October close-up – Delicate flowers

A unknown flower to me, but it is, a beautiful and delicate. I’ve so many flower photos, that I have not shared. These are taken from my trop to Sri Lanka.

Whilte blossoms

Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge. 

Three ways to look at this path

Since I do post editing on my art, and my photos, I also do several variations of them, so this is great challenge for me to participate in LAPC #220 One Subject Three Ways. These are very similar, but slightly different –by zooming in on the details or stepping back for a wider view. Sorry, there is four images and a header. 🙂

End of the path

Summer season ended, we closed our summer house for winter on this beautiful October day. The autumn colors are so lovely.

Lower view of the path
and lower you go still keep the focus in the front
Place the focus to the end of the path, and you get a different mood.

Magic mushroom

Magic mushroom

I have no idea as what magic mashroom this is, but it looks like Psilocybe mexicana a psychedelic mushroom. Its first known usage was by the natives of North and Central America over 2,000 years ago.

We did not pick them up, they ended up being cut down by the lawnmower.

I just took photos necaused they looked great, like from a story book.

More Magic mushrooms
Magic mushroom growing in my yard

October close-up – Pink flowers

Rose, flower is a flower and beautiful in its own right. As is hydrangea, both in pink tones

Pink Rose

Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge.  This time I am just posting shots of roses.

I love to have fresh flowers at home, I picked some roses this time.

Pink pastels
from the side
fuchsia

October close-up – Carnations

I always ,first pick out a photo when I start write a blog post , I decide what I want to share, and then maybe write few words to accompany it and come up with a title. I keep repeating the title as I am bad as coming up with them.

I mean, flower is a flower and beautiful in its own right. And I want to believe, that so are most of my photos that I choose to share. They should speak for themselves. Not that they always do, but I can make believe ☺

Pink Carnation

Since I am sharing close-ups, mostly of flowers I’ve decided also to participate in Cee’s Flower of the Day challenge.  This time I don’t have violets, but some of the carnations have violet color.

carnations looks lovely even as black and white image

I love to have fresh flowers at home, I picked some small carnations this time, because they stay looking good for a long time. I take photos of them to pass time and in the process get few nice shots. Edit them see what I can create from them.

white and violet
from the side

52 Frames: Week 39: Letters!

It’s all about your creativity and what you come across. You could shoot some cool looking signs in your neighborhood or capture the emotion of someone reading a heartfelt greeting card.

This week’s challenge is more about getting the feel of the story than anything else – like the sheer happiness of reading a college admission acceptance letter or contemplating wabi-sabi in an abandoned carnival sign.

Buy your tickets here

Capturing emotion in an old-school task of penning one’s thoughts to paper is about patience and composure – your own as well as that of your subject.  So, just breathe and take a think about what it is you want your viewer to see through not just your eyes but also your subject’s.

Getting typography shots isn’t something you might have thought of shooting earlier , but here’s your chance to try something new. Look out for cool and funky letters and fonts that are worth a dekko – you never know what you’ll find unless you start looking.

Visiting the circus In Helsinki
  • DoF: Depth of field can play a role here to show just a single line or word while blurring out the rest. Or to ensure that you’re in focus, front to back.
  • Contrast: Consider playing around with local contrast to give that extra boost to individual letters.
  • Cropping: If you want to showcase shapes that look like letters, cropping down is essential to eliminate other clutter.
  • White Balance: Modifying white balance can alter the tone of your shot. Use warmth, cooling and tints to give mood and depth to your image.

Here are some letter I’ve picked either this week, some from further back. My Signature is letters?? so I added it here. This weeks fresh letters are from the circus and I decided to go with the one with the first shot. I would have loved to use some of the older ones, but that would be cheating. So

October’s colors

October colors

Autumn iis about letting go of summer and preparing for winter. Greens give way to dead stems and yellow drooping leaves. Darkness slowly takes over the time of light, but how beautiful it can be at the beginning of autumn🍂

yellows ang orange, in a misty setting
Looks so pretty!

on the road

What clouds, I loved the contrast of the dark clouds against the autumn color by the road as we drove in to the rain and finally to the otherside of it towards the raindow.

Autumn as seen from the highway

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.

This was my entry

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.
warmth of a match

Vibrant autumn colors

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.

vibrant berries

I am not a fan of the season, it is in the top three thou, but the autumn colors are amazing every year.

Leaves

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

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.

A deer standing on a hill

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.

🦌 Deer

Lake Pikku-Kukkanen

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 PIKKU-Kukkanen

Lake Iso-Kukkanen

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
Lake Iso-Kukkanen

Something I noticed #32

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 🙀

Tinka

52 Frames: Week 37:  Portrait Of A Stranger!

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.

warmth of the golden hour

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.
Golden hour by the sea

52 Frames: Week 36: Golden Hour!

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.

warmth of the golden hour

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.
Golden hour by the sea

Something I noticed #31

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

A apple
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Lakeview

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

I like driving these old winding roads at the countryside.

country road

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

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Something I noticed #30

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.

Detail of a rusty machinery from 1970

52 Frames: Week 35:  Edited By Someone Else!

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.

Pirjo Tuominen edited this photo of me.

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

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

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?

Green leaves and droplets

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.

Droplets and reflections

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!

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.

Peaceful moment at the beach

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 ?

Peaceful moment at the lake