Four months from now

Mom's garden is four months from being rich and abundant. Looking at the chilly February weather, I remember that there is nothing better than summer and that I can't wait to spend my weekends at my Mom's place. Norwegian summers are perfect for finding photographic motives. After all, photography is chasing light - and with the Scandinavian midnight sun that is the one thing that never lacks. 

Surprise

I surprised S with a visit yesterday. I spontaneously decided to hop on the eight hour train from Bergen to Oslo so that we could be together for another weekend. He did the same for me once when I was studying in Russia and he lived in New York. We've never been so far away from each other than that semester, but a couple of days before his spring break I got the message that he was going to spend it with me in St. Petersburg.

Oh... What great distances we travel for love.

Finally!

If you have been following me for the last couple of months, you might remember that I started this painting in January. Sadly I've had a "painters block" on and off during these last months. Yesterday I realized that it was now or never. I pulled up my sleeves and just got it over with. And thanks to my lovely roommate I was able to upload a photo of it today.

So I wanted to ask you what you think of it. Does it look finished? Is there a focal point? Are the colors balanced? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Duo

It probably doesn't come as a surprise to you that I adore gardens and flowers. These are photos from my film photo archives from a couple of summers ago. I had this weird tendency to take pictures of things in pairs, which is obviously a deviation from good rules of composition.

I hope you don't mind my constant recycling of old photos the last weeks. I have sold my digital camera and I'm hoping to find a new one with slightly better image quality. I need to find it quick, because in the middle of March S and I are going to San Francisco for two weeks with his job. Can you believe it? It will be so good to finally to see the sun!

Any advise about what camera I should get?

Days in Nice

Looking back at my old photos from when I and S spent the summer in Nice I wonder how it's possible that  I ended up with so few good photos. I regret that I didn't know as much about photography then as I do now. Who knows where I'll end up for my exchange semester. If chance will have it, it might even be Rennes.

Pratayahara

Each of the last four Tuesday I have attended a meditation class, and each time I have gained very important insights. Today, both the mediation practice and the lecture were more enlightening than ever.

We learned about the practice of pratayahara, which translates into "accepting confrontation". It is basically to sit still and observe your thoughts and feelings, knowing that they are reactions of your circumstances. They are not a part of who you are. And this is a concept that I really like. Most people seem to mix what we feel, how we think and what we do with the perception of who they are. But think about this: did you feel the same things when you were 12 as you did when you were 16? And do you think the same way now as you did being a teenager?

It made me realize that it is ok, even for grown ups, to change their mind. Changing your mind is simply like changing clothes. It's a reaction to changing circumstances, which - let's face it- are changing faster today then ever before. (Thank, God - now I know there is nothing wrong with me!)


Photo from our lazy days in Spain. 

Views from Oslo

When I think back on my four years living in Oslo I realize that I felt pretty much the same way as I do about living in Bergen. The problem wasn't that I didn't like it there - I had a handful of close friends (or less) and it was all I needed. But I also had a feeling of restlessness hanging over me, the same feeling I have about Bergen these days. There is this feeling that, no matter how hard I try, Oslo is never going to feel like home for me.

I long for a fresh start - someplace where I can break with all existing stereotypes of what is considered to be successful or not. It's not a new feeling. I have realized that I may just have a restless nature, making me unwilling to settle anywhere. How are you with these things? Do you feel settled where you are? Or are you  like me - longing for something else?

All pictures taken with my Canon EOS 3000.

A Fresh Space

I've had a lot of fun designing the new look of my blog. It turned pretty much the way I wanted, apart from a couple of details that I always can add later, when I get the skills.

I must admit, that it also was terribly frustrating at times. Knowing very little about HTML and CSS - the two languages that are used for building a site, I decided before Christmas that I really was going to give it an effort to learn it. After starting to design in Blogger, it turned out not to be so seamless as I had learned it. But with a little persistence and a lot of time I made it!

Take a look around and tell me what you think. I'ts far from perfect, but I'm still a learner. Maybe when I'm more into it, I'll launch some free templates.Who knows, maybe one day I'll open a business? Maybe like this talented lady?

My Spotmatic

I am really excited to show you my latest equipment to capture the world through. I decided to go for the Pentax Spotmatic after following Suzie's blog for some while. I'm a big admirer of her photos, which are of course only due to her talent and not her camera(s), but I've also longed for the crispness and natural look of her photos.

You might have noticed that I'm also a big film photography fan. I love the outstanding quality of the pictures. I love the authenticity of it. And it's probably just nostalgia, but I love to be surprised every time I find shots that I had previously forgotten all about. It's a rather expensive passion, but I feel it's worth it as long as I do it once in a while and alongside with digital photography.

Since I'm a little overworked these days, I've decided to line up a few posts with old film photos from when I only used my Canon EOS 3000 SRL. I will start posting them here next week. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Dormant

Each time I realize how many hours I have spent on what I feel is doing nothing, it strikes me. How on earth can time fly so fast?  I realized this after starting a meditation course three weeks ago. It seems like I've been doing nothing, and suddenly it's two in the morning - and not ten in the afternoon like I thought!

The three last weeks have passed me insanely fast. There have been applications for exchange semester, job applications and so many other things that have been stuck on my mind all the time. There has been hardly any time for creative things, although I must say I'm proud of updating this space once in a while. I guess I'm not being alone in feeling a little drained nowadays. Anyway, apart from feeling mentally exhausted, I'm emotionally quite O.K with it.

But how do you guys do it? How do you successfully manage your time?