Frost on the window

A winter image to celebrate the new year. And a vain hope that I will be more diligent with my updates next year.

November

One of those dreary November mornings with a cold drizzle and the clouds so low that they hang like soggy cotton-candy on the skyscrapers. On the way to work I took a few pictures of the people hurrying through the rain to work. It's the days that makes me think about Tom Waits song November... "November's cold chain / Made of wet boots and rain" and "Get word to April / To rescue me"

Graves at the cemetery in Sadyba

The local cemetery in Sadyba is quite small, but very densly "populated", if that word is allowed. This picture was taken with a tele-lens standing on the wall surrounding the cemetery. It was inspired in part by Andreas Feininger's amazing "Masses of tombstones in cemetery in Queens." (below) Of course the cemetery in Sadyba is tiny compared to the one in that photo. And I also did not have a 40-inch objective available...*


*BTW I don't think running around on roof-tops in NY with that camera post-9/11 is a good idea...

Gold particles

A picture from work. This shows dendrites of gold nanoparticles. The tree-like structures were formed when a homogeneous layer of nanoparticles were moved by the surface tension of an evaporating liquid. The picture was taken using dark field microscopy in polarised light. The shiny part up in the left corner are crystals of KCl. The whole image is about 1 mm across.
A bonus image below from another part of the sample.

The iron bridge and the stadium

The new national stadium is taking shape. This brigde is one of my favourite bridges. I love the classic heavy iron bars, the rivets and the specks of rust. More pictures of this are on Flickr.

Post no 100

Post number 100 on this blog. It started as me trying to document what I saw around me in general. Over time it developed more into trying to put more interesting photos there. So far The 100 posts have contained 111 images. They are all seen in the mosaic above or in the album here.

I guess I just have to keep going.

Żelazowa Wola

This weekend we went to see the newly renovated birth-house of Frederyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola just outside Warsaw. The park is very nice, as is the new visitors centre and resturant. However, it's a bit empty... especially the house itself, in the picture.

Dawn's early light

Yesterday morning I saw this lovely dawn through the window. The display of colours lasted only a few minutes as the sun shone in under the clouds. Just enough time to take a few pictures and relax and enjoy the show for a while.

Weddingparty

Was at a real traditional wedding party on the Polish countryside last weekend. This of course included a lot of dancing.

Electrode cleaning

One of the more boring things to do in electrochemistry is cleaning electrodes. With gold and glassy carbon electrode it means polishing a long long time. A platinum counter electrode is easier; you just burn off the dirt. Above cobalt, and below sodium from salt probably after touching it with the fingers.

Old gasholder

Opposite the street from my work is the old Warsaw gasworks - Gazownia Warszawska. In an overgrown corner of the area are two large gasholders - now in ruins - made from red bricks. They are just the coolest things. This picture was taken at sunset, adding an orange glow to the building.

The forest on Martinsberg

Lovely leafy forest on Martinsberg outside Vienna.

The old restaurant

Just outside Vienna there is a nice forest area around Martinsberg. There one can find the restaurant Waldschenke. It's a very cosy restaurant with a nice garden, that was too cold to use now, and rustique food from the neighbouring farms and wineyards.
The bonus picture is from the restaurant garden:

Running across Plac Piłsudskiego

I was out taking pictures of the city when suddenly this old couple came running past me on Plac Piłsudskiego. Unfortunately I didn't have time to catch them before they were past me.

I the background Norman Fosters (in)famous Metropolitan building that also adorns the head of this blog.

Stalin's church?

Today's picture shows the construction of the Świątynia Opatrzności Bożej (Temple of Divine Providence) close to Wilanów. The church, or temple, is monstrously huge and ugly. On Google images one can find plenty of horrific images of how the finished church will look. With the newly built avenue leading up to the church I can't help to think about another building that was forced onto the Warsovians by another totalitarian institution:

Second metro line

They have started building the second metro line now in Warsaw. That means lots of closed road and general chaos in the traffic. A plus is that the traffic situation has become so bad that more people have started using buses instead of one person in each car.

There are many of us

On a walk a few days back I spotted this wonderful piece of street art. This is of course a comment to this stupidity as well as a gentle reminder about the situation for gays in Poland.

Edinburgh

My student just left for half a year to Edinburgh, so today's picture is from there. This is an HDR from inside St Giles' cathedral.

Chopin concert

People watching the Sunday Chopin concert in Łasienki.

Mirage

During the time sailing we saw this lovely mirage on the horizon. The water temperature at the time was over 25 degrees, and after a sudden rain the air was much cooler. This resulted in a mirage similar to the ones seen on hot road in the summer.

Better visible in the larger version on Picasa.

Mazury

Today is a classic image from the Mazury, the lake district in north-eastern Poland. Next week we are going for the most Polish of holidays* - a week on a yacht in Mazury. So, don't expect an update next week.

*With the possible exception of toughing it out in the bars of Zakopane with occasional hikes in the mountains.

Heavy clouds over the summer houses

Another picture from Sweden. Heavy clouds over the summer houses by the coast.

CePeLek

Picture of the day is the rather dreary façade of the CePeLek, the military medical clinic in central Warsaw. If you see a building like this in Warsaw it's almost always some kind of state or city authority that own it.

I started a collection of Warsaw buildings a long time ago. Unfortunately I have neglected it, but maybe I'll start adding some more pictures there also.

Åstol

Here is a seriously overexposed image of the island Åstol off the Swedish west coast. The picture was meant to be part of a HDR set, but the way the HDR came out didn't appeal to me. However, I like this a lot. It only required a little bit of postprocessing to bring out the colours of the island as a contrast against the white sky and the bright sea.

A little meta: I tried to keep this blog first in Swedish, then in both Swedish and English, but from now on it will be in English only. Almost all Swedes I know understand English, and very few non-Swedes do. A google-translate button is added to the right if you need it. I will also try to update this blog a little more frequently. The goal is every Tuesday and Friday with occational in-betweens.

Typisk svensk västkust

Efter semestern i Sverige ett par bilder från den svenska västkusten. Först den idealiserade bilden:

Sedan den ibland mer rättvisande:

Den första bilden är tagen på Dyrön, den andra längre söderut, i Halland. På den sista bilden låg väderfronten ett par kilometer ut i havet. Därav den ljusa himlen under molnbasen.

Svalka

De senaste veckorna med temperaturer över 30 grader nästan varje dag har varit tuffa. Barnen utanför Arkadia lyckas i alla fall svalka sig.

Stor och liten

Ytterligare en bild från Gijon. Den här gillar jag själv skarpt. Man kan riktigt tänka sig hur barnet frågar "Pappa, kan jag åka med dig?" Det färgglada huset i bakgrunden som matchar cykeln är en bonus.

Klipporna vid vattnet

Dagens bild är tagen vid klipporna vid havet i Gijon. Klockan var strax efter 11 på kvällen och bilden är en HDR med en längsta exponeringstid på 30s. Därav de utsmetade vågorna.

Beskidy

En HDR-bild från helgens vandring i Beskidy. Första halvan av vandringen, upp till Babia Góra, delade vi med myriader av andra folk. På den andra halvan, den mer okända, var vi nästan ensamma. Betydligt bättre.

Övergivet

I närheten av mitt hem ligger de här gamla lägenhetstornen. Väldigt fint invid en park. Fast helt tomma. Rykten gör gällande att de en gång huserade personal vid den närliggande ryska ambassaden. Efter Sovjetunionens fall och Warszawapaktens upplösning behövdes inte så mycket personal längre... Jag vet inte om det är sant.

Popplar

I bland när man tittar ut genom fönstret ser det ut som det snöar.

Sometimes when you look through the window you may think it's snowing.

Maskrosbollar

Maskrosbollar - nu är de alla borta.

Las Kabaty

Dagens bild är ett foto på en liten tjej som dansade fram på en av skogsvägarna i skogsområdet Las Kabaty som ligger precis brevid kulturparken Powsin. Den här bilden togs fem minuter innan vi alla såg ut som dränkta katter efter en plötslig våldsam åskskur.

Today's picture show a little girl dancing along one of the forest roads in the Las Kabaty area just next to the Puwsin culture park. The picture was taken five minutes before we all got soaked by a sudden heavy rain-shower.

Noc muzeów

I söndags var det Noc museów här i Warszawa. De flesta av stadens museer var öppna till efter midnatt, och gratis inträde var det överallt. Warszawaborna passade på! Låååånga köer, ibland runt hela kvarter, avskräckte utanför de flesta entréerna. Efter att mest kollat in folk halkade vi till slut in på det pyttelilla Muzeum farmacji (Farmacevtiska museet).

Last Sunday was Noc museów here in Warsaw. Most of the city's museums were open until after midnight, and free entry everywhere. The Warsaw residents took the opportunity! Looong queues, sometimes around the whole block acted as a deterrant outside most entrances. After mosly bumbling around looking at people we finally stumbled upon the tiny Muzeum farmacji (Pharmaceutical museum).

Regn

Det regnar mycket på sistone. En bild på himlen strax efter gårdagens åskoväder.
Har inte riktigt haft lust att fota den sista tiden, men hoppas att jag skall kunna ta tag i det också snart. Skall försöka uppdatera lite oftare.

Vårpromenad

Idag var det verkligen vår i luften i här i Warszawa; sol, blå himmel, vindstilla och 20 grader varmt. De senaste veckorna har träden formligen exploderat i gröna skott och vårblommorna är välkomna färgklickar efter den långa vintern.
Har börjat leka med att ta bilder med iPhone och den roliga appen Hipstamatic. Omedelbara, fulsnygga bilder. Men då man inte kan beskära bilderna efteråt (ramen kring fotot hindrar det) behöver man fundera lite mer på att hitta rätt vinkel. Inte alltid en nackdel.

Today it was a feeling of spring here in Warsaw; sun, blue skies, no wind and 20 degrees Celsius. In recent weeks, the trees virtually exploded with green shoots and the spring flowers are welcome splashes of colour after the long winter.
I have started playing with taking pictures with the iPhone and the fun Hipstamatic app. Immediate, ugly in cool sort of way images. But when you can not crop the images afterwards (the frame around the photo prevents it) you need to think a bit more about finding the right angle. Not always a disadvantage.

Gummibjörnar

Lekte lite igen med mina mellanringar. Fler bilder på gummibjörnar finns här.

Landssorg

Flagga med sorgband på vårt hus idag efter flygkrashen i Smolensk.

After the crash in Smolensk a flag with a black tape for mourning was put on our house.

Vägen över fälten

Var hos fru mjn:s mormor långt ute på den polska landsbygden över påsk. I riktigt härligt vårväder tog jag några långa promenader över fälten.

Over Easter I visited mrs mjn's grandmother far out in the Polish countryside. The spring weather was lovely and I took several long walks across the fields.

Flodvallen

Idag var jag ute och cylkade längs Wał Zawadowski, som är vallen längs Wisła som skall skydda mot översvämningar. Det är en trevlig cykelsträcka. Då och då ser man sådana här skyltar på vallen. Jag antar att det är någon form av kilometermärke, men vet inte säkert.

Today I was out bicycling along Wal Zawadowski, which is the embankment along the Vistula to protect against flooding. It is a nice bike route. Now and then you see these signs on the route. I guess there is some form of kilometer mark, but I am not completely sure.