Written by Carsten Langkjaer • Photography by Carsten Langkjaer

My name is Carsten and I live 20 miles from the center of Copenhagen, Denmark. I put the camera on the shelf many years ago, perhaps mostly because I did not get enough out of all the hours I spent in the darkroom. Then, ten years ago, I acquired a digital camera and it made me start slowly again.

Eventually I felt a need for more inspiration, and therefore met up with a local photo club, just to see what it was about. After having been a guest for some time, I joined. I was persuaded to participate in the photo club competitions, and to my surprise, some of my pictures got good marks. Some even got 1st place.

I also tried to submit images for the juried exhibition, The National, and even got two pictures accepted the first year. In the second year, I got a single image accepted. The third year was a disappointment. None of my pictures fell into the jury’s favor.

I have posted pictures again this year: sixteen photos in four different categories. It is always exciting to see the list of accepted works. It usually comes in time for the exhibition’s vernissage. I was happy and proud when I saw the list come out. Seven of my works fell into the judges’ favor. These are the ones I present to you below with a brief commentary on each image. (Editor’s Note: the captions are mine.)

1 Category: Monochrome Paper

This picture I took in Times Square in 2010. It was “Fleet Week” in New York City and I wanted to get pictures of some of the marines and sailors. Suddenly, I saw these two sailors walking down the sidewalk with a little boy strutting right besides them. A lucky shot. The image is cropped and perhaps slightly adjusted for the light. The colors disturbed more than they benefited, so I removed them.

A Sailor’s Life for Me.

Holidays in Italy back in 2012. To get from Denmark to Italy, one must go over the Alps. We have done the journey by car, but this time it was by air. I sat at a clean window and could take this photo as the mountains appeared out of the clouds. Adjusted the photo’s contrast and cropped.

Alps from a Plane.

2 Category: Monochrome Digital

One of my old friends is playing the piano – and much more. I tried to photograph his hand in low light and had to take many exposures with varying shutter speeds. This is one of the results. It is a composite of multiple exposures.

Tickling the Ivories.

3 Category: Color Paper

The family went on a trip to Tivoli in Copenhagen. I photographed my own grandchildren about to be raised in one of the more challenging rides. I was so fascinated by their expression. Little sister had full control of the situation, while her older brother awaited the worst.

OMG!

It is a good idea to bring a camera if the journey goes to Prague. Here is the subject, “The Dancing House” also called Fred and Ginger. The photo was taken between two rain showers. I took multiple exposures so it was possible to eliminate the traffic using PhotoShop.

Fred and Ginger.

4 category: Color Digital

This photo is from an art exhibition in Copenhagen’s 1st Sweet Water Reservoir. I was not allowed to take photos of the glass artwork, instead I shot the shadows.

Shadow Art.

Finally, a view from the new Southern Harbor area in Copenhagen. Inspired by Scott’s assignment on “The Blue Hour”, I took this 30 second exposure.

Blue Harbor.

Thanks for inviting me as guest blogger.