Friday, November 15, 2013
Photo of the Day #28: Chiffchaffing on a Tight Rope
Although I do not consider myself to a bird photographer -at all, I seem to have quite a few OK shots of birds, that I've chosen for the photo of the day.
In Midsummer 2008 I was at my granny's cottage in Jämsä and was photographing everything that seemed interesting. I came across a chiffchaff (just looked to bird up on wikipedia today -I might be wrong on the species) sitting on an electrical wire, with quite a harsh sun beaming at it and lighting the foliage behind it ablaze. Granted the bird isn't perfectly exposed, but I do like the background.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Photo of the Day #27: Ain't no Mountain High Enough
Besides the Pyrenees, I've been to quite a few mountain ranges, and the Alps are one of the most splendid. I was at Villars-sur-Ollon at the french speaking part of Switzerland, again for a photochemistry seminar in August 2008. Fortunately the time table wasn't that grueling, so I had the opportunity to see the Alps close hand (Villars-sur-Ollon is already quite high up the Alps already).
A mountain train took us rather close to the nearest summit and we trekked a small hike around a peak and several mountain lakes. The weathered rock revealed stripes of ancient strata, which worked as an effective contrast to the deep blue sky above. It was a good day...
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Photo of the Day #26: The Voice of Dragonfly
I've been on the lookout for dragonflies, but have been too lazy to find sweet spots, where they can be reliably found, so usually the chances to shoot dragonfly come by chance. This individual found a small wooden pole at my parents' backyard, with a bent nail on top, very fascinating. I would imagine that it might have been able to obtain moisture or salt from it, or then it was just gathering strength for its next lap. If you know, just leave a comment. I guess it's not rehearsing for the next Voice of Dragonfly, even though it looks a bit like it.
I haven't been able to shoot such a good photo of a dragonfly since that one day in July 2005. Well there are plenty more opportunities to come.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Photo of the Day #25: The Seagull has Landed
In July 2005 I was in Helsinki -I'm not even sure why, when I spotted a seagull on top the Russian imperial two headed eagle at Kauppatori. Helsinki is full of signs of the Russian rule, now over for nearly 96 years and what would be a better way of winking towards the past and laugh a bit at the Imperial pomposity.
And I do think that the Seagull looks more majestic than the slightly suffering eagle...
Monday, November 11, 2013
Photo of the Day #24: The Call of the Woods
I enjoy walking in the woods, but often find it hard to photograph them, due to the harsh contrast of the light. However for this picture all the pieces just seemed to click and I managed to frame an undulating footpath lit in a soft evening light by the mossy green trunks of two pines.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Photo of the Day #23: The Frozen Link
I was in Kuopio, Finland at the end of April 2005, teaching chemistry to medical student wannabes on a prep course. I have to say that the experience wasn't all positive, as it seems that the kids had high expectations of results, but not always the matching motivation to study as hard as they should.
Anyhow the courses ran over two days per week and I had to take the train to get to Kuopio from Tampere, so I had plenty of time to see the town. As the town is at the latitude of 62°53′33″N, roughly on the same latitude as Nuuk, Greenland; Reykjavik, Iceland and Fairbanks, Alaska, it takes some time for the spring to arrive. The waterways were still mostly frozen, so I got some nice photos of ice in the spring sun.
For the life of me, I can't remember where the chain was connected to -probably a boat or a pier.
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Photo of the Day #22: Sunset -on the Rocks
Friday, November 08, 2013
Photo of the Day #21: Heron for a Day
I was in Kyoto, Japan for a photochemistry conference in April 2006. It was an amazing time of the year: the cherry trees were blossoming and the weather was good, at least quite a bit of the time. Unfortunately the conference took most of my time and I didn't have much time to roam the city.
However one morning I decided to wake up early and see what Kyoto had to offer. Luckily I wasn't disappointed: a magnificent Heron was basking in the morning sun on top of a Temple. It wasn't too bothered by my presence, so I had plenty of time to take quite a few pictures before it flew away.
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Photo of the Day #20: Winter Wonderland
Today's photo is again from Saariselkä, Lapland. It is one of the magazine cover photos that I provide to a magazine for the Finnish church of Germany (http://www.rengas.de/rengas-lehti/). They especially love wintry images, as Germany doesn't really experience winter like we in Finland do.
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Photo of the day #19: Highway to Heaven
This is photo is from a very special trip. I got married in July 2011 and took a hot air balloon ride as a sort of pre-honeymoon. Granted that the trip might have been even more romantic if I hadn't taken so many pictures and my wife hadn't been as acrophobic, but I did manage to take plenty of pretty pictures until as the cruel fate of irony would have it -possibly the hot air from the burner loosed the shutter from my camera (i.e. broke it) and I was allowed some uninterrupted romantic moments with my wife in the end.
And as P.S. if have to commend Canon for providing a free fix for the shutter -I think not every camera maker would go as far as that to please their customers (especially as the camera is a second hand one).
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Photo of the day #18: Thistle Along
Today's photo is rather simple, but just slightly different to the theme of pretty flower that I dared post it.I took it in July 2010, whilst roaming the "hundred acre woods" of Nekala and Viinikka (in Tampere, Finland). Of course it isn't a surprise to anyone that thistles can be pretty, but what I like about this picture is that the main idea aren't the thistles, but the speckles of light in the background.
Monday, November 04, 2013
Photo of the Day #17: Pic du Midi d'Ossau of the Day
This photo is quite a special one for me. We lived in the south of France for a year. Pau is a smallish city practically at the foothills of the Pyrenees. When you are at the picturesque medieval center of the city, the Pyrenees cover the whole horizon, with the most distinctive peak being Pic du Midi d'Ossau. We visited the Pyrenees often and twice we hiked around the peak.
The whole path is full of spectacular sights, but what iced the cake for me was the relatively unpretentious stream that made a marvelous contrast for the tooth of the Midi d'Ossau.
Photo of the Day #16: Strumming Along in la Paris
This is actually yesterdays photo: I was too busy hanging hay stakes onto our walls to post photos.
What do you do when I go to Paris, one of the most photographed cities in the world? What I attempted to do was to take a wholly different approach to the cliched subjects that I nevertheless wanted to see. So the regular photo of the Eiffel tower is taken from a respectable distance, where you see a bit of Paris as well -so been there (and took the picture just in case).
Here the Eiffel tower is so skewed that it takes a second to realize that you're not looking at an over sized harp...
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Photo of the Day #15: The Rock of Ages
I took todays picture in September 2004, when I was living next to the Näsijärvi lake, in Rauhaniemi, Tampere. The lake is very long (ca 40 km of continuous open water and the width is over 10 km at its widest. The rock you see in the picture is granite, the nethermost rock you can see on earth. It's one of the oldest rocks on earth. Of course even granite weathers and changes shape, but it is much harder than the limestone prevalent elsewhere in Europe.
The smooth water was created by shooting a six minute exposure, which calmed the water, creating an ethereal haze on the lake. I must have taken hundreds, if not thousands of photos by the lake.
Friday, November 01, 2013
Photo of the Day #14:Roses are Red, Cheating is too
I took this picture of rose with water drops in June 2005. I'm rather happy with the picture, but there is a nasty story that taints it. I had the picture on my website (http://www.lintinen.fi/) and I had introduced a very rudimentary guide to purchase pictures.
I hadn't really sold any pictures that way, and wasn't really putting much effort into it. So I was surprised a couple of years ago, when I received my first order of several photos. Someone had browsed my website and had found several pictures he liked and placed an order of seven printed pictures. I was rather happy for the sudden interest and sent the pictures via print service to the young man anxiously awaiting for the pictures.
Being a trusting Finn, I had paid for the prints myself and sent a bill to the young man so he could pay by internet bank (common in Finland -we don't use checks). I waiting for a while, but after a long wait I began to realize I had been duped. The young man wasn't intending to pay, the scoundrel.
I contacted the bailiff officer to inquire what I could do to retrieve what was owed to me. The friendly officer was able to inform me that the fellow had already incurred a sizable debt and the prospects of obtaining what was rightly mine were extremely dim. So I decided to let it go and considered it a lesson learned -I won't fall for the same one again...
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Photo of the Day #13:The Boat Challenge
Todays photo was taken in Aulanko as well. The Aulanko lake is full of row boats for the hobbyist fishers and others aquaphiles. Most of the boats aren't moored to piers: due to the boggy shores the passage to the boats is by duckboards (pitkospuut, in finnish). Unfortunately they have the habit of being swamped, especially during the wet spring. As you can see you can only just about see a glimpse of the boards, but there is no chance of getting to the boat without getting your shoes wet (that's why we use rubber boots, or Gore-Tex in Finland).
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Jack-O'-Lantern and Conk Lamp
Besides my Photo of the Day -project, I also have some other newer photos, not necessarily belonging to "the best of" -category. The first one is a conk lamp, tuned by my wife, Milka and myself from a basic IKEA lamp. The shade was white, but I painted it magic mint and Milka glued a bunch of conks, which we had gathered on our long walks in the woods, to the stem.
I'm not terribly happy with the photo, but I'll let it be for a while.
While I don't subscribe to the whole Halloween thing per se, there were a lot of pumpkins for sale in the local Lidl, so I bought one, made some delicious pumpkin muffins from the pulp and roasted the seeds and just by the sheer fact of not wanting to waste the shell, I tested how easy it is to carve a Jack-O'-Lantern.
I'm quite happy with the result, but I think next time I'll come up with something a bit more original -a bit less demonesque ;)
Photo of the Day #12: Aulanko at Dawn
This photo was taken in August 2004 at Aulanko, Hämeenlinna, Finland. My parents live just a couple of kilometers from the Aulanko nature reserve, so it is one of the most influential destinations for me for photography. Depending on the time of day, weather and time of year the area transforms into a myriad of different guises and it is often worth the while to go see what has changed or stayed the same.
While it might look that what you are seeing is the start of an endless wilderness, there is actually the Hätilä army firing range just across a couple of the hills. I can remember many a night when the suburban tranquility was pierced by shells firing -not necessarily while taking photos, but nevertheless...
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Photo of the Day #11: Ant & Aphids
I'm a great fan of macro photography, but for some reason I haven't taken too many pictures of bugs lately, probably because I'm too lazy to squat down on the ground peering at all manner of critters. Or its just that in Finland macro photography is only for summers and I've been (supposedly) too busy.
Anyhow this picture of an ant and a bunch of aphids was shot in July 2004, quite probably while squatting (I just love the word) in my parents' backyard. It's amazing how little interest bugs have of you. It's much easier to take a picture of an amazing insect or spider (if the light is right), than it is to shoot a magnificent mammal or graceful bird. The only thing you need is a camera with macro capabilities (an extension ring in this case).
Monday, October 28, 2013
Photo of the Day #10: Swing Bridge, River Tyne
Having just claimed that my previous post the first photo I can show without cringing, I just realized that not all of my photos were lost (or that there were some gems left).
This is the Swing Bridge, that connect the twin cities of Newcastle and Gateshead. I lived just a mile (less than 2 km) away from the river Tyne, so I took every opportunity I could to search for the right places with the right light. Most of the seven bridges were standard fare and they rarely disappointed. Here the supporting frame looks just like a ship traversing the river that started the industrial revolution.
This is the Swing Bridge, that connect the twin cities of Newcastle and Gateshead. I lived just a mile (less than 2 km) away from the river Tyne, so I took every opportunity I could to search for the right places with the right light. Most of the seven bridges were standard fare and they rarely disappointed. Here the supporting frame looks just like a ship traversing the river that started the industrial revolution.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Photo of the Day #9
Todays photo is intentionally inferior (at least in some aspects) to other photos of the day. I decided to dig deep into my archives and try to find the "first presentable photo" I've taken. Due to some problems in image transfer from CDs to my home computer, I've lost some nice photos, so this is the first good photo I was able to retrieve.
Ten years ago, in 2003, I went to Newcastle, England, as an exchange student. I already had a film SLR camera, which I tried to use as much as I could, considering that film (and development) wasn't cheap. During that time Canon launched its first "cheap" digital SLR camera, Canon 300D, for "just" 1000 €, and I decided that I could just about afford it. In the spring of 2004 I was finally able to shoot as many photos I had ever wished. Sad to say the skills I had gathered during three years of shooting with film cameras (first with a point and shoot, then with a film SLR) weren't phenomenal.
Very very slowly I began to understand what made I good photo and what ruined it. I was still using the cheapest lenses possible and a flimsy tripod, but when everything clicked, the mediocre gear wasn't a problem.
This photo is of Edinburgh in June 2004. I was at a final round-trip around the UK with my parents and my sister after my exchange year was over. I was at a hill overlooking the city center and everything just seemed to click into place and I got this photo.
In hindsight there would have been many things to improve, but this is the first photo I can claim as mine, and not cringe ;)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Photo of the Day #8
Todays photo is a rather unconventional view of Tampere. There is (at least was) a floating ice cream shop next to the Ratina stadium, which was a perfect element to highlight the backdrop of Tampere city skyline.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Photo of the Day #7
The photo of the day is sort of an optical trick. The photo is of a rowan branch, against a lake full of water lilies, making the water look like a hazy sky, with the water lilies a shadow of the rowan. I kind of like the illusion...
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Photo of the Day #6
Today's photo is just next to where I used to live in Tampere. The city sapling garden in Nekala was officially off-limits, but as it usually was a very pretty place, right next to the lake Iidesjärvi, I went there quite often. As you can see it's not always easy to shoot against the sun, but I'm willing to live with some flares...
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Photo of the Day #5
The photo of the day is bridge built by my full namesake: my great-grandfather Kalle Lintinen. Ratinansilta in Tampere may not be its most beautiful landmark, but most people there need to cross it more or less often. It links the Western part of Tampere to the East (http://www15.uta.fi/koskivoimaa/kaupunki/1940-60/ratisil.htm in finnish).
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Photo of the Day #4
For the fourth photo of the day I chose a slightly unconventional photo. I was in Saariselkä in the Finnish Lapland in March 2010 for a yearly seminar for our chemistry lab and in between presentations in the morning and the evening we had time for a bit of healthy exercise. Actually staying indoors was very much frowned upon. Saariselkä is one of the most exotic places in Finland with bare trees laden with thick clumps of snow, bare hills, reindeer and aurora borealis (which I have only seen in the south, though). Instead of showing a cliched scenic vista, I decided to show just a bank of snow by the road. Even it looks so much different to what you'd see almost anywhere else, even the south of Finland.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Photo of the Day #3
After some romps around Europe, this is the first photo of my native Finland. Pyynikinharju in Tampere (my old home town) has a scenic tower with a panoramic view around whole city. This picture is of the road leading to the tower, as seen from above. On the right you can see the lake Pyhäjärvi.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Photo of the Day #2
I was at Maria Laach, near Bonn, Germany in April 2010 for a photonics seminar. There was a picturesque old Abbey near an old crater lake. I did't manage to take stunning pictures of the Abbey or the lake, but the woods surrounding the lake were splendid in the verdant spring colors.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Photo of the day #1
Having figured out that I'll never be able to post long photojournalistic stories in regular intervals, I decided to start with a slightly less ambitious goal: post a single picture from my archives and possibly say something about it, if I feel like it.
This photo was taken from a trip in Italy in May 2010. I had just been to a organic solar cell conference in Assisi and was on my way to Rome. We spent a night in the mountains between Assisi and Rome and I managed to take an early morning stroll and came across this old stone building in the middle of the fields. Who knows what's it for -I just know I like the photo.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
A new start with interior design
It has been almost a year since the last post, so it's a miracle if anyone has the tenacity to actually follow me, but I will again try to continue with my photoblog.
My biggest challenge has definitely not been the lack of photos to post, but rather the relentless passing of time, which has forced me to prioritize my time on other "more important" things than posting pictures.
I had a marvelous idea of telling stories of all of the places I have photographed, but in the end the tedium of coming up with long narratives, has stopped me from posting short pieces altogether.
Well now I'm trying a compromise. I make no promises on continuity from post to post: rather I just try to show what projects I have going on and what I've worked with in the past. That's good enough for me.
So after a rather long foreword here are some pictures of the interior design project called "our home". The majority of the actual design elements are the handwork (or at least the mindwork) of my wife, Milka.
The picture above is an apt example of our design principles. We take old, quality, items and either re-purpose them or just put them into a new context. What you see are pieces of old flower crates sawn into smaller pieces and connected to form a large shoe rack.
Above you see a part of our hanging crates project: we took the same flower crates and screwed them into a paneled wall.
These two crates will follow the one already attached to the wall.
The small upstairs hall had an ugly white closet for cleaning utensils, with the surrounding walls painted an uninviting white. We painted the walls beige and replaced the large closet with a more pleasing cupboard. The most important thing is that the closet was full height and blocked the whole upstairs hall. The much smaller cupboard rather bring more space to the hall than takes anything away.
IKEA is allowed in our house, just as long as it doesn't steal the whole show. A zigzag of Ribba picture ledges allows for plenty of pictures on the walls with a minimum of holes.
A contrast of floral wallpaper and mustard-coloured paint was chosen for our bedroom.
And of course you can never have too many cushions.
Old doors are a major decorating motif for our interior design.
A boring lamp can be revamped by encasing the lamps by a metal basket. As the basket holds the lamps, one has to use energy saving lamps to avoid overheating.
My biggest challenge has definitely not been the lack of photos to post, but rather the relentless passing of time, which has forced me to prioritize my time on other "more important" things than posting pictures.
I had a marvelous idea of telling stories of all of the places I have photographed, but in the end the tedium of coming up with long narratives, has stopped me from posting short pieces altogether.
Well now I'm trying a compromise. I make no promises on continuity from post to post: rather I just try to show what projects I have going on and what I've worked with in the past. That's good enough for me.
So after a rather long foreword here are some pictures of the interior design project called "our home". The majority of the actual design elements are the handwork (or at least the mindwork) of my wife, Milka.
The picture above is an apt example of our design principles. We take old, quality, items and either re-purpose them or just put them into a new context. What you see are pieces of old flower crates sawn into smaller pieces and connected to form a large shoe rack.
Above you see a part of our hanging crates project: we took the same flower crates and screwed them into a paneled wall.
These two crates will follow the one already attached to the wall.
These are just assorted items placed on top of the crates for aesthetic purposes.
We chose old fashioned chandelier lamps to emphasize the three dimensionality of the rooms. Modern flat lamps are a bit too inconspicuous for our look.
The small upstairs hall had an ugly white closet for cleaning utensils, with the surrounding walls painted an uninviting white. We painted the walls beige and replaced the large closet with a more pleasing cupboard. The most important thing is that the closet was full height and blocked the whole upstairs hall. The much smaller cupboard rather bring more space to the hall than takes anything away.
A contrast of floral wallpaper and mustard-coloured paint was chosen for our bedroom.
And of course you can never have too many cushions.
As are old windows.
Old vinyl records can be easily re-purposed.
A bit of tuning can even make a Billy shelf a bit more pleasing.
Old wooden candlesticks bring a bit of extra patina to an already rustic living room.
Small elements perfect the desired look.
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