I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.
“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.”
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.”
“If there are ripples on the surface of a lake, we cannot see the depth. Similarly unless the mind is restful, we cannot experience the harmony and union within us.” – Sri Ravi Shankar
Long weekend, we were so hoping to be able to go to spend this weekend at our summer house, but still too much snow, we would not be able to drive to to our house, plus not much to do as everything is under snow. So instead we stayed home, the weather was lovely and it really felt like spring.
We spent time on our patio, had this year’s first barbecue, basically we watched the sun melt and loved the feeling of sunrays on our faces. We did get out of our house, went to Helsinki to see loads of people come out of their homes to welcome a warmish day in the city.
First we went to Kaivopuisto is situated right at the tip of the Helsinki peninsula. It is one of the oldest and most popular parks in the city. There from the dock I took this shot of Suomenlinna. The coast quard was on the lookout
Café Ursula is popular livingroom on the shore of beautiful Kaivopuisto Park. The seaside café Ursula was founded in 1952, the same year as the Olympic Games took place in Helsinki. The cafe has since the beginning steered it´s profits to charities, nowadays as well. I took these photos next to it.
Lots of people walking by the shore, sitting on the rocks. I was surpised about the amount of tourist we had at this time of the year. Lines to buy ice cream were long… spring.
The Canada goose was very much visible in the park
My first though was many special occasions when people glow with happiness. Young people glow. People glow, some glow when pregnant, not me… not the best of times for me, but some women do glow. Often I have glowed with pride looking at my children 🧒
Brides are often said to glow… Happiness, smile makes us glow this is a fact.
Blue of the sea, fireworks, sunsets, citylights, moonlight all glowing moments to treasure.
Art can glow and smile
below, mothers pride, children glowing, people enjoying a glowing sunset
We all have these photos … throwback photos! Don’t we just… so many. It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”. I am posting my fsecond (#TB Thursday).Thursday
This time I am posting photos from the Baltics, the rooftops from Latvia. This is what the rooftops looked like in Riga at 2012 when I visited it with my sister. I love old towns, and the architecture in them, many time the decay in the buildings brings the little something extra in the photos.
I know…It’s Tricky! Enjoy the chance to think outside-the-box for this challenge. What tricks do you use to get the shot you want? I don’t know if I really have any…. editing, that is my main trick.
One thing I often do to get great nice bokeh shots is have a flower in my hand outstretched towards the sun coming throughout the trees and taking a macro shot that way… easier on my knees 🙂 mostly I like to take close ups so that the object is back-lit.
somethimes you just have use thte natural settings, bend down and get the shot.
Water , droplets splash… usually I need assistance, often from my husband, or the water dripping down from the spout to the water barrel below. Or like my here my husband dropping Ice into the the glass
Drops in a barrel
Trick, well I think the most impostant trick is to be observant and have patience especially when photographing nature, animals, bugs. Well anything really, many times getting a a good shot is due to a good luck. Right time at the right place. How you place the camera. Mostly that you pay attention. That’s my trick really.
People photography is a art of its own, you have to find the essence of the person, and the right angle to bring the best of the peole features, expressions to shine in the the photo. Once again, be alert.
Composition, framing the photo is essential for a great shot depending what you want to enhance and showcase in the photo. Below some shots from Amalfi coast.
It’s April and it still looks like winter, feels like winter even though next to a wall where the wind doesn’t blow you can feel the lovely warmth of the sun.
My grandson said to me, I will never forget the mountain next to your home 😀 ( it is a hill ) he always wants to climb it no matter what season it is. Today he conquered it with his father and grandpa
I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.
Not finding the book you want? I had just done my civil duty at the library, voted. I sat waiting for my husband to lend some books.
I liked the line of the windows and the shelves making a leading line. So I set the camera -phone to the floor level and took this photo of three people, they seemed to be nicely situated in also in this lowpoint photo. I also got a shot of the person sitting by the desk reading.
“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire
two men and books
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A boy
“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”
Compare to edit, color versus black and white version. But I also with the shadows.
This week Anne invites us to share experiences . Experiencing something for the first time can be exhilarating, exhausting, and engaging.
Seeing something new in nature, visiting a new city. Listening to music, sounds of nature, art in all forms. I thing I get most from seeing, experiencing natures wonders.
I have also got great joy visiting the Great ocean road in Australia. I have done several posts from that trip. I still have lots of shots not share. Awesome place. Waterfall, rolling hills, animals in the wild… I could go on and on..
I love the rugged coastline there and in Northern California
and Oregon also, memorable and beautiful experiences.
Seeing the red woods in California Sequoia National Park, the magnificent trees.
Seeing the desert and it rough beauty of Valley of fire In Nevada
Thailand, Sri Lanka, India the different type of nature, culture. European countries with the long history and beautiful architecture, Italy, The Amalfi coast, Venice. France, Paris, Nice´ on and on I could go here too
You need not go far, you can experience a misty morning or evening. Sunset or sunrise that amaze you in your own yard. It is a new experience everytime, if not, would we not try to capture when ever it is possible.
Experience – is seeing the same old as something new everytime -living the moment. It can be as mundane as experiencing your morning coffee everyday. Maybe today with toast, tomorrow with pancakes… I don’t know, we must not forget the little everyday moments.
I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.
Light continues tobe the theme, as it is the thing that uplifts me the most at the moment. I posted yesterday shots of advancing sping yesterday. Today it is raining, slush and snow. Well they do say, new snow is the death of old snow this time of the year. Today I converted few into monochrome images.
“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire
Reflections on water
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Shadow play on ice
“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”
Ice and water
Compare to edit, color versus black and white version. But I also with the shadows…
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.
This week Sofia invites us to show you what Spring means to us. Is it about new beginnings, Nature reborn or a new chance to go and enjoy the outdoors?
This is a no brainer, I mean, obviously it is about light. Me and so many other when the spring begins to show first signs of more light the constant marvel of it… we do, every year as if this was something unexpected. The joy of it is so awesome, it wakes us up from the winter hibernation, we slowly come put of houses.
When does spring start? In 2023, the official first day of spring is Monday, March 20. This date marks the “spring equinox” in the Northern Hemisphere. That is today!
( Is the spring equinox the same as spring solstice? Equinox vs Solstice An equinox occurs at the start of the spring and fall. The solstice occurs during the summer and the winter. Occurs on March 21 (Vernal equinox) and on September 23 (Autumnal equinox).
No matter where you are on Earth, the equinox brings us a number of seasonal effects, noticeable to nature lovers around the globe. At the equinox, Earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally. Night and day are often said to be equal in length.
The fastest sunsets and sunrises of the year happen at this time. We’re talking here about the length of time it takes for the whole sun to sink below the horizon. Sunset or sunrise you have to be quick to act, if you wait long enough you will only see tail end of it.
First you notice is the snow and ice melting.The fields with the soil coming visible and mornings of mist. Everything is brown. Only moss glows green. The lakes and sea is been freed from under the ice.
Everywhere! Forget about the weather for a moment, and think only about daylight. In terms of daylight, the knowledge that spring is here – and summer is coming – permeates all of nature on the northern half of Earth’s globe.
Notice the arc of the sun across the sky each day. You’ll find that it’s shifting toward the north. Responding to the change in daylight, birds and butterflies are migrating back northward, too, along with the path of the sun.
The longer days do bring with them warmer weather. People are leaving their winter coats at home. eople are raking the leaves from their yards. Trees are budding, and plants are beginning a new cycle of growth. In many places, spring flowers are beginning to bloom.
new fresh green – not visible here yet, but it is a sign of the glorious days of spring finaly here.
Spring is full of hope, l ight, beauty and blooming of nature. One of the best of season’s
I was looking for a specific photo, by the way; I did not find it, instead of that this popped up. The old glass in the window makes the woods hace a rippled effect, very artistic with out any editing.
I can hardly wait until we have this green surroundings again. All this white… enough
I have come across so many doors while looking at my fellow bloggers posts. So I thought I would post few too. Here are some colorful doors 🙂 from Savannah, Georgia.
I am continuing to participate in 52 frames – this week the theme contrasting colors, as its still all snowy here in Finland trying to find contrasting colors in the nature is a real challenge, so I did not take it on.
I had oranges on the table – I have a blue wall in my living room, with light coming in from the side from a big window. I have a matching blue linen dress to place on the sidetable to get my still life props in order, Easy solution from thing found in the house.
As you can see all of them are VERY similar, with slightly different lighting and contrast , as well as the blue looks a bit different in all. This is something I spend too much time at… well that what I do, and then trying to pick a hopefully the best one for the challenge, second guessing my choice all the time.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #240 – The Road (most often) Taken.
John from Journeys with Johnbo is hosting this week, this week’s theme is metaphoric–and not about a physical road. For this week’s challenge, I want you to think of your favorite type or style of photography as the road you’ve chosen to take most often.
I got my first own camera in my late teens. I took photos of friends and family and photos when traveling. Safe to say there are not that many photos from back then, film was expensive as was the development, and you never knew how they turned out until you got the envelope back.
When I got my kids, well I took tons of pictures of them, here I found few from the archives that I have scanned. So safe to say, I am a people photographer from the beginning. I must say, I have improved a lot, even if I say so myself over the years. I love taking photos of people trying to capture something real, and try to find the beauty we all have in ourselves, fing the best angle to get a the essence of what I see. Now I photograph my grandkids and my husband is often in my photos if I need to get a heasshot for some challenge.
Eventually when I got my first good camera I started taking photos of nature, photos from our travels. Then I got a new macro lens – then details. I learned to edit my photos and that made my photos get better, me being able to highlight more what I what to showcase in the photo.
I have mixed some of my early on photos with some newest ones. Basically I take photos of what ever I fancy, anything that catches my eye, that I find intersting I take photos of.
I have to say that hiking to place that are far and through difficult tracks is not my thing. Even though I admire the beautiful photos other have captured from these place. I look for topic near me 🙂
To start with he photos were not all that good, but I liked the light in them, so I made the in to art.
Same road, photos taken right after each other, so the light is little different, I used two different brushes to get a different outcome by thete texture.
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
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.”
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.
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 