Etikettarkiv: fear

Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama

I am disappointed in you and I will make this letter very short as to why.

Your recent signing of the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows you to detain people indefinitely on any grade of suspicion alone, barring them from proper legal counsel, is something that you do not expect from civilized countries, even a country as paranoid as the US has become.

In fact I was very relieved to hear you, not so long ago, speaking of how you would work hard to close down the shameful Guantánamo base, you gave the world hope that US would step up and take responsibility. Instead you now do the opposite and you open for even worse travesties and detention of people, even your own citizens indefinitely without trial.

As a world traveler I feel more and more hesitation, is it really worth it to visit the US? Even if you personally will not use the law to detain people wihtout proper suspicion, nothing will stop the next regime from doing so!

I am very disappointed and quite the bit disgusted with your actions. And I had such great hopes for the US lead by the first intelligent president in decades, but now I understand that there is no way of stopping this snow ball that have started rolling down a very slippery slope, be it Republican or Democrat — there is nobody that can stand up to the fear mongers who undermine people’s rights in your country any more.

The terrorists have truly won.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Swedish Citizen

My Fear of Street Photography

Looking forward to the photo walk here in stockholm, to meet up with other photographers is always fund and I hope I will be able to get some good shots as well but I really suck when it comes to street photography. I have such a hard time composing that I miss the moments that I want to capture and I need to practice this. So I have considered ”going light” this time with the stuff that I need mainly in my pockets and of course a tripod, camera and one lens.

Instead of focusing on using the proper prime lens for the job I will be lugging my 18-200mm lens that can do almost any kind of shot. Although this lens is a bit on the soft side and I prefer a harder sharpness in my photos it is still a really nice all-round lens that can do many situations instantly. It is also equipped with the VR function to reduce shakiness when hand-held and that should be a great help today.

Here are some street shots that I have done earlier which are not half-bad but I don’t feel confident I can actually ”make” the photos the way I really want them. So this will be a very interesting test for me.

DSC_1792
"Rain and reflection" - Kingston Upon Hull, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Dark and Light
"Black Side - White Side", Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

South end of Stockholm
"Nightfall over Stockholm" - Shot from the roof of the highest building in Stockholm, the old tax office.

The Light Comes In
"The Light Comes In" - There is a crack in everything, that's how the light comes in, Leonard Cohen. Shot in Gamla Stanm, Stockholm

The walk starts at hornstull at Högalidskyrkan (the church) and then we are off in smaller groups. The walk ends at Mosebacke. I will of course post pictures as they are developed after the walk. The weather looks nice still and I hope we get a really nice evening in town!

I am also considering trying out IR photography in this setting. It could be difficult of course but I think it could be interesting. But this means I have to lugh around my tripod – something that has never been a problem before but it is of course time consuming to set it up to shoot when everyone else snaps a picture and moves on but I think that it would be cool.

So this is my plan equipment-wise:

  • Camera D70s
  • Lens: Zoom-Nikkor AF-S VR 18-200 f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF
  • Micro-fibre lens cloth of course
  • Circular polarizer Ø72mm
  • IR filter Ø72mm
  • Extra battery camera
  • Memory cards
  • Tripod with shoulder sling bag
  • Towel to protect camera if there is rain