Andrew

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Homepage: http://www.ettfoto.com


Posts by Andrew

Photos from Utö

Nov 18th

Posted by Andrew in Photos

4 comments

Back in October, I had the opportunity to go to Utö in the Swedish archipelago. This was an overnight team building exercise for the who IT department. There was some free time to take some photos, and these are a few I was able to snap.

Utö Entrance Bay, Mysingen

This is the entrance bay at Utö. This is where the boats dock to arrive. This shot was taken from the hotel that oversees it.

Swedish Flags on Utö

Around the hotel that overlooks the bay is where these Swedish flags stand tall.

Swedish Flag

Closeup shot of the Swedish flag on Utö.

The Old Iron Utö Mines

Utö was an old mining island, abandoned long time ago.

The Utö Mill

This is the old mill that would create flower for the miners on the island to make bread with.

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Being Sick Isn’t Fun

Nov 18th

Posted by Andrew in General

2 comments

Nothing is worse then waking up in the morning to get ready for work and you feel like hell in a hand-basket. Well, today, that happened to me.

I went to be at a fairly decent time, around 10:45pm, then woke up at 6:45am for work feeling like hell. Both ears plugged, nose/sinus plugged, throbbing headache, coughing, sneezing and body aches (but that would be associated to the gym). Hit snooze, and thought 10 more minutes would suffice. Unfortunately, no, it didn’t help at all.

Normally, I’d suck it up, take some meds and head to work. However, here in Sweden, I don’t have have my “home stock” of goodies. Here, I have just ibuprofen here, mostly for my post-workout aches. Now to make it even harder, I’m at a pretty tight moment for my work with me being the bottleneck, so I want to go into work and get my job done.

Well, due to that I’m not sure how contagious I am, and feeling like I got hit by a MAC truck, I decided to email in saying I won’t be in. I logged into my server, ran some scripts to load data I received overnight, took some ibuprofen then went back to bed, around 7:20am.

Next thing I know is it’s 3:00pm and I’m waking up, feeling pretty rough still. Headache was still kicking around, only my left ear plugged, and nose/sinus plugged. Now, I need food. Good thing last night I made some chicken vegetable soup. Had a bowl of that, then made my way to the Apoteket to get some goodies. Ended up getting a sinus spray which works extremely well!

So here I am, drinking green tea, orange juice, apple juice, and enjoying chicken noodle soup. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!

Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

  • 2 Chicken Breasts
  • 6 Chicken Thighs
  • 6 Large carrots
  • 8 Stalks of celery (with leaves)
  • 1 Medium Onion
  • 2 Tablets of chicken bouillon
  • Water
  1. Season the chicken breasts and thighs, and bake them until cooked.
  2. Clean & peel the carrots and cut them into decent size cubes and put them into the pot.
  3. Clean the celery stalks and chop them into decent size pieces and add them into the pot.
  4. Cut up the celery leaves, minced and add them to the pot.
  5. Cut up the onion (I prefer julian) and add it into the pot.
  6. Add in the 2 tablets of chicken bouillon
  7. Fill with water, so all the veggies are floating and bring to a boil.
  8. By now the chicken should be done. Pull it out, slice it up into pieces and put it into the pot.
  9. Mix regularly until celery is cooked, then take off from heat.
  10. Enjoy!

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Some Random Photos

Nov 16th

Posted by Andrew in At Night

No comments

Here are a few more photos that I finally got the time to work on and upload. Two are from Stockholm one is from Paris.

The Docks Near Skanstull

This was taken one overcast day on the south shore of Södermalm, near Skanstull.

Pond by the Observatory

I have no idea what the name of this pond/park is called. It’s by the Observatory on Sveavagen. Pretty decent reflection off the water.

The Eiffel Tower

Finally the Eiffel Tower. This was taken from the park where everyone relaxes at night, drinks wine and champagne and eats their cheese. Anyway, here is a nice photo of it, all golden and looking sexy.

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Gym Etiquette

Nov 16th

Posted by Andrew in General

4 comments

I’ve noticed a few things since I’ve started working out at the gym here in Hammarby Sjöstad. Some of the good, a lot of them bad, mostly due to the poor gym etiquette. Here is my list on gym etiquette.

  1. When I’m lifting weights, there is no need to walk in-front of me while I have heavy weights in my hands. I’m busy focusing on my form and and ensuring I don’t injure myself. Can you not wait until I’m done my set (usually 10-15 reps) and then walk past or pickup your weight? This goes as well when I’m on the bench as well. I may spring forward and want to put the weights down.
  2. When in the free weight room, WEAR SHOES! Really! I’ve dropped enough weights on my feet to know it hurts, and that is when I was wearing shoes. Wearing socks or going bearfoot is begging to get injured. If I drop weights, they slip, you trip, stub your toe, you’re gonna get hurt. 25kg plate fall on your toes/foot? It won’t be pretty!
  3. Curling at the bench or power rack. Really? Do you need a 20kg bar then put on an additional 5kg to curl. First your form is horrible, swinging and your using your back. Second, use the preachers bench or the smaller bars! I promise you, if you watch your form and cut the weight, you’ll see better results! There is only one bench and one power rack, and let the big boys use their toys. And with that, no matter how much you work your arms, you’ll end up like a light-bulb looking goof! Work your legs out too!
  4. Farting. I understand the occasional one slips when your lifting heavy weights, yeah it’s a lot of pressure and you need to focus your energy. It happens, I’ve done it. However, not when I was curling 10kg and then laughing about it with my buddies, who then join in. Really!?! Pretty freaking rank and rude.
  5. Gym fashion. I don’t care that I work out wearing sweats. It’s comfy and feels good. I go to the gym to work out, not style the most recent fashion from Paris, London or Stureplan. If you wanna show your fashion off, head to the clubs or the catwalk.
  6. When I’m spotting my partner, don’t ask me to move. I’m in position trying to make sure he can workout safely and effectively. Asking me to move is not only rude, but dangerous, especially when he’s lifting heavy on his 3rd or 4th set near his last rep. Wait the whole 10-15 seconds or walk around. It’s really not that difficult. How would you like it if I asked your spotter to move and you dropped the weight on yourself? Not fun at all.

Mostly I blame this on the people who go there…. the stekares. I’ve been told other gyms are not as bad, and when I relocate, I’m sure I’ll find a better gym, one with more free-weights and people who love to lift properly. I’m not saying this is a Swedish thing, I’ve seen gyms like this back home, but damn it’s annoying.

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New York City for New Years Eve!

Nov 12th

Posted by Andrew in General

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Well, I’ve finally got the opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do… Go to the “Big Apple” and watch the ball drop, ringing in the new year!

It all got finalized today. I’m flying out with my friend Candace into Newark and staying in the Bronx. Yes, it’s a little out of the way, but the price was right. 1 week in New York, hotel & flight for under $1000. Woot woot!

And by this time, I _should_ have all my new photography gear! Definitely looking forward to snapping shots in Central Park, the Christmas tree at Rockafeller Square, skating at Rockafeller Square, Broadway shows, World Trade Towers, Empire States Building, Statue of Liberty, Museum of Sex… Yes, SO much to do! And also see the ball drop with millions of others!

It should be a great way to bring in the new years.

If you have any suggestions or places to go check out, please let me know. 5 full days in New York gives us the chance to see a lot!

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My Gear [Photography]

Nov 10th

Posted by Andrew in Gear

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Well, since I’m heading back home for Christmas soon, (35 more days), I’m definitely going to be looking at adding on some new gear to my photography setup. I’m doing this at home, as the prices in Stockholm for anything are 30-50% more than back home in Canada. Go Socialism?!? Anyway, that is beside the point.

Right now, I have my starter camera, the Canon Rebel EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi) with the standard Canon Zoom Lens 18-55mm AF/IS. This seems to be the normal starter kit for entry level and amateur photographers. Of course, there are a few other things one needs for this to work. SD memory cards (3 x Kingston 4GB SDHC SD4), but those could probably be bumped up to 8GB or 16GB as they are super cheap now. Then there is the tripod… Of course I have my standard telescopic tripod, but I wish it was a little smaller and lighter, but I also have my favorite tripod… the Gorilla Pod.

The Gorilla Pod is a great, cheap add-on to any photographer’s kit. Wrap it around a poll, branch, leg, person’s arm, or even an uneven surface. It works anywhere, and is extremely versatile.

I’m also looking to add to my kit.

  1. Get a nice pack for everything, because lugging it around in my large pack is pretty awkward at times.
  2. New lens. I’ve been eying the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4.0-5.6 IS lens.
  3. A UV filter & circular polarizer filter.
  4. A wide-angle lens, Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye.
  5. More hard drive space or a Drobo.

Maybe Santa will be good to me… (HA) or I’ll just buy myself my own gifts (most likely). As well, all random gifts would be greatly accepted!

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Stockholm at Night

Nov 10th

Posted by Andrew in At Night

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This is one of my first night shoots in Stockholm. This took place October 11th, 2009, on a very cold and snowy evening. I started off downtown at Sergels Torg, attempting to get a “night shot” of cars driving around it, slowly, working my way south through Gamla Stan. As I’m still learning about photography, not all the photos turned out amazing, but here are a few of the ones that I think turned out decent. These photos have gone through photoshop and I have put “other” effects on them to “enhance them”.

Sergels Torg at Night

I first started off at Sergels Torg, trying to get a motion blur of cars driving by. Unfortunately it was already too late at night (around 7:00pm) and most of the traffic already was home. I’ll have to head back soon and re-try this photo, maybe around 4:30 to 5:00pm as work gets out.

Sveriges Riksdag

Next I was off to Gamla Stan and took photos of the Swedish Parliament, the Sveriges Riksdag. This was a pretty easy shot too do. No traffic, no interference, just a simple shot. I ended up cleaning the color out as it was very yellow (like the next Gamla Stan shot), and I wanted to try for a clean, white look.

Northern Gamla Stan, South of Parlement

This was taken from south of the Parliament buildings, north of Gamla Stan. I was trying to get an older, rustic feel, unfortunately there were some signs still showing up in the photo (notice the green sign in the middle). I’m really pleased on how this turned photo turned out.

Sankta Gertruds Kyrka

This is the photo of Sankta Gertruds Kyrka (St Gertrude’s Church) was able to actually pick up stars; unfortunately at this web resolution, it doesn’t show all that clear. However, I can put up a higher resolution one later. This is the southern most Church in Gamla Stan and can clearly be seen from Söder.

Please leave your feedback if you have any about my photos. Definitely want to learn more about photography, digital editing and image composition, and from what I’ve read and researched, it’s all about practice and understanding what you are doing, with more practice!

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First Post!

Nov 8th

Posted by Andrew in General

4 comments

Well, this is my first post, in my new blog, www.ettfoto.com.

I’m not quite sure what this blog will turn into, but hopefully about my experiences living abroad in Stockholm, Sweden as well as capturing some photos while at it.

So far I’ve been living in Stockholm, Sweden for 5 months and have decided to come stay here and come on as staff with my current company. So come January 2010, I’ll be a new resident.

Lots is going on right now, so please be patient as I add more content, both blog entries and photo entries.

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