Yesterday was a lovely and sunny day between gray days. I took myself out to take some photos. I drove to Porkkala, and park area near us. The nature an scenery there is so delightful that I go there several times yearly.
View from the rocks
Author: Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
My name is Ritva. I am an avid, self-taught photographer from southern Finland, currently living in Kirkkonummi. Interest in life is evident in my diverse subjects, capturing anything that catches my eye. Whether it’s the delicate intricacies of a plant, the breathtaking beauty of a landscape, or the compelling energy of urban life, My lens finds and celebrates beauty in all its forms. Nature serves as an enduring wellspring of inspiration for me, as I seek out and immortalize its enchanting moments. Additionally, in portrait photography I try to capture human emotion and connection , as I aim to encapsulate the very essence of each fleeting moment.
I totally enjoy playing with photos and immersing oneself in the editing process. It’s truly satisfying to have the flexibility that shooting in RAW provides, opening up a world of possibilities for editing. I’m of the same mindset when it comes to photo editing; I prefer to maintain the authenticity of the moment captured, striving to avoid over-editing and keeping the essence of the shot true to life. However, I also appreciate the occasional opportunity to explore artistic expressions through my edits, transforming images into minimalist monochrome representations that beautifully convey the essence and emotion of the scene. Or using colors to enhance the mood of the image. This delicate balance between realism and artistic expression is what makes photo editing such a captivating endeavor for me.
Inspiration and ideas change. My knowledge changes and grows. Each piece I create is simultaneously an extension from the past, where I’ve come from and what I’ve learned, as well as a preview of the future, where I’m going.
I do not classify myself as just a photographer, as some might think from looking at my work. I am a sculptor, a painter, a photographer, an artist.
If a viewer stops for just a moment to view and reflect on a photograph, a photo collage or a painting I have created, then I have succeeded in my work.
October close-up – Delicate flowers
A unknown flower to me, but it is, a beautiful and delicate. I’ve so many flower photos, that I have not shared. These are taken from my trop to Sri Lanka.
Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge.
Three ways to look at this path
Since I do post editing on my art, and my photos, I also do several variations of them, so this is great challenge for me to participate in LAPC #220 One Subject Three Ways. These are very similar, but slightly different –by zooming in on the details or stepping back for a wider view. Sorry, there is four images and a header. 🙂
Summer season ended, we closed our summer house for winter on this beautiful October day. The autumn colors are so lovely.
Magic mushroom
I have no idea as what magic mashroom this is, but it looks like Psilocybe mexicana a psychedelic mushroom. Its first known usage was by the natives of North and Central America over 2,000 years ago.
We did not pick them up, they ended up being cut down by the lawnmower.
I just took photos necaused they looked great, like from a story book.
Macro magic
October close-up – Pink flowers
Rose, flower is a flower and beautiful in its own right. As is hydrangea, both in pink tones
Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time I am just posting shots of roses.
I love to have fresh flowers at home, I picked some roses this time.
Three versions of three onions
Since I do post editing on my art, and my photos, I also do several variations of them, so this is great challenge for me to participate in One-to-Three Photo Processing Challenge-October. I used a photo of onions to play the edit game with. #tsc_1to3
October close-up – Carnations
I always ,first pick out a photo when I start write a blog post , I decide what I want to share, and then maybe write few words to accompany it and come up with a title. I keep repeating the title as I am bad as coming up with them.
I mean, flower is a flower and beautiful in its own right. And I want to believe, that so are most of my photos that I choose to share. They should speak for themselves. Not that they always do, but I can make believe ☺
Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time I don’t have violets, but some of the carnations have violet color.
I love to have fresh flowers at home, I picked some small carnations this time, because they stay looking good for a long time. I take photos of them to pass time and in the process get few nice shots. Edit them see what I can create from them.
October close-up – Tulip
Since I am sharing close-ups , I’ve decided also to participated in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time the T letter is also is attached to it 🙂 Tulips. The stylish and graceful Tulip is always elegant. it Is a delight.
52 Frames: Week 39: Letters!
It’s all about your creativity and what you come across. You could shoot some cool looking signs in your neighborhood or capture the emotion of someone reading a heartfelt greeting card.
This week’s challenge is more about getting the feel of the story than anything else – like the sheer happiness of reading a college admission acceptance letter or contemplating wabi-sabi in an abandoned carnival sign.
Capturing emotion in an old-school task of penning one’s thoughts to paper is about patience and composure – your own as well as that of your subject. So, just breathe and take a think about what it is you want your viewer to see through not just your eyes but also your subject’s.
Getting typography shots isn’t something you might have thought of shooting earlier , but here’s your chance to try something new. Look out for cool and funky letters and fonts that are worth a dekko – you never know what you’ll find unless you start looking.
- DoF: Depth of field can play a role here to show just a single line or word while blurring out the rest. Or to ensure that you’re in focus, front to back.
- Contrast: Consider playing around with local contrast to give that extra boost to individual letters.
- Cropping: If you want to showcase shapes that look like letters, cropping down is essential to eliminate other clutter.
- White Balance: Modifying white balance can alter the tone of your shot. Use warmth, cooling and tints to give mood and depth to your image.
Here are some letter I’ve picked either this week, some from further back. My Signature is letters?? so I added it here. This weeks fresh letters are from the circus and I decided to go with the one with the first shot. I would have loved to use some of the older ones, but that would be cheating. So
October’s colors
Autumn iis about letting go of summer and preparing for winter. Greens give way to dead stems and yellow drooping leaves. Darkness slowly takes over the time of light, but how beautiful it can be at the beginning of autumn🍂
on the road
What clouds, I loved the contrast of the dark clouds against the autumn color by the road as we drove in to the rain and finally to the otherside of it towards the raindow.
Beautiful in Black and White 7
The circus in black and white photos has it’s own kind of mood.
Sirkus Finlandia
We went to see a traditional circus and I tried to take pictures of the acts, but they did not come out so well, here are some. I am amazed of the skills these circus people have. There were lots of kids in the audience obviously, their joy was so delightful.
The show started with the horses, then the MARIONETTE’S DREAM had some great Skipping Rope act,there was also a MYSTERY OF GENTLEMEN, Acrobatics group, so skilled and ended with DIORIOS, five motorbikes riding in the round metal cage, Globe of Death. These performances impressed me the most.
September close-up – Blue Poppy
Since I am sharing close-ups , I’ve decided also to participated in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time the P letter is also is attached to it 🙂 Poppy. The enchanting Blue Poppy blooms late spring and early summer. Such a rich true blue flower is a rare garden treasure.
September close-up – Orchid
Since I am sharing close-ups , I’ve decided also to participated in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time the O letter is also is attached to it 🙂 Orchid
September close-up – Nymphea -water lilies
Since I am sharing close-ups , I’ve decided also to participated in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time the N letter is also is attached to it 🙂 nymphea
52 Frames: Week 38: One Light Source!
This week it’s One Light Source. I’m talking directional light – your subject ought to be lit by light coming from a single source – think speedlight or a shaft of sunlight coming through half drawn curtains. It’s the light source and direction that you need to think of first, before you set up your subject and decide on a composition.
This challenge is all about reminding ourselves of what it takes to paint with light – directional light need not be a harsh burst to produce sharp shadows. You can arrange for soft light to come through for a more pleasing look as well.
Look to place light at angles you’d normally not think of – a full side profile or light streaming down from a bare bulb on the ceiling, maybe a night shot illuminated by a neon sign or the perennial favourite of Silhouette Photography – it’s time to be creative and play with the light.
Well, this is what happens every night. My husband reads the latest news before going to sleep. Once again, I had lots of ideas, but ended up taking the easy way out. I was thinking of what to shoot and there it was laying next to me, mobile phone as a light source, so I took my phone and took a shot of a situation I see daily. How more real can you get, a documentary shot. Thanks babe, once again for being a good sport.
I also took a shot with my grandson holding a candle, and match being scratched
- Set-up: Plan your lighting and concept before thinking about the actual composition.
- Time Of Day: If you’re planning on shooting using daylight/sunlight as your source, experiment with how the light and shadows will play out at different times.
- Modifiers: Reflectors, blockers and light modifiers are going to be key here to help shape the light.
- Exposure Compensation: Consider using Exposure Compensation to expose the image as you think fit and not as your camera’s AI / sensor does.
Beautiful in Black and White 6
Beautiful seaside views from Inkoo. I’ve also linked this to CBWC
September close-up – Maple 🍁
I’m on a roll, second time in a short while that I’ve participated in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. This time the M letter is attached to it 🙂
Vibrant autumn colors
I had to go out and take new photos of the berries I saw few days ago, they looked so lovely an I just I had to try to get new better shots of them.
I am not a fan of the season, it is in the top three thou, but the autumn colors are amazing every year.
Leaves
I found this nature’s artwork in my backyard, fern and a some other plants made a beautiful contrast. You just have to look for it closely to find it. . Sunday greetings to you all!
Oh, A 🦌 Deer
Today, I saw this lovely deer ,from the window facing my backyard, posing on the hill. It would have been nice to go outside and take the photosthere, but it would have run away, if I’d gone and opened the door. So, I took these through the window, taking this to consideration they came out ok.
It stood there on the hill for a while, looked around and finally turning and walked away. Just to lay down and rest on the hill behind a fallen tree, so that only the ears were visible.
September close-up – Berries
It’s been ages since I participated in this challenge Cee’s Flower of the Day So hopefully I did it the correct way. Took these today. No Idea what the plant is 🙂
Lake Pikku-Kukkanen
We had an amazing weekend to capture, clouds and reflections.
These are taken at lake Pikku-Kukkanen (Small flower) I was able to capture beautiful reflections on the lake and there were two swans further away, so I really missed noth having my camera with me. In the first shot the exposure was low so the clouds came out really dark. I like the intensity of the atmosphere.
Lake Iso-Kukkanen
We had an amazing weekend to capture, clouds, mist and rainbows as the weather was mostly cloudy, but few moments of light. I happened to be in those to capture some beauty. Most are taken by mobile phone, because, well it was so cloudy when we left, and I thought that there would be nothing to photograph. How wrong I was! I usually have my camera with me, once again a great reminder that, Ritva, keep it with you, you never know what you can see.
These are taken at lake Iso-Kukkanen (Big flower) I was able to capture beautiful reflections on the lake.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 