Most of 2020 and the start of 2021 has meant an ongoing “hunt” for places nearby where people aren’t likely to be too abundant (because other people are dangerous etc…) so I have found myself going back to certain locations several times since the start of the pandemic, camera in hand. It’s a challenge to try to come up with something new and interesting each time at these repeat visits, and I haven’t always succeeded. Then again, the photography isn’t always the prime motivator; often it is just the getting out part, to leave the house and the all to easy, persistent doom scrolling!
The photos in this post are all taken at a nearby woodland called Dalby Söderskog (which also happens to be the smallest national park in Sweden). It’s a tiny, tiny bit of deciduous forest right on the edge of a large agricultural plains area. I live about twenty minutes away so it is an easy drive there, even if the place has been unusually crowded this past year and best avoided when the weather is good on weekends!
The photos have all been taken on my Kiev 60, a heavyweight Soviet era medium format camera that shoots negatives that are 6 x 6 centimeters (the same size as Hasselblad). It is nowhere near neither the quality nor the price of a Hasselblad, but I like using it all the same. For the money I paid for it I am happy with the results I’ve gotten with it so far. The controls are easy to use and given the robust “Soviet fine mechanics” it’s unlikely to fail any time soon! It is also a good candidate for a self defense weapon…since the camera and a lens weighs almost 2 kilograms! I don’t have any intention to test this usage any time soon, because while the camera probably will survive without any scratches it might very well dent a skull or two!
