Memories

Lens-Artists#242 – New Experiences

/ Leya / 48 kommentarer

Anne is leading us this week, looking for New Experiences.

Every day there are new experiences, but some days there are fantastic new experiences. Looking forward to that experience can create overwhelming feelings, and even more so when the experience is something you wished for but thought would never happen.

Anne went to Australia and had a long wished for photographic tour with Leanne Cole. An amazing adventure! I too have chosen a dream come true – The Amazon Forest and the Galapagos Islands. In 2016 we left Sweden for the great adventure. Here – some memories from the Amazon.

Arriving at the lodge!

We went to Ecuador, lived in the jungle for a week and then sailed the Galapagos Islands. Every day was an adventure, something I had dreamed of since I was a child. To fall asleep to the sounds of the jungle, to walk high above the gigantic canopy of trees… fighting mosquitos in the morning, but wow, these are unforgettable memories.

Trees are a passion with me, and at Sacha Lodge on the Napo River, I lived my dream in every moment. The birds, the flowers, the hilarious monkeys shouting through the jungle while jumping over our canoe. And, watching the sunset over the Amazon from a Kapok tree, to all the sounds of the jungle – is hard to beat.

From the canopy down to the forest floor, everything was fascinating. The night walk was intense…no light, only sounds. Our excellent guide knew where to look, and he spotted Tarantulas, lizards, snakes and frogs – effortlessly. We were so impressed, but of course – he grew up in the jungle and was well acquainted with every creature there.

Every day we spent many hours in the canoe, ”looking for anacondas”, but we felt (rather…) safe. Immersed in the dense jungle and its many sounds, I just wanted to stay forever.

When we returned home in the evenings we always felt we’d been blessed with new, exciting experiences. I wished we could have stopped the time there for a while.

But today, your challenge is to show and tell us about a new experience You had. It could be a trip, the birth of a child or grandchild, a road trip to a new place, the possibilities are endless. Please link to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

We all enjoyed your responses to Sofia’s challenge of Spring. Your beautiful images made us all long for spring wherever in the world we live. Next week, April 1, Donna Holland will be challenging you so …Be ready for anything! Go to her lovely site for more inspiration.

Thank you to this week’s host, Anne, for encouraging us to share our New Experiences. Visit her site to see photos from her travel to Australia. Amazing!

Interesting in joining the Lens-Artists Challenge? Click here for for information.

Thursday Thoughts – I Need Light and Colours!

/ Leya / 31 kommentarer

I was happy to see that my cheering up post made more than me happier! So, my Thursday Thoughts will be all for cheering us up in gloomy January. Here we go!

And More!

This gallery was made up by pictures from 2011-2015, June and July. I just flicked through them, and picked those that went straight to my heart. Enjoy! Maybe you want to try the same remedy?

Wishing you all a bright and sunny January!

LAPC#222 – Mountains are Calling

/ Leya / 48 kommentarer

Amy is our host this week, and she hopes we will share our joy and pleasure of visiting/climbing  mountains. I know many of us are mountain lovers, so we are looking forward to seeing your responses! Be sure to link to Amy’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

In the mountains, there you feel free.

– T. S. Eliot

Let’s start close to home, in Scandinavia, with green summer mountains…

…blue glaciers and

mocca coloured, volcanic Iceland. They are calling to me with their special light and fresh air.

The Canary Islands offer more than beaches, we usually hike the mountain areas. Pico de las Nieves in the faraway clouds, and the pinnacle in the middle is called Roque del Fraile (monk)

On top of the world is the Himalayas, an impressive mountain range. Here seen from northern Bhutan.

More from the Himalayas, now seen from the Tibetan Plateau, where we went by train to Lhasa.

A holy lake in Tibet. The landscape is vast and it took some time for my son to walk down to the water. Lower mountains here, but still impressive. The clouds seemed to hang right above us, almost touchable, and the contrasts were bright in the thin air. This is about 3000-4000 meters above sea level.

The mountain meadows of Switzerland are a haven of summer flowers in July. I think this image shows the essense of this week’s challenge – “The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir

Hiking mountains is so much more than the spectacular views – it is meeting other hikers, photographing flowers, animals, and different landscapes.

Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.

― Jeffrey Rasley

Many of us seek the mountains to be alone. To shut out the world and just BE. Silence is rare in this world.

Go where you feel most alive.

– Unknown

So, mountains are calling me because of their beauty, for peace of mind and soul…for moving my body at a pace that suits me, for spending time in the glory of nature. And for photography.

I will finish with other ways of loving mountains… bungyjumping, kiteflying, skiing, rafting, aso…today there are endless activities to try in the mountains if hiking is not your thing. In New Zealand you can get it all.

I cannot thank you enough for last week’s explosion in flowers! You sent us just what I had hoped for – an abundance of glorious flowers! For once, you could indulge in lovely flower images without regret (!), and many of you pointed out the impossibility in chosing favourites – because we love them all! ♥

Next week, John will host LAPC #223. Be sure to visit his site for loads of inspiration. Until then, stay safe and be kind.

LAPC #214 Favourite Finds

/ Leya / 159 kommentarer

Do you love walking in bazaars or flee markets, or just window shopping? Something found in your grandmother’s closet? Second hand is very popular in the Nordic countries right now. Do you find museums intriguing? Or, maybe like me, you love special, surprising finds in nature? I am sure you have something hidden in your archives that once surprised you or filled you with awe…

We will be happy to enjoy your finds this week! And, maybe there is a story too…?

In the header my image shows some lovely hats found at Tjolöholm Castle. I love hats…unfortunately I don’t look that good in them – but I still buy one now and then.

The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.
– Hubert H. Humphrey

A shopping window in Gdansk. Too many things…but one of my best friends had pugs. Many pugs. I’d like to think she would have loved this one. Had she still been here, I might have bought it for her.
Of all possessions a friend is the most precious.
– Herodotus

A mobile made of 9 porcelain birds…not easily washed or handled, but it is still in one piece – or many pieces in one piece. It was given to me from my friend with the pugs – so you understand she is still with me, even if she has been gone for almost 8 years.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.
– Rachel Carson

This is a remarkable find. A moth that is disguised as a twig. Look at the little feet and you will find him – the other one is…a twig.

There is also a possibility that someone finds Me…

This beauty was a find in our summerhouse, last year I believe, or the year before. Look at the size and the intricate patterns woven. Nature’s masterpiece made by industrious wasps.
A window on a backstreet in Rome made me stop and look, then the bird made me take out the camera! I still love this window…and I wonder who once lived there. Old Rome always fascinates.

A precious find was the statue of Gaudí, because I finally got the chance to ask him about his art and why he stepped out in the road and was hit by a tram. Why? We would have loved him to stay and finish so many other architectural pieces…

Special thanks to Amy for last week’s happy sunshine! A bright and positive theme with many beautiful images.

Now we are looking forward to your favourite finds! Be sure to link your post here and don’t forget the tag, so we can find you in the reader.

For next week, September 3, John will be our host, and his theme will be: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…and the places they take us to visit.

Until then – stay calm, kind and loving.

Lens-Artists Challenge #186 – Low-Light

/ Leya / 69 kommentarer

This week we welcome Sofia and her delightful theme ”Low-Light”. Sofia says: ”For me, any circumstance where there is less light than the normal daytime is low-light as it requires different settings to take a good photo.”

I have chosen some of my all time favourites. In the header though, a new image from our recent visit to an old health resort, Lundsbrunn. It shows one of the great photo opportunities with low-light – long shadows.

A late evening walk at our summer house can be magical – in the right light.

On the west coast of Spain, just before sunset, I had one of my most magical low-light moments. I had to do some post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop to bring out the structures from the dark cliffs.

My cactus flowers are about 20-25 cm and the flower lasts only for about an hour, night time. They were photographed with my cell phone, and I used a small flash light to make it all possible. I knew when the flower would start to unfold, and by then I must have tried out how to use the light.

Sitting in a canoe, in the Amazon, I faced great difficulties because of the thick darkness. I was not happy about many of those night photos, but some of them managed to catch the magic –

– at least for me to remember the adventure by. I can still hear the sounds and the silence…just by looking at the images. So, don’t be afraid of blurred images – they too have a story to tell!

Of course I have to have something from Iceland here too. Iceland is all about the light. This image is from the south coast, a late winter evening – and the roaring sea. Velvety browns and the black sand beach showing off its diamonds.

Lastly, I will give you a glimpse of our Swedish watercolour master, Lars Lerin. The light in his paintings is incredible. Many of his paintings are from places in low light, Lofoten in winter for example. I believe we can learn not only from other photographers, but also from our painters, artists, how they picture light, and light when there is almost none.

This week we are inviting you to share your experiences with Low-Light photography. Do you have any special tricks to share? Please link your views to Sofia’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so we can find you.

Thanks also to John for last week’s Change challenge, and for your many creative and interesting responses. We look forward to seeing your Low Light images this week and to your joining us next week when Anne leads our challenge, be sure to visit her wonderful site.

Lens-Artists Challenge #180 – Favourite Images of 2021

/ Leya / 117 kommentarer

Our team is back and we wish you welcome to 2022. This New Year comes, again, with much hope for the future –

It was as if the land opened its lips and breathed again, and was made anew.
― Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Our “Favorite Images of the Year ” challenge will be a bit different this year too. For me, this year meant continously living in my bubble, but a bit more freedom than 2020. Still much less camera…and much less energy – but, here’s my year through lens and sense. Sometimes maybe not the best image, but the one that stirs up feelings of joy and happiness.

I begin with my absolute favourite image for 2021 – the fabulous, snowy landscape a late evening in February. the opener though, is from yesterday – the frosty landscape we had the last days of December.

We were lucky to get some ”real winter” this year – and vivid memories of my childhood came back.

The feeling of Spring and early Summer is always the highlight of the year – and my backlit tulips represents that to me.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. – Cicero

Macro moments and surprising views are also much appreciated. A walk by the brook in a special light,

– and a close look at one of the last insects seen outdoors this year – too slow to get away from my curious lens…

My husband turned 70 and we celebrated all summer…one of the highlights was a visit to ARoS museum in Aarhus, Denmark.

Another one was the fact that the biggest wandering sand dune in Europe is to be found – in Denmark.

The beginning is always today.—Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

A visit to Tjolöholm Castle was a real treat this summer. A Tudor castle in Sweden! And the most modern things in those days – unknown to ordinary people – were brought here from England. Showers that sprinkled you all around, and Roman baths on every floor.

Every moment is a fresh beginning. —T.S. Eliot

My daughter’s exam, and the most beautiful Lotus flower.

Autumn now just around the corner, but the colours were slow to arrive this year.

It was a joy when they finally fired away and had me using the camera again.

And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that never were.
—Rainer Maria Rilke

And lovely new things were revealed and enhanced by the late autumn fog – the delicacy of the leaves and trees, and the little things that inhabit the forest floor.

Yesterday’s captures were frosty sheep in -12 degrees C, sticking together despite their thick coats…

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
― Oprah Winfrey

The low sun and the soft light this winter makes it such a joy to walk with Milo. He loves the snow just as much as I do. And, as not many photographs are taken or images made in this cold weather – he is content not having to wait for me…

The Lens-Artists team is excited to announce that we’ll be welcoming several new members beginning in 2022. In addition to those of us with whom you are all familiar, we’ll be joined this year by


Sofia Alves of  Photographias 

Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed

John Steiner of Journeys with Johnbo 


Those of you who have followed us for some time will be familiar with all of them as they have all been regular participants and each has Guest-Hosted for us in the past. We know they will bring their marvelous photography, extensive travel experiences, close-to-home adventures, and fresh insight to our weekly challenges. We are very much looking forward to having them with us. Please be sure to follow their blogs to be certain you don’t miss any of our upcoming Lens-Artists challenges. 

Finally – may 2022 bring peace, health, and happy moments to us all. We look forward to seeing Your favorite images of 2021 and understanding why you’ve chosen them. Please use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. As always, we greatly appreciate your continued support of our challenge and the inventive creativity of your responses.

Thursday Thoughts – The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

/ Leya / 25 kommentarer

I have been to the cinema…first time since covid started. I knew there had been made a documentary of Björn Andrésen – once a young boy who was called the most beautiful boy in the world. I was his age, back then in the 70’s, and how I loved him. Like a teenager can…His face, the serenity, sensitivity and the vulnerability in his eyes. But little did I know what really happened to him, how he was used and abused.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World is a 2021 documentary film about Björn Andrésen and the effects of fame thrust upon him when he appeared in Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Death in Venice. The movie was built on a novel by Thomas Mann. Andrésen was just 16 when the film was released, and he was an innocent and very shy boy, totally unprepared for instantly becoming an international celebrity. So, a timely documentary theme, because these things happen – over and over again.

The title of the film came from a remark that Visconti made about Andrésen at the premiere of Death in Venice in London, and that shadow still weighs upon Björn Andrésen’s life.

Björn Andrésen wanted to be a concert pianist – not a movie star at all. Throughout the movie we hear him playing the piano, his own compositions and pieces by famous composers such as Chopin and Rachmaninov.

He had no father, and his mother committed suicide before Björn reached his teens. So, he grew up with his grandparents, and as his grandmother wanted to have a movie star grandson, she had him listed for numerous auditions…Björn was a fragile and sweet boy, so of course he did what he was told. Then came the famous Visconti, to Stockholm – and found him. The casting process was filmed, and I cried when I saw how awkward the young boy was when told to take off his clothes and pose for the film director.

Nobody seemed to notice. Nobody helped him or looked after him – and he was just a child. He had no one to turn to. How does an innocent young boy handle screaming crowds and hysterical Japanese girls – without a parent or mentor? Nobody seemed to care. He was just pushed around, trapped in a written three – year contract on his face. In the documentary he silently says, that he just wanted to be somebody else and somewhere else.

It is a deeply moving film, a tragedy, a life not taken good care of, not given a chance. Björn is still today, at 66, in my eyes, strikingly and otherworldly beautiful, but as he says himself – what has that ever done to help him with his inner demons? Years of depression and drugs, a crashed marriage and a son dead. He has a daughter though, but he feels he failed her as well. ”Nothing matters”, he says… because he has lost so much that there is nothing left to lose. A broken man, but, he has got his faith – and he wouldn’t have been here today without it.

"Fun facts" - In the documentary we go with Björn to Italy and Japan to meet, among others,  the famous manga artist Riyoko Ikeda. She is most famous for her series The Rose of Versailles. And she reveals that her drawing of the hero (Oscar Francois de Jarjayes)  is totally built on Björn Andrésen. His visit to Japan after Death in Venice started an idol worship bigger than ever, and in fact he is supposed to be the model for most of the blonde manga heroes.

Fair use. By This is a screenshot taken from an optical disc, television broadcast, web page, computer software or streaming media broadcast. Copyright Riyoko Ikeda.

I recommend you to see this movie. Not because he was a great teenage ”love” of mine and many youngsters in those days, but because it is a serenely and honestly made documentary that maintains its grip on the audience throughout the 11/2 hours. It openly shows parts of Björn’s turbulent life, but just as much as he is willing to reveal, and he is never trampled on. I feel this documentary was made with love and dignity. Thank you to the directors, Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri who made this a film to remember, and thank you Björn, for saying yes to make it come true. It is an important document of our times. May we learn something about child abuse, use and misuse, how it can destroy their whole life. Instead we must support and help our young realize their own dreams – not somebody else’s.

29 January, 2021, World Premiere, Sundance Film Festival, USA

Lens Artists Challenge #168 – Seen Better Days

/ Leya / 126 kommentarer

Tina’s challenge this week is – Seen Better Days. Old, worn and dilapidated …yes, but I’d like to think one of the reasons to why so many of us love these things, and even take photos of them, must be because ageing is unavoidable. Things around us have all seen better days, and so have many of us. We have to accept it and find the intrinsic, inner beauty in what remains of the former glory.

Because often we can find a different beauty now. Just like deep love grows from a stormy infatuation, other values can make things shine. Shapes and colours for example.

Or, like this dilapidated shed, softly dressed in a snowy winter gown.

But – sometimes everything appears to be just a sad story…

Sad, but not without beauty, is Kyrkö Mosse – a famous car graveyard some 200 kilometers from my home. Standing silently there in the forest, even I can feel them talking to me. Someone, somewhere, once found the car of his dreams, and now that car has found its final resting place here, in the middle of nature. (All toxic parts have been taken away from the cars.)

Well, what can I say…Thank you, Still Restless Jo, for giving me the idea to this post when she read this week’s title! Jo wrote: ”Things that have seen better days? Ha! Sounds like me,” Sorry my friends, but I just could not resist the coincidence! Because today happens to be my birthday, and here I am – seen in better days. The photo on the left was taken when I met the world’s oldest blogger, Dagny, in 2017. I had just turned 60 and Dagny was 106 years old. The last photo was taken for my teacher’s ID-card, and I had just turned 50. Those were the days, and life was easier then in so many ways.

Should I reach the same age as Dagny, ( who is now 109, going on 110 – and still blogging…) my qualified guess is I would never look as bright and alert as she does…and I would certainly not be blogging.

Thank you all for the beautiful Autumn colours for Amy’s challenge last week! You offered some really sparkling and fiery entries – no wonder so many of you declared Autumn as your favourite season!

We are looking forward to seeing your posts for this challenge, and please link to Tina’s beautiful original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week we are delighted to welcome I J Khanewala of Don’t Hold Your Breath as our guest host. Until then, stay well and be kind.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #159 – Postcards

/ Leya / 58 kommentarer

This week Ana invites us to the world of postcards! I am old enough to have received and sent hundreds of postcards, but I admit I haven’t kept them all. – Ana says: ”You can show us some of your pictures that you would send as postcards to someone you love. Or you can simply share with us images of your favorite places.

If you have a garden full of flowers, show us a beautiful and colorful collection of floral postcards. It doesn’t need to be your garden, It can also be your neighbour’s.

If you have some real postcards it would be great if you would like to share them with us, I’m sure they have a nice story behind them.”

I was so thrilled by this theme, that I immediately went looking for my box of postcards – even though I knew I had not kept but a fraction of all I got over the years. As we have rearranged everything in the cellar the last year, they were not easily found – but finally I did.

I will start though, with a couple of my own images, that I would have loved to send as postcards to my friends – from the Verzasca valley in Italy and from Reykjavik. They have something important to say about their place, with no words needed on the picture page – only on the other side of the picture. I used to write quite a lot when I sent my cards, loving to reveal details and experiences. Nowadays the joy is not the same – I agree with Ana – sending an mms is another story…

My box opened, I sat for hours today, in memories, reading messages from near and far, from people long since gone, old friends, collegues and relatives. Birthday greetings, words of wisdom…the upper card on the right saying:

Life is not about the days we have lived, but the days we remember.

I picked some different cards, from people I love and loved, and remember some places where I have been a visitor myself as well. The Acores I have been to several times – and always loved it. But this card comes from our neighbours who toured the world (in 2003 I think). Sometimes the cards are not dated, and the stamp not clear enough to read.

Tenerife and Teide was a yearly visit when the children grew up. Wonderful nature and not much snow wintertime…We often went with friends and children the same age as ours. The lovely Moomin valley in Finland was such a treat – for us grown-ups as well! Many Swedish families visited Finland when the Moomin series were on TV.

Bretagne shows a postcard in a postcard – rather beautiful I think. And then Kashmir, my cousin worked for many years in Pakistan and the area around there, as an ambulance nurse. He sent me cards to calm me down – showing he was still alive. So, the reason for sending cards vary!

The green, middle card, is from a painting made by a local artist – now dead since long. But I met him several times, a very special man. He had a nice pottery too. The forest motif was painted from my home forest.

The last two cards both came with encouraging messages from dear friends. One soft and sweet, the other one fiery – Cards And Senders… In fact I find it interesting to notice how different people pick so different cards to send. And handwriting – that is no more – was an amazing way of showing your personality. Times gone by…

As for the opener, I have featured a postcard from my daughter when I finally had set up my glass house – Oh, the joy! So, in my family, we still send handwritten messages to each other. Feeling the warmth!

Thank you, Beth, for taking us along so many lovely country roads! Please visit the excellent work done by all the previous guest hosts this month:

John Steiner of Journeys With Johnbo – “On the Water”

Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed – “Black and White”

Rusha Sams of Oh The Places We See – “Getting Away”

Beth Smith of Wandering Dawgs – “Along Back Country Roads”

Remember to link to Ana’s post and use the Lens Artists tag. Next week, we will return to our regular schedule.  On Saturday, August 7, Patti will host LAPC #160 Your inspiration, which can be a place, a subject, a person, a book–just about anything that inspires you.

Until then – stay kind and safe.