Luck favors the prepared

I was interrupted mid-sentence by a literal bloodbath outside my window. A sea eagle struck its prey, a smaller sea bird. At first, I couldn’t even tell what it had caught because there was too much blood. I was in the middle of a Teams meeting and I completely lost my tongue. Sea eagles are mighty creatures of the sky, and it is difficult not to be in awe when you see them, with their wingspan of up to 240 cm. This could have been one of those moments when you wish that you had a DSLR with a telephoto lens mounted. But instead, I managed to snap the best picture I have ever taken.

PhotographyRikard ÖqvistMay 8, 2023nature, photography, preparationComment

Through the eyes of a three-year-old

features, but the Carl Zeiss lens is still a very good lens. Thus, with the right person operating it, it can still produce some seriously beautiful pictures, even if it has limited monetary value today. My son has been showing interest in photography for a long time. On our forest walks, he stops me all the time and tells me “Dad, you must photo that” on just about every flower we pass. I think I have most of the Swedish flora in my iPhone by now. So, I thought to myself; Three-year-old Elis will probably have a ton of fun with it. Why not give this old high quality compact camera to him and see what he comes up with? I couldn’t stop smiling when I was glancing through the SD card when he was done with it.

Parenting, Art, PhotographyRikard ÖqvistAugust 23, 2022kids, parenting, dad, camera, photography, photoComment

There is no place like home

The most frustrating thing about being an acoustician (for me) is the delay between you giving a recommendation to a client and the final result. This process typically takes several years. I have had many sleepless nights (metaphorically speaking) where I have thought about specific technical solutions like floor structures or junctions. And when I finally send my documents to be used for the construction of a building, that’s typically it. I never hear about it again, except for some control measurements at the building site in the best-case scenario. But I want to know how the final product turned out! Last week, I decided to do something about it and went on a road trip visiting eight of our dwelling projects.

Engineering, AcousticsRikard ÖqvistAugust 15, 2022photography, engineering, travelling, work, family Comments

Be prepared

This weekend I finally managed to photograph an Otter. Actually, I even got three (1) of them in a single shot/video! I have been trying to snap a picture of one for over a year, but they have always eluded me until now. I have usually seen them from a window, and then I have rushed to grab my camera and when I got back it was nowhere to be seen. We are talking about a time window of about 30-60 seconds here. I can honestly say that I am hooked permanently now on nature photography. It is so rewarding, and when you live in a place like we do, it is all but mandatory to get a tele lens and learn photography. My wife told me that there are only around 2000 Otters in the whole of Sweden. They are super rare. That means that I have just documented a significant part of the entire Swedish Otter population. They are so rare that you are supposed to report sightings in Sweden (which I just did).

Art, Diary, PhotographyRikard ÖqvistJanuary 24, 2022photography, focus, preparation, productivityComment

Don't miss it

The company Kodak had a slogan many years ago – The Kodak Moment. That was a very good tagline that meant that the best photos aren’t the ones that are staged and prepared. The best ones are taken in the spur of the moment. Because they are real. The picture you see here is one of those moments. I was visiting my great grandmother this weekend with my family, and when I was playing around with my son I looked out through the window and the view stunned me. The lake was literally 100 % calm, like a mirror. Not a single ripple on the water. I knew instantly that this was a picture that was to be taken now or never. So, I grabbed my phone and took the shot right through the window. It turned out pretty good. This is one of the best things about modern smartphones. A great camera is always nearby when you need it.

Philosophy, ParentingRikard ÖqvistSeptember 27, 2021photography, children, photo, smartphone, camera Comments