The Raph Round-up: January 2025 – the_raph

Happy new year! It’s the end of January 2025 as I’m writing this, and day light has already increased by ~ 1 hour and 38 minutes since the solstice! It’s enough to make it feel like we’re not in the depths of darkness any more, and each day is just a little bit longer.

Snow and sun

After surviving the barrage of illegal fireworks in Copenhagen on NYE, we had a nice dusting of snow (and some rare winter sunshine!), so off it was with the camera to take some snaps of the local neighbourhood. Most of my favourites from this outing were in portrait orientation, which is quite unusual for me.

Sun still low on the horizon, which makes for some nice, long shadows. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Sun still low on the horizon, which makes for some nice, long shadows.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Overlooking the Carlsberg byen towers. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Overlooking the Carlsberg byen towers.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Found a very colourful shed, which contrasts nicely with the white snow. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Found a very colourful shed, which contrasts nicely with the white snow.
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Leaves somehow still holding on.. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Leaves somehow still holding on..
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I love the moody look of this one and the shadows. Also some nice contrast with the sun just peeking through and the white snow in the background. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I love the moody look of this one and the shadows. Also some nice contrast with the sun just peeking through and the white snow in the background.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Frosted trees looking magical © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Frosted trees looking magical
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Again © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Again
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

I like the frosting of the snow on the sides of the trees, and the little footprints/car trail that leads from the foreground to the background. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I like the frosting of the snow on the sides of the trees, and the little footprints/car trail that leads from the foreground to the background.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Little structure in the middle of Vestre Kirkegård, with some sunlight just peeking through the top windows. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Little structure in the middle of Vestre Kirkegård, with some sunlight just peeking through the top windows.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

I like the layering of this one, and the contrast due to the sunlight on the mid ground. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I like the layering of this one, and the contrast due to the sunlight on the mid ground.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

And here are my landscape orientation picks:

More frosted tree goodness. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — More frosted tree goodness.
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Gorgeous day. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Gorgeous day.
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View from the roof of the apartment. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — View from the roof of the apartment.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Reflections. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Reflections.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Snowy forest

With the snow, we also hopped on a train north to Gribskov (featured in November 2024 round-up) to take advantage of the winter vibes.

Copenhagen central station, I love the mist here. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Copenhagen central station, I love the mist here.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

You can get the train from Hillerod to Gribso, which travels through the forest! (I took a photo of the train in the Nov 2024 round-up). © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — You can get the train from Hillerod to Gribso, which travels through the forest! (I took a photo of the train in the Nov 2024 round-up).
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Frozen lake – notice something odd here? © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Frozen lake – notice something odd here?
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Shallow depth of field © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Shallow depth of field
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I love the bare winter branches, and the birds nesting in them. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I love the bare winter branches, and the birds nesting in them.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Snowy lake with some forest. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Snowy lake with some forest.
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A bit gloomier. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — A bit gloomier.
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I like the contrast here between the dark background and the white dusting of snow on this fallen tree. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I like the contrast here between the dark background and the white dusting of snow on this fallen tree.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

And one of my favourites from the trip. While it is quite busy with all the bare branches, I really like the depth and contrast in this one, and to me it’s almost abstract. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — And one of my favourites from the trip. While it is quite busy with all the bare branches, I really like the depth and contrast in this one, and to me it’s almost abstract.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Moody mist

I’ve never seen mist and snow together, and love the moody feeling it gives the landscape:

I like the how the dark trees contrast with the white snow, and the diagonal created by the trees. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I like the how the dark trees contrast with the white snow, and the diagonal created by the trees.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Gloomy © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Gloomy
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I love how the mist adds to the depth of the image here. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — I love how the mist adds to the depth of the image here.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

More misty goodness. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — More misty goodness.
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Spooky. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — Spooky.
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A train trip

We also had a short trip to Italy (Florence) in early January to catch up with some family, and caught the night train back from Zurich to Hamburg!

One of the only shots I was happy with in Florence – urban photography is hard! I guess I also feel a lot more inspired/receptive to details when I’m out in nature. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — One of the only shots I was happy with in Florence – urban photography is hard! I guess I also feel a lot more inspired/receptive to details when I’m out in nature.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

The Milan central station is quite something. Enormous halls (one is 74 metres high!) erected during Mussolini’s reign. The goal I guess was to show that the Facist government could get stuff done. Note also the Roman-inspired iconography: S.P.Q.R (Senatus Populusque Romanus: The Senate and the People of Rome). To the right, we have Romulus and Remus and the wolf. My guess is that this iconography was used by the facists as a means to get people exited about a new Italian empire.. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — The Milan central station is quite something. Enormous halls (one is 74 metres high!) erected during Mussolini’s reign. The goal I guess was to show that the Facist government could get stuff done. Note also the Roman-inspired iconography: S.P.Q.R (*Senatus Populusque Romanus*: The Senate and the People of Rome). To the right, we have Romulus and Remus and the wolf. My guess is that this iconography was used by the facists as a means to get people exited about a new Italian empire..
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

View from the train platforms. Very large and impressive iron/steel construction. © 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 — View from the train platforms. Very large and impressive iron/steel construction.
© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

Photo of the month

First portrait FOTM! Can you guess what’s going on here?

© 2025. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0

By flipping the image, I think it creates an illusion (at least at first glance) that it’s the night due to the water being darker than the sky. You then see the frozen reeds and realise that the image is actually flipped. The water is not exactly mirror-like, due to some ducks swimming around :-)

Interesting things I’ve read/watched

A nice vid from the Veritasium channel about the history and uses of super glue. As well as tips for what to do if you get some on your skin.

Other big news is the release of a large language model from a Chinese company, DeepSeek. Apparently, its release led to some pretty large losses in the U.S. market (potentially ~1 trillion), though you wont see me shedding any tears about this. Here’s a vid about what it is, and why its caused such an upstir. And here’s one discussing its impact on geopolitics/markets.

Not released in Jan, but here’s the latest release by Thievery Corporation (one of my fav. music groups). It’s such a great varied mix of musical genres and often political prose.

And perhaps my favourite pick of the month: a 10-part series by Elina Osborne documenting her time on the Te Araroa trail (the ~3,000 km trail from the top to the bottom of New Zealand). Wow, I’m blown away by Elina’s story telling and cinematography. Its left me inspired to 1) do the Te Araroa trail one day, and 2) work on developing some videography skills.