Imagine a Tale – Us nerds

Sunrise. Vaxholm castle or to be more exact N 59.403056 E 18.359722 WGS84, Sweden, and the morning gathering of the #baltictoysafari, a bunch of nerds hunting the first light with their cameras at the ready and figures waiting to pose.

This was a most peculiar experience, in which I found myself spending more time observing others shooting their toys rather than shooting pictures of my own. It was such joy not to feel odd, to be amongst those who share the same interest, to enjoy the company of friends, lying in the grass playing with toys, fiddling with nobs on their cameras, no matter the brand, trying to get that perfectly balanced shot, and most importantly nobody passing by wondering what the hell I was doing.

No matter how or where you are life is a joy to go through surrounded by tales and stories waiting to be told. For me I enjoy taking pictures of Lego and writing, and this event was such an inspiration to the creative side of me. This is what its all about, imagine a tale, in short – story telling. The #baltictoysafari event, gathering, digital reunion was nothing short of an imaginative place, and I found myself intrigued by the other participants, how they interacted with their toys, how much time and effort behind the camera and thought they put into this. Its was mesmerizing and quite the emotional trip. I felt free to launch myself into a creative spree of photographing toys; this dance of creativity was inspiring.

All though one could easily argue that I did learn a lot, which indeed was the case, I honestly enjoyed the company of the other participants more than the actual photography, to learn about others and to know another people, other nerds, yes we are all nerds at least in my view – be proud, was indeed the highlight of the two days. Perhaps we all knew each other in one way, but I’d never thought the social media personalities could form such familiar and stable bonds of friendship right away. It was like we immediately started our tale together, like we took off from where we left off: The Internets social media platforms.

The event took us to many various locations which all held their own stories and unique possibilities, of which we owe it all to @Me2 for being such an amazing Captain. But more than anything the photographic highlight of the weekend was without a doubt the spontaneous collaborations that occurred. To help each other out, lending a helping hand made it twice the fun.

With great joy and appreciation I went home from the event knowing I had made new friends. Friends I hope to see again sooner rather than later.

~ Christoffer (@East-Mountain)

Note of appreciation: I want to say thank you to @Me2 and his wonderful family for opening up their home to strangers, handled all the logistics and above all for being wonderful hosts. Your preparations and hospitality made this weekend a success. Thank you for an amazing tale.