The reason for the name change is that I’ve never really felt all that comfortable with “Rasmussen”, a name my great grand on my fathers side took when he/they emigrated to Northern Norway from the Pajalaa area in the borderlands between Sweden and Finland in the mid 1800s. Sort of a “white” name taken in an assimilation effort. So, I’ve been thinking about changing my last name for over 10 years and I had as everyone, many, many options even by just looking back a couple generations. Anyway I decided on pure and simple “Sindre Falk”, easy is best I thought. Considering my vision disability it’s sort of ironic to be named after a sharp-eyed bird too. Even more so I guess when I’m a photo nut. So, let it henceforth be known…yadayada.. ;)

Oh, my present better half, “Ann Christin Kern”, changed her last name too, to “Cappelen”, which is one of her old family names after her maternal grandfather. It’s Dutch, belonging to a family with it’s own crest and a 400 year long history in the better circles of “Norway”. She got “Kern” after her father who was born in Germany.

Alas, we both now carry good, snobby names. Clearly we’re on a stairway to upper class, gourmet dinners and conversations over fine brandy in the cigar-smoke filled rooms of exclusive country clubs. Or not.. ;) A name does not define who you are, you yourself do. However, a name you like and feel comfortable with is everyones right.

Macro, July 2009

Well, we’re writing August. Another summer blew by and I didn’t get half the things I planned to do, done. I don’t if it’s because the summers are so short in Scandinavia that you never feel like you get around to use them to the max, or if it’s that simple fact that the weather tend to suck that ruin all plans. Ultimately it’s probably just the fact that I’m lazy ;)

I did however not waste the entire summer, I had a couple week-long semi-hollidayish trips, one up north and another one up in the mountains here in southern Norway. I spent some time with friends, had a few laughs, drank some beer and took quite a few images. Most of them crappy as always, luckily just enough keepers to not completely kill off my spirits and enthusiasm!

Back in January after the photo-mania grasped me, I acquired a Nikon D90 DSLR that have been following me around like a faithful dog ever since. I’ve made about 23 000 exposures with it so far and it’s probably my most treasured possession. Now, It’s just a camera, but it’s hard not to get a tiny bit emotionally attached even to a silly piece of plastic when you lug it around as much as I have. I’m sure I’ll eventually wear it out or break it, and in the future I’ll own even more fancy, lean and mean picture making machines, but that trusty D90 will be fondly remembered.

I still have the wonderful Panny LX3 that the missus got me for birthday back in late November and it’s got quite a bit around too. Funny thing is that this have become almost a cult-camera in certain groups, it’s gone out of production now, and a lot of people never got their hands on it because the production volume was so low. Actually, that seems to be a typical property of Panasonic’s most interesting cameras – delivery problems and simply not enough cameras made. I’ll hang on the LX3 and it will serve as a backup and lightweight solution for years to come. It IS a very sexy little machine.

That said, there’s no question about the fact that a SLR and a point ‘n shoot have different abilities and pro’s/con’s. If you’re really after learning and understanding the basics of photography, I believe that an SLR or any other camera that offers you real, direct control of the attributes of the exposure is the best way to go. At least that is my experience after owning and learning with the D90 and LX3 over the last 9 months.

This autumn will be interesting. I’m still doing voluntary work, and I’m likely to spend more time doing it. It can be very rewarding and at least you do something constructive. I will also continue my quest to learn more about photography and improve my skill and knowledge about this massive subject. I have a couple of long-term projects on a scale that I previously have not touched. I will probably write more about these later on as I get them rolling. I think it’s important to try new things and put your back into it, because the only way to become a better photographer is to put yourself in situations where you must utilize, refine and expand your knowledge and skills. At least that’s the theory ;) It might end with a great, big facepalm, but at least I can say “been there, done that”.

Every now and then I also upload some of the pictures I make to this site and I try to show different things, mostly because I haven’t found my niche in photography yet and all flavours are interesting to me and subject of experimentation. I see no reason not to flexible!

Enough jabbering for today, time to snuggle up with the missus and watch an episode of Dirty Jobs :)

Just Had to post this one. Winters are cold and uncomfortable, but also exceptionally beautiful at times. Last few days have been cold with bright, clear sky and sunsets reflecting in the clouds and I was hoping to catch one of them on film. Today, in between everything else, I managed to stick my head out the window for one minute and get it digitalized ;) Hoping to get more in the next days!

I wonder how they got there...

I would like to point your attention to my exceptionally cute and talented girlfriend’s site, www.lillarosin.com and especially her portfolio. One of her great interests is drawing, digitally primarly. Her tools of the trade is a Wacom tablet and Photoshop CS3.

Frankly, I envy her as I’ve hardly ever been able to draw the simplest character or thing without getting laughs, or laughing myself… ;) Regardless, seeing her in action is fun, and its impressive what todays technology can do. She wants to work with graphics, design and drawing and I really think thats a good idea myself. Currently she’s doing a master in computer science at the University of Oslo (UiO).