, nothing less.

What do you think?

Playground Collection

A little something to look forward to

Now, in case you didn't notice from my last post, January here in little Denmark far up north is often quite dark, rainy or even sporting snow (no pun intended). But what it does offer - except for a good reason to curl up under a blanket with a movie and a hot cup of chocolate - is some of the most beautiful mornings on those cold and clear days.

Still, winter CAN get a liiiittle too long - in other words (and to quote miss Olivia), you start longing for those su-ummer ni-ights - and days. It's moving in the right direction, though. Days are getting longer and we see more light during a day, so, though it is still freezing cold, spring is closing in on us, and so are those summer days and nights (tell me more, tell me more...).

So today's post is meant to be a teaser. A little something to shake that winter-weary head of yours and dig out the memories of summer days passed to remind you (and myself) what this little northern country also has to offer.

Remember those summer days, which may be few but then are even more blessing, when the sun shines on us, when the evenings are mild, when everything is in bloom, and when butterflies like the one above flutter around us. Got the image in your head? Good! Now, hang on to that for the next couple months, and before you know it, summer will be here again.

The awakening

What is it about January? It's cold, and it's dark. Getting up in the morning is difficult, because the pitch blackness makes it seem like all the world is asleep. And maybe it is. Though you are not the only one battling the wind, rain, snow, or whatever else the elements may throw your way, to get to work or school, it does seem like it takes the first couple of hours of the day, before anyone is actually awake. We are all a bunch of winter zombies, relentlessly striving towards some end destination without a thought in mind, except, perhaps, for longing for the day's first energy fix of morning coffee.

And then suddenly one day something happens! The lazy sun, who, unlike ourselves, gets to sleep in, yawns and stretches its rays above the horizon. The sky fills with gold, and the darkness yields to unveil a winter wonderland as beautiful as ever.

Those days make it all worthwhile. Though you had to get up at an unearthly hour, when everything was dark and depressing, the natural wonder, playing out live before your eyes, revives you like no cup of strong, black coffee could ever do. You stop in the middle of whatever you were doing to simply look. To take it all in. That's when you awake. Your mind, soul and body seems to rise with the sun.

The picture in this post is taken on one of those days, when the sun was just starting to grace the world with its rays of light. As it happened, the post has turned out to have a more poetic strike than normally, which was actually not intended, when I started writing. But that is what those sunny winter mornings do to me, so actually I find the tone quite fitting for the theme.

Happy New Year!

Today is January 1st 2009, and, like many others, I am looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for me. Hopefully some adventure and a bunch of great experiences with, for example, taking photos.

I find the above picture quite fitting for this first day of 2009, as it demonstrates a cosy tradition that I and a bunch of other Europeans follow each January 1st, namely the ski jumping competition in Garmish-Partenkirchen in Germany. The photo is a shot of the tv screen, which is why it is somewhat blurry, but I actually find that it makes for quite an interesting effect. The blurred people in the background show the movement of the skier in front, although he is not completely in focus either. This, however, in my opinion at least, actually gives the photo a kind of artistic feel that I quite like.

What do you think?

Merry Christmas!

Now, I promised you one of my more 'special' Christmas shots, and I do believe that this one qualifies! As I mentioned in my previous post, Christmas is, besides a time of joy, also the time of year, when we forget everything about style, design and colour coordination and instead fill our homes with all sorts of weird and, yes, special stuff. This tendency is also part of what I find to be the essense of Christmas, and therefore I will, on this 24th of December, try to give reason for a smile or two by sharing Rudolf with you.

The shot is from Tivoli, a Danish amusement park in Copenhagen, which every December is filled with lights, decorations and all kinds of Christmassy things like, for instance, the display above with Rudolf dragging Santa's sleigh.

And on that cheerful note, I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and may all your wishes come true

Christmas time

Earlier this month - on the first day of Christmas - I promised you a more 'Christmassy' shot. Since then, I have been carrying my camera with me, annoying people around me by suddenly stopping in the middle of my path to immortalise some odd motive. This has resulted in a number of pictures, some beautiful - and some simply quite special.

The one I want to share with you today is, in my opinion, of the former kind. To me it captures some of the spirit of Christmas, as this is, as we say in Danish 'hjerternes fest' (roughly translates into 'celebration of hearts').

Christmas is about family, joy, love and peace - and about cosyness, decorations and lights to light up the darkness during this first of the winter months. Therefore, the macro shot of this tiny Christmas heart, captured at a moment when the sun shone in the window, is among my favourite frames taken during the last couple of weeks.

However, Christmas is also about weird stuff . About filling your house with all sorts of crazy elfs, reindeer and santa figures, which you would, at any other time of the year, look at with dismay and ban from your home immediately. But during December, these lovely, though strange, creatures find their way into our homes and our hearts. But that is a whole other story, for which I have one of the more 'special' shots in store for you some time during the next couple of days.

Making your impression

While sorting through my photos, I came across this one. Though the beach in Denmark is generally most inviting during the summer, it actually makes for quite nice times during the rest of the year as well. I grew up near a beach - this particular beach actually - and have always loved going there during winter, when the rest of the population prefer a bunch of other locations - mainly warmer ones.

As I recall, the picture in this post is taken during one of these walks in December a couple of years back. While staying indoor is indeed quite cosy and generally much warmer at that time of year, the light outside, when the sun graces us with a cold and clear day, invites you to take a stroll, stretch your legs, and work off some of all that lovely Christmas food.

In the town where I grew up, the beach is ideal for this. While in summer it is usually packed with sunbathing people, doing their best to get an even tan, no matter how troublesome that actually is, in the winter you can have it almost to yourself. Only a few dog-walkers, the occational bird-watcher and a handful of other people, who have got the same idea as yourself, will be walking along the sandy coast or chasing the waves as they hit the shore.

The general scarcity of people occupying the area also means that the wildlife is able to have a ball - at long last they get their domain to themselves. That is why, when I, on that December day, was walking along the beach, the sand was filled with tiny three-toed footprints and only a few of the larger, human marks.

Time of joy

As the date today reads December 1st, I actually wanted to spread som Christmas spirit and joy by posting a picture fitting for the season. What I found, ruffling through my desktop, was, however, that I am not quite satisfied with my Christmas pictures - so I have set myself a challenge this December: capture the essense of Christmas in a single frame.

How this ends up, I will share with you later this month, however, for now I will leave you with something I find to be my comfort and joy during the cold, dark months here in Denmark: the warmth, tranquility and relaxation brought by the light of a single candle. Enjoy!

Reaching for the sky

This picture is taken in Sevilla in Spain during this summer at the Plaza de España, an impressive half-circle plaza with beautiful buildings along the edge. It is located in the large and serene Parque María Luísa and is built in 1929 for the Spanish-American Exhibition.

Standing at the bottom of this tower, which is near one of the ends of the half-circle building, I looked up as the sun hid behind a cloud for a second. The light that resulted was bright, yet a little dusty, and it gave the view, looking up along the tower and seeing the clouds floating past on the deeply blue background, a certain feel to it that called for a camera shot - one of many at this square

Frostbite

After the very picturesque sunset, I thought it was time for something more fun. Riding my bike home from work today, I got to thinking about this picture, which I took a little less than two years ago. The reason I thought of it was that it is getting cold in Denmark! And riding home the air had a frosty bite to it, like the sensation you get just before it starts to snow. This could, though, be caused by the weather reports promising (or threatening, depending how you look at it) snow tomorrow and during the weekend. Well, no matter why I thought of snow, the combination of that sensation and the Christmas decorations in the shops and streets (though it is still November), reminded me of this picture.

Like with the sunset, it is taken in Aarhus, close to where I lived then. A local kindergarten had a couple of goats hiding in a shed from the cold - clever animals indeed! I, however, had come to a different conclusion and ran around with my camera - the bright sun on the pure, white snow was simply too beautiful not to go look at - and photograph.

So when I came up to the fence, the goats, clever yet very curious as they are, came running towards me. And this little fellow found himself nippling at a seasoned Christmas tree (get the pun? - I'm simply filled with humour of a questionable kind today). So there the motive was - and there I was - fortunately with my camera.

On a different note, though the Christmas decorations reminded me of this picture, it is actually taken in January, which probably explains why the tree is there in the first place.

Finally, I know that I don't have that many readers yet - actually only one, if I'm correct, but anyone who might stumple across my site here is welcome to comment, if they like.

Now that's it for today - enjoy the upcoming weekend - with or without snow.