Sweden

I went to Lulea, Sweden for a 3-week work trip where we got to fly with the Swedes.  Lulea is WAY north (about the same as northern Alaska), so we got sunshine from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. and awesome temperatures.

Downtown Lulea

Storforsens Falls

I shot this photo at 11:30 pm.  It was the most mosquitos I've ever seen in one place.  Only my face and hands were exposed while I took these photos using a tripod.  When I went back inside, I had two huge mosquito bites that formed horns on my forehead and several welts on my hands.

"Wild" reindeer.  All reindeer in northern Sweden are actually privately owned.  They roam around freely and are herded up twice a year and tagged by their owners.  Many restaurants serve reindeer meat, even on pizza.

Our trip to Lulea coincided with their huge annual music festival.  We watched a bunch of live music including a performance by Twisted Sister.  The 55-year-old singer can still rock the house.

This vendor advertised "American Style Donuts" 

I took the next few shots at a ska concert.  I started moving forward in the crowd and ended up in the front row with my huge camera held above my head to prevent knocking people out when the crowd got rough.  The Swedish band, Hoffmaestro and Chraa, had 10-15 people on stage and were super fun to watch.  They noticed me taking photos a few times, which resulted in some cool shots.  To top it off, I caught a drumstick at the end of the show.

A work trip wouldn't be complete without some climbing.  This granite reminded me of the Wichita Mountains in southern Oklahoma.

Photo by Brett

Summertime sunsets in Sweden last forever.  It seems like the sun moves horizontally in the late hours of the day.  Combine that with 100,000+ lakes in the country and there are some sweet photo opportunities.

Pete is the only other person I work with who likes to talk about f-stop, L series lenses, and exposure times