An evening walk in the forest that started out with the most amazing light, but it fizzled out and for once, I didn't come home with 100+ images on my card.

What a difference a different time of day means. Until now most of my spring photography has taken place in broad daylight in sunny and harsh light conditions. Today I went out as the sun was lowering in the sky and captured the spring leafs in magnificent ways. I love this time of year, when the bright green leafs are are coming out in little, apparently free-floating, bursts here and there and before they take over the forest completely. The scene today was my local forest where I have been a million times before, but I keep capturing new aspects of it. Spots that one day are hardly worth a glance turn into explosions of light and patterns and beauty, just because the season, the time of day, and the weather conditions are different.

A bike ride without my real camera and with no intentions of taking pictures turned into a cell phone photography extravaganza when the forest I visited turned out to be quite photogenic. Especially when the sun started to set and the shadows grew long.

This walk into Gribskov was well on its way to be rather disastrous photography-wise. The light was so harsh and my inspiration was lacking. But then I came across this little wetland area with these young birch trees growing in the water. The water was completely still, and the reflections from the birch trees were so sharp, you couldn't tell where the trees ended and the reflections started. I was mesmerized and spent a ton of time there trying to capture this magnificent spot. By the time I quit, the sun was low in the sky and the light was improving, which I took advantage of in the two other images.

Another sunset walk in my local area. I'm always intrigued by the old farmhouse, which is just so typical Danish as it can possibly be. On this evening I managed to capture its reflection in the pond in front of it to great effect, in my own opinion.

An old castle ruin looks over this beautiful lake. I was blessed with pretty decent light and dramatic clouds as I walked along the lake and stood in the old castle tower. By the end of my visit it started raining, but I managed to get the gloomy long-exposure shot of the tower at dusk. It felt eerie!

As is so often the case for me, I went to a location with a loose plan and came home with something completely different. This piece of forest on the outskirts of Hillerød is known for its little island in the middle of a lake. On the island is a picturesque ruin of an old building. I have been there before about three years ago, but wasn't satisfied with my images of the ruin. I figured I should give it another shot. And what happens? I came home with some amazing pictures of something completely different. I did shoot the ruin too, but again, I wasn't happy with the result. So here instead are pictures of the surrounding lake and forest. Just before sunset the most brilliant sidelight penetrated the forest, illuminating it from the side and behind in the most amazing way. I was mesmerized and forgot all about the old ruin. This was 10 times better.

Another walk in Gribskov at mostly well-known locations. However, I believe that at least the waterfall image is my best attempt at capturing that particular spot so far. The day also saw me experimenting with myself as the subject. I was wearing a knitted hat with a built-in headlight and positioned myself in an underpass while shooting a 15-second exposure. As hoped the result was quite interesting, although I did have to enhance it quite a bit to make the effect more noticeable.

Another day in the woods with gray skies and no light whatsoever. I struggled to find any compositions of interest, but then as I was walking home along the Strødam Lake, light finally appeared in the shape of an orange sunset below gloomy clouds. Combining this with a long exposure image of a creek below me ensured some kind of result that made it all worthwhile. I was also reasonably happy with the silhouette tree shot on a winter sky background.

A beautiful area that was nearly impossible to photograph. The light was harsh from the low January sun, and the view of the lake was constantly blocked by various growth. I had to abandon several promising compositions, because one of those factors kept getting in the way. But I did come away with these three decent images, but that was about it.

A return to the spot where I took the very first picture with a camera I could call my own. Way back in 1990 I took over my grandmother's old camera and took a picture in an old abandoned gravel pit that had turned into a lake. The picture was good enough that I still have it on my wall:

It wasn't possible to recreate the above image. Apart from the light being very different, the area has changed a lot since 1990. There is a lot more water in the lake and the growth around it is thicker. Instead, I focused on the surrounding forest, but also managed to get a hero picture of myself standing at the lake. All in all, a nice return, if mostly for the memories.

My last outing of 2019 was also one of the most succesful. Actually, for a long time it looked like I may not come home with anything as the light was harsh and my inspiration gone. But the whole time I put my faith in an image I actually had had in mind for months: a shot down one of the canals with the sun setting in the horizon between the buildings. So I had actually researched when the sun would set in the right place and timed my venture into Copenhagen in accordance to that. And boy, the result was exactly as I had envisioned. I love these images taken down the canal, and they ended my photography year on a high note.

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