The Quiet Picture

Would you believe, I was cleaning again. Not inside the cabin this time, but on the outside. It looks godawful, there’s a big pile of junk next to the stairs and bits and pieces scattered around the cabin. It was easier to remove those bits and pieces, but that big pile of junk is another matter. I decided to create two piles instead, I put all the wooden material (planks etc) under the cabin and all the other junk in a pile which I covered with some sheets of plywood to make it look less disgusting (just barely) and stop the lighter junk from spreading around the cabin again.

I had been waiting to see if the sun would come out but it wasn’t quite the sunny day I thought it would be. I wanted to do my hike anyway, I was planning a longer one into unknown territory so I didn’t want to leave it too late. I drove to the Kappruet parking lot, this is a small alpine skiing centre with just one lift and it was up this lift corridor where I started. The trail I was going to take would take off after the lift and the first thing I noticed about the trail is that it’s no summer trail for sure. I was not going to walk through the wet bog so I had find a way around, and that was followed by another bog and another and another… on the map it looked like an easy A-to-B but in reality is was an A-to-B-to-C-etc-to-Z with what all the detours I had to take around small wetland areas. It got a lot easier when I reached the actual foot of the mountain, now I just had to ascend to the top but no more detours. Until on the way down – since I was not following any trail and I didn’t have a GPS because I thought I could rely on SportsTracker which I couldn’t do because my phone battery was dying and I didn’t have a charger… anyway, absolutely no risk of getting lost. Just aim for the radio mast next to the ski lift (the same radio mast by the way which is apparently the reason we don’t get a mobile phone signal up at the cabin).

Well, no matter how much extra hiking I had to do. What matters is that I “collected” another peak, had a great day and even was lucky enough to catch a sunny break!

* * *

As you can see in this picture, the sky was very dull. I just wanted to take the shot because of the cairns, there’s 3 in the picture but there were 5 at this spot. Now, I understand that the cairns used to have a specific purpose historically speaking, but I find it hard to believe that all these cairns here are built for practical purpose. Which means that hikers like myself have built them, and now I really want to know why. Is it like the scribbling you find on toilet walls? Kilroy was here? Why do people pile up rocks (or scribble on toilet walls, for that matter)? But the really funny thing is that all these cairns are not even on the real peak of the mountain. The real peak is that little nipple in the background, and yes, there was only one cairn up there. So the way I see it, people cheat. They climb up the mountain, notice that they have some way to go before reaching the actual peak, and instead of taking the trouble to reach the top they pile up some rocks instead. Is this some normal social behaviour that I completely miss?

Take only pictures, leave only footprints. I ain’t gonna pile no rocks.

Very windy on Saturday but I had planned to drive to Funäsdalen anyway so it was fine. I did some shopping; got myself a new backpack again! My quest to find the perfect photo hiking pack, part 7.

Back at the cabin, did some more cleaning and cleared out some junk, so now it’s starting to look like a liveable place. Just needs a lot of furniture. I also discovered that I have no talent whatsoever as a DIY handy(wo)man, I even fail with the simplest things like setting up blinds on a window. But it sort of worked anyway, the important thing is that it blocks the light in the bedroom, I’ll fix the rest later…

In the evening when the wind wasn’t so bad any more, I did a small hike. I wasn’t planning to go to the Fiskhålsgraven ravine, but somehow I ended up there anyway. On the way up I followed the little brook with its many small waterfalls but the sunlight made it difficult to shoot in the forest for all the contrast. Not that there were so many opportunities, the brook is still a litte bit flooded and it desperately needs some greens for decoration.

Up at the ravine, I saw the sun bathe the cliffs in warm evening light, and the light also reached a birch inside the ravine. Just the perfect opportunity so I set up the tripod and got ready to shoot – and a cloud appeared. Well, the wind is still brisky, so it will blow away the cloud soon, right? Wrong. Somehow the cloud was morphing on the spot so instead of moving away, it just simply stayed there and blocked the sun. Extremely frustrating, because it was just about the only cloud in the sky at all! I have seen this phenomenom before, I guess you have to be a photographer waiting for the light to notice that half the time the clouds morph instead of move. But I waited, and then waited some more, all the while knowing that the more I waited the less chance I had that the light would still reach the birch inside the ravine, with what the sun going down. And then finally, I had an opportunity that probably lasted all of 10 seconds, and took my picture. Sure enough, only the tip of the birch was lit at this point so that was an opportunity lost.

Then I set up the kit on a new spot. And waited some more. I think all in all I waited about half an hour, all because of one small cloud that just kept changing its shape in front of the sun! But I got my second picture at last and and the cloud looked like it would be dissipating, but I didn’t care any more. My fingers were numb with cold, I had heard on the radio that it has been a very warm day elsewhere in Sweden but it sure wasn’t warm up there.

On the way down, I noticed that the cloud was gone. It never blew away, just morphed itself out of existence.

I had a walk around the forest to see what’s happening with the flowers. I was particularly interested in the lesser butterfly orchids, they are already growing but will probably take a couple of weeks to bloom. Most things in the forest seem to be in the same stage and I saw a lot of buds of different kinds. A week or two and it’s the high season!

There is one spot in the forest which is covered by a green mat of ferns. I’ve always eyed this spot and tried to find out ways to photograph it, but even when it at first looks wonderfully light green, at closer look you find that the mat is a little bit “broken” so I never created any pictures here. Until today, when I saw the half grown wood cranesbill break up the fern pattern and this one leaf with a young fern nested on it. It really was like that when I found it, not sure I could’ve come up with the idea myself!

I tried to clean up the leaf before taking pictures and it looked ok in the viewfinder, but on the monitor I could see the leaf was full of little spots of different kinds, some kind microscopic debris that’s really easy to miss in the nature. So I did a great deal of healing to get rid of the worst, but when I realised that there were probably a hundred of these smaller spots, I gave up and used negative clarity instead. Which is a little bit ironic, considering that I shot it at f16 to get enough depth of field to keep the fern sharp!

Another trip to Messlingen, with a mission. I’ve gotten over the disappointment from the last time, and I’ve actually made some significant process – I’ve found a reliable craftsman who can finish the cabin. Although it won’t happen until after midsummer, but I don’t have any vacation until July so that’s perfect. Today’s job was to do some cleaning and furniture assembly because I intend to spend my first night in the cabin in two weeks’ time and I wanted to prepare for it. No toilet or running water so I will have to rough it, the cabin is kind of a glorified tent at the moment… with solid walls and proper roof, and a microwave oven.

But I’m getting ahead of things.

Before I even got to Messlingen, I checked out the calypso orchid which is just a short detour. Normally they are in bloom in late May/early June, so there should be some buds by now. And yes there were buds, and also a number of individuals in full bloom so I reckon they will peak in about a week. I already have a lot of closeups so I will attempt some environment shots instead, like the one here.

When I arrived at the cabin, I set to work straight away. Out with all the junk, clean the floor and put together a table and a chair. The floor will take more work though, even after vacuuming and washing there was still a layer of dirt on it so I will have to take more cleaning equipment with me next time. While I was working on the furniture, I heard a knock on the door. A neighbour! I was really nervous, I had been avoiding to speak with any neighbours because they must be furious at me for letting this construction work go on forever and the place looks like it does. So I was absolutely amazed to hear that he had no grudge against me, he understood that my contractor was the problem here and told me that I should absolutely not worry about any neighbours, they’re all nice people. I can’t tell you how relieved I was about that conversation, I was almost floating on air! I have been so worried about what the neighbours think that I have been embarrassed to park my car at the cabin every time, just hoping that nobody would notice me. When I finally had finished the table and the chair, I was truly happy to sit down and have my first cup of coffee in my cabin!

Time was flying by and my choices were to put together more furniture, or go for a walk. So I went for a walk, and I didn’t even consider other alternatives than the Fiskhålsgraven ravine. It’s just a 3 km hike on a good trail, but about half of it ascending – about 200 m to the top of the ravine. I’ve been to Fiskhålsgraven many times before, but this was the first time I came from the Messlingen direction and the trail gave me a pleasant surprise, which in the future will make the ascend a whole lot easier. The trail follows a small brook which is of course constantly falling so you just need to take your pick which particular section you want to shoot. Because this is still early spring in the mountains, there’s nothing growing along the brook and it’s not looking very nice. But come summer and come the green, it will be a whole different story!

When I was walking up, I had an epiphany. It was a real feeling of belonging, something I rarely experience. Normally people would have that feeling when they’re at home, I mean that’s were you belong, right? But not me… my home is just a place where I live. I’ve never felt that I’ve grown roots anywhere, it seems like everything is just temporary in my life. Even if I’ve had the same job for years and lived in the same flat for years, it’s still somehow temporary (it’s very evident in my flat, it’s full of temporary solutions!). Never trust anything, because the moment you do the earth will cave under you. So I’ve never belonged. Until that moment walking through a naked forest… I belong here. Amazing. The cabin that has been killing me in the past year is now saving my life, if you please pardon the dramatic license!

Back at the cabin, I had another cup of coffee. Do I dare to trust?

It’s a rainy and windy day so I decided not even bother with the big camera, even though the macro season has well and truly started. A lot of flowers are on the way up, for example the wood sorrel is blooming at its best but with the weather of course, the flowers are closed. So are the wood anemone in my favourite spot. But then at Hembygsgården I found the lily of the valley leaves growing strong and tall with some buds, some of them seem to be only a few days short of bloom. This spot is a south facing slope so it’s always a sure bet in the spring. The earliest common dog violets are in bloom and I also found these wood cranesbill buds.

I’ve never used the Powershot in manual focus mode before. The autofocus struggles big-time with closeups so I had no option but to switch to manual, and to my big surprise it worked really well. Obviously it’s a bit finicky when it has to be done electronically and using the LCD, but all things considered it was ok. It will even be a little bit easier when I don’t have to protect the camera from the rain at the same time!

This winter I found a waterfall. Obviously, it was under snow and ice at the time, but I promised myself to get there at first best opportunity in the spring and today was it. In the winter you get there following the snow mobile trail, but in the summer there are two roads that take you close and leave about 1 km to do on foot. My choice of roads was perhaps not the best possible today, there was a point the road was so bad I considered turning back, but then I thought, nothing ventured nothing gained… so my car gained a few new scratches after a couple of ground hits. My next car will have higher clearance!

Besides the obligatory photography equipment, I had also packed a gimmick and a pair of sturdy rubber gloves. I knew that there would be a lot of wood debris lining the waterfall but because it’s such a small brook, it would be easy to clear out the small stuff. And sure enough, it was – I got it looking quite nice, apart from the trees that had fallen across the brook. If you look at the first picture, you can see some of that stuff in the lower left corner and on the right but it looked a whole lot worse at first, many of those small waterfalls were broken by small branches and dead leaves. In the second picture, you see the fallen trees but this is not even the worst spot, one section of the falls were almost completely blocked out of view by a fallen spruce.

This waterfall is such a nice little treasure, I will come here in the summer for sure when everything is growing, for example I saw some ferns coming up and what could be a nicer decoration than ferns? The height of the fall is also impressive, of course it’s not continuous at all but I reckon overall it must be the highest one in Loos.

The gimmick that I had packed was my blue/yellow polariser. It’s been ages since I’ve used it, and to be honest, any gimmick filter is best used with care and seldom. The last time I used it was in the winter a few years ago so using it now in the spring and in the forest was new for me. It was a useful experience because I discovered that the polariser works magic on the bland looking mosses. Just compare the first picture with the third one, there’s a world of difference in the moss. The white balance in both pictures is set by picking a custom balance from the white water. So I was thinking, in the future, I could take one picture with a normal polariser for the water, and a second one with the b/y polariser for the forest and then combine them to get rich green mosses and natural looking water.

Other than that, the gimmicky nature of the b/y polariser is obvious. The way it paints the rocks golden can be nice (to a limit) but the blue version looks awful. Maybe the blue end of the polariser will be useful under some circumstances that I can’t think of right now, but I’m already looking ahead to the autumn because it feels like the golden effect would be perfect then!

I had a plan for the day:

1. Wood anemone
2. Lunch
3. Check the pasque flowers
4. Bake bread
5. Cycling
6. Watch ice hockey and eats lots of ice cream

1. The wood anemone in my favourite spot were stuck in about the same stage where they were last weekend. It has been a cold week, it even snowed one day, and the wood anemone appear not to have appreciated it. So had a closer look at the buds and found that the way the leaves were curving around the bud was just about as cute as a flower can get (I mean, how often do you use the word “cute” to describe a flower?) so spent a long while shooting them. I found that I’m probably getting too old for macro photography because oh boy how my knees and back were complaining about the session…

2. It filled my stomach, that’s all I can say about the lunch.

3. I found one pasque flower plant (leaves, no flower), the same one I found last year. I think they’ve died out in this place, but I will check it next year again of course.

4. The bread takes a long time in the oven, so I had time for

5. cycling. I pedalled to Älgsjön, but I took the road which leads to the eastern end of the lake. I’ve never taken this road, so I was surprised to find out that it rises quite high and because the forest has been logged, there’s a great view down to the lake. Will have to come back some calm morning to try to shoot it.

6. So far, Canada beat Norway and Denmark beat Germany. Waiting for Finland to beat Slovakia, please…

P.S. There’s another version of the wood anemone bud on my Facebook page.

After all the warm weather last weekend, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to wear now. It’s not as warm but the sun is shining, so do I need the middle layer or not? I decided to have faith in the sun and left out the middle layer and I was very nearly freezing. The wind isn’t helping. It didn’t help me when I tried to shoot the young birch leaf either, the branches were dancing like crazy and I had to hold the branch with one hand and shoot with the other. The Sigma 150mm macro is not made for one-handed shooting, let me assure you… but the shutter speed was fast enough to pull it off. More DOF would’ve been a bonus, but the leaves are growing so fast that either I grab the opportunity when I see it, or wait until next year.

I was short on ideas on what else to shoot, I actually contemplated to skip the daphne because I’m starting to feel that I’ve done everything with daphne that I can and it’s not very inspiring to take the same pictures all over again. But then I figured that it doesn’t hurt to check them and it’s not like I had any better ideas anyway. And oh boy was I happy that I didn’t give up on them! I found this branch which made it possible to fill up the background with the flowers, instead of having to fill the frame with extreme closeups (like I did on Monday). Having done this, now I really don’t know what else to do with the daphne… but at least I learned that it’s worth checking, because you never know what surprises Mother Nature will throw at you.

Surprises like being pounded by hail when I was doing my afternoon walk. I had to take refuge under a bridge and wait for the hail to pass, in the meanwhile the ice that was stuck in my hair started melting and the cold water trickled down my back. Now this is the April weather we all know and (don’t) love!

Flowers, give me flowers! I went to my favourite daphne spot to see if the flowers would already be in bloom. They were, but only by a very narrow margin and there were more buds than open flowers. But the scent, it was already there. Love it!

In the afternoon I took my bike down to the lake and found two pairs of cranes and one pair of swans in the flood plains. The weather is so warm that I can hardly believe it… cycling in a t-shirt in April. That’s a first!

Later on, I drove to Kullas to see if the crazy pair of cranes would be nesting by the road again, and sure enough, one of the cranes was lying down so I think it’s incubating an egg! But at least the nest is not completely in the open, it’s visible from the road (if you know to watch for it) but behind some trees so there’s no clear view. I won’t even try to approach the nest, obviously, so if I want to photograph cranes I will have to find them elsewhere.

One of my spots was the road that my guide took me last year to see red-throated loons. And oh joy – I found a pair of them! It was difficult to get a good shot though so I drove on to the small lake where we found a red-throated loon last year. Only this time, I saw two. This is absolutely brilliant! I’m not a loon expert but I’m thinking that they are out fishing during the day and come back “home” for the evening (black-throated loons live in the big lakes, but red-throated loons only fish in them and breed in the small lakes or tarns). Just perfect for me, it means that I can expect to see red-throated loons just about any evening and I have two lakes to choose from, as well. Today I settled with shooting from the car so I have my work cut out for me to get out of the car and crawl to the water’s edge without disturbing the birds.

But I found something else at this lake as well. I saw a dark spot on the opposite shore – a black grouse! It was way too far for any meaningful pictures but of course I had to try and as I was looking through the lens, I realised that there were actually four of them. Four black grouse and two loons… and then that other pair of red-throated loons in the other lake, and I also saw a pair of cranes between these two lakes. I wasn’t even disappointed when I didn’t see any cranes in the flood-plains at Loossjön!

I’ve never been to the mountains at this time of the year, so it was quite exciting to see what they look like. But then I heard that this is a rather unusual spring, the snow has melted very early (it has been warm over there as well) so I guess I can’t draw any conclusions as yet.

The day was glorious, blue skies and sunshine. [rant] Which was just well, because my cabin is a big dark thundercloud weighing on my head (and heart). It hurts, it really hurts. If anyone knows a reliable carpenter, I’ll be all ears – that darn thing has to get finished asap, if my contractor can’t do it then I bloody well take care of it myself! [/rant]

We took the scenic road back home and the same place which gave us those nice “in the cloud” pictures three weeks ago provided a great opportunity once again. This time with sunrays filtering through clouds, I had to use HDR to make any sense of it and the pictures need some more processing, I just quickly put them through LR/Enfuse to get a preview. I’m just not inspired to work on them at the moment, the cabin is killing both my creativity and my will to live. Ok, creativity anyway. But if you’re a carpenter or know one and can finish my cabin (it’s probably just a day’s job anyway), I’ll be much happier!