details

52 Frames: Week 43: Details!

Take a moment. Look at something, anything around you – what do you see? What do you notice? That’s right – our eyes take in the big picture, but then move in closer to see the Details. That’s just how we humans work – we instinctively want to look at things and then parts of those things.

I am often post details, one of my favorite ways to show you how I see the world around me. So much beauty can found near and far in small or sometimes big details.

I have taken macro shots of nature this week and it fits this topic ever so well. The others are from my archives.

The wrinkles, special features and texture of our faces in portrait. Capturing fine, rarely seen details in a macro shot – maybe abstract, or in Nature. Maybe it’s that detail on the building you pass every day, but rarely take a moment to notice.

Craft an image that shows off the details of your choice of subject. Focus, contrast and composition will play a key role , so it’s both a creative and technical challenge

By capturing an image and looking for the picture within a picture, you’ll be able to capture exquisite details that you’d probably normally overlook. When you start noticing the details, a world of new and possible images opens up to you.

I love taking photos of machinery, rust the photographic details there are to be found

Leaves

Captures from Finland, Nature

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!

52 Frames: Week 18: Flat Lay !

Still life

Time for a genre that’s rather popular on social media in recent times – Flat Lay photography has simple rules – take a shot of items or objects laid out on a flat surface from immediately above. Basically, a bird’s-eye view of a set of objects that make up a cohesive whole.

I thought that I would share a little bit about myself for those who are new to my blog. I have painted with different mediums since I was a teenager, and still continue with various art hobbies. Acrylic- and oil painting, pastels drawings, oil inks, aquarelles etc. I also do sculpture. As I am not a great cook, or my art is not setting the table beautiful. I took out some of my brushes and color tubes. I even tried do a self portrait, but I did it with an old photo of me.

Think of it like setting up a mood board or if you’re into food photography, setting up a dinner table with dishes, accessories and food. You could show off things that speak to you in your hobby – like a set of gardening tools or knitting yarn and needles. How about a top-down view of your desk – are you a neat freak or a proponent of organized chaos? Go for understated minimalism or bold maximalism – the choice is yours.

Perhaps you could include a bit of portraiture by putting yourself in the shot along with some outfits and hats that you adore and take a self-portrait. Take things a step further with knolling – laying everything out at perpendicular, straight angles to each other. Don’t be restricted to indoor shots either. You can grab some cool shots with organic, natural ground as your flat-lay background.

52 Frames: Week 17: Leading Lines!

Still life

Time for a compositional challenge, this week – it’s Leading Lines.

I was walking in a flea market and came across this old calculator covered with dust, but as I was not able to clean it, it shows old dust, dirt, but he lines leading to the name are clearly to be seen. I took it as a black and white as an a period piece I thought it would be appropriate and well the dirt is less visible this way.

The other choice was an old typewriter, but as you can guess I chose to post the calculator, did I make a right choice?

Leading lines are lines that guide the viewer from the edge of your frame towards your subject, usually coming from a corner (s).

Look for things in your scene that effortlessly takes your viewer’s eye straight to your intended subject. We’re trying to direct the viewer to a part of our image that is most important in the composition. Think staircase railings, paths and roads in a landscape, bridges and jetties leading off into the distance all make for excellent ways to incorporate leading lines in your shot.

Feel free to think out of the box… Remember leading lines don’t need to be straight. Curving streams, rice paddies and long-exposure car taillight streaks can all look very cool in a shot. Patterns and textures can also form leading lines to take your viewer straight to the action. Just be alive to your surroundings and you’re sure to see leading lines for your next epic shot!

52 Frames: Week 16: Lamp!

Still life

While we like to focus on the lighting used in photos, we want to include a lamp this week! That means including a lamp IN your photo, not just the suggestion through lighting.

This simple little device has so many forms – Perhaps you could share a story of your own little reading nook where you enjoy some solitude or showcase a scene where the lamp is the hero of the image.

I had an idea, but in the end I was too lazy to do it. I have done nothing this week, well related to photography that is, I did manage to do this.

I took an easy route, I took a photo of one of the lamps in my entrance, did not even dust of the lamp before the shot, well it does a tell a story of the owner for one. To be honest, I think it has a story in it, a story of a girl sitting and reading under a lamp. That is why my art statue, is placed there and I am rather happy with this one.

Some of the suggestions to guide me were: Maybe you could do your own take on some classic art with chiaroscuro lighting. You could even try to use wabi-sabi concepts to bring out the beauty of a much used object, go for a low-key style with lots of shadow in the shot, or take an HDR shot with multiple exposures to illuminate your composition thoroughly. Don’t just take a snapshot, take a photograph that tells a story.

Was mine just a snapshot?

52 Frames: Week 15: Extreme Closeup!

Flowers, Nature

this week I have been taking close-up shots. Time to get up close and personal with an Extreme Closeup. If you are thinking this is the MACRO challenge, it is NOT. If you go to the dictionary, you’ll find a closeup is 1. a photograph, movie, or video taken at close range and showing the subject on a large scale. “a closeup of her face” or 2. an intimate and detailed description or study.

I did the winter worn hydrangea again, as the date on the picture has to be same as the weeks challenge. I took shots of the dry flower I had in in bouquet I had couple weeks back. I also have shots of my cat Tinka, but I have to look them thought and edit.

What can you tell your viewer by pushing in close?
What do you want to bring attention to?
Try to find an interesting detail or feature – heck, the most mundane of objects can have something striking if you look closely enough. That’s what this challenge is all about – take a moment to look closer and see those details that are often overlooked.

so simply put, move in and fill your frame with your subject. The idea is to get right into a subject, and have that subject fill the entire frame. You can zoom in with any lens you have, and your feet also make an excellent zoom feature, just walk close to your subject!

PS. This week like last has been hoping and praying that the snow would melt, but it is happening so SLOW!!!! The southern facing slops are free of snow, but our backyard, come on this has 0-40 cm snow. So not much to spot of the spring wonders that delights me every year…

Fluffy hay

Flowers

Details from my weekend flower bouquet.

Photography, Still life

As I was taking minimalist photos, I took these of some costume jewelry, I don’t know if these really are minimalist, but I like them enough to post them.

Red berries

Flowers, Photography

Random July 10

Photography, Still life

Shooting bubbles in a glass. I think the most trying thing to get right was the mixture of dishwasher and oil and obviously the amount of water. This is my first attempt, you might see more of these in the future.

Bubbles 10-10 (1 of 21)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

June -The water avens

Flowers, Nature, Photography

This is one of the Wild flowers I spotted last weekend, The water avens / Ojakellukka

wild flowers (27 of 33)

How to survive November 2017 – 20

Photography, Still life

One more day in November to survive, slush in coming down sideways and for sure I have no desire to be out there. At work I have lit the candles and only gone out to go and have my usual Thursday desert at the restaurant nearby. The shitty weather can look good if you crop it small enough 🙂

how to survive (5 of 7)

Old Barn #2

Photography

Hydrangea #2

Flowers, Photography

Hydrangea

Flowers, Photography

Details - Ritva Sillanmäki (6 of 8)

Flakes

Photography

My first attempt to capture flakes…

how about this room

Interiors, Photography, Still life

can I find my spot here, blue or red chair

Monochrome Madness (25) – Devil’s-bit

Black and White photos, Photography

This is my next (the first photo) entry to the Monochrome Madness Challenge (MM) hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky so happy to be able to be part of this talented group!. I have not done a black and white entry of a flower for them for this week( 25), so here is Succisa pratensis, Devil’s-bit or Devil’s-bit Scabious ,…. I think it looks good in monochrome.

Original photo below. All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

More beautiful photos at Monochrone Madness Tuesday August 19th.

Monochrome Madness (24) – Young boy

Black and White photos, Photography

This is my submission to week 24 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky. I like the expression caught by the camera, my son had just woken up and was in no mood to be photographed. I think it is captured in this shot. I like that is not a posed shot.

Original photo below. All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

More beautiful photos at Monochrone Madness Tuesday August 12th.

Monochrome Madness (23) – Point Vicente Lighthouse

Black and White photos, Photography

The top one of these photos is my submission to week 23 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky. This light house is from California, Point Vicente Lighthouse. I did various versions of this, the original photo is at the bottom of the post.

More beautiful photos at Monochrone Madness Tuesday August 5th.

Monochrome Madness (22) – Wooden wall

Black and White photos, Photography

The top one of these photos is my submission to week 22 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky.This wall is from an old barn,it is now days used as a junk store. I liked how the light came through the wooden planks. This time I also like the original photos, maybe even a bit more.

All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

I am again ahead of time, as last time I was late with my entry.Did not make it , my bad. More beautiful photos at Monochrone Madness Tuesday July 29th.

Monochrome Madness (21) – Wooden train from 1952

Black and White photos, Photography

One of these photos is my submission to week 21 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky.

I saw this wooden train(1952) in Porvoo, it still regulary takes tourist on a ride it is pulled bya steam locomotive .All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

more at Monochrone Madness tomorrow July 22th.

Monochrome Madness (20) – Books

Black and White photos, Photography

One of these photos is my submission to week 20 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky.

I chose these photos because I liked the looks of these books as they are, old hardcover books are so beutifully binded.They are also well read and that is the so important in a book… I thought they would look good also in BW. Hope you agree.

All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

more at Monochrone Madness tomorrow July 15th.

Monochrome Madness (19)- Billnäs

Black and White photos

One of these photos is my submission to week 19 to the Monochrome Madness Challenge hosted by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky.

All details can be seen better by clicking at an image to enlarge them.

I visited the small town of Billnäs last weekend such a pictureque place. These pictures are details of one of the mills machines.

Carl Billsten founded Billnäs ironworks in 1641. In Billnäs many buildings remain from the end of the 18^thcentury. Nowadays, Billnäs is known for the world-famous orange-handled scissors made by Fiskars Oy, the knife and tools manufacturer.

Billnäs has become an important centre for building renovation in Finland thanks to “Byggnadsapoteket” (the house repairing consultants) who also run courses in-house restoration. The ironworks area has a gardening history dating back more than 350 years, and the oldest plant nursery in Finland.

Billsten`s period (1641-1723)The location of Ironworks was good – In Billnäs the River Mustio has a large precipice so there was no need for larger weir. Also the transport connections from sea and land were good. Alike the needed expendable wood was received from the forests in the surroundings of Billnäs.