The old mine, a photo from Dalarna, Svealand

Photographer's Note

In the middle part of Sweden and stretching over many "regions" are an area called "Bergslagen". The word bergslagen comes from "berg = rock or mountain" and "lag = group or team". The reason for the name of the area is the intense mining that once took place in those parts. The mines were owned jointly by the whealtier landowners by forming in a "bergslag", hence the name of the region.

Today most of those mines are long gone but is still forms our nature as our forest are full of old mines and mine waste dumps. My picture comes from "Gamla Silvbergs gruva = Old Silvermountain mine" south of S酹er in Dalarna. This mine is mentioned in writing as early as 1254 and was in use for many hundreds of years. The last time was a short time during WW I when all resources was tried once again. The main product here was silver but together with that comes lead and a litte gold.

Today the mines are not only a pritty sight, the water from the mines and the dumps is in many cases an enviromental hazard and some water sources in small communities have been closed due to this. As you can see from the color the water in this mine contains cupper.

The mines are also used to get rid of things like cars when trying to fool the insurance company.

I will try to make a small serie on the mines.

jhonny_blue, rabani, Cool-ice, sunny, jhm, guyfortier, andybrook, mogens-j, Jeppe, avigur_11, Rinie_Hoff, kajenn, pamastro, bertolucci, jrj has marked this note useful

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jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-05-21 4:47

Wonderful composition and very beautiful colours !
Thanks for the note !
Congratulaitons

rabani (9645) 2004-05-21 5:03

The harsh rocks make a good reflection on the copperblue water. This is a hard photo, showing the leftovers of men. Strangely, in a funny sort of way, it looks serenely beautiful.Maybe a combination of the rock and the bluish water make it so.

Cool-ice (5289) 2004-05-21 5:04

Nice clarity with so many details, as well in the water as in the stone.
Excellent composition too.
Very interesting and well done, Ebbe, thank you. I am waiting for the next ones with impatience.

cxxl (2684) 2004-05-21 5:09

Beautiful colour and reflective symetry. Very original capture Ebbe.

sunny (3069) 2004-05-21 5:28

Fantastic sight of water reflections and rock textures with fine depth, Ebbe! Great angle of taking and yes, the copper in water creates beautiful tones in blue/green. Very well seen and captured!

olli (2091) 2004-05-21 5:38

I simply like the combination of stone with nice texture and water with beautiful colors.
I posted another � more abstract version to WS...

jhm (211734) 2004-05-21 7:09

Excellent perspective Ebbe, the reflections are very nice, your note is great.

FrancisSanto (528) 2004-05-21 7:21 [Comment]

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jiherka (4552) 2004-05-21 8:18

Very nice place. Also a good composition.
Well done Ebbe

albiback (8751) 2004-05-21 13:31

Beautiful major green on a superb mineral texture.

Piotr (0) 2004-05-21 14:47

Very original colors, an interesting note, well framed, good!

andybrook (136) 2004-05-21 15:32

Beautiful colours and reflection of the still water and great texture and sharpness of the rock.
A great combination,it works well.
A well composed shot and interesting note.
Good work,very well done.

mogens-j (56) 2004-05-21 15:47

Great picture Ebbe. The colours, the dof and the composition - everything works perfect. Very informative note too. With a view like this I might wish to go and see it live.

Jeppe (18654) 2004-05-21 16:35

On the island Bornholm theres a little pond called the Emerald lake - I never realy understood why - but after seing this I got an idea - great, great play of colours and the reflections makes the image perfect - very fine work Ebbe.

avigur_11 (22535) 2004-05-21 16:59

Such a great deep blue. You mentioned that this was a silver and gold mine, but this kind of blue is usually tyoical to copper. Texture of the rock is amazing, and the light enhances the colors very nice. A very good shot, Ebbe.

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2004-05-21 19:13

Ebbe, can I join you when you are going back to make that shot on full resolution?? please??
I mena, this is a real great picture, the lines in the waal are really very nice with the structure and details, and tha there's the refelcetion also. I reaaly thibk it's great.
I think Olli's WS is great, too.

kajenn (2462) 2004-05-21 21:08

Spectacular colors, Ebbe. And spectacular texture on the rock. If you hadn't said copper, I'd thought the color came from limestone - anyhow it doesn't look healthy. You've made a very nice capture of it, including some vegetation. I like what I see on the right side, above and below the surface. Only thing I'd done different is including some more of it on top or exclude it totally. Very instructive note too, as I only know of Sala Silver mine and Falu Copper mine so far. Good job!

pamastro (7296) 2004-05-22 0:48

Very beautiful colors. The water especially. A contrast to the high mineral count that probably makes it toxic to life. The rock formations are very nicely photographed. I really like angle of the lines in them and the way it has a sheer cut to it. Nicely done.

bertolucci (14052) 2004-05-22 12:47

Please do, Ebbe, 'cause this is an excellent start. The layered structure of this schist-like rock which its rich black/blue hues is beautiful. The reflection of this in this strange coloured water makes it very graphic. Dashing two-tone composition!

jrj (34843) 2004-05-23 5:33

Very good notes to accompany this special pix of the old mine. Simple yet appealing composition. Very good Ebbe.

kourosh (2346) 2004-05-24 6:25

Ah this one is even better! i wish there was a man or smth so that we could guess the height of the rock from the picture. but here we see what appeals divers. good one Ebbe.