The Quiet Picture

I had found out that we have a rare primrose growing around here, bird’s-eye primrose (Primula farinosa). In fact, this is the only known place where it grows in the Hälsingland province and the flower is on the decline elsewhere in Sweden as well. We weren’t sure if it would already be blooming, but it’s better to be early than late so we checked out the place. We were happy to find buds, but then when we were already on our way back, we found some that were already in bloom. Oh joy! I just had to take a picture, ugly background or not… I will be back next weekend to photograph them better, most of them should be open by then.

With nothing better to do after lunch, I just settled down in my hammock to enjoy the warm day and started to read a book. Then I happened to glance at the neighbour’s garage and noticed that the ostrich fern behind it are beginning to unfurl. No time like present, I grabbed the camera to look at them through the macro lens. I was distracted by a caterpillar hanging from a bird cherry branch next to me, the wind was tossing it around and it landed on this leaf and looked luminous in the backlight. With a lot of patience and quick reflexes I was able to squeeze in a few shots, some of which were actually in focus - the wind was really not making things easy. And while I was up photographing the caterpillar, I noticed that the bird cherry blooms looked just perfect.

In the evening I took the Tricker for a spin. I had to cut it short because it was just simply too hot for the motorbike clothes. Warm days are not made for biking.

Spread Firefox! Firefox 3 download day coming up.

I don’t know what I was thinking with this picture-a-day crap. I’ve never been comfortable with taking pictures on cue, even when I’m the one who’s made the order.

I know there are photographers who can be sent into the forest and an hour later they will emerge with the memory card full of pictures. I’m more likely to emerge with a head full of frustration. I can’t force my inspiration - I don’t know how to explain it, but somehow I need to see the picture before I take it. I can’t just look at something and come up with a way to see it. You know? If I’m put in a situation where I’m expected to take a picture, my photographic brain just ceases to function and suddenly I forget everything I’ve ever learned about photography. I can only take pictures when the process starts from the inside, when I have the genuine will to create an image. So when I’ve told myself that “ok let’s have at least one picture to show for every day of the holiday”, I’ve effectively deadlocked myself. I’ve gone around thinking must take picture, must take picture. I like it much better when it’s will take picture, will take picture!

Today’s picture is a rock. I drove to my favourite creek, thinking that it’s bound to inspire me like it always has. But maybe it only works in the autumn - I sure didn’t find any of the white water interesting now. Then when I was heading back through the pine forest, I rounded up this rock and got the inspiration I had been looking for. You can see this kind of scenery all over in this region, open pine forest with lichen covered rocks scattered for good measure. It’s barren land where the blueberry brush dominates the forest floor, and cowberries mingle with the lichen and moss. Maybe not a flower photographer’s forest, but I don’t have to see everything through the lens to enjoy it.

I don’t have a lot of margins in my picture-a-day project. Zero margins, actually. The day dawned bright and sunny, but I knew that rain was forecast in the afternoon so I went for a walk even though I could see the dark clouds already looming in the horizon. I thought I could photograph the cowslip I’ve been eyeing for a few days now, but I had been a bit too optimistic about it and it still wasn’t in full bloom. I was momentarily stumped, but then I remembered that the wood anemone had bounced back from the snow so I headed to my favourite wood anemone spot, only to be disappointed again. They were all more or less closed and drooping and the prettiest ones had the ugliest backgrounds. But once again, already on my way out, I saw this pair of flowers facing each other. Voilà!

Every time I drive over the Björnån creek at Fågelsjö, I think that I should stop and take a picture. After three years, I finally did it today. Basically, I had to - I needed to create my picture-a-day and I really didn’t have any other ideas. So at first I took a cheap shot from the bridge, and then ventured into the dense forest lining the creek, hoping that I’d get a better opportunity at the next whitewater section. Well, it was a lot of work for nothing - when I got there, I remembered that I don’t like big creeks. I prefer small creeks, I think they are much more suited for the those really long exposures I like. So, I had to fight my way back through the forest and then when I was almost back to the car, I spotted this log and a crest of white water behind it. There’s my picture!

Picture is ever so slightly cropped. The colours and contrast are boosted way up because the original was quite frankly very dull - I even considered converting it to B&W. But in the end, I’m a colour photographer so I will have to stay true to my colours (if you please pardon the pun).

Now that I have vacation, I want to have something to show for it - at least one picture per day. Now that’s quite a challenge for my photographic tunnel vision, I always struggle when I’m outside my narrow comfort zone. With what the snow wreaking havoc on the scenery and temporarily halting the progress of spring, I don’t have many of my customary motifs available to me. But, you should never underestimate Mother Nature - I had a look around today and the flowers are bouncing back as if the snow never happened at all. The lily of the valleys that I thought were goners for sure now look like they will bloom within the week, and the common dog-violets that were literally snowed under on Saturday now decorate the forest floor with their blue flowers. I found a cowslip that should be in full bloom in a couple of days… so getting that one picture per day might not be as hard as I thought on Saturday!

Wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina) is fairly rare in Sweden and it’s on the decline - you’re most likely to find it in the northern Dalarna and in Härjedalen, and that puts Loos in the right neighbourhood. The only time I’ve seen it in Sweden so far was in Tännäs a few years ago, but today I got a tip on a location near Loos. Thanks to (or rather, because of) modern forestry, wolf lichen is all but disappeared in forested areas but it also grows on bogs and we’ve got plenty of those here. The colour of this poisonous lichen is very special, so it’s impossible to mix it up with any other lichen. Wolf lichen is no doubt my favourite lichen and now that I know that it grows around here, I’m looking forward to future encounters!

Probably not a combination you’d normally see, but that’s a lily of the valley with ice drops on it, surrounded by snow. You can see in the leaves that they are suffering from the weather, and it’s not getting any better - in fact, it just started snowing even more than it did in the morning when I took the picture. How can something that makes me so happy in the winter, make me so mad in the spring?

It should stop snowing tonight and the temperatures should creep up tomorrow. Here’s hoping.

I have vacation next week. I had planned to photograph flowers and ride my motorbike. All things considered, maybe I’ll go skiing instead.

We had 15 cm of snow in the morning. It’s still snowing.

Coincidentally, it’s 3 years ago to the date when we last had snow in May. The difference is that back then it didn’t snow in Ljusdal - today it was white all the way.

SMHIs artikel om majsnö

I have now updated all of the image galleries on minnak.net. Welcome for a visit!

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Now that I have set up the galleries for easy updates, all I need is some new images! Problem is… just when the flower season is starting, the snow came back. I took a look at the lily of the valley buds behind my house, and they were looking very sad indeed. So no white flowers yet, but a white lawn instead. And it just keeps on falling.