Who am I?
I am an enthusiastic #naturelover, hobby-photographer who enjoys capturing everyday lifes memorable moments for future look-back and nostalgia (and general enjoyment ofc ;) ).
Immortalizing the seasons as they go by and capture the nature contained within them.
Spare-time interests
In my spare time I enjoy reading, writing, running (in nature – usually beaches and forests, sometimes through Helsingborg city on the beautiful Mid-West coast of Skåne), hiking, exploring nature and experiencing what life has to offer in the way of good food and creating memories with the people I love.
Photography as a passion and a way to get out into nature
Photography has been a passion of mine since I was younger, which has led me out (as an excuse sort of) into nature, when our society daily strays more and more from our ancestors more grounded and natural path of living life.
A way to connect, to build confidence, to finding myself and to become more aware and grounded.
To explore the beauty that lies within the complexity of nature and be amazed of all its glory.
Photography of nature has always been focused for me on that which I see and which constantly amazes me, regardless of the amount of times I see it.
This, for me, has included:
- Landscapes and Views
- Animals around us
- The seasons
- Natural phenomenon like the sunset (and sunrise)
- Macro shots of: Flowers, Insects, Leafs (and the tiny little details that people miss out on and just pass by without a second thought in their usually very busy everyday lives)
- And so much more…
Fun fact about us humans, how we work and the lives we choose to lead
Did you know that being in a forest, which many claim to be relaxing, isn’t really “relaxing” in the sense we might think for us?
But instead gives us maximum stimulus, because of everything that goes on in it. And that is what actually is experienced as “relaxing” for us. Being fully stimulated.
Quite interesting. Read this from an article a while back, makes sense and I love the essence of the discovery.
A similar analogy to this is when you’re out hiking in tough terrain, have you every stopped to notice how fully invested you become with your focus? You kind of have to to not sprain that ankle or do something that hurts you even worse. Same that goes for rock climbing.
This is also very similar to what race-car drivers describe when they drive in high speeds. The demanding terrain, demands our full attention, stimulating us to the max and in turn I believe this could be part of what makes hiking feel so invigorating and “relaxing”.
Physical exhaustion rewards us with good sleep
Another thing I believe and have proof of (for myself at least) that I love is that physical exhaustion is many times considered to be one of the best sleeping pills. And for some people, a good meal before bedtime ensures the best quality of sleep as well.
Movement sets us free
Our bodies were built to move. Movement sets us free. Brings us to Life. Awakens our senses. In combination with nature even more so.
This of course assumes that one can move, some can’t but still find impressive ways to make the most of things. The mind is a powerful thing.
We adapt to our life circumstances and the choices we make
The evolutionary design of our bodies adapts to our life circumstances – just sitting 24/7 tells the body that muscles might not be needed, because these demand energy to operate, sitting doesn’t take much energy. Hence the crooked posture (muscles degrading), and more.
You basically craft for yourself the body your lifestyle requires and needs. And it’s entirely in your power to change the circumstances and in consequence then also change your body to adapt to the new changes.
We can control our breathing, and in turn, our entire body
It’s the same way as breathing is the only autonomous system in our body that we also have concious control over. And breathing as you know in turn controls the bloodflow which carries oxygen and nutrients to the entire body. Hence, via breathing we can control our bodies more than we might think.
Ever heard of- or seen- the people using breathing exercises to control their body temperature to endure icy water and the like? Perhaps not far fetched at all. Just might require a bit of practice.
It’s up to us to take the initiatives that shapes our lives. It always has been. We are the masters of our own faith and circumstances. We craft our own destiny with the choices we make. The rationalisations we choose to believe in and allow to convince us, shapes us and our lives.
Trouble sitting still for too long
I always have had a hard time to just sit still for longer periods of time doing nothing. I feel optimal and at my best, when I am stimulated with something that interests me or something I enjoy.
I also do believe however, that this can be highly individual, and vary with the type of life one leads, some types of lifestyle might require more “chill” compared to others, wouldn’t be that much of a stretch if one leads an otherwise rather busy life to need to take it easy during downtime.
Listen to your body, everyone can – Balance is key
It’s the same as with being social, I know a lot of people who work in very social settings daily, when weekend comes, they might prefer to be void of people or just take it a bit chill, whilst those of us stuck to a desk (guilty as charged) might like to actually get out and do stuff in the weekends – to live, compared to the otherwise perhaps rather “static” and monotonous work-life that doesn’t necessarily include much other than work.
Fascination for Birds
Birds have fascinated me for years and have been a focus of my lens when I headed out into “the wild” on my journey of self-exploration, discovery and personal growth. You can see below some of the friends I’ve made whilst out and about.
Some claim birds are near- or direct- descendents from dinosaurs, partly due to the biology of their feet and bone-structure within their wings, now wouldn’t that be a cool thing? ;)
Part of the Pokémon Era
And if you ever played Pokémon Go, you might know what I’m talking about, since the feeling of discovering the various species of birds reminds one a lot about that game (and Pokémon in general to be fair).
Pokémon Go was the new-hype AR game (and excuse for recluse shut-in modern-day youngsters to get outdoors) that a few years ago took the city of Helsingborg by storm when all ages gathered in the parks to interact with one another and catch the cute and cool digital creations that popped up everywhere around us.
We can learn a lot from nature. Most of what we know and have – is in fact inspired by nature and we owe nature’s genius a thanks.
Helsingborg, The city where my journey began
In the beginning of my Journey, Helsingborg, the city where I live and are from, has been the geographic area of focus for my adventures for various many reasons.
(Technically when I refer to Helsingborg I tend to refer to a larger area than whats just seen on above map)
When I say Helsingborg I usually refer to Helsingborg County (and then some…). Including areas:
- As far down as Rydebäck and Tågarp,
- As far out to the east as Hyllinge and Mörarp and
- As far North as Mölle (even though I am aware that it technically belongs to Höganäs kommun)
Below you can see Google Maps of Helsingborg kommun:
It truly is a beautiful city, landscape– and nature-wise– with a variety of:
Beautiful Beaches
Kulla Gunnarstorp, Viken and Mölle during Springtime below.
As well as a long wooden Sunbathing Deck on Gröningen:
Forests in Rich Variety
Below are pictures from Kullaberg, Skåneleden between Arild and Ängelholm, Söderåsen, Pålsjö Forest and Jordbodalen.
Magical Valleys
Such as Jordbodalen below.
And Rååns Valley trail:
Awe-inspiring Views
Landborgen is one example which offers great views of the city of Helsingborg.
Pålsjö Forest also has some View Points which offer Views across Öresund to Helsingør in Denmark.
Kullaberg has amazing view of our Skåne Landscape as well as Mölle harbor and out over the open Sea
Gorgeous Gardens & Parks
Sofiero Royal Gardens with their amazing Dahlia flowers in the late summer/autumn and beautiful landscapes and scenery
Krapperup Castle Garden and Park has become popular for magical wedding photography and picnics
Inspiring Snowy Winter Wonderlands
(I btw Looove Winter and Snowy Winter Wonderland landscapes! :D I have this tradition to always go out for a run when snow arrives if I have the opportunity :P)
Inspirational Outdoor Gyms
Such as the Forest Gym in Fredriksdals Forest:
Sunsets out of this world
And of course all of our animals, critters and friends in nature around us
And so much more!
It’s bigger than one might think with a lot of great hidden gems within it.
I can- and I do- highly recommend Helsingborg as a destination to visit if passing by Skåne in Southern Sweden!
Lately however, I started expanding my exploration even outside of Helsingborg to other magical places that I discovered, some less accessible than others.
For me personally, photography helped me act as a guiding light, to find a path forward. A doorway to more in life. To a richer life. To happiness. To new chapters. To lifechanging friends and acquintances. To changes in life towards the positive. To a brighter future. And so much more.
A little bit about HelsingborgByFoot – The Idea / Initiative
HelsingborgByFoot is a forum initially created on Instagram where I could post my pictures taken over the years to share with- and get feedback from other people also interested in photography.
And this website was created to better organize and structure collections of pictures of the “same category” in photo albums which will be easily accessible and user-friendly.
I also intend to share some basic information about Photo editing, Photography techniques and tips via a blog articles to be built up over time – covering useful things that have helped me a lot since I started out and stuff I find interesting in general and think you might find interesting as well.
Instagram feed on website
You will also be able to find my Instagram feed easily and readily accessible directly from this website in case you’re on a PC or the like without “regular” app-access to Instagram for convenience sake.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Comments are welcome – on the site I welcome comments on blog posts, otherwise you can comment on Instagram as well or via email.
Ambition of timestamping pictures in the early days, sadly faded over time
All the pictures posted as HelsingborgByFoot are taken by myself over the years, on Instagram in the still early days I tried to provide date & timestamp of when the photo was captured.
However as time went by this became a bit tedious and complicated so you might not see it as much or at all anymore.
Raw Natural Beauty
I tend Not to use any of the Instagram filters, however I do at times use the crop function, other than that editing is usually kept to a minimum, I prefer it this way.
Equipment used over time
Over the years I’ve captured pictures using my old-time Canon EOS 500D DSLR camera as well as the various smartphones that has been used over the years.
You will notice a difference in quality between whether a picture was taken by DSLR camera or by smartphone, even to this day, despite my camera is quite old today.