luonto – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Such vibrant colors

Captures from Finland

Humaljärvi during a beautiful and sunny day is so vibrant in colors.

Well, sunny and a clear day. Now is a great to be ice fishing…

I took this a couple hours ago, after rainy and very misty days, the sun is out, and lots of snow has melted. I went for short drive to Humaljärvi (Lake humaljärvi) it is still covered with ice. This part where the water flows it was open and I got these artistic reflection shot.

Simple, but I like them. What do you think?

SIMPLE but effective

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #239 – Finding Peace.

Landscapes, lens-artists, Photography

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #239 – Finding Peace. Tina from travels and Trifles is hosting, and her theme – Finding Peace is so near last weeks topic, to me at least.

I am not a religious person, I do not go to church all that often, my church is the nature. My religion is more to do with my conscience – what is right and wrong. Treating everyone equally, respecting nature and the world around me. But I do find that church is a calm place to find peace .

Finding peace is different for everyone, often it is related to being alone.

Find peace, don’t waste energy wishing things were different or trying to change other people. Stay focused on managing your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Find peace, by taking appropriate accountability. Be responsible for your own choices, but also acknowledge factors beyond your control–like the state of the economy, the weather, and other people’s choices.

Focus on the things you can control.

Be comfortable in your own skin. Don’t waste your time worrying about whether other people approve of their choices. Instead, focus on living according to your values.

Striving to be the best you are is healthy. But insisting on perfection is an uphill battle. Acknowledge your flaws and weaknesses.

Inner peace comes from knowing your beliefs and the willingness to act according to them.

Forest is a great place to find peace, hug a tree, sit on a rock breathe in the peace. Sit by the sea, move your hands on the rock, get the energy of the smooth softness of te solid surface. Listen to the sea and nature around you and find your inner peace. Watch the clouds move and create beautiful art in front of your eyes.

The Sony has been in less use since I bought a new lighter one to carry around, its a Olympus E-M10 Mark II with a 14-150mm lense and I have a OM-D M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8 for street and portrait photography

#Lens-Artists #Lens-Artists Challange

Beach day

animals, Landscapes, Traveling US

I love being on the beach, soft sand, the soothing sound of the waves and the color of the sea.

As far as capturing birds goes, Pelicans are one of the easiest. Bid photography is not my strong point, i don’t have enough patience and not the best equipment for it either. I can always try, I like the in the mood sense. It was a rather crisp and windy day, I even had to but on a jacket. I took these at Ocean ridge in Florida.

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #238 – Alone time.

lens-artists, Photography

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #238 – Alone Time. Ann-Christine host this week, see her blog for more Leya her take on topic : Alone time means time spent by an individual or a couple apart from others. It is often used to ground oneself, or to do something creative.

Alone time, yes, absolutely needed and often taken. I like sit on my sauna patio at my summer house , we built these windows on the sides of the patio to shild us from the north wind. It is a lovely place to sit watch the clouds, trees and enjoy the sunshine and listen to the birds and wind blowing in the trees.

It is a joy, I find myself enjoying alone frequently. Silence, my own thoughts and the warmth of sun.

Time spent ,alone, in art galleries, painting in the nature ( that’s not me, but someone else doing the same thing- alone) Listening to music, or as this young man does, doing music. Sitting in a cafe watching people go by, this one is so much fun. Going through your news in the park… biking, swimming . I enjoy these, and apparently others have been seen to do so too. These are great places to enjoy alone time, would you agree?

Alone time can be a state of mind, you can be in company and still be able to be alone.

It happens that I spend lots of time on my own. I take photos alone, mostly. Edit them alone. I find doing sculpture to be a great time to relax in company, but totally alone in my own bubble. Below you can see some of my creations I’ve done on my alone time in various art forms. I also love to sing, but I am not posting a sample of it, I’m not a bad singer, not a great one. It is like all other art forms it needs to be done often to keep it in any shape. My motto is is something Picasso has said: Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. I find this to be SO true.

Driving the car in any weather, watching the scenery and clouds, listening to music. Stopping for coffee. Sitting in the hammock … Slow mornings, with my cat as company.

As I’ve stated before I am not a very technical photographer, more into composition, mood. I do my magic on the edit table mostly, if you can call it magic, more like my interpretation of places and people. I am also not one to write all that much, let the photos speack for themselves.

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

#Lens-Artists #Lens-Artists Challange

ospreys on Tybee Island

animals, Traveling US

The osprey populations worldwide have been making a comeback. Their dark backs, white bellies and wings crooked like those of a gull are once again a common sight as they relentlessly patrol the rivers, creeks, lakes and ocean in search of their favorite food: fish, fish and more fish.

I’ve read that the gulls, terns, shorebirds, herons and egrets do not seem to be bothered by the ospreys. They instinctively know the ospreys are looking for fish.

The blues from Tybee Beach

Landscapes, Travel, Traveling US

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #237 – Bringing softness.

lens-artists, Photography

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #237 – Bringing softness hosted my Bren at BRASHLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

for #Lens-Artists #The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

For this weeks’ challenge, show us how you soften your images. You don’t have to stick to flowers, landscapes and architecture are also ideal subjects. By lowering the clarity and creating softness in those areas frames the subject in an image, be it a tree, path, bridge, even a door or house or just a dreamy looking image.

This is a fun one, softness is a great too to use a photo that is not too sharp in the first place to make it usable. 🙂 But seriously a great way to change a mood of a shot as well place the focus where you want. For this challenge I decided to edit some recent photos with this challenge in mind and not to use previously done.

Just slipping into the soft relaxed mood with the photo above and below

I find dusk to be a very lovely time to take photos as the light is already soft. The shot below is from Boone Hall in Charleston

This sunset was lovely,(below) but the photo itself was not, it was grainy and out of focus as I shot it from a moving car from the side window in rather high speed. Adding soft focus made it presentable

This shot was full of distractions so the softness in the background helped to clarify the whole shot.

A horse that I have brought to be a very clear topic with soft background

I have taken so many flower shots, mostly with a macro lens, here I picked two that were not but I edited them. First rose is a rose.

Below orange leaves on a tree

Then you can find a selection of random shots with softness as one element

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

Lens Artists Challenge #236: SouthMeets North

Photography, Travel

Amy’s topic for this weeks Lens Artists Challenge #236: East Meets West, This week we are exploring the different cardinal points East – West or South – North

I thought about this, as I live in North, in Finland. Arctic Circle is about 850 km from my home – so I live in the south of Finland.That could be one way to look at this challenge, or even more extreme could be Finland versus Australia down under. Or I could think about it as just the directions seen from my summer house as I sit in the yard and watch the sun move around it. … still thinking about about this:-)

First is the difference between light in the north and south of Finland during winter and well also in the summer.

There are four distinctly different seasons as far up north . However, locals think the conditions are in a constant state of change and say there are up to eight seasons in the year: midwinter, snowy spring, spring, summer, harvest season, autumn leaf colour, first snowfall, and Christmas. The photo is from Santa’s village.

The blue twilight of the Polar Nights last from mid November to Mid January. the light is this blue hues. Not black. This is Midwinter. This period takes place in January-February and is also known as the heart of winter. With only a few hours of daylight, a rather mysterious air of silence and peacefulness shrouds the natural surroundings.

The Midnight Sun is a natural phenomenon that takes place on and above the Arctic Circle in the summer months. On the Arctic Circle, the sun officially stays above the horizon for a full 24 hours on summer solstice, 21st or 22nd June. However, the Midnight Sun period in Rovaniemi lasts for a month, from 6th June to 7th July; this is due to the Earth’s slightly tilted axis and refraction of sunlight. The nights are white throughout the summer from late May until early August

So below you can see the blues of the day on North of Finland during the day. Also the landscape of southern Lapland is quite flat. There are few lakes, but forests, swamps, rivers and streams form diverse ecosystems. In Western Lapland, the flat and same level coast changes as you go further north: there are more and moreforested hills, the highest or northernmost exceed the tree line, and are therefore already actic hills.

Water reflections – obviously easiest to do.

In terms of topography, Southern Finland is a low plain. On top of the bedrock there are fine-grained soils. The climate is favorable for cultivation, so agriculture is productive, especially in the areas of the clay fields in Eastern Uusimaa.

Considering the large population, nature can be close to people even in Southern Finland. The most difficult and rugged areas can have natural areas.

There are rocks and small lakes in the Nuuksio National Park. There is a forest area of several thousand hectares in Sipoonkorpi, with rocks, groves, natural streams and traditional meadows. The Repove National Park has steep rock cliffs and the Valkmusa National Park has an oasis nature. Porkkala, which I have written about before. Porkkalanniemi is in Kirkkonummi, that is where I live.. The area consists of rocky shores, pine forest, and beautiful outlooks onto the sea. The Porkkala cape stretches far out to the sea and is one of the best places to watch arctic birds migrating. Seabirds thrive in the area due to its rich and diverse habitat. Porkkala has a considerable population of common eiders and is also an important resting area for long-tailed ducks. Lucky visitors may even spot moose or white-tailed deer in Porkkala.

The light is different in south, the sunrises here in the winter even if for a short time. Less snow for sure. In the Summer, the sun sets even if for a short time, but it does not get really dark. More humidity as we are closer to the sea.

Porkkalanniemi – Kirkkonummi in Southern Finland

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

LAPC #235: Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome

Photography, Travel

LAPC #235: Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome, Patti’s looking for shadows a/o reflections but in monochrome.

Patti from P.A. Moed CREATIVE EXPLORATION IN WORDS AND PICTURES Wrote;

This week, we’re challenging you to show us photos with reflections and/or shadows captured or processed in monochrome. Feel free to process your image in different shades of blue, green, brown, or gray. You can also shoot your image in a setting that’s predominantly one color–like a blue sea and sky, for example. I’ve checked quite a few experts who agree that black and white photos are not two colors, but varying shades of one color–gray. Purists will refer to black and white images as grayscale. So, for our challenge, black and white images fall under the category of monochrome.

The photos below are from our recent trip to the southern states, South Carolina and Georgia.

Water reflections – obviously easiest to do.

Birds and reflection from Florida, and lake reflection from Nastola, Finland

Under the bridge in Kivenlahti, Finland on a February afternoon. Below also one from a pier in Savannah.

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Cities, Photography, Travel, Traveling US

Hardly a day goes by without checking out a lighthouse. So, before going into the historic city of St.Augustine we hit the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The climb to the top was exactly 219 steps. The view was spectacular.

The first lighthouse or should we call it a watchtower was built in 1589 by the Spanish colonials. Sturdier structure replaced the wooden tower in 1737 and it was made or coquina (shell rock) and wood. The current lighthouse was finished in 1874.

Lighthouse Keepers house was worth visiting, also, with its historic displays. It was early January so the Christmas decorations were still there, not really my thing, so they limited a bit of what I photographing as I did not want seasonal photos.

We were told that you could get the best shot of the lighthouse from the pier, unfortunately due to the backlite the shots from the pier did not turnout the best, but I understand that during an other time of the day that would have been the case.

My husband Mara Sillanmäki provided most text

Lens-Artists Challenge #234 – Messages

lens-artists, Photography, Travel

Lens-Artists Challenge #234 – Messages is hosted by Donna from Wind Kisses , LENS ARTISTS CHALLENGE #234:-Messages

Donna Wrote; To some, photography is formal, with clear and concise messages. Others want you to feel the photos, and take away impressions from what you see. At the end of the day, it is always our story, driven by our character and passions, that we showcase.

I think some of these speaks, relates a story. Hope you agree 🙂 I find monochrome images are great way to showcase messages of emotions and action as all unnecessary is taken away

In colors also – obviously.

Nature in all its forms speaks volumes

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

LENS ARTISTS CHALLENGE #233: A One Lens Walk

Photography, Travel, Traveling US

For this week’s challenge is hosted by Anne from Slow Shutter Speed , LENS ARTISTS CHALLENGE #233: A One Lens Walk The challenge is for you is to take a lens for a walk. Yes, choose a lens and walk.

I have two cameras an old reliable SONY SLT-A65V, and I have two lences I use with it one for Macro Sony Macro 2.8/50 and portraits. The other for nearly everything a Sony 18-200mm.

I am not a very technical photographer, more into composition, mood. I do my magic on the edit table mostly, if you can call it magic, more like my interpretation of places and people. I am also not one to write all that much, let the photos speack for themselves.

These are shot with the Olympus and the with a 14-150mm lense

Natures green always inspires me

Details from nature are often important things to photograph to me at least as they are found near and are beautiful, the birds had been leaving lots of feathers.

Posted for Slow Shutter Speed

Wakodahatchee

Photography, Travel, Traveling US

The first day of out holiday to US we were in Florida and went to visit Wakodahatchee wetland park.

We were already at the Wakodahatchee Wetland (Delray Beach) just after 10am. We toured the Boardwalk and saw e.g. four alligators enjoying the sunshine, great blue heron, egret, wood stork and double crested cormorant, and tricolored heron and a turtle. The birds were reportedly preparing for mating and nesting, the woodstocks were very active making the nest but otherwise it was a pretty lazy day for the animals.

We ran into a few people who said they go to the wetlands every day for a walk. I can say I was not the only one thre with a camera. Here are some of the shots that I got.

Here is some background info about the he park, it was created on 50 acres (20 ha) of unused utility land and transformed into a recreation wetlands open to the public with a three-quarter mile boardwalk that crosses between open water pond areas, emergent marsh areas, shallow shelves, and islands with shrubs and snags to foster nesting and roosting.

Over 150 species of birds have been spotted inside the park, including wood stork, pied-billed grebe, snowy egrets, and black-bellied whistling ducks. The park is also home to turtles, alligators, rabbits, frogs, and raccoons.

Each day, the Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility pumps approximately two million gallons of highly treated wastewater into the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, which in turn acts as a percolation pond, returning billions of gallons of fresh water back into the water table.

Beautiful in Black and White 14

Black and White photos, Captures from Finland

I took several winter wonderland photos last week, so I thought I’d try them as monochrome. Misty fields and snow-covered
roads with trees heavy with snow surrounding it. This is how they turned out.

It is nearly Christmas, and I hope that
these winter shots will help you to get into white Christmas spirit.

The way that light hits objects, I think, is one of the more important things that sculpture and photography share. – Rashid Johnson

Spruce trees by the side of the snowy road

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #230 – Last Chance

Captures from Finland, lens-artists, Photography

For this week’s challenge is hosted by Tina Schell from Travels and Trifles Lens-Artists Challenge #230 – Last Chance we’re show casing our forgotton or should I say our not yet published shots. Now, the challenge is remebering if I’ve posted them or not. I discover that I have not taken all that many photos this year… sad but true. It obviouly also depends how people defines much.

The image above is new from last week. winter can be beautiful

She wrote; But what about the images that are among our favorites but have not fit any of the categories? This year we’re giving you an opportunity to include images on any and all subjects that are personal favorites – BUT, they must have been created in 2022 AND must not have been previously published.

Here are my Last Chance photos, please link your post back to Tina’s original post and tag Lens-Artists if interested in participating in it.

Hailuoto was one of my favorite places to visit this summer, I posted several black and white images from that trip, here are some with colors. I love watching clouds and they played a big part in the photos I took there.

My summer house and the nature is a constant inspitation to me – below

Details from nature are often important things to photograph to me at least as they are found near and are beautiful,

I have taken still life shots that I have not posted lke these pearls

And I found this 🎅 Santa resting on a bench during summer…

Posted for Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge

Minimalist winter scenery

Captures from Finland, Landscapes

I have been away from my computer, and photos for a long weekend visiting my son and his family. So obviously I have missed a lot. Here are some more winter wonderland shots from last week

Wahat a calm view

Frosty trees at dusk

Captures from Finland, Landscapes, Photography

White trees

I stopped several times to capture the beauty of the moment of lovely winter views with snow covered trees and hovering mist

Snow covered lane

Captures from Finland, Landscapes, Photography

I am just going to put this here, as I went out today to take winter photos, I need to go through them. This is the first ones I am going to post. At this moment the sun was still shining. This Lane/ road looked so lovely I ad to stop to photograph it. Hope you enjoy it too.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #229 – Perfect Patterns

Flowers, lens-artists, Photography

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #229 we’re exploring – Perfect Patterns

Ann-Christine wrote, Of course there is no such thing as a ”perfect” pattern…but it could be perfect in Your eyes, perfect for camouflage or perfect for its purpose…or simply radiating ”perfect”! This week we challenge you to find perfect patterns and it would be great if you wanted to tell us why you think they are perfect.

Diagonals and patterns have lots in in common, I could easily use some of the same images from last week. Lets see what I can find in my archives. Patterns are everywhere, but in the purest form they can be found in nature. Nearly all things, big or small have them, if we look closely enough.

Well nature produces most wonderful patterns in flowers, spiderwebs, trees… you name it we can find it