There are boatload of photos, so be ready for a long fika!

Photographs are by Christopher and Andrew. Also thanks to Kate, Sabina, Tinna, and many more for contributing.

But I did it. Here’s my year in review of photos and feelings of 2011.

January
Sunset with Gandhiji – Juhu Beach, Mumbai

February
Weeee, we married for real now!

March
The last photo of lovely Bunny

April
Spring and sunshine – eternal hope and peace

May
Only in California

June
Spin, spin, midsommar, spin!

July
A birthday celebration for the Swede, a hot air balloon ride!

Times have changed – a chat with Odin’s followers

August
On the 13th day, we say goodbye

…i miss you mom.

September
Bollywood Actress Juhi Chawla at the Aamby Valley Bridal Show in Mumbai. It was a much needed outing for Dad and I to do something fun.

The World’s Largest Bunny in Örebro

Too bad he’s gone now…

October
A one year anniversary passes! A fleeting moment of happiness

The first Diwali without Mom…

A painting of Lord Ganesha by Mom.

My parents’ 31st anniversary would have happened along with her birthday.

November
On 11-11-11

Bubbles, our new joy in life

December
A birthday – I enter the next decade…

We meet a few years ago via Facebook when I was looking to meet other photographers in Sweden. And there he was! He’s a veritable road-warrior who has traveled the world for photographers. He’s met everyone from President Clinton and Carl Bildt to little tent mice to tribal leaders.

When I got married early this spring (sorry I’ll share photos one day), I asked him to be our photographer. While he was reluctant at first to shoot a seven day wedding, he was the right man to be the pusher. Wedding photography is guerrilla warfare after all.

Today he works with private clients who are models looking to bolster their portfolio or normal people looking for private portraits of an artsy nature (not sexy, but not necessarily non-nudes). He has a full plate working with private clients, shooting for the Daily Photo, and working hands deep in gum printing. In 2012 he will delve deeper into the New Topographics movement and exhibiting his prints.

Christopher also runs the DailyPhoto.se a collection of photographs from his town, Sweden, and the world. Personally, going through his photographs is mesmerizing.

Check out his timeline page:

How you can not be addicted to every photo? Each of his photos has a short story and through them you observe a slice of life in the Great North.

The man himself…on the left not right.

Even though we speak on a regular basis, it has been a long time since I bothered about Chris why’s and how’s of photography. Here’s an interview I had with him.

How did you get into photography?
I don’t believe I was ever out of photography. Even at a young age I was making photographs with my mind, imagining snapshots of life. I didn’t begin making a living out of it though until I befriended a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who started me along my own path.

Why did you start Daily Photo?
It’s important to complete work, which I’m horrible at. On dailyphoto.se it’s a sort of canvas for everyday projects that never get finished, but it trains me to try.

How do you focus to get that “one shot”?
When I wake I look for the emotions inside me and try to find inspiration in the world that expresses those emotions. The stronger the emotions the stronger the focus for the photograph.

What is the most amazing place you visited?
Deception Pass, Washington State. I recovered a bit of my soul there.

What three tips do you have for budding photographers?
Shoot cliches.
Get good at it.
Then, never shoot a cliche again.

If you were a tea, what tea would you be? :)
Fo Cha, but I drink a far more mundane variety.

Check out Christopher’s sites
Christopher Grant Portfolio – English / Swedish
The Daily Photo – English
Ezine – Sign up – Focusing on the best photographic moments, the magazine will be published quarterly starting in the winter of 2011. Sign up to receive the ezine for free.

I did take a few twilight photos of Stockholm though. Tried to do a longer time lapse, but darn, without a remote control is tricky!

Anyway, enjoy!

Stockholm skyline

Stadshuset – the city hall

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight

What did you do to celebrate? We had a low-key Halloween eve. Watched Ghostbusters, ate pumpkin pasta, and enjoyed a halloween cupcake.

On Sunday, we had some friends over and carved pumpkins. And jeez, finding pumpkins at this time was a nightmare. There were pumpkins in all the shops a few weeks ago but not this past weekend!

We did eventually find a few pumpkins at ICA and at the market. My friend’s daughter did a spectacular job carving this little pumpkin.

It seemed this year Swedes really got into the Halloween spirit. Despite not having any stores dedicated to Halloween (Buttricks does not count), people still did it.

Like the rabbit on the train…

… he must be hot!

And a lot of stores carried pumpkin displays and orange and black candles to be spooky. It was nice. This is the only time of year I really miss America. Well, I miss fall in America: Halloween, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday shopping.

But there’s nothing like Halloween. I hate the ugly, scary costumes, but as a kid I loved trick or treating and dressing up and making cookies. Hell, I still love all that but only get to dress up and make cupcakes now.

Once year, when I was a kid, I went to the IBM sponsored Halloween party at the campus. Mom and I went into the haunted house, which I hate (but love the pretty colors – deranged, yes). I started crying and freaking out so much, we had to turn back and find an exit. One of the ghouls in the haunted house felt so bad he took off his mask and was trying to explain it was all fake. And he tried to give me the mask to play with. I promptly cried again and he started apologizing to Mom, who thought it was funny.

By the way, I was eight years old. Don’t laugh.

This year, to remininse, I bought some Brach’s famous candy corns. Yes, they are sweet. Yes, they are made from corn syrup and sugar. And yes, they are made from yellow 6, yellow 5, red 3, blue 1, and titanium dioxide color.

But my oh my, candy corn is to halloween as peeps are to Easter.

Pretty! And tasty {sorta}

Pricey, at 39kr in Stockholm (10kr in the US), these little candies are perfect for my next batch of cupcakes.

Here’s some of my work on the cupcakes. If you want me to post the recipes, let me know. I don’t like super sweet so I kept more on the flavor and light on the frosting.

Owl cupcakes – hoot!

Little purple monsters

BOO!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween and an All Saint’s Day today. And here’s to hoping for a sunnier November too!

Wishing all of you a happy Diwali. May you all have a prosperous and auspicious new year.

Kandils – Diwali lanterns. Stars are also popular.

Rangoli – Sand art created to make the goddess Laxshmi happy when she visits home

Divas – small clay lights used to welcome Laxshmi

Originally this post said happy monday, but honesty, WTF. Crappy Monday!

As for me, I’m enjoying a hot cup of chai courtesy of my mom’s recipe with fresh ginger and lemongrass. (Today is three months from when you left us, I miss you everyday but I love you and will dream big for you.)

{Animated gif by The Oatmeal, the most fabulous site out there}

The weather forecast for Mumbai helps too but it is too hot because there have been no clouds or rain in the past week.

desert. hot.

parched.

On the plus side you can always find delicious food in Mumbai, and this dish from Moshe’s was sublime. That weird yellow drink was a mango, coconut, lemongrass, honey fresh juice. I am so obsessed with lemongrass now. Obsessed!!

More Mumbai photos to enjoy.

But I must say, I do prefer the Swedish summer much more. Charming and buccolic.

Happy Monday and drink the black death called coffee. Just don’t turn into the little monster from above. {Animated gif by The Oatmeal, the most fabulous site out there}

Or maybe they call it ribocopter. Whatever, it was awesome.

The boat ride was an hour and the helicopter ride was around 20 minutes. It definitely could have been longer!

Here are photos, be jealous.

It fits a house!

The dials on a chopper.

Foggy islands over Sweden

The helicopter blade is bent in time!

The smallest island ever, and we landed on it.

The small island with the white trees was destroyed by the skarvar (cormorants).
Nearby to the left of the island, the Swedish military built underwater walls to prevent invading ships, mainly Russian, from having a free for all access to the waters. By doing this, they forced the ships to take specific routes or crash into the wall, making it easier to attack and defend.

That’s our boat!

And that is me in a giant pouffy and very warm suit. The life jacket is not even on yet!

For it being a very crappy year we at least took a pretty awesome chopper ride, hot air balloon and still stayed married. Win!

I go crazy. I don’t have the magic or patience to survive the traffic, bureaucracy, and heat. I know, I am a wimp.

But, I do like photos. :) These are photos taken over the years and on this trip of Mumbai, India. A few photos are from friends who took them during our own crazy wedding week and riding on a BEST bus.

The fish market – fresh and tasty

A bridal car

Because penguins are for trash

Amazing egg man battles Mumbai traffic

Deep fried battered bread stuffed with potato, spicy goodness

Dosas … are long

Dhobbi district

Sir, do you have an STD?

Rosabussarna at Cafe Leopold!

Bullet Holes – from the hostage crisis in 2008

Wassup?

Hanging with the Peeps – The photograph taking a break and chilling with our bus drivers

I posted photos from the summer and maybe there are some from the spring so we can all look towards sunnier days for next year.

Plus I hope winter doesn’t start early again this year. Not lagom.

Our hot air balloon ride over Stockholm


The very beautiful Stockholm archipelago


Gamla Stan, Riddarholmen, and Nordiska Museet


Summer sunsets … around 9PM

…and the flip side of a Swedish summer = fog + rain


But filled with hallon paj,


sill,


nubbe (schnaps),


and a smörgåsbord


Gröna Lund

Red Bull Lådbilsrace Octopus


Sweden, the most grass friendly country ever


Antique cigarettes, at least sixty years old. Wanna smoke?

Midsommarblommar


Witch burning, bonfire roasting Valborg


Men in suits need ice cream. Because that’s how awesome Swedish men are.


…to be concluded by a lovely fika.