So far 2024 has been a very low-volume year for me when it comes to photography. I guess I hit that mid-winter slump that usually strikes when the light is almost non-existent and the weather seems determined to be the worst it possibly can be. So I am okay with there being a lull now and then (I’ve written about it several times before in this blog so I won’t dwell on it in this post). That was why I decided to hop on a bus into the center of Malmö for a stroll down my usual “hunting ground” in the downtown area.

*I wonder if he caught something…it was pretty windy that afternoon so I hope he bundled up!*

It felt like a good way to reboot my photography a bit, to walk down very familiar streets. I’ve walked them so many times that I could probably zone out and still find my way wherever it was I decided to walk. But that wasn’t the purpose of my little afternoon trip…the purpose was after all to get re-started/re-energized with my street photography. I put my Fujifilm XT-3 with an 18-55 mm lens around my neck, my shoulder bag over my shoulder (seems the purpose of it after all ;-)) and started walking, taking pictures here and there, testing if the image itself spoke to me.

*I do hope he paid attention to the cobblestones too…some of them are pretty uneven and easy to trip on!*

I didn’t “chimp” at all (that’s photo slang for reviewing your image on the back of the camera right after taking it), but rather kept going instead, trusting the image review to my session at the computer later. I think I came home with around 45 or 50 images on the memory cards, out of which I saved around 15. To be honest I think I could have gotten rid of a few more, but this was a good warm-up for this year’s street photography walkabouts, now that the sun and the weather is slowly coming back to these parts of the world.

*A good sign of spring? I’d say when the cranes return! (Okay, that was a real dad joke…I admit that much!)*

One of the best images I saw that day, but DIDN’T take a photo of was when an elderly man supporting himself on a walker gently asked a young family if it was okay to pet their dog as they sat waiting for a bus. He said that he used to have a dog like that when he was younger so it brought back memories. The little boy in the family lit up and said that of course he could pet their dog…and the dog didn’t seem to mind either when the older man carefully put his hand to the dog to sniff before stroking it on the head and back. It was such a lovely and sweet moment, but I didn’t want to raise a camera to my eye and spoil the moment for them. Sometimes it’ s okay to leave the best images or scenes off your memory cards. :-)