The giggling girls

Walking through the old town, I stopped at Tyska brinken to take a few photos of the faux windows there. I had to hold the camera over my head, that caught the attention of these two girls, and they demanded I take their photo, which I did. First with the old Canon, and then a closer portrait with the mirrorless. They were very upbeat smiling and laughing, the girl to the left then asked if she could take a photo of my photo on the LCD monitor, which I thought was very funny.

Hand in Hand in Handen

Two girls came walking hand in hand in Handen yesterday. Should I rewrite that? Anyway, this is Mirke and Alexandra. I took them for a couple, but they were just friends, although very good friends, which the rings are proof of, they called it Vänskapskärlek.Friendship love. Mirke, who is studying to become a nursing assistant lives at Årsta Havsbad. Her friend Alexandra lives in Tyresö, (a neighbouring municipality),and works as a personal trainer. She looked super fit, and that is thanks to her mixed martial arts training.

Autumn Promenade

I took the bike to Tyresta national park three days ago. Grey skies with some rain,maybe 10C, but the colors were great. This is the old gravel road near the Tyresta Village. I showed the photo to the girls and they seemed to like it.

The Tractor Girls

Two teenage girls from the agricultural college at Berga out ploughing a field at Stav in Tungelsta.

Rock'n'roll never died

Remember that redhead I photographed just a couple of weeks ago? Linnea. Here she is again, although looking very different dressed as a "Raggarbrud". So much so that I didn't recognize her at first. I hate it when that happens! Her two friends are Nathalie and Rebecka. Be sure to check out the slideshow with all my photos from this fun event. In there you will find a few more portraits and some unusual cars. This meet has a few contests. One of them is for worst looking car, so some of the rides will fall into that category. You will also see a few tired people having a nap, it's a tough life being a raggare. You will also see me in one photo. Taken by one of the raggare, I'm sitting on a car holding a beer in my hand. The guys in that shot travelled 500 kilometres to get to this meet.

The Whisk and The Donkey

Walking out from the cultural centre I noticed two cute teenage girls a few meters from where I had parked my bike. So I decided to ask them for a portrait. This is Vispen (The Whisk ), and Åsnan, (The Donkey). They are enjoying the summer by hanging out with their friends. They told me that there's been a lot of sunbathing and swimming at Lake Rudan. So I guess it is possible that they know the tough girls I met at the Lake last year. I asked them to name something fun they had done. The Donkey told me about a concert she had seen with Ziggy Marley at Gröna Lund in Stockholm. The Whisk mentioned a family vacation to Crete. The story behind their nicknames are as follows. The Donkey has a laughter that sounds like, you guessed it, a donkey! The Whisks real name is Elvira and that sounds a bit like Elvisp which translates to whisk.

Jumping For Joy

After the traditional dancing around the Midsummer Pole at the park in Jordbro yesterday, I decided to go around and shoot some candid portraits. These are the ones that I liked the most. Two young girls from different backgrounds having some fun. One jumping for joy while the other one takes her photo. A little later they go through the photos. You can of course see all the photos in the slideshow that I posted yesterday.

Luki & Elizabeth

Spotted these girls in Västerhaninge a couple of days ago (hard not to). On their way to Plattan at Sergels Torg in Stockholm. This is Lina and Fanny. Lina is dressed as the character Luki from the Manga series Dogs. Her friend Fanny as Elizabeth from Black Butler. Lina told me that it was the third time she is dressed up like a anime character. For Fanny it was her firs time. They weren't going to a convention, just meeting other cosplayers at the square.

The Girls of Summer

The last day of the school year is always a big day in anyone's life. I was in Handen when I met the five girls of summer on the top photo. They had been to a school graduation ceremony where students, teachers, parents and relatives are all dressed up, and where a few summer songs are sung, including everyone's favorite, Ida's Summer Song. From left to right: Celina, Riisa, Carolin, Thea and Helena. The two girls on the second photo graduated from the Fredrika Bremer secondary school last Friday. I don't know them, but I was in the area when I heard a lot of screaming and shouting, so I decided to stick around for some fun photos. If you are curious why they are standing in front of a truck, check out my Schools Out set.

The Fashionistas

Summer is here and everywhere you look there's another pretty girl. This is Johanna, from Nynäshamn, and Malin who lives in Handen. They will graduate from secondary school in little over a week. They have studied nursing, but after the second year (of three), they realised that that was not what they wanted to work with in the future! The girls are mad about fashion and spends a lot of time styling their friends. They are big fans of Elin Kling, who you can learn more about here. In the near future Malin and Johanna are planning to get a job in the fashion industry, probably starting out in a boutique somewhere. But next up for the girls are a trip to the Mediterranean. They were thinking about Greece, and I suggested my favorite Greek Isles Ios.

Posing with Leibovitz and Ohlson Wallin

This is Marie, a horse crazy girl that lives in Tungelsta, and her friend Jennifer, who is from Nynäshamn. I noticed them at the cultural centre in Handen yesterday. They were taking photos of each other and holding up a couple of books, near the Viking Era Runestone. Both girls are photography students at the Fredrika Bremer school. They told me that they were working on a school project, and had just been to the library to pick up the books about Annie Leibovitz and Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin, the two photographers that they will make a movie about. As I told them that I would like to take a portrait, Marie informed me that I had met and photographed her two years ago. That time she was out riding on Nisse, the one eyed horse. It is the sixth time something like that has happened.

Walking The Dog

This is Jack. He is a dog. More precisely a Danish Swedish Farmdog. The two cute girls behind him are Elin and Amanda. They live in Tungelsta, and I met them near the Nödesta farm. Promenades are actually one of their hobbies, but if I heard them right they have yet to walk up to the old tree which was a bit of a surprise. They tried a few excuses not to appear in a photo. Like no make up, bad hair-day and a few more, but none of them took. Both girls are secondary school students. I asked if they had anything fun planned, and they sure did. It won't be long now before the girls fly down to Crete for a week of fun. And I'm guessing it will be a memorable vacation, as it's the first one they to without any parents around. My only advice to them was to try some Ouzo 12 with crushed ice and 7Up. And to fly down to Santorini next time and to some island hopping in the Cyclades.

The Party Girls

Heading home a few days ago I decided to take a short-cut through the nature park in Handen. That didn't work out as planned, because the first thing I noticed at the park were two pretty girls sitting on the bench at one of the ponds so obviously I had to stop and talk to them for a while. This is Natasha and Yasmine. They have been friends for about two years. They like to party. Yasmine often goes to rock clubs in Stockholm. And she has visited the Greek isle Zakynthos ten times, easily beating my Ios record which is five visits. To get the money for all that fun she works as a waitress. Natasha is a future real estate broker, she is currently studying to become real estate assistant.

The Beach Girls

Tuesday was the warmest day of the year so far. I'm guessing around 26 C. Not bad for Sweden in late June. I noticed these two girls heading for the bus station, so I decided to see if I could hold them up long enough for them to miss their bus. Luckily for them that didn't happen. Gabrielle and Sofie have been friends for many years. Both girls live in Västerhaninge. After a very short chat where they informed me that they were heading for the beach, and that the bus was about to leave, I snapped a few quick portraits and after that they ran for the bus!

Two Girls on a Lawn

I was on my way to a supermarket in Handen yesterday when I saw these two pretty girls sitting on a lawn. So I decided to join them for a chat and a portrait. This is Emily and Victoria. They are sisters. Both secondary students. Emily attends Young Business Creatives in Nacka. A state funded school where the programme is taught in English. Emily sees herself as a future journalist.Before that she plans to study abroad.One of her hobbies include painting. Victoria is a student at Nacka Gymnasium. She wants to work with people, but hasn't decided on her future yet. She enjoys Street Dancing. After our talk I was going to take a few photos and that's when I realised that I had left my memory card at home. Luckily for me I had an old 256 mb cf card in the camera bag!

The Very Tough Girls

I stopped at the tiny beach at Upper Lake Rudan the other day to enjoy a very light lunch. There was a few people about, and these two very tough girls (their description), had just gone for a swim in the lake and probably wanted to dry up as it was kinda cold in the water, but very warm in the sun, around 25 Celsius. But when I asked them if they could jump back into the lake so that I could get a few summer like photos they quickly agreed. Although they said it felt like -5C! The girls are from Handen, and are students at the Söderbymalmsskolan. They had a half day off from school and what better way to enjoy that then heading for the beach. The rock behind the tough girls is called the Elephant Rock. It's very popular with rock climbers. The last time I took a photo here was back in November when I shot the multitasking angler.

Casual Summer Outfits

This is Evelina and Frida. I met them at Najaden in Handen on Saturday and figured they would be up for a Summer portrait. The girls have been friends for many years.Evelina lives at Gullmarsplan in Stockholm and Frida at Vendelsö in Haninge. They are seventeen years old and secondary school students. Frida is reading the Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet,(try googling that), while Evelina is studying to become a hair dresser. I asked them if they had any interesting hobbies, and they told me they like to sing and party. Sounds like fun.

Two Smiling Babes

I spotted these two smiling babes at a bus stop in Handen on Thursday. As you can guess it was their somewhat unusual face painting design that made me look a little closer. Meet Rosanna and Lisa. They work at Korpen, a healthcare and exercise organisation that has been around for a century. When I met the girls they had been at Torvalla where kids, aged between six and twelve, could fight against Gladiators on an obstacle course. Sounds like fun! As I took a few photos of Rosanna and Lisa all the kids turned up and wanted to know what was going on. One kid sounded a bit upset when he realised he wasn't going to be photographed!

The Soulmates

Meet the soulmates. Stålis and Faber. It was hard not to notice them in their long black leather coats in Handen a couple of days ago, and I figured they would be interesting to talk with. They told me that they share everything. Like what? I asked. Oh, you know, everything from boys to underwear! Stålis is a secondary school student at the electrician school at Telefonplan. Faber has quit her studies and is hoping for a future in the music business. The girls play in a new band. Stålis is a vocalist and Faber plays the drums. They are members of Black Sheep at Solna, a music scene where many girls play. When there's a gig at Black Sheep the girls help out with security. Faber is working there at the moment and they are planning for a two day music festival next summer.

The Sun-Worshippers

Before heading home after a lengthy bike ride in the warm weather a few days ago, I stopped at the nature park Slätmossen in Handen for my usual photo from the bridge. And from that bridge I could see these two young women sitting on a bench on the other side of the pond, so I figured one more portrait was in order. Meet Sara and Saara (Finnish spelling), good friends who live here in Handen. Both girls are students at different secondary schools.They couldn't come up with any interesting hobbies, but Saara used to play soccer until the team split, and then she gave up the sport. Sara and Saara made the most of the warm weather, because you newer know what tomorrow will bring!