En kväll på Idol-inspelningen

Företaget jag jobbar på är en av de 4 huvudsponsorerna till Idol 2007, vilket innebär att vi får tillgång till VIP-biljetter för inspelningen av programmet. I fredags så var det då dags för den näst sista utslagstävlingen innan finalen i Globen och jag var på plats med Katarina för att ta pulsen på tävlingen.

Innan det var dags för sändning så befann vi oss i det området som är reserverat för sponsorer och åt lite kallskuren mat. Dagens tema på maten var skaldjur, vilket smakade bra tillsammans med ett glas vin medans vi stod och pratade igenom förväntningarna inför kvällen.

Kvällens tema på tävlingen var rock, med ett par väldigt spännande bidrag skulle det visa sig. Allas största fråga innan tävlingen var nog hur skönsjungande Marie skulle klara sig igenom kvällen - Skulle det bli topp eller flopp?

Låtlistan för kvällen var

Daniel
The Police - Roxanne
Aerosmith - Living on the Edge

Marie
Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know
Skunk Anansie - Weak

Amanda
The kinks - You Really Got Me
No doubt - I'm Just A Girl

Andreas
Kiss - Heaven's On Fire
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer


Innan sändningen börjar på "riktigt" och tävlingen påannonseras av en "TV-Hallåa" så värms publiken upp av en väldigt skicklig publikvärd som får alla att känna sig bekväma och delaktiga, oavsätt ålder och anledning till att de är där. När sändningen väl drar igång så är stämningen på topp och alla kidsen skriker efter sina Idoler medans kontorsfolket skriker de med, det är ingen som riktigt vet varför men antagligen beror det på vinet de fått i sig inne på VIP-området tidigare under kvällen.


Efter att jurymedlemmarna rockat loss med sina gitarrer som en del av introt så var det dags för Idolerna att inta scenen för en snabb presentation innan det var dags för deras framträdanden.


Den som överraskade mig mest under kvällen var Marie. När hon tog i under den sista låten som hon framförde (Weak) så var det första och enda gången under kvällen som jag rös i kroppen. Amanda gjorde sin vana trogen och levererade en grym scennärvaro och och ett bra framträdande. Hon känns som en äkta artist som har det som krävs för att fortsätta med musiken även efter Idol - vare sig hon vinner eller inte!


När röstningen var stängd och samtliga röster räknade så stod det slutliga valet om vem som skulle få lämna mellan Amanda och Daniel, vilket jag tyckte var konstigt då Andreas var den som hade gjort sämst ifrån sig under kvällen. Han var även den enda som fått negativ kritik från juryn (antagligen därför fler röstade på honom än på Daniel - omvänd psykologi kallas det).

Vinnare i tvekampen och den som fick stanna kvar i tävlingen blev tillslut Amanda. När det stod klart för publiken att Daniel var den som åkt ut blev det helt tyst i studion, en reaktion som ganska omgående följdes av stående ovationer som aldrig tycktes vilja ta slut!

Allt som allt var det en rolig och trevlig kväll samtidigt som jag fick chansen att pröva min kamera i en något mörkare miljö med mängder av saker att fotografera om man bara var med.

Now and then

I moved in to my current appartment in March, 2006 and I fell in love with it instantly. Sure, there was some changed that needed to be done - but overall it was a great start for me and the building had only been there for half an year, meening everything was new and fresh. Almost one and a half year have passed since then and I have finally started to make this place to reflect myself. Down below you will find before (left) and after (right) pictures on the changes I've made so far.


First we have the kitchen. What I have done here is to put in a dishwasher and a display case for my crystal glasses.


At the dining area I've put up some new wallpapers, which added a touch of color (blue). I've also put some pictures on the wall above the table - the center frame is still waiting for the perfect picture, though.


This is where the most of the changes has happend. Some of the changes are that I've bought myself a new TV, I have moved down the reciever from the shelf, added new wallpapers, hidden all the cords, bought myself a livingroom table and much more.

My next project on the course of home improvement will take part in the bedroom. I haven't set a date for it yet, but the planning has started...

Tall ships race

This weekend Stockholm was the host port for the Tall ships race 2007, which is a race over the Baltic sea including the worlds biggest sailing vessels. The first stage was completed when they arrived to Stockholm from Kotka, Finland.


The arrival of the sailing vessels brought a festival to the port of Stockholm and was celebrated by concerts, great food and other activities near the port. The public were also able to board the vessels and have a look around if they wanted.


They had a busy scheme during their stay in the Swedish capital: During the Sunday the crew held a parade through the city which ended at Kungsträdgården, Monday features a parade sailing out of Stockholm and on Tuesday the race is on again with Polish Szczecin set as the final destination for stage two.


I had the opportunity to have a look at the sailing vessels from the seaside because we arrived by boat, oh boy - they were gorgeous! When we got close enough I realised how big they were and I was doing my best to try and get a few good shots at them. The pictures you see here are my first attempt to try and bring out the colours in the photography’s by editing them in Photoshop - Hence I would like to have some comments on that. Both Swedish and English comments are appreciated...

Family day at Grönalund

Yesterday my family and I had a great day at the amusement park Grönalund here in Stockholm. The plans were that we would start the visit with a pentathlon, which everybody would participate in. The nine of us (family plus two girlfriends) were split up in to two teams that would compete against each other in 5 different sports. The pentathlon was a lot of fun and we all showed tremendous fighting spirit, the youngest of us even set a daily high score on one of the sports.

In the middle of the pentathlon, when I was shooting soft balls on the teeth's of a witch, a photographer from Grönalund came up to me and asked if he could take a couple of shots on me while I was shooting. I said yes, and he got ready to shoot while I was loading the soft balls in to the gun. When I started to run out of balls he said to the guy who worked in the booth to give me some more balls and reset the teeth's on the witch, so he could take some more photographs. I think we did the same procedure 5-7 times before I had to go, the rest of the group were all waiting behind me. As a reward for being a model for him I got the bracelet shown below - giving me free access to all the rides in the amusement park.


When I started the day at Grönalund I hadn't planned to go on many of the rides so I hadn't bought myself a bracelet like the others had, but with the new bracelet that was given to me I took full advantage of the free access and went on as many rides as possible. I tried all three of the available roller coasters, Fritt fall (they slowly pull you up on an 80 meter high tower, let you sit up there for a couple of seconds before they release your seat, which drops down with the speed of 100 km/h and let you experience a free fall), Katapulten (almost the same as Fritt fall but only 50 meters high and it starts of by launching you straight up the tower and then you bounce up and down two times before they end the run with a free fall from the top).

After a wonderful day filled with joy at Grönalund we ended the visit with a last ride on Katapulten - Then we went back to Gamla stan, Stockholm by boat from Djurgården.

Chair-men

Today I spent some time sunbathing on the balcony. It tends to get very hot when sitting in the sun and almost no wind blowing at you, so I went inside to grab myself something to drink. When I went away my little fellow saw his opportunity to try out the comfortable chair I was using. When I got back outside he was in the middle of making himself ready to lay down and rest at the same place where I had been sitting two minutes earlier.

Instead of moving him I went back inside and grabbed my camera and took a few shots of him when he had made it comfortable for himself. I think he enjoyed it as much as I did a couple of minutes earlier...

Beloved companion

I do have a patient model at home who has helped me figure out some of the basics on my Nikon D40 just by laying there and looking all confused (or tired), wondering why I'm looking at him through a big black box all the time which sounds "click click click" occasionally. After endless shots on my beloved companion I decided that I needed to point my camera at something else for a change.


I wanted to try a close-up shot but I had trouble coming up with an idea of a good object, so I put down the camera and went looking for the headphones to my cellular phone instead. I found them lying in a drawer next to my bed and in the back of it I saw something glimmer in the light. It could be the object I was looking for so I reached for it and found an old necklace, which had a heart and a tiny key attached to it. It looked interesting so I brought it to the kitchen sink so I could have some better light on it. I tried to make the necklace look even more interesting by shaping the chain that goes around the neck to something that would make a nice set-up. When I had found an appearance I liked I started to take pictures of it and you can see the result down below.

The reason

Today I decided to start my own "blog". The thought came across me a couple of days ago when I had a chat with a friend of mine. She told me that now when I had purchased a new camera I needed to have a blog or a photo diary so I could show my newly taken pictures. Of those two options I decided to go for a blog.

The reason I’m doing this is mainly for myself - I want to be able to see how I develop as a photographer (with my new camera) and this is an excellent way for me to practice my English, which I want to improve a lot. So that's why I am writing on English and not on Swedish, which is my native language. And if you as a reader find my blog interesting that's a joyful bonus for me.

Today I was planning on taking a long walk in my neighbourhood along with my camera to try and find an interesting object to practice some shoots on - so far I have only been able to shoot inside due to lack of time and bad weather. I can tell shooting inside is no fun at all because of bad light and a limited distance. Unfortunately when I woke up today the bad weather was still here and it was even worse then yesterday - all dull and grey (=bad light) with some soft rain. I decided that I didn't want to soak my camera for some practice shoots that hadn't been that exciting anyway, so I stayed at home watching a movie which is quite good when it's bad weather outside. I had a calm breakfast and was starring out of my window down on the street below when I heard a really interesting sound (during the summer I always have a window or my balcony door open), and shortly after I then saw the Ferrari shown on the picture below. I quickly grabbed my camera and gave it a try through the window. I know it is a terrible picture, but I think it reflects quite good where I am at the moment with my Nikon D40 - I know how to trigger, but I need to practice a lot to get a decent picture out of it.

The breakfast Ferrari - shoot through my window.