Autumn in Stockholm has a special atmosphere. For a few short weeks, the city turns golden, and Djurgården becomes one of my favourite places for portrait photography.
Antonia wanted some portraits surrounded by autumn colours, so we decided to spend an afternoon walking around Djurgården and taking photos along the way.
We met at Sergels torg and planned to take the bus towards Djurgården. The bus never came, so we changed plans, jumped on the tram and got off near Nordiska museet.
It turned out to be the perfect starting point. The trees were full of yellow and orange leaves, and the historic surroundings and old-style street benches gave us plenty of beautiful backgrounds to work with.
At first, Antonia was a little nervous in front of the camera, which is completely normal.
Instead of focusing on poses, I asked her to simply walk around, look at the trees, enjoy the autumn colours and take in the surroundings. I would photograph the moments in between. As we continued, she became more relaxed, and the portraits started to feel much more natural.
Djurgården gave us everything we needed that afternoon — beautiful autumn light, golden trees, historic Stockholm surroundings and plenty of quiet places to explore.
What started as a simple autumn photo session became a relaxed walk through the city, with portraits happening naturally along the way.
And sometimes, that is exactly how I like a portrait session to be.
