So this time I was determined to bring my Canon 200D and shot the hell out of them. “Spray and pray”, he-he. Probably got about 400-500 shots in the can, but the whole venue was difficult to manouvre around in and it was a bit chaotic (punk!), so most shots were not usable. But got some nice ones.

The video here is a little slideshow introduced with with a bit of “fast forward” editing of one of the images.

This text and video originally written and produced for Lars and the Real World, September 10, 2020

Tried more things with lights and long shutter times on the camera. 

There is still a bit of light pollution from the neighbouring cities, but it’s okay for watching stars here in our village. There are better places in Denmark, but most places have some degree of light pollution. Yeah, Denmark is a tight space. Not much so-called wild nature at all. Our national parks are not big. Our biggest only has a coastline of about 70 kilometers (43 miles).

This summer I tried a few quick and improvised shots on the island of Fanø on the deep dark westcoast of Denmark. I tried afterwards to bring out the milky way in the photos. You can’t see it as such with the naked eye. It feels a bit like a thin white-ish cloud if you CAN see it. But cameras can make it clearer. And I did manage bring it out. But this time I suppose there was too much light, because it did not stand out as clear. Luckily there are other things to shoot in the dark.

Once again we tried doing things with the flashlight. Actually a small keyhole-finder lamp as well as a string of lights. I was more focused this time, but it was still difficult. Still, it is a thing I want to explore more. It’s just too much fun. Of course, this is not a new thing at all. Picasso did this stuff in 1949. There is just so much to try out that can’t be a 100% controlled by all this digital camera stuff. The lack of control is freeing. 

I shot with my Canon 200D with regular allround 18 to 135 mm lense on it. Goes down to F-stop 3.5, which is not really perfect for low light conditions. I don’t know how much of a difference it makes when it’s so dark. The lower the F-stop, the harder it is to focus. And it was difficult enough with this one. Had to do it manually.

But it was a nice evening. Got some nice shots.

This text and video originally written and produced for Lars and the Real World, September 1, 2020

This text and video originally written and produced for Lars and the Real World, August 12, 2020

I have decided to launch a video blog digging into creativity and life. Hopefully making each day here more interesting. Looking for inspiration and maybe even providing some. Let’s see.

Anyways, welcome to what I have decided to call Lars and the Real World. Stay tuned for more.

This text and video originally written and produced for Lars and the Real World, August 11, 2020

How much freedom – or what kinds of freedom – do artists enjoy? Do us regular Joes have a rosy view of that self-employed existence?

In May 2018 I interviewed singer, songwriter, poet and writer Sister Chain in Berlin. She is part of the duo Sister Chain & Brother John as well as the bands Spinster Sister and The Hunters.

Artist freedoms for everyone?
After attending a night of poetry reading at the Curious Fox Bookshop in the Neukölln part of Berlin – where Sister Chain had read some of her poetry – we walked back to her home in Kreuzberg and talked all the way.

I among other things brought up the obvious issue of enjoying a livelihood without a boss. Must be the ultimate freedom, right? Not necessarily.

There are more important freedoms. Some that arise from friendship, from honesty as well as not all the time adhering to the gender roles that society is lining up for us.

Freedoms that are definitely not specifically tied to the life of the artist.

We also talked about her life in Berlin and a bit about her origins in Tel Aviv and how things change or don’t change when returning to one’s hometown.

A practical note: Experiment
As the first podcast this second one is also an experiment. Recorded a few days after the first one. Unlike most podcasts which are recorded in studios I recorded this outside while walking. It presented some practical issues regarding both sound and keeping one’s focus on the interview. The conversation strayed a bit. But on the other hand allowed for a laid back exchange and the surrounding ambience colours the listening experience. As far as we know we both asked about drugs along the way as well as experience both traffic and bird noise.

I have uploaded the podcast to Mixcloud, so I could include some music in it as well.

The first seven minutes of the interview I filmed as well to give you a sense of the place and situation. But for obvious reasons I couldn’t hold a camera like that for an hour or more. So see below.

I hope you enjoy it!

Links:
Sister Chain & Brother John (website)

Podcast video intro

Sister Chain & Brother John – On The Roof (Live In Copenhagen)

This text and podcast originally written and produced for Easy Being Free, October 22, 2018.