The Mr Universe of the future!

My parents came to visit us some days ago.
For my father, at the age of 73, it was the first time to come to Sweden and the second time to fly in his whole life.

The children were amazed to meet them again , after almost a whole year since we traveled to Greece to visit them.
Especially Gabriel was thrilled with his grandfather, an ex-boxing athlete, and he wanted constantly to show him how strong he was. Especially after just having eaten one of his meals!



And then he challenged his grandfather to find out who the strongest was! :-))

The beauty of maternity!

This was our third photo session with Angelina; a boudoir session first, her wedding a couple of months later and now while expecting their baby! For John it was only ... the second time!

But both of them were just a joy to photograph! Happy, relaxed and anxious. You see, the baby is due to arrive in a couple of weeks, thus no time to wait for a better weather.

Angelina though was really brave. We went for a walk in the forest and although the temperature was just a couple of degrees above zero, she showed us proudly the belly!






Everything became much easier a little later when we continued photographing in the studio.

Bertill Vallien launhes his new book about his glass art design.

Bertill Vallien's new book "Trasparent Boundaries" was introduced to the public  at Schefflerska Palatset (Spökslottet) in Stockholm, yesterday evening.

Bertill Vallien is by far the most internationally celebrated glass artist and designer in Sweden and is known most of all as the master of sand moulding. He is retained by the world famous Costa Boda since 1963. 

Since Costa Boda and Örrefors are one company in our days, "Spökslottet" was a perfect choice for the ceremony. You see, there it is kept a unique collection of glass artifacts from Orrefors, some of them made by Edvard Hald, who has been inspiration and glass-art ideal for Vallien.

"Kunskapsnoden" by Umeå University.

A large number of persons from the scientific, financial, media and the political world of Sweden was invited and guested yesterday at the Grand Hotel of Stockholm by the Umeå University.

The principal of the University talked about the university's future and announced the plans for a new architecture education line that will start in 2009. 

After the speech of several other guests, the University offered to its guests a "Västerbottensbuffé" in the beautiful environment of the hotel.

(for a press release in swedish click here)

Interviewed by NTD-TV channel!

During the Wedding Fair Show i got interviewed by the chinese tv channel NTD, a channel that broadcasts to all those who have satellite antennas all over the world.

It was a nice experience but also a little scary; well, i feel much more comfortable to stay behind the camera and not in front of it!  :-)

(photos by Jannis Politidis)

Bröllopsmässan i Grand Hotel!

A big "thank you" from our hearts to all of you that stopped by our exhibition place to meet us and look at our pictures!

It's always so nice to meet couples that are getting married soon, answer their questions and inspire them with our photos. It's also really nice to meet friends who come buy to say hello to us, as well as meeting other photographers who are exhibiting there and have some words with them!

But the best is when we get all these warm words for our photos, when we see couples coming closer to each other while looking at them, and when they make commentaries about how they would wish to have these kind of photos from their wedding!

(the photos are taken by my friend Jannis Politidis)

Thank you for your interest!

Only a few days before the Wedding Fair Show opens its doors in Grand Hotel, and the tickets that we wished to offer for free are finished.

Many thanks to all those who showed their interest by contacting us!

We are looking forward to meeting you all there during the weekend!

The new priests at the diocese of Stockholm.

Caroline Krook, the biskop of Stockholms Stift, blessed the new priests at Storkyrkan in Stockholm.

Some more photos taken after the ceremony you can see at:

http://orasisfoto.smugmug.com/gallery/3418908

Free tickets to "Bröllopsmässan 2008" in Stockholm!

Are you planning your wedding day during the year 2008?

Are you going to visit the Wedding Fair Show (Bröllopsmässan) in Grand Hotel in Stockholm next week?

We have half a dozen of tickets for the first day of the Show (för fredagen den 18:e januari) that we shall be happy to offer to the first brides-to-be that will send us their name, adress and their wedding date! (their cost to buy would be 160:-/ticket).

We shall send them to you by post at no charge at all! Your only "obligation" is to come and say Hello to us at our stand in Grand Hotel when you are there (Spegelsalen, stand S:17 )! Well, actually it's not an obligation but we shall be really happy to meet you anyway!   :-))

One ticket per inquiry. You can send us email to info@orasisfoto.se. Mark it "biljett/Bröllopsmässa" please!

Only one week left until BRÖLLOPSMÄSSAN in Stockholm !

Now it's only one week left until the Grand Hotel in Stockholm will open it's doors to all the couples that are getting married soon!

Bröllopsmässan (the Wedding Fair Show) will take place the 18th to 20th of Januari, 2008 and we are, of course, going to be there and welcome you.

You can meet us at "Spegelsalen", stand S:17.

We shall be more than happy to meet you, show you are work and answer your questions!

Varmt välkomna!

(for more info follow the link www.brollopsmassan.se )

Cornelia and Johan's email has made our day !!!

During the days between Christmas and New Years Eve, as well as the beginning of the New Year we have been receiving many emails and SMS messages with season wishes.

A lot of them come from customers/friends with whom we have a continuous cooperation for many years. They are publishers, graphic designers, editors and the responsible for the public relations and advertising of companies and institutions.

What gives us enormous delight though is when "our" wedding couples contact us to send us their wishes and thanks for their photos. Even if it was long ago when they received their albums, to know that they think of us those days is warming our hearts!

Such an email we received this morning from a couple that got married in the beginning of August in 2007.

And it has of course made our day !!! :-))

" Hej Mia,

Nu vill jag äntligen tacka dig ordentligt för alla våra fina bröllopskort som vi fick av er. Det senaste halvåret var så hektiskt att jag inte kunde göra det. Du gjorde ett enormt bra jobb under vår bröllopsdag och vi är verkligen nöjda med resultatet, speciellt nu, när man efter nästan ett halvt år kan titta tillbaka på vår underbar dag.

Jag rekommenderar er gärna vidare till andra bröllopssugna par och hoppas ni får många fina uppdrag i 2008.

Våra julklappar i form av ramade bröllopsbilder till våra föräldrar blev mycket uppskattade och vi visade stolt det fina albumet när vi var hemma över jul. Även bildspelet har vi visat mycket nu till vänner och bekanta, det är så enkelt att ta med. ...

Lycka till för Er med allt under det nya året!

Många hälsningar,

Cornelia & Johan "

Happy New Year !!!

Many thanks to all of our friends and customers for the wonderful, full of excitement and joy year that is gone!

We wish all of you a really happy New Year, health and happiness, and all of your dreams to come true! 

Soon the waiting is over ...

It's less than 2 weeks until Ingela's baby is expected to come!

Yesterday i photographed the proud mother at her mother's house, with her love and their daughter. 

There was a plan for eventually photographing them outside, near the nature, but at -5* C the idea was not very appealing ...  :-)) 

Sabina and Sean on canvas!

Sabina and Sean got married a year ago. They came from Norway to Stockholm for the wedding, which was just beautiful!

Now they have their new house ready and part of the decoration will be a photo from the wedding day, printed on a 1 meter long canvas!

(thanks to my friend Jannis for photographing me in his studio!)

"Thank you!"

This morning i received the following email from a bride that got married some months ago (the names of the couple have not been written in the following text, with respect to the wish for anonymity due to the boudoir photo session that the bride did to offer to her husband);


"Hej Georgios!

Förlåt att det tagit så lång tid för mig att maila dig, jag har verkligen gått igenom bilderna och älskar dem! Det finns så många fina och jag är så glad att vi har bilder från hela dagen... XXX är också jättenöjd, jag tror han var lite nervös innan men det märks att han är sig själv och avslappnad – och det var viktigt för oss bägge att det skulle bli naturliga bilder.
.....
Det vore också bra om jag kunde få de digitala bilderna från ”min” fotografering, ... . Det är ju verkligen ovärdeligt att ha så här fina bilder att kika på när minnet sviker!

Kram
LLL "

The same bride had written the following email just a few days after her wedding day;

"Hej Georgios!

Stort tack för senast! Jag är verkligen glad över att du var med oss hela dagen och var så otroligt proffsig, det är VERKLIGEN skillnad på att vara på ett bröllop med en riktig fotograf jämfört med en amatör som står och fotar med blixt på alla möjliga och omöjliga ställen. Jag kikade på videofilmen från vigseln igår och jag tänkte inte alls på att du tog kort på oss och XXX var superavslappnad även han. Underbart! Jag hoppas att du hade en trevlig kväll efter det, vi är själva jättenöjda.

Som du kanske gissar är jag lite nyfiken på hur korten blev, finns det någon chans att tjuvkika via er websida?

Kramar
LLL "

It's such a delight hearing from a couple that they have enjoyed not only the photos that we have taken of them but also our attendance there!

Åsa och Martin

Åsa and Martin got married in Vaxholm, a couple of months ago.
They had the luck of enjoying both a beautiful weather and their young son being in a top mood that day!

Emma and Martin.

When i left Stockholm to go to Lidö, near Norrtälje, in the early August, i got almost depressed.

I had met Emma a couple of times, long before their wedding day, and i had heard her talking so enthousiastically about the planned wedding ceremony near the water!

When i left Stockholm that morning it was raining. The more i drove (from the approximately 100 km) the darker it became. In the middle of the way it was so heavily pouring water that i could hardly drive with 50 km/h in the highway and visibility was just a few meters in front of me...

But when i got just a few kilometers away from the harbour to take the boat to Lidö, it was as if somebody drew the black curtain away. Wonderful summer weather with people sitting by the water, enjoying the sunshine and eating icecream.

I met the couple and their guests on the island. 

It was a beautiful, relaxed feeling all the time, from the preparations of the bride with help of her friends, during the ceremony, and even afterwards. 

Exactly as Emma had told me at our first meeting, long before the wedding; "we shall not have extremes, everything will be very laid-back".

(somebody was not fast enough to congratulate the just-married couple!)

My pilgrim journey to the Holly Mountain Athos, in Greece.

   That was the 10th time i visited the monastic community in Greece and as always it was a great experience.

   I visited the monastery of Filotheou where my friend brother Gabriel was waiting for me.

  As soon as i arrived with some other visitors, we where wellcomed by the arhontaris with the traditional loukoumi and tsipouro (some kind of jelly sweet and raki).

The weather was not particularly good but the autumn colours where just stunning.

The next morning, after the service, we headed to the monastery of Karakalou, some half an hour walking through the forest.

There i met another friend, brother Arsenios, who kindly showed me the monastery.

We went to the cellars where they still keep a huge barell from the 16th century, where they used to store the wine that the monastery produced.

It is so big that the height of the ceiling was not enough and they where forced to dig in the floor so that a part of the barell would be in the ground...

Leaving the monastery on our way back to Filotheou, we came across the fields where the monastery grows its olive trees. 

It was the harvesting time. 

It's the monks themselves who still collect the olives in the traditional way.

If you wish to learn more about the monastic community in Athos, visit the link;

http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/

If you wish to see more of my pictures from previous travels to Athos (to different monasteries as well) please visit the link;

http://orasisfoto.smugmug.com/Travel/143825