Eurovision Song Contest 2014 – 2

Posted on May 1, 2014 by karinelsu

I feel very privileged in having press accreditation to the Eurovision Song Contest. The only taker for my photos (and words for a change) is a small, monthly local paper. So I can do what I want – no agenda. Which brings me back to why I applied in the first case. I love stories!

10,000 people with accreditation. 1,600 press people from 80 countries. 90,000 people attending 9 shows, 180 mill. watching on television… Every single part of me was itching to get to experience, and document, this huge event from the inside. To go where I would not normally be able to go and take pictures. My idea is to show what goes on behind the actual show though of course it is impossible for me to resist great lines and colour. Todays image fulfill both these desires. The pavilion is part of the press area and the large building looming in the background contains the stage. Tomorrow I get to go in.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 – 1

Posted on April 30, 2014 by karinelsu

Every year for the past 59 years European countries have competed against each other once a year in a song contest. This year the event is in Copenhagen because we won last year (only third time ever) and I have a press pas. So I’m going to deviate from my usual blog principal over the next coupe of weeks and post images that I just took.

Let’s start out easy with a classic celebrity shot, the Portuguese contestant Roxy signing autographs after the first press conference.

Copenhagen 7, 2013

Posted on April 29, 2014 by karinelsu

Don’t they just look like toy soldiers? 🙂 They even have instruments. They’re not, though. The guns are real and being chosen for the guard is one of the highest honor for the young men in the army.

Copenhagen 6, 2013

Posted on April 28, 2014 by karinelsu

Here is the guard at the Queen’s residence. Every day at noon the change of guards starts at Rosenborg Castle where the barracks are. The guards walk through the city to be in place for the change at noon. It is not uncommon for people to follow them from Rosenborg to Amalienborg. I always feel very fond of my hometown when I accidentally come across the uniformed soldiers with their music corps marching along in the middle of the street.

Copenhagen 5, 2013

Posted on April 27, 2014 by karinelsu

Time to play the tourist…

View of the Marble Church across the square of Amalienborg. You can’t call Amalienborg a castle though the Queen lives here. They are four identical but separate buildings that were not originally meant to house the royal family.

I like how there’s free access to the area. You can walk right up to the buildings, even drive across the square. All you’ll see is the famous royal guard with their bearskin hats in front of their little red houses.

Copenhagen 4, 2013

Posted on April 26, 2014 by karinelsu

This used to be a news stand. It’s on Sankt Hans Torv – a great place to sit in the sun and drink coffee / wine / beer and eat brunch / lunch / croissants / dinner.

The square is within walking distance from the inner city (across the bridge from Nørreport Station) but the feel is very different. It is a multi ethnical neighborhood with many cafés, designer shops and ‘antique’ shops.

Copenhagen 3, 2013

Posted on April 25, 2014 by karinelsu

Most visitors to Copenhagen never leave the inner city. It’s such a pity. This string of lovely, artificial lakes can be found only a few minutes from the main tourist route. They were created when the battlements were torn down, about the same time as Tivoli.

Copenhagen 2, 2013

Posted on April 23, 2014 by karinelsu

Same location, same model – different camera…

This is taken with my Nikon D5100. Here I’m able to indicate the surroundings by blurring them and focus more strongly on what I really want to show – the young woman. A matter of taste. By using different settings I would be able to keep everything in focus as well.

Copenhagen 1, 2013

Posted on April 22, 2014 by karinelsu

This is a fun little experiment. One day early in the fall I took a friend and two cameras to Søerne in Copenhagen. This is the result of a portrait taken with a Leica D-Lux4. It’s a compact camera without interchangeable lenses but it shoots RAW format and lets you adjust aperture, shutter speed or shoot manual if you feel the need. And it looks cool. So I bought it used without being completely sure what my plans were for it. I thought it would liv win my car so I would never be without a camera but that didn’t quite work for me.

As you will see when I post another portrait in the same surroundings tomorrow, there is a big difference between the images the Leica and the Nikon will produce. I’m sure preference will be personal. I really love my Nikon so I don’t use the Leica much (as in ‘hardly at all’) but I think it might well be a better choice for street photography – if I was to get into that at some point 🙂

Eurovision Song Contest

Posted on April 15, 2014 by karinelsu

Eurovision Song Contest – ever heard of that? 37 countries from UK to Belarus meet once a year to battle over who presents the best song.

This is not a talent show. Each country holds a competition to determine who should represent them this year. It’s been running for over 50 years, at first with a lot fewer countries. By now there are two semi finals before the big night because there are just too many counties who wants to be part of the event.

Mostly it’s a kitsch event. There’s glitter, wind machines and songs that never would never have been played twice on the radio. Denmark has won three times only. In 1963, 2000 and last year, 2013. This means that we are hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Right here in Copenhagen, just a few miles from my home.

Guess what – I want to goooo. Not to watch the show. No, who cares… But to take pictures. To be able to walk around in as many places as possible (preferably in all the hidden ones), take pictures and tell stories. And guess what – I am going, with my camera. In my capacity of volunteer photographer for the very local newspaper my application for accreditations got approved. OMG, it’s going to be so much fun. There must be so many images to capture.

The image at the top of this post is not from a song contest. It’s from my on-going project, portraying the dance teams at local school clubs as they compete against each other. So is this second image. I hope I will be able to shoot something remotely like this in May 🙂

Karins Fotos

Presenting my favorite images

Category Archives: Denmark