I’ve been promising a few people that I would get around to posting some photos I took of Stockholm at night, or what passes for night a week before the summer solstice. I’m jumping out of chronological sequence of my travels, so there will be a little bit of back tracking in later posts.
I rather like taking waterside twilight/night photos, and having discovered just before I left Australia that Stockholm is essentially at the top end of an archipelago of some 20,000 islands, I decided to pack my tripod just for the stop in Stockholm. The prolonged evenings at high latitudes was also something not previously experienced, and would be a novelty in itself.
By mid-June, proper late twilight only really gets going after 11pm. This created a bit of a challenge in itself, as by that stage of the evening a mix of residual jet lag combined with general travel weariness was starting to take its toll.
Anyway, I was happy that the effort was made, and I hope you will agree that the outcomes weren’t too shabby.
Stockholm in the evening light
The Gröna Lund amusement park on Djurgården Island. Apparently Gröna Lund translates to “the Green Grove”. The swirl of light near the top of the tower is a set of rotating steel arms festooned with red lights. Below the arms are open chairs (the white lights) where some lucky amusement park patrons get to ride. Not for me thanks!
The af Chapman. Launched in north west England in 1888 and originally named the Dunboyne, the ship was given its current name when acquired by the Swedish Navy in 1923. The Navy used it as a training ship and made several trips around the world before serving as a barracks during WW2. Its final voyage was in 1934. In 1947 the Stockholm City Museum saved the ship from being broken up, and since 1949, the af Chapman has been managed by the Swedish Tourist Association. It is today operated as a youth hostel.
Ferry in the central harbor. The water was sufficiently still that even a 20 second exposure recorded negligible movement. I rather like this shot. It came out of the camera almost spot-on and required little additional editing effort.
Nearly 11:45pm now. Looking south in this photo and the light is beginning to die away.
Turning to looking north across central Stockholm. Even at this late hour the northern sky is still quite light. This came as a surprise to me as the night always fades away to the west in lower latitudes. But what we see here is the 24 hour light beyond the Arctic Circle, even though the Circle is still some 900km north of Stockholm. Very odd, for someone who lives at 34 degrees South.
Even after the above photo was taken, I’m sure the light would have remained good for photography for some time, but I was beat and retired for the night. So that’s all folks!
To Learn More
All of the locations above are within a few minutes walk of the centre of Stockholm and represent a pleasant evening’s walk. The af Chapman is anchored off Skeppsholmen Island which is where a good view of Gröna Lund can also be found.
Photo Morsels 
Beautiful shots ! very crisp ! 🙂
Lovely night shots, bet you had to wait around for ages for it to get dark. I remember going there in summer once, the sun was still hovering on the horizon at midnight
I thought Stockholm by night might have been a little saucier.
Great photos.
It might well be, just not where I was down on the docks!