Shit just got real!

I just landed the pieces for some awesome bunker photos yesterday! And here i'm gonna tell you a little about how.

Not much to see here. But you can see a little bit of equipment. My camera on a tripod with the transmitter for my wireless flash trigger set (that set helps me A LOT!).

Cellphone camera flash... Not good, for anything else than "focus finders" (just look at the picture above... Terrible!) 

... People are going to say: "But there's no working lights in bunkers anymore... How did you get light in there? Photoshop?" My answer is simple... Bravery... And thinking of candy... And the "in and out technique" (Setup flash, run in, look for monsters with flashlight, place flash run out, click! ...Damnit to powerfull... Redoo) 

I can't show you anything finished, because i don't wanna sit in a diner with people all around me, doing major photoshop work (puzzeling pieces togheter is major photoshop work)...

But today i'm in a little town outside Løkken called "Hundelev"... Nice campsite... Has water, and shelters... My only problem... All my cooking gear is in Vigsø (my last camping spot). SO, i found out that canned food can be eaten, like this

Straight out of the can... Like a real survivor XD. The first scoops tastes great, the middleones, kinda okay... But the last ones... They were also kinda okay ;).

Now i'm waiting for the night, so i can start again... I did see some "terrorist" camp sites in some of the bunkers in Løkken... I hope they pack up and leave... Because i'm taking pictures no matter what. 

Tomorrow i'm gonna be in Skagen! :D

Going up!

Yesterday evening, i finally got some of the bunker pictures i wanted... And it looks awesome! Haven't edited any of them yet, i'm gonna do that when i return to Aarhus. BUT i might have a sneak peek somewhere... 

There we go, look at that sexy shadow... Rawr! ;)

It got pretty late as usual, and my feet still hurts, but in a couple of hours i'm out again, this time on another beach.

Terrorists all over

I HATE tourists... They walk all over the place, thinking: "I'm on vacation, i don't need to move"... And then, the locals in Søndervig just decides: "lets have a flea market, on a parking lot... Taking op most of the parking lot, and let the tourists walk all over". And of course i had to come along with my car. Didn't hit anyone, but i did send some evil thoughts to the woman who just ran up to the parking guard as i was about to ask him a question... And then she had the nerve to ask me to move, because her car was just behind mine.

*sigh... "One moment mam, i just have to ask this guy a question."

Arriving in Vigsø, not that many tourists, but the ones i saw where bathing in the middle of some very huge bunkers in the water... Now everyone knows that's dangerous a strong undercurrent can take you under and bang your head against probably 50 tons of concrete... Do the math. And also water washes away the concrete over many years, and therefor the iron armour is exposed, and that can give some serious injuries. 

Famous bunkers

Famous in Denmark. I found the command bunker from the danish movie "Olsen Banden i Jylland"... (yes, yes movie star bunkers ;) ) 

There it is loong away from the coast 40 years ago it was
a lot closer... The bunkers are slowly sliding out to sea

There's a lot of bunkers in vigsø... I don't even know where to start

I think i looked like this when i saw the beach... Just less jumping, because "terrorists/tourists" had invaded the beach. 

The Norwegians also thought it was a good movie... They ripped it almost scene by scene.
Right one is original movie (danish) the other is norwegian... Same scene, different locations, different reception from the audience. 

Haven't found the nazi gold hidden in the bunkers (according to the movie). But who knows, maybe tomorrow ;)

West coast adventure

Well, i'm back on adventure. This time i'm traveling along the danish west coast, from "Blåvand" to "Skagen" in a small tent. I have around a week to get to Skagen, which is pretty easy. BUT to make it harder, i said to myself: "Bunkers... It would be pretty amazing to take some nighttime pictures of bunkers." 
So i'm on a bunker hunt... Fairly easy to find, but very hard to photograph in the dark.

Yesterday was my first try. I didn't get any night photos (took to long to setup camp) so i took some pictures during daytime.

 

The "Tirpitz bunker"

One of the biggest bunker positions along the danish west coast. Never finished because the war ended. But an estimate says that the canon the germans would have mounted on it, would have been able to shoot 55 kilometers (way more than any potato guns you my fellow readers would have lying around at home).

I got into talking with this very nice receptionist (it's a museum now) who was really into world war 2 and bunkers. And he told me a LOT of stories, and gave me a schematic he'd made himself, in which he explains how the allied troops would have been able to conquer the harbour in Esbjerg (pretty close to, Tirpitz was meant to defend Esbjerg from an allied landing in Denmark)

The "Tirpitz bunker position" 

The "left over german cavalry" bunkers

The germans were not that bright... They thought they could disguise their bunkers as cavalry (similar to what the british did with some cardboard before invading France)... But it failed... Mostly because it was stupid... Which of-course anyone who believes in this story apparently also are... It is of-course a danish art project... Funny one, i'll give them that. And prettier than "Elia" (worlds ugliest alien coverup... Google "Elia Herning" and see why ;) )

Camping

When camping in Denmark, you're sure to meet a lot of dangerous animals like: "The terrifying sheep", or the "killer cow", or even the most feared and fabled "killer rainworm"... But the most dangerous thing, is... "Bjørn" the dog, with his ball and his cunning, he makes you throw the ball until you die... I almost fell for it... Those eyes are deceiving man! 

"Look at me i'm so cute...
But i am gonna eat you when you die of exhaustion"

 

  

A nutrishious "trangia" cooked meal consisting of "Yum Yum noodles
and BACON! 

This is my coffee brewer (tastes so much better after a day of hard work)

Toursits 

Get the H@"#% out of my shot... 

No... Noo you can see i've just placed a tripod and a camera there... YOU'RE IN MY SHOT! 

Okay... Fine, i'll take the picture, and if they complain i'm gonna kill them...

It's a serious problem with all those tourists... 

All over the place... Hopefully they're gone by tonight... I see bunkers! 

That should bee all for today... I'm enjoying the fresh air, the sun, the beach, and the nature! :)

See you all tomorrow! :) 

It's so goddamn cold!

And windy, and rainy… In other words people who say "Bornholm is not Denmark…" You might wanna tell that to the weather… Because it's cold outside now… 
And my car is at the auto shop. "You just make sure we have the car by 7:30 Monday, then we'll have all day to look at it." Well they've had all Monday, and Tuesday… Nothing has happened yet (went by both days after work to check on it…).
So i've had to ride the bicycle to and from work the last 2 days. 6.5 kilometers most of them along the coast line… That's cold and wet. Luckily i have a nice and warm house to return too…
In my dreams that is, because my 2 radiators is connected to the power socket, which on the power outlet is the socket right next to the light in my bedroom… So each morning (due to laziness) i'm turning of the power socket to my bed room lightning, instead of bending down in over my bed and turn of the light with the little switch mounted on the light… Long story short… My clumsy fingers also some times turn of the heat in my house. Which is what happened today… Dramatisation here:

So cold and tired as i was i went in through the door, noticing a slight raise in the temperature… First i take off my jacket… Then my shoes… My hallway is always cold, so i hurry into my living room… Which is as cold as my hallway… Feel the radiator... cold… Check the socket… GODDAMN YOU MORNING HURRY CLUMSY JONAS… I see that "morning hurry clumsy Jonas" has left the dive on the "2 chair comfy" i always have (where i eat, work, game, and watch tv… Anyway the lazy bastard most have felt cold due to the cold mornings… Then stretched leaving for work as much as possible (without being late) and then ran out the door hitting both the right and the wrong switch… Goddamn and bless him… (Damn for the cold… Bless for the duve… I turn on the radiators and decide i'm to cold to battle my "fireplace" or cook at the moment… After an hour of "regenerating" i decide to take up the battle with the "fireplace", followed by the mighty "dishwashing battle", and the cooking battle… And 10-20minutes later… Hot supper in a hot house with small slippers and fireplace burning… Seated in "the 2 chair comfy" nice and warm…

End of drama ;)

Uh… Did i mention that the circulation pump in the store had stopped working? No? Well there've been no heat at work for the last 2 days… cold… cold… COLD!

But if you had the choise what would you prefer… November storm, or November rain… I've made my choise i choose…


Novemer rain of course… Great songs beats crappy weather 

Say hello to my new friend

His name is Wilbur… He's white, a little creepy (he scared my colleague when he arrived.) Uh and he loves halloween… 
You wanna see him?

You sure you wanna?

I'm warning you! he's creepy!

No! He's not a Grasshopper…

No! he's not the Grasshopper Goofy uses to catch fish!




That's not him! 

This is Wilbur!

Wilbur the human skull… (replica of course)

Now Wilbur has come all the way from China to bee a model for me when i'm taking pictures… And when he's not modeling he's sitting in my "hallway" scaring away strangers… 

Strangers be like: "Oh Jonas is such a nice boy, faithful, skilled, nice, hot, sexy and so on… Let's surprise visit him…" 

Then when they open the door Wilbur's gonna be like "BUH!" And scaring all away (except the hot girls of course ;) )… Yeah… As if… No I always at some point end up getting ideas for shoots involving skulls… And i always run around asking everyone for a skull… Well now i've gotten my own.

You should watch my Facebook site carefully… I've already taken the first shots, and i'm gonna upload them as soon as they're edited :)

The clumsy unlucky mee...

Today (Sunday the 10th of October) i set out to find the chapel of Salomon... Now i have no pictures from the trip... Because i luckily left my camera at home. But i set out to find the chapel of salomon... A ruin probably as old as "Hammershus"... And with some help from my boss, who shoved me the right location on a map... I was able to find it... Guarded by an army of sheeps, and their sheep shit... I had to walk trough the army of sheeps, and their sheep shit, which was all over the place... Try to avoid it... YOU CAN'T! Stupid sheeps.

Anyhow i walked the distance, and found the Chapel. But darkness was upon me, so i took some mental notes, for the light painting idea i had, and then i started walking back... One problem though... It had become so dark i couldn't find the road... So survival instinct hit... I had my map, i knew in which direction the nearest city was, i knew in which direction the ocean was, and i could see a land mark... So i pulled out the map, and started walking... And i think i at first was walking in the right direction... But when i lost sight of the landmark (a light tower called Hammerenfyr)... I kept on walking in what i thought was the right direction. But when i came to an open spot where i could see the light tower again... It was closer, which meant i'd been going in the wrong direction... So i started walking in another direction. And i found the city... But not the parking lot... An idea struck: "Go to the city, and ask for directions... You're hungry, and have been going for 45 minutes (not kidding!)..." So i started climbing down this mix between cliff and danish forrest thing... And it just kept getting steeper, and steeper, until i got to this very steep and slippery spot. 

I realized that i had to sit and slowly and controlled stretch, and reach the next little piece of ancient seafloor (that's what most of the island is made of)... But when i was almost in sitting position... My foot slept... Sliding down the ancient sea floor, on to the next one, past that one, and a couple more... Oh yeah, and i was in the other end...Trying to grab what ever i could... Funny thing, i landed on my ass, almost lost my glasses, nothing broken... And alive... 
Now i know i didn't die... But that feeling of me loosing power over what happens next... I thought it would be a lot worse... I was sure that if i survived that fall, i would break something... It was very steep! 

I got up... Damage check like the terminator: "Any systems reporting errors..." "Yes! Ass is complaining a lot!" "Okay... But everything else is working?" "Yes..." "Then tell ass to shut up, and start climbing again... We've gotten a lot closer to the city now... And the map... Where's the map?! Oh what the fuck... We don't need that... Go for the light!" 

I got down to the city, and found a sign that said my parking spot was 2 kilometers in a direction i didn't think i could come at the top of the cliffs/ancient seafloor... So.. With ass still complaining i started walking... And i came past this kiosk which was closing, and i saw some guy drop a bag of sweets... Now i'm a nice guy... But still i'm young... And young guys in Denmark has a bad reputation amongst some old people... And this guy was old... Here started a mental discussion with myself...  A part of me wanted to be nice, and pick up the back and give it to the old man... But another part was afraid that he would think i was stealing it, and shout and say things like: thief or vandal... So that part just wanted to keep walking... But i don't wanna live in a society where you'll have to be afraid to help strangers... So i walked over, picked up the bag of sweets, and said: "Excuse me i think you dropped something..." And the guy surprised as he was said: "Thank you, and you just happened to see that." Me feeling kind of awkward: "Yeah well have a good evening." And then i walked away, hearing him talking to a coworker: "That was a nice thing that young man just did"... Now i don't think i've changed that man... But i want to change society... I want clean environment... And young people helping the elders... Or just people doing good deeds... And how do we get to that... Well my pictures depicts society as i see it right now... The wake up call... So what we'll have to do is: "ARK"... one Act of Random Kindness at a time... We need to make random kindness acceptable... By doing random kindness... I'm gonna start... And i hope people will join me.



   

Juust a slight detour...

Now as a photographer... An adventures one... You have to travel some, and take as many opportunities to learn, and try new things. 

So some time ago, i heard about this "photomeetup" in Copenhagen allegedly the biggest one in Denmark. And i was like: "I live on Bornholm, that's not that far away from Copenhagen... I better get one of those "Bornholmer Kort", so i can travel to Copenhagen cheap. 

Only one problem... There's only one cheap way to leave Bornholm, and thats by ferry... AND FERRY LEAVES PORT 6:20! I'M NOT AN A PERSON!!
It was a miracle i got out of bed... I think i thought i was dreaming the alarm i set for 5 woke me up. It was only till i heard the one 5:10 i started thinking something was wrong with the alarm clock... "It's not 5 yet!" I thought... Then in some kind of morning haze i accidentally looked at the clock... 5:15... 5:15? 5:15!!! Omg! I need a shower, clothes, and a 30 minute drive to Rønne... Now you're thinking: "That's more than enough time." But me i'm very slow in the morning... And i know it... So speedy, speedy... And i remembered my tickets, equipment, and almost everything else... BUT i forgot my "Bornholmer Kort"! Which meant i had to pay full price... Very important for me to get to Copenhagen, so i paid... No reason to cry over wasted milk. 

3 hours travel... Luckily i love traveling. It's so relaxing, and you can watch that movie you haven't had time to watch.

9:20... Copenhagen. I got out of the bus, looking forward to the photomeetup. the sky was blue, the air full of poisoned CO2. I took a breath, and almost killed myself... Nah, i was fine.
But my white "photo umbrella" didn't survive the trip... So i thought: "Hmm... I could try without, or i could go looking for the nearest PhotoCare..." I looked up: "PhotoCare København". I thought i could go in there, and buy something used... Maybe butterfly him a little by telling him i WAS from another PhotoCare, and also maybe say something about i'm looking for an internship. Buut, it was Sunday, and Sunday means that almost all stores are closed, including PhotoCare.

So i started walking towards my first stop... Christiania... It's a tradition, i love that place, so different and free. 
Anyhow... This is what you find when using a public toilet in Copenhagen

It says: "ONLY cannulas goes in the cannulabox..." 

When seeing that, i immediately said to myself: "Welcome to the big city..." And then a little later i met some... I think danish tourists, who asked me for directions... Now i'm from Jutland... And i've only been in copenhagen 3 times... I replied: "I live on Bornholm..." And they were like: "Ooow... Well thanks."

So after being reminded about how different Copenhagen is, compared to Herning, i started my journey to christiania... And with a black leather jacket, and my big photo bag, and maybe  just a liiitle of jutlandish gumption. I arrived 40 minutes later, an was met with the same feeling of excitement as the first time i visited Christiania. 
It's like... You walk in this modern city, with people acting like robots, driving the same volvo, having the same children, in an automated search of happiness... But then you get sick of that, and start looking for the spectacular, the different... And then you find this special place in this new, and modern city... It's, just so magical... And then you see all the drugs, and some guy just stares at your camera: "Is it off?... It better be off... I'm gonna let this one slide." But if you look past the drugs... And seek out the real christiania (where you can take pictures). You'll find this magical ravaged place, where you wonder why anyone can live there.

Anyhow moving on to the photomeetup, there was like a LOT of people... Sadly but expected more photographers than models. Many showing off with big advanced flash systems, and fancy cameras... Me, i had my light stand, one speedlight, and a broken photo umbrella... And also some spare batteries, and extra lenses... Simple packing... 
I started asking around if someone had an umbrella i could borrow for my flash... And after a little while the guy who arrenged it all came to me: "Are you still looking for an umbrella?" I of course replied yes... And then he said: "I might have one in my car, please follow me." When we then came out to his car he just out of the blue said: "Here, hold my camera." (A very expensive Nikon D4)... Now i know Nikons never break... Have one myself... But i don't have 40.000 kr. to spend on a new camera... So i was verrry carefull. Looking at it, touching it softly. And then he gave me an umbrella, and i was like: "When do i return it?" And he said: "Keep it, i don't use it anymore..." That really saved my day...

So i started "shooting" some pictures, when my phone said someone had written a comment to my "checkin" on Facebook... You know, i had to tell Facebook that i'm in Copenhagen of course... Anyhow, it was an old friend whom i hadn't seen in many years... He asked if we could meet, so i gave him the address to the photomeetup. So i took a break from shooting, and caught up with my friend, had a blast, and we visited Christiania, before he took me back, and saw me "shoot" for some time, then we said goodbye. 

Now besides from meeting old friends, i met some photographers, and models... And actually the one photographer i talked most with, was a guy that i'm following on Facebook... (I first found out about that some days after i got home...) But we pretty much agreed on that it was a little sad to see all the 35+ women in "sexy" outfits... He inspired me to be more outgoing, and not so much an "underdog". 

At 17:00 people started going home... I'd gotten pretty much what i came for... So i took off, and started walking back to the bus... And when i was almost at the bus stop... I saw something i hadn't seen for around 2-3months... A McDonalds restaurant... And this is where it get's dangerous... Because... I was hungry... And i had some spare time... SO I ATE A BURGER... okay! I know i'm gonna be fat... But it was soooo good... Damn you Copenhagen... Clean for 3 months... And then this... I'm weak! 

Burger done... On the bus... Then on the ferry... And then home! And then sleep!