Pussy willow is a name given to willows and sallows when their furry catkins are young in early spring. Early Spring – Yes!!!!!
a sign of spring
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.
A long and rambling post
The saying; Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans, is true in many cases. And now, in this moment in time nothing happens, no plans can be made, even if you do are you able to do them in this current situation.
Plus as a fact, you cannot plan life really, it happens. I have had this happen to me so many times. You can make all the plans you want for yourself, but life probably has a completely different set of plans. Everyone has been let down at one time or another when their life hasn’t quite gone the way they would like. I know my life is far from what I had planned and I’m sure a lot of people have had that happen to them, too.
Life molds you as time goes on changing your life as it sees fit. This is not to say that I don’t have a good life, but it is totally different to what I planned when I was young.
in this moment in time, I feel sad, kind of helpless and frustrated at the same time. Depression, I have mild one. A self diagnosis for sure. I think lots of people do at this time. Lots of things contribute to it in my case.
The fact, that I am not able to get a job. I have this feeling, that I don’t know anything or a not able to do anything that is required in the jobs I have skills for. I know I have the skill, but I feel that I don’t. You apply to various positions, maybe get an interview, end up being in the best 2 – 5 people, this is no comfort. Also this relates to the main thing, where am I going to get the money to live. The feeling of being worth something, also in this context.
Covid, it has some effect on everyone I am sure, some more, some less. I have taken it mostly OK, it is what it is. Still, that you are not able to do all the things you want to is restrictive. I am in the good situation that all my family is close and we are able to be in contact. But one of the concerns is that it has caused also unemployment in the younger generation including my kids, so you worry about their income.
Also depression has hit some of my close ones hard, not mildly but severely. It is hard to see how it takes hold of the person and how it resonates to the people close to them. The helpless feeling as you do not know how to help. Action more than words are more effective.
Winter is, and never has been, the best of the seasons, and people who have read my post in the past know this. I have complained about enough. But as winter go this was not the worst by all means. And spring is on it’s way, I am so happy about that.
I’ll stop now. Work on my art and photos to put my mind out of this non productive rambling.
If you read this far, thank you 🙂
Flower shop
Today feels like spring, we on the plus side in temperature, the sky is blue. You can hear the snow melting.
I went to a local flower shop to make a request for a flower bouquet for my uncles funeral.
I want to it to represent a him, I do not wish it to be so traditional more personal. So I requested that it would have materials from the forest on it pine tree branches, tree cones, different greens and season appropriate flowers as he was a outdoor kind of man.
I do not know what it will look like in when done, but something like this is what I have in mind.
Well I could not coe home without buying something to take home so I had this small bouquet made for me with blues and pinks. I rather like it, something different.
Looking at these photos on the monitor they don’t look so great, but I will let that pass. I am just sharing the everyday little joys of life.
Flow
The more in harmony you are with the flow of your own existence, the more magical life becomes. ~Adyashanti
Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. ~Heraclitus
All things change, nothing is extinguished. There is nothing in the whole world which is permanent. Everything flows onward; all things are brought into being with a changing nature; the ages themselves glide by in constant movement.
Still Life- Rose & Bottle
My son had this Planters Pyrat XO Reserve bottle that he was about to throw away (some side information 🙂 The Pyrat gets its name from the Old English word for pirate. The stout bottle of the XO Reserve is also a tribute to this heritage.) I looked at bottle a little bit closer, I noticed that this would make a nice vase for few flowers. I washed, it took the labels of and I had a prop for my photo add three roses and lets shoot. Pretty.
A Bottle, Rose, greens and a kettle holder. Shadow and light. Color play.
Spring day in Monochrome
The sky was blue, the shadows long and the wind was so cold. I thought nature shots could look great in monochrome as the light and shadows give the photos nice contrast. Also the trees are leafless so they are more structured and might look better in a way. I my previous post from this same location the photos are in color. The feeling is so different in these.
Spring day
Few days back we had a lovely spring day, except for the cold wind that was so cold that it went straight to the bones at this lake Humaljärvi as I was taking photos there. The sky was blue, the shadows long and the wind was so cold. I did look nice and you could sense that spring was o its way.
Color play with fruits
These are such a contrast to the snow floating behind my window and this being the first day of spring. Today is the spring equinox, when day and night are about the same length all over the globe. As spring progresses, the days lengthen and the nights shorten in Finland and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere. The joy of this 🙂 is enormous!
I took more still life photos of fruits to pass the time
A Granny Smith and grapes and an Orange. Shadow and light. Color play.
Still, still life
Practicing still life photography with Bouquet of dried flowers and garlic
Veikka the Cat
My small photography studio is in my office 🙂 ( I don’t have one, but one of the things I use when trying to create one, is the light from the north facing window and a floor lamp behind the desk and this artist paper block. Veikka is so ready to be my model. And what a good model he is.
Happy people
We are having a lovely sunny winter day, flags flying in the honour of Minna Canth Day (March 19th.)
Minna Canth (1844-1897) was a writer and social influencer who sought to improve the position of women and the disadvantaged through her works and work. Canth has been flagged in honor of her birthday and equality since 2003. Minna Canth became the eighth person which has got its own flag-raising day and a first woman. She was preceded by seven men.
But no more about equality, how about this news, despite the devastating events of the last 12 months and the resulting decline in mental health in a number of destinations, there’s been no change at the top spot when it comes to ranking the happiest country in the world.
For the fourth year running, Finland has come out on top in the annual list powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, with Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands following in second, third, fourth and fifth position respectively.
To celebrate that I am going to show some solemn faces from the happiest country. My grandkids, the two older ones are not so keen to smile at the camera even if they are happy kids most of the times 🙂 I caught these shots while they were watching a movie and reading comics. The youngest is full of smiles 🙂 when eating popcorn.
Fruit
I was reminded that one should not to play with food 😀 , LOL, so I took the advice and instead I did arrangements with fruit.
Granny Smith and Golden Delicious plus Oranges. Shadow and light. Bright Colors
These are such a contrast to the snow floating behind my window. Enough of white already, it is lovely when it first arrives, this time of the year not so much.
Apples
I have played with my apple images.
Granny Smith and Golden Delicious. Shadow and light. Color and black and white.
Today’s thought
Do you know the feeling when you are dreaming and find yourself thinking, I’ve seen this one before?
Well, last night I had two reruns. They seemed to go on and on…it felt like I dreamt all night and nothing new was on. Well that is my life at the moment anyways, like so many of us are experiencing. Same, same, but different. Except not 🙂 Play the blues
I should take it like Tinka, lay down and relax. Yesterday I did. I usually do not nap, hardly ever, yesterday my eyelids were so heavy I had to give in. One hour in the afternoon. This is what it has come to. Napping. I felt like Tinka below, this is what’s it’s come to.
Veikka ignored my dilemma, he just slept.
comments
is anyone else having issues about posting comments today, I am frustrated!!!!! I have written several comments to various posts and then I they won’t go through. It does not happen to all blogs or all comments.
After several attempts I give up….I feel like these two below 🙂
Lemon Slice #3
I promise this is my last post on lemons for now, other fruits need to be noticed too for they bright and uplifting colors. As you can see I can go slightly overboard when I try to capture just the right shot. Serious business these challenges 😀 LOL ( not! )
Lemon, yellow…I bought lemon, lime, sparkling water and set up my project.I took so, so many shots, way too many. Once again I faced a dilemma what to post. So I took macro or close ups mainly of slices of lemon , but you can see lime there too. This first one is my favorite.
Lemon Slice
If nothing else these are a splash of spring, summer in these photos; Nothing says ‘sunshine’ in the kitchen or on a menu like lemon. One of the quotes i saw about lemon was this, I did not aim for that: One of the negative side, some artists use the image of a cut lemon to insinuate that something is sour, faulty or otherwise amiss.
Lemon, yellow…I bought lemon, lime, sparkling water and set up my project.I took so, so many shots, way too many. Once again I faced a dilemma what to post. So I took macro or close ups mainly of slices of lemon , but you can see lime there too. This first one is my favorite.
Lemon and Lime
One of the things I participate in is a monthly FB group photography challenge, this is my second entry to theme.
This month the theme is Lemon, yellow…I bought lemon, lime, sparkling water and set up my project.I took so, so many shots, way too many. once again I faced a dilemma what to post. Here I am not so limited I might even do several post on this. Trying to figure out the framing, this is in my humble opinion one of the main things, how you frame your topic. I does not matter if it a still life or landscape. Exposure, the light and shadow play, What area do you want to focus on, and how sharp the image is and where to place the focus. Decisions, decisions 🙂
Winter blues
No way getting over it, it is still winter. It looks lovely no denying that either. Lots of folks I know are really enjoying this. So lets be happy for them 🙂 The singing of the birds carries the notes of spring. All good. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Open water
This is a sign that we are glad to see, not spring, but a hope of it. Areas of open water in places where there is a nice current in the water. The first one is from the end of rapids, as the water enters the lake. The second is from a river.
Trees on a hill
I was looking at some old photos and I came across these from a field near my summer house. I like this view it is so pretty. I so wish it was summer, I would be happy with spring too 🙂
and it snowed
Yesterday we had bad weather, it snowed and was windy, that condition on the roads were really awful. There was a major car accident on the freeway, 88 car collision. Ten people were taken to hospital. it took them six hours to clear it. Also several other smaller ones, not a graet day to be on the road.
I am so happy that I was able to watch and photograph the snow blizzard through my window from the warm comfort of my home.
Challenges
One of the things I participate in is a monthly FB group photography challenge, the same group has been active for a long time, now we are on going strong in the 6th year.. The amount of participants slightly differ yearly, but there has been small group of photographers, mostly women, from the beginning.
Sometimes it is a challenge, when new arrivals come to figure out what you can say about the photos they post. The idea is to give feedback on the photos other than; Nice, lovely etc. As all photos are not that, they need constructive feedback. I include myself in the group that, we all can benefit from other peoples views on our photos. Well, the ones who have been together, you know that you can give feedback, suggestions without offending them – they know it is one opinion, you might agree or or not, learn from it. Or just ignore it. Some are so opposed to criticism that you either say nothing or give some platitudes, so you have commented on the photo. It takes time to figure out what someone is willing to hear.
As I said, I have been in this group since the beginning. It is run by a friend of mine. This same friend is who got me into blogging in the first place back in 2011, then I posted photos mainly to challenges either photography or art challenges.
One thing that came from it, is my digital art interest and desire to create it and learn more of it, to create my own style. My contemporary art and this blog has kept me on a learning curve. The photos I took way back and was happy about make me slightly gringe and that is certainly the case with my digital art, at the beginning they were just double exposures 🙂
So to sum up this long post, constant learning and opinions have certainly been helpful to me. Thanks Irma for your encouragement and our willingness to keep the challenge going. For me, most of the challenges have been a learning experience, that I would not have tried if not for that challenge.
This month the theme is Lemon, yellow…Here is my take on it. The first image is the one i submitted, other are different takes on it. I always have difficulty when trying to pick one image.
Alert to…
Tinka was alert to the approaching steps, but it was only me with my camera.
We have a new bedspread in this rich rich burgundy color, I liked how the color reflected to Tinka’s face in these photos.
The hydrangea in snow
Symbolism. The hydrangea represents gratitude, grace and beauty. It also radiates abundance because of the lavish number of flowers and the generous round shape. Its colours symbolise love, harmony and peace. Even in the winter when they are brown?
Sad; simplicity and elegance
..
So simplicity and elegance, was my aim as I once again took the task of taking photos of them.
The soft tilting of their heads and elegant lines inspires to try create a mood. Here are my attempt to capture sad, peaceful, or just resting mood. How do you see them, or are they just other pictures of tulips and my trying to capture some mood was in vain 🙂
But I took photos also of the ones that bowed their heads, looking lovely and a little sad.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 