Tällberg

Last posting before I leave on holiday. Last week, I had a good time at the Tällberg Forum. An excellent place to network and pick up new ideas. My head is still spinning with the woosh of energy I got from all the conversations and encounters. 

I took my Rolleiflex and my tent and in both respects I was certainly unique at this 450-person gathering. The Rollei was hugely popular. People couldn't believe it actually worked. And some of the younger participants thought it was really the latest and coolest thing. They were kind of disappointed when I told them the camera was 50 years old. The campsite, on the other hand, was not popular at all. Whilst people were shelling out 200 euro per night in one of the hotels, I had a solitary 8 euro/night stayover on a beautiful spot on the very shores of Lake Siljan. Every day I left early and came down late after the conference. The walk in and out and the late evenings, illuminated by a wonderfully subdued midnight sun, gave good opportunities for shooting. I had even taken a tripod with me.

I don't think this part of Sweden is particularly exciting in terms of landscape. But what is exciting is the quality of light. At these latitudes, the light is soft and hard at the same time (a little bit like Zeiss optics, if you like). Contours are very distinctly etched, objects stand out in tangible three dimensions, even on a gloomy day. But there is a delicate softness pervading this all, showering the land with a sense of delicacy and grace. It's a photographer's dream, really. 

Colour is not really my thing, but I must say that the Planar in combination with the Fuji NPS works very well. They do justice to the delicacy of the boreal light. However, scanning remains difficult as I have little sense what the right colours are. There's more material in the 7 rolls I brought back but this will have to wait until our return from Italy and France, end of July.