meri – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #239 – Finding Peace.

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

Mid-week Monochrome #123

Black and White photos, Landscapes

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I also have a sweet spot for the ocean and waves. I can sit for hours and I watch the movement of of the water.

As I have been editing my beach photos lately, I did try to convert them to black and white, and I believe that the beauty and power of the moving water even without the colors comes across. Here are few photos from Ocean Ridge beach.

seagulls at the beach

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

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.

The blues from Tybee Beach

Landscapes, Travel, Traveling US

Beautiful in Black and White 4

Black and White photos, Captures from Finland

Marjaniemi is the westernmost point in the island at the end of the road in Hailuoto, these are from the beach at Marjaniemi. Sea, sand, waves and clouds, is what this post is about.

A cloudy day allows you to have moody and visually interesting images. I love looking at clouds, listening to the wind and watching how the waves flow,trying to count when the big wave comes. I have heard when younger that every 7th wave is bigger… don’t know if it is true 🙂

Hailuoto is the largest island in the Bothnian Bay. The island started to rise from the sea approximately 2,000 years ago and continues to do so. Eventually the island will adjoin mainland. The island has been inhabited for at least 1,000 years. Fishing was naturally essential for the islanders as was agriculture. By the end of the 19th century, population on the island had reached 2,000 inhabitants but by the 60’s and 70’s started to fall. In 1980, the number of inhabitants had dropped below 900, but since then has increased again steadily and is now around 1,000 residents.

Hailuoto natural environment is an asset and we do our best to preserve it for future generations by different conservation programmes. Protection covers birds, shoreline and unique esker formations. The rising shoreline is constantly changing and thus forms a living conservation area. The built environment in Hailuoto is characterised by well-preserved traditional buildings and therefore, together with its unique nature, Hailuoto was designated one of the national landscapes in Finland and actually the only one with national landscape covering the entire municipality. (https://www.hailuoto.fi/en/info-2/information-about-hailuoto/ )

Easter Sunday

Captures from Finland, Photography, Still life

Let the photos show our Easter 🐣 activities. It was sunny but rather cool, but we had coffee

at Löyly outdoor deck enjoying the ✨ sea.

We enjoyed Late lunch at Sea Horse , a restaurant serving traditional food since 1932

A feeling of…

Flowers

I am stressed and anxious. So I really got into playing with my images making them into rounded shape, Mandala’s. My thoughts are going around, I an surrounded by emotions that do around again and again. Me, trying to escape.

Friends

Captures from Finland, Landscapes, Photography

Friends, the essential part of my life, extended family. Someone to share thoughts and laughs with. Yesterday evening I did just that on a warm evening by the sea

The marina view

Landscapes

Linlo island walk bridge view towards the marina. Same spot same time of the day as in the previous post, but the skies look so different.

Linlo bridge view

Landscapes

I had the wrong shoes on so I did not go for a walk on this little Linlo island, I just took photos from the walk bridge and few meters into the island. I think I like the best in these photos is the contrast of colors, the reeds and the darkening sky. I thought I’d post something colorful between my November survival, which has actually helped me keep active as I have to find something to post everyday.

November, gray

Landscapes

Spring is brown; summer, green; autumn, yellow; winter, white; November, gray.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Calm of the morning

Landscapes, People

To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim, the rocks, the motion of the waves, the ships with men in them. What stranger miracles are there?
~Walt Whitman

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.
~Kate Chopin

Störsvik

Landscapes, Nature

Beautiful morning enjoying nature is good for the mind and soul

Clouds

Landscapes

Glimmering sea

Landscapes, Nature

Anyone who has followed my for a longer period of time ( I have been on WordPress for NINE years) knows I love the sea, sailboats and clouds. I captured these when visiting Kopparnäs, Inkoo last Sunday. I got so much pleasure watching the beautiful glimmering sea and the sailboats in the distance. If you look closely you might spot a swan there too. I hope was able to capture my feelings of the moment in these photos.

Kopparnäs seaside

Landscapes, Nature

Naples Pier – Before & After

Black and White photos, Traveling US

I like this shot of the Naples Pier I took few years ago. The sun was low and it came shining under the pier. I transformed it to blank and white image. I think i works both ways.

New Edits #16

Landscapes, Traveling Australia

No words needed.

New Edits #13

Travel, Traveling Australia

The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia

I Witnessed the rugged splendour of the famous 12 Apostles, magnificent rock stacks that rise up majestically from the Southern Ocean on Victoria’s dramatic coastline. And you can tell I was impressed by the amount of photos I took there.

Created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland beginning 10–20 million years ago, the stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs.

The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore. View the 12 Apostles at sunrise and sunset as they change colour from dark and foreboding in shadow to brilliant sandy yellow under a full sun. ( text from visit Melbourne)

B&W Edits #1

Black and White photos, Travel

Sitting on the the Negombo beach I watched wind surfers do their magic. Looking at the photos again I thought they would look good also with a B&W edit. What do you think?

Beach Life

Landscapes, Traveling US

I know you must be tired of seeing my photos of beaches and cliffs, I don’t care. We stopped here also for a moment (Pomponio State Beach) . I have admit that these too are photos that do justice to the atmosphere on the beach that day, I rather like these. I also did a set of these photos that I edited rather strongly, I do like them also and I will post them in a separate post.

This beach is located 12 miles south of Half Moon Bay along the San Mateo coastline, this area provides access to miles of gently sloping, sandy beaches at the base of high sandstone bluffs.

McWay Falls

Landscapes, Travel, Traveling US

McWay Falls( 80-foot-tall (24 m) waterfall) is “that” waterfall in Big Sur that everyone has seen and many have photographed. That now includes me. The Cliff areas beyond the fenced boundaries, including the beach, saddle rock and the falls area are completely off limits. So the end of the trail was where you could take the photos. Our time of visit was not the best as the light was rather harsh, but we did not have the opportunity and time to pick the time of the visit.