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.
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.
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.
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 ?
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…
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.
Let the photos speak, not that many words needed. After rain.
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.
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:
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 🙂
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 😊
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.
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 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.
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.
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:
Some atmosphere photos from Chania old town lanes and the harbor area from an other perspective
Photography is drawing with light and this week’s Silhouette challenge firmly shows us that. A silhouette is about bringing together contrasts of a well-lit background against a dark subject, making the subject’s shape and outline as the main point of focus. A silhouette balances what the viewer sees alongside the darker toned facets of the subject that are intentionally kept hidden from the light.
Silhouettes are a great way to tell a story while leaving it up to the imagination of the viewer – there aren’t visible features to express emotion, so your viewer will fill in details depending on the context of the image – use this to direct your viewer’s line of thinking.
This is a lesson in exposure, composition and creativity all coming together. While silhouettes are outline.. Portraits, Still Life, Architecture and Nature typically make for good silhouette genres.
Silhouettes can often convey some kind of mystic story. By leaving the details in the dark, the story becomes compelling and the viewer is more engaged with the picture.
I was nearly ready to cheat, until my youngest grandson said he would let me take a photo of him. It was a rainy day and he sat by the window with a cuddly fox. Here was my opportunity to capture a silhouette
The summer weather can be unpredictable, we are now under low pressure and have had sunshine and rain showers. We have spent this week at the country side. So my photos are this time naturally from here.
Photography is drawing with light and this week’s Silhouette challenge firmly shows us that. A silhouette is about bringing together contrasts of a well-lit background against a dark subject, making the subject’s shape and outline as the main point of focus. A silhouette balances what the viewer sees alongside the darker toned facets of the subject that are intentionally kept hidden from the light.
Silhouettes are a great way to tell a story while leaving it up to the imagination of the viewer – there aren’t visible features to express emotion, so your viewer will fill in details depending on the context of the image – use this to direct your viewer’s line of thinking.
This is a lesson in exposure, composition and creativity all coming together. While silhouettes are commonly shot in the day and at golden / blue hours, you can absolutely shoot silhouettes at night too. This will work best when the object being shot is recognizable through their well-defined shape and outline.. Portraits, Still Life, Architecture and Nature typically make for good silhouette genres.
Silhouettes can often convey some kind of mystic story. By leaving the details in the dark, the story becomes compelling and the viewer is more engaged with the picture.
I would have loved to use these shots I took at Crete as they would have suited this challenge perfectly, but no, still I think they are great examples of silhouette! But I will have to come up with something new for the challenge or I could cheat… no, I won’t do that.
TIPS:
Some atmosphere photos from Chania and buildings at the Venetian harbor. The first set I took with my mobile and the other with my camera where I was able to adjust the settings and zoom better and was able to get more moody shots.
Less is more. This week’s Negative Space challenge is what those words are all about. Make your composition’s subject stand out by ensuring you eliminate clutter, distractions and sometimes even a background.
Many minimalistic photography images have a great deal of negative space to isolate the subject. There are tons of genres and ideas that would make for very compelling shots – architecture, landscapes, portraits, food photography, abstracts and so much more. Think about the story or emotion you’d like to convey to your viewer and compose your shot after taking some time to think about it.
We’re looking for clear, un-cluttered images where the space surrounding the main subject or idea enhances your shot by taking the viewer’s eye straight there. That little bit of extra space allows for breathing room and leaves no doubt as to what the main point of interest is.
There’s magic in negative space, when used wisely, so think, breathe, shoot…
TIPS:
I would have loved to use some of the shots I took at Crete as they would have suited this challenge perfectly, but no, still I think they are great examples of negative space.
This post is all about the first sunset we saw in Chania at the Venetian harbour, it was so lovely that we later in the week came back for an other one. Well we came for dinner too and shopping, walking in the small alleys in old town. The first set I took with my mobile and the other with my camera where I was able to adjust the settings and zoom better and was able to get more moody shots.
Our first visit to Chania it is a breathtaking city on the north-west coast of the island of Crete. The city is historically significant In the town of Chania, ancient Greek, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman buildings coexist in the landscape of the city. We visited the Virgin Mary Metropolitan Church, on our way to the Venetian Harbour, “It is worth walking and watching, and at sunset you can get some really nice shot. Those I will share in the next post.
Papadiana is a lovely small village located 60 km south of Chania and close to the village of Sougia. With few inhabitants (population 14 as I found out as I googled the area) that deal mostly with agriculture, Papadiana has traditional architecture with stone houses and narrow streets.
It is surrounded by lush greenery and wild mountainsides. Most vegetation comprises of olive groves that give pure virgin oil, for which Crete is famous.
We drove through this small village and noticed a sign on the side of the road, Old mill, we took the turn and found this idyllic place at the end of this gravel road. When we saw the mill it it had a 1860 A.C. sign on it.,
For many of us, seeing a Pattern comes quite naturally – after all, it’s just something being repeated in a pleasing way. That’s why so many of our creations use patterns – whether it’s the crimped crust of a pie or some beautiful inlay mosaic work on floor tiles – patterns and repetition of shapes stands out to us.
I had lots of ideas, but well I run out of time and took an easy way out, because patterns are everywhere, but to get an interesting shot of it, is an other thing altogether. I went with the fern this time as the shot of peaches and butterfly are not new and the challenge is to take a new photo every week. If I had had the energy I could have tried to capture similar shots again. Not this time 🙂
Let the patterns to tell a story and that’s where the creativity comes in. Look for geometric and sharp angular patterns if you want to compose something using a pattern of shapes. You could also seek out patterns with colors. This challenge can overlap with other sub-genres like Repetition or Textures. Other genres like Abstract Photography or Architecture are also great ideas to find patterns.
One final thought – Most, if not all, patterns have repetition. But not all repetition forms a pattern. Just think about that for a bit.
Extra Challenge: Found In Nature
TIPS:
It has been a tiring three weeks, but I finally think I have beaten the flu. There seems to be lots of it going around. Maybe I can now get back to certain flow to get may Grete photos posted. But here is just a small summer greeting from my summer place.
Lakeside blues and cool water topped with ice-cream, can you top that? Summer!
Sweet strawberries, the season first for me and they were so tasty and sweet, one of my favorite treats of summer, fresh strawberries and new potatoes.
Although Crete isn’t the homeland of oranges and lemons, citrus fruits play a huge role in the Cretan diet. If I saw many olive trees I did see some orange and lemon trees as well. Ancient Greeks used to believe that the Earth goddess, Gaia, gave citrus fruits as a gift to Zeus and Hera on their wedding.
The special microclimate in the area of Chania, as well as the abundant water available from the Cretan White Mountains, contribute to the growth of juicy oranges. I heard said that…
“In fact, these oranges are among the most delicious in the world.”
What the heck is that?
That is what, I have tried to figure out, how to shoot it. That is between my coughing fits, this flu or what ever it is very strong and persistent.
If that’s the reaction your photo gets, then that means you did it right! Did i succeed in anyways?
This week we are diving into the abstract, the macro, the hidden angle, the way the light touches an object, or even getting inside an object, and giving a different view of a familiar world in order to challenge our viewer into figuring just WHAT IT IS that we photographed!
You do not need to shoot macro or up close, you can mask certain details using light (or shadow) to show what you want and hide what you don’t!
Is it a whisk? A spoon? A grain of sand?
it is that time of the year again, the amount of light we get, the longest day passed, but we are now celebrating midsummer here in Finland, lot’s of people are driving to countryside to enjoy the this festive season, to be bitten by mosquitos, but some may choose to stay in the cities. Well we came to our summer house to enjoy the light nights and warm summer days that the forecast has promised us for this weekend.
I am still coughing my brains out, tired from lack of sleep as soon as I try to lay my head on the pillow, well in my case at the moment pillows you can say bye bye to sleep. So I haven’t had any energy to post anything. But for midsummer I have to do something to celebrate, I took these at out last visit, it was full moon time, I never got around to posting them, so here is some beauty from one of my favorite places. Beautiful Finnish countryside in the summer.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 