photography – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

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.

Vibrant autumn colors

Captures from Finland, Nature

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

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!

Oh, A 🦌 Deer

animals, Captures from Finland

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.

Lake Pikku-Kukkanen

Captures from Finland, Landscapes

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.

Reflectiond on Lake Pikku-Kukkanen in Nastola, Finland

Lake Iso-Kukkanen

Captures from Finland, Landscapes

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.

Reflectiond on Lake Iso-Kukkanen in Nastola, Finland

Something I noticed #32

animals, Photography

Something I noticed is back, odd shots of ranbom things.

Looking for the changes autumn brings, I had my Tinka cat follow me like a puppy. So here are two shots of my lovely little Tinka 🙀

52 Frames: Week 37: Portrait Of A Stranger!

52 Frames, Captures from Finland

Portrait Of A Stranger.

Well, there’s more to it than meets the eye, of course – your location, time of day, and the willingness of a stranger to be kind enough to take some time out of their life to help you (a stranger yourself to them). But there’s magic in a camera – some people just open up when they know they’re the focus of a well-crafted photograph.

There’s creative and technical hurdles here too – one of the more important ones being time – you’ll have far less time to compose and take your photo(s) than you would if you had pre-arranged a shoot. You could grab a candid shot or something more glamorous; go low-key to get a moody and intense look. It’s portraiture after all and the images you can get are as varied as there are humans on the planet.

You’re about to experience a shared moment with someone you’ve never met before.

Please don’t shoot from the hip. Talk to a person. If your palms get sweaty just thinking about it, like me, then go with an easier subject, like your local coffee barista, mailperson, or waiter.

Don’t over think this one, other people are just you in a different rental.

Visiting a nice Italian restaurant in Lahti, I asked our pretty waiter if I could take her photo. She kindly agreed. Haven’t been out much this week as it’sbeen rather rainy, so the chances of taking photos once again happened nearly at the last day. I thought of cropping it to a more portrait, but as it was an at during her work time ,capturing a moment photo, in her busy shift, I wanted it to show the place and to highlight what her job was ,to give context to the shot. Iussed thhe last photo in this post.

TIPS:

Be Friendly: A warm welcoming smile can work wonders
Be Patient: People might be busy or not trusting a stranger. That’s ok. Respect their space and choice and look for someone else.
Be Prepared: Keep your camera ready with appropriate settings. Scour out cool backgrounds or locations near by.
Be Mindful: Do not shoot someone without appropriate permission especially children. Be respectful of people, places and occasions where it might be considered impolite or discourteous to be shooting – like funerals or religious places.

52 Frames: Week 36: Golden Hour!

52 Frames, Captures from Finland

Warmth, Tranquility, Contentment… just a few things I tend to feel when I’m watching a low Sun 🌅. I hope you do too, this week during Golden Hour – soft, golden light that happens twice each day. Golden Hour, or “Magic Hour”, is usually considered to be the first “hour” after sunrise and the last “hour” before sunset.

Golden Hour is when light is diffused and soft and the shadows are long and less harsh than during the day.. Golden Hour offers pretty directional light, so your composition needs to account for the angle and direction of the sun. You could use light flares as a creative choice and shoot into the light or use the shadows to add more depth and dimension to your scene.

Remember, the length of golden hour will vary with where you are on the planet and the time of year.

I seem to leave this always to the last moment. Golden hour, Saturday evening I had an epiphany, I have not taken this shot. Sunset. where I live , was at 8PM, I left the house at 7:30 seaching for a place where I could capture the golden hour. I did not head west, as I was not trying to capture sunset. East that is the direction I drove to. I had half an hour to get the shot. These are some that I considered for the challenge.

TIPS:

Stability: Use a tripod for longer exposures – you would need a stable platform for the camera to avoid shake
Get creative: Consider using the lighting in a variety of ways – as fill light or as rim lighting to highlight a subject. (the sun BEHIND the subject)
Plan ahead: Be mindful of the time – good light can disappear just as quickly as it can reveal a new facet of the scene.
Color Tone: White balance is quite important – whether you’re shooting RAW and then post-processing or editing JPGs straight from your camera.

Something I noticed #31

Photography, Still life

Something I noticed is back, odd shots of ranbom things.

Apple that has seen better days, I had in my office for the longest time and forgot about it. It looked like it would make a nice photo, even if in this state of decay, or because of it. I took it to the patio and took some shots

Lakeview

Captures from Finland, Landscapes

I often go to this lake as it near my summer house, this year the water level is very low. That is what I went to see, but I did also find beautiful reflection on the lake. The weather was cold, this year the autumn turned on like somebody had turned a switch on. From high twenties to temperatures near ten celsius is huge drop. Despite the that, it’s still a pretty place.

Usually the water level is where the dock starts, at this time you certainly should not dive in the water at the end of the dock.

Sparganium gramineum, in finnish it is called Siimapalpakko, is a floating-leaved aquatic plant , which is found in Northern Europe. The species is a very relaxed, genuine aquatic plant, with a meter-long stem and coiled leaves and floating leaves. In deep and clear waters, the species’ growth forms a sheltered spawning ground for fish, and its seeds are food for at least some ducks. In the Nordic countries, the plant has been used as livestock feed.

Country roads

Captures from Finland, Landscapes

I like driving these old winding roads at the countryside.

“An old road always looks richer and more beautiful than a new road because old roads have memories!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

Something I noticed #30

Photography, Still life

Something I noticed is back, odd shots of ranbom things.

Rust always , well most of the time, looks great in photos. This rusty thing is from 1970.

52 Frames: Week 35: Edited By Someone Else!

52 Frames, People

This week we want you to release your artistic expression by having your image Edited By Someone Else. The point of this challenge is to gain insight into the creative process of another person and see how their interpretation would perhaps differ from your own.

Seeing different creative strokes can not only help to broaden our own understanding of other styles, but also help us to grow on our photo journey. I want to thank Pirjo Tuominen as she kindly edited my photo for this weeks challenge.

Below you can se the original and the three different edits, I am sure you are able to pick the original easily that has no edits at all 🙂 I did not take time taking this mobile phone shot, I had my phone in the position that I have while i read something on it and I took the picture. I didn’t have other makeup than I had done my eyes 🙂 Now that I look at it, a foundation would have made a difference to the skin.

Sunflowers

Nature, Photography

I took this opportunity to share some new stuff, I took these yesterday as the season changed in a day.

Sunday we had temperatures of 26C and over night summer ended and autumn temperetures came on us. It was 16C and it felt cool, not cold.

My husband had a week earlier cut these sunflowers from the field for me. Yesterday tthese sunflowers looked like how I felt about the seanson change. From Happy to Sad just like that.

I have been thinking

Nature, On my mind

that is such a original title, it sure gives you a reason to read this post.

I have been doing a little bit of thinking lately, about my photography, and my feeling about social media. As I’ve been having issues with my compter and back-ups and all problems, delays that has followed from them, I am so behind with my posts. Or am I?

I have been sucked in to this notion, that if you don’t share your photos straight away they are not relevant anymore. Everyone posts their photos direckly from their mobile, even from the location or at least the same day. I do that occasionally too, of coarse I do, but I take most of my photos with the old fashioned way, with a camera. I take time to look through them, edit them and then post them. Due to that, I am always posting at least a day or two later than the day I shot them. Are they still relevant question them comes to mind.

Stupid as it is, it feels like that, and it shouldn’t. This summer it has been a real problem (or not) as my problems have caused me to wait weeks to download them and to do what I do with my photos. Sharing photos on Facebook or Instagram weeks after feels like I am totally late. Should I post at all ?

This has caused me lack of inspiration to post anything, like who cares, really. It is all in my mind, and I know it is totally stupidity on my part. Who cares and knows where I am and when…

Having said all this I’ve decided to start posting photos I took this summer. I did not take as many photographs this summer as I usually do, one of the reasons been the the issues I have been writing about and the other is I feel that I have taken so many photos of the same places and things that I ended up not carrying my camera around with me.

Wow, haven’t written this much in a long time, if you read this far, thanks! Tell me what you think about this topic, if anything 🙂

I need to add a couple photos to this post, well that is what i usually do, post photos. As this is such grumpy, self-defense, teary post. Droplets will be the theme.

52 Frames: Week 34: Peace!

52 Frames, Captures from Finland, Landscapes

Through the hustle and bustle or the humdrum everyday lives we lead and see around us, we come across small moments in time that make us stop, take a deep breath and slow down. We’d like to see you capture a moment of Peace ☮ this week.

Have a little think about any places or scenes that calm you down or center you – a tranquil lake setting, a walk through a wooded path with a close one or something close to home like your grandpa taking his afternoon siesta. It’s all about the image evoking a feeling of serenity, calm and tranquility.

August Sunset at the countryside, this was my choice this week

The idea doesn’t necessarily need to be minimalistic , all that matters is whether the viewer understands the point of view and story your photo ought to be showing. The lighting and overall color tone of the scene will be important too, so please spare a thought for those aspects too.

There are tons of places, people and scenes that can convey this purest of emotions; so as we usually say, take a few deep breaths, center yourself and take your shot.

I have been at my summer house. One word, that can be said about the place is that it is peaceful. Hardly any neighbors, no traffic sounds. Silence, if you do not take to account the natures sounds. I took shot of this tail of the sunset ( aiming the camera towards northwest) the colors towards west were so vibrant, even if the moment was peaceful the colors would not convey that. So I turned towards the more muted tones. I had several ideas for this week, but did not get anything done towards making them become reality, planning is not enough. I hope this shot still shows peace.

The shots below show the vibrancy of the sunset and even if it was peaceful the colors do somehow tell the story, or what so you think? The blues in the last shot say it better, no ?

Sailing to marina

Captures from Finland

I am in a slump, you know, I want to do things, I paln to do things, it is my intention and then, I do nothing. Here is one thing I decided to do, and finaly did. A post,

I took these yesterday at Porkkala Marina, we had a lovely brunch there and saw of this wonderful old sailboat, sitting at the dock wathing the ripples on the water. So peaceful…

52 Frames: Week 33: Water!

52 Frames, Landscapes, Still life

Water – just like us humans, comes in all sorts of shapes, sizes and even colors. It’s universal and something that is absolutely essential to life on this planet. We hope you’re inspired enough to make the most of the topic.

If you have follwes me for a long time, you should know I love the sea, lakes and all water views, I take lots of photos of photos of them. I have also come into a habit of taking shots of water bottles in restaurants and cafes

You could, of course, go with a classic landscape / seascape bringing a sense of majesty to your image or perhaps go with a more down-to-earth shot of kids having a pool party

Maybe a shot showing off your technical chops with water droplet macro photography is more your style. Why not showcase the immense power of water crashing against a shoreline or go entirely the other way and take a serene shot of tranquil and still waters in a long-exposure image?

Don’t feel restricted by needing an external location either – you can get epic water shots inside your home too. Try getting a creative still life shot by using water as a prism. Or use it to enhance a portrait or with food photography.

The possibilities are boundless. 💦

ISO: There’s a lack of light – so remember to adjust your ISO settings appropriately, the higher you go, the more digital noise you will encounter.

Long Exposure: To compensate for the lack of light, long exposures work well for getting sharp images of static subjects like cityscapes and smoothening water ripples. Anything under 1/125 you want to rest your camera on a hard surface or tripod.

Light Shaping: Use lights to shape the exposure – you can isolate your subjects more easily since the background will most likely be darker due to the absence of ambient daylight.

Shoot Manual Mode: Consider shooting in Manual mode to correctly adjust parameters to get your desired exposures.

White Balance: Artificial light in urban areas can add different color casts to your image. See if adjusting the white balance can add more depth to your image.

Random shots – droplets

Nature

Let the photos speak, not that many words needed. After rain.

52 Frames: Week 32: Night Photography!

52 Frames, Landscapes

it’s Night Photography this week.

This was last weeks challenge, but here I am posting about it now. I have several night shots that I like, but not being able to use them. And as I was visiting relatives at this time I was not able to go and take photos during night time. On our drive home I took this shot of the moon, think about it from a moving car, not too bad, slightly painternly look it has, but all and all, I am rather happy with it.

Somewhere in Southern Finland on the road home, this moon lit the way for us

The thing about not having that sun around, is that everything is darker! In order to get more light to your sensor, you’ll want to slap that camera onto a tripod. or rest it on a flat surface, and set your shutter speeds to lower settings, like multiple seconds, and the night scenes in front of you will come alive!

Taking shots, illumination of neon signs or street lights lend a completely different look and feel to the very same location than if it were shot in daylight.

Ever taken portraits at night of a subject lit by a storefront window? Not all night shots need to be taken outside the house – some very creative shots can be taken inside too. Have a think on that!

Get creative with light painting or try and capture the moon- night time is just magical for photography.

If you live in a part of the world where the 🌞 is still up when most other places are much darker, that’s cool too.

TIPS:

ISO: There’s a lack of light – so remember to adjust your ISO settings appropriately, the higher you go, the more digital noise you will encounter.
Long Exposure: To compensate for the lack of light, long exposures work well for getting sharp images of static subjects like cityscapes and smoothening water ripples. Anything under 1/125 you want to rest your camera on a hard surface or tripod.
Light Shaping: Use lights to shape the exposure – you can isolate your subjects more easily since the background will most likely be darker due to the absence of ambient daylight.
Shoot Manual Mode: Consider shooting in Manual mode to correctly adjust parameters to get your desired exposures.
White Balance: Artificial light in urban areas can add different color casts to your image. See if adjusting the white balance can add more depth to your image.

Issue solved

Captures from Finland, Still life

What a week!

I am no IT Guru, in anyways and it has been obvius as I have now taken my new computer to use. I set it up myself, added all the safety programs I had previously, I also have once again uploaded my editing tools that I use. Unfortunately all the edits I had in my lightroom on the old computer were lost, and as my new back up, that I just bought broke, which had all my new photos and their edits. I now have to do them again, that includes my Crete photos, fortunately I had those all so on the compurer and was able to send them as a zip file to myself, so I did loose them altogether.

Today I had an interview for a job as a team interview, and a new problem came up with the sound… I so love and hate this technology.

Anyways, what I am trying to say is, I am now back in action. All I have to do is edit all my photos again, (practice,makes you better if not perfect! 🙂 ) That I have taken this year, and that I am able to access. Some are now lost for good. Now on, I am going to do a back up monthly, or maybe I should do it as soon as I add new photos and have edited them. What are the chances that I will loose back up and computer at the same time…

Here are few love locks from Tampere, I shot them week ago 🙂

Computer issues

Captures from Finland, Photography

This summer has had some technical issues that I would not have needed. First I had the issue with back up, my hard drive was full, couldn’t store, upload my photos, so I did not edit my photos due to that issue. Summer vacation came, which was 😊 great.

Took photos as we took short trips here in Finland. I did start to edit them, but once again I was encountered with a problem. My computer would not open any of my editing programs, Lightroom for example, I was not able to open any of my folders in those hard drives I got earlier in the summer. My computer signed off. I had to buy a new one which I got 5 days ago, but as I am at the summer house and the computer arrived back home an hour after we left on come here it is now waiting at my neighbors for me to go back home to get it.

Shortly, I have done very little photography and even less editing. I have been on holiday even from blogging, but soon, sometime next week I will return.

I have eaten some nice meals 😊

52 Frames: Week 31: Choose Color!

52 Frames, Landscapes, Still life

Look around and we’ll see something we take for granted – color. Our wonderful world is filled with it, so this week we’re asking you to Choose A Color. Make that color the theme and inspiration behind your image. Colors evoke moods and feelings – how you choose to compose and use them is what will guide the viewer through the image.

Choosing to focus on a single color in particular is both creative and good use of light, contrast and saturation is what can make or break an image. Pick a color and make it the dominant and outstanding and leave no doubt about which color you wanted to make the main point of your shot.

I am having huge problems with my computer, so much that I need to buy a new one, so these are old shots that I have here already used in my previous posts over the years. I am not able to access my computer files, or additional hard drives to add photos or load new ones from the camera disk. I am able to access the internet for now, so I am using these here this week.

Think landscapes of rolling green hills, or food shots of red chilli peppers or the all encompassing golden color at sunset – there’s a noticeable dominant color there and that’s what we’re looking for.

Composition: Compose your shot so there’s no doubt as to which color you’re trying to use. Think about any emotions or moods your photo can evoke and bring that to the forefront. You could use a lot of negative space to direct interest to your subject or go in full-tilt and fill the frame
Lighting: Lighting and shadows add depth to an image and can change an image dramatically. An underlit and underexposed image brings to mind a different mood than a bright, well-lit one.
White Balance: . Using and adjusting white balance while taking your photos will be valuable
Contrast: If there are multiple colors and shades in your image, ensure that there’s one that’s visibly up front and recognizable – it contrasts and stands out from the other shades and tone of the image.
Post-processing: Feel free to go nuts with post-processing and editing to render some cool color effects. But remember, less is more.

52 Frames: Week 30: Single Focal Point!

52 Frames, Still life

This time around, we want you to look closer at a Single Focal Point. This is not a technical challenge, it’s more compositional in nature – guide your viewer’s eye to a distinct part of your image. There are a number of ways that this can be done – depth of field can make it so a subject is in focus while almost everything else is blurred; or you could use negative space and a minimalist composition to draw in the viewer to one part of the image. Sometimes you can also use light as a frame to guide the viewer’s perspective to your subject – think spotlight and light shaping.

These photos I took from a car ferry while on my way to visit a small island of Högsåra were one of my ideas to this topic. Strong Focal Point: This is pretty much the crux of the challenge – but it matters the most: choose a strong focal point that’s easily identifiable as the main point of interest of your shot.

It’s all about tuning out the distractions and taking your viewer to the exact spot in your image you want their eyes to well… focus on. You might also want to consider getting some help from your editing software with vignettes, color pops and contrast to make your desired subject stand out. Even better, use a combination of these techniques and other skills to get this challenge sorted.

Depth Of Field: Use a shallow depth of field to isolate your subject. You might also want to consider getting some help from your editing software with vignettes, color pops and contrast to make your desired subject stand out. Even better, use a combination of these techniques and other skills to get this challenge sorted. That’s what I tried here with my strawberry shots.

**Leading Lines:** Think of using leading lines to guide the viewer to your intended point of interest.

Leading Lines to guide the viewer to your intended point of interest in mind I took these images of old buildings and this lush road. Consider using some sort of frames to bring in the watcher’s attention – a window, slats of a fence or some tree branches; shooting through something can also work to steer attention to your focal point.

**Color Contrast:** Contrasting colors help the eye to easily differentiate the subject from the background

I had this n mind when I took this image from an old mill window in Mathildedal, contrasting colors help the eye to easily differentiate the subject from the background.

52 Frames: Week 29: Common Object!

52 Frames, Still life

This week, we’re looking to shoot a Common Object. And isn’t that what photography is all about, really? Taking the mundane and shining a different light on it. Highlighting an object or scene that we normally pass by with no notice, and making it something special.

Think about all the common objects you can see around you right this moment – a bottle, socks, a pen, eggs, coffee mugs, perfume vapor, cell phone – the list of subjects you have this week are endless.

I once again left this to the last minute, being on holiday it is all about being lazy, or not if you are married to a man who needs something done every day. So this week we have re-arranged our sauna / guest room furniture, got rid of some stuff, bought some new to replace the old one. Re arranges the kitchen cabinets, put up new shelfs. We gave a away a car load of old furniture to be recycled to a flee market. A car load of stuff to the be recycle center. Busy with ordinary, common objects, but it never crossed my mind to take photos. Today, last day to give in the submission I took some photos of common objects.

I often wear costume jewelry, so common to me. I drink coffee, wine and my hubby enjoys whisky. These are some finds from the cottage. Also these old glasses I found whilst our cleaning spree.

Now the challenge is to simply make the ordinary look extra ordinary, or at least photographed well. You could try focusing on a particular detail or texture. Or perhaps show how you use it in your day-to-day life. Tell a story about how something mundane and ordinary can be a valuable part of your day.

what is life with a occasional glass of wine or a cup of coffee

TIPS:

Selection: Start at the very beginning – pick an object that speaks to you – whether it’s your car keys that you pick up everyday, or the chef’s knife you use to prep dinner.
Composition: Arrange things how you want them – the great thing about common objects is that you can arrange them as you see fit; you’re not restricted by an inability to pick things up and move them around.
Tones & Colors: The overall look and feel of the colors in an image evoke different senses and emotions – do pay attention to the composition of colors and overall tones in your image, in terms of being complementary or adding contrast.
Balance: This is all about the visual weight- obviously, larger objects that fill the frame are meant to hold the viewer’s attention the most. Certain items can add nuance and help balance a frame without taking away from the main subject.