30 October 2013

autumn at the mökki II.

what I like the most about spending time at the cottage is being able to live so close to nature: sleeping with the forest above our heads and waking up with the sea sparkling outside our window is one of the most pleasant feelings I have ever known. and there are certain routines like having sauna in the morning and sitting by the open fire in the evening that make everything even more special. that morning we set off with our cameras soon after breakfast: we wanted to make the most of our weekend in the nature and the blue sky was very promising.
autumn at the mökki II:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H
Maxmo is full of little islets: we spent the first part of the day taking photographs of gorgeous golden trees reflecting on the water surface. it was almost too bright for my 400 iso film rolls - yet I could not help but feeling happy that the weather was so beautiful! we even had a small picnic by the sea as it was unseasonably warm despite the constant wind blowing from the gulf.

28 October 2013

autumn at the mökki I.

two weeks have already passed since we spent that weekend at the mökki but I still have all my photographs from those lovely days to share here. it had been the very first time that Jacopo and I spent at the cabin in autumn as we normally go there in the summer: this year though we wanted to see the place in a different light and with different colours. it was the second weekend of October and ruska was at its best in Maxmo on the coast of Western Finland.
autumn at the mökki I:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H
we arrived at the cabin on Friday evening and it was already so dark that we could not see the colours until the morning after: when dawn finally came I was blown away by the sight of the golden trees across the bay. we run outside to take photographs of the sunrise on the shore: I took the first three shots with my Nikon FM at the break of dawn and the Hasselblad shot just after we had a sauna - the sun was already a little higher in the sky. it had been the perfect start of a beautiful day.
I will share more photographs from our time at the mökki soon!

25 October 2013

autumnal light.

what I like the most about autumn sunny days in Finland is the light: on those rare days when the sky is completely clear - the low position of the sun creates the most perfect natural light to take portraits outdoors. today I would like to share a couple of black and white portraits we took last Saturday on a walk in the forest: the day was cold and the sky was incredibly bright - it was hard to stand still but I think these results were worth the effort.
portraits in autumnal light:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Ilford HP5+
that is me in the first photograph and Jacopo in the second one - as you might have already guessed: Jacopo took the first and I took the second. just a couple of weeks ago he got the same model of parka as the one I have and that makes us look like we are in a team! I have developed and printed both of these photographs in my darkroom on the Sunday morning after our walk: it had been a very peaceful darkroom session - I will have plenty more this coming winter. you might have noticed that I have chosen this portrait that Jacopo took of me to become my new profile picture here on Blogger and on other websites too: I felt that it was time for a change and I really like the photograph - it seems that Jacopo really knows how to picture me.
I wish you all a lovely weekend! ♥

23 October 2013

a very colourful autumn II.

I have to admit that I was very disappointed when I reached the bay that afternoon and saw the fog: I could hardly distinguish the beautifully coloured trees on the other side of the shore. just the day before the weather had been so clear and the sea looked like a mirror - if only I had my camera with me back then other than just my mobile phone. I should always have a spare film roll at home ready to be used! despite my initial disappointment though Töölönlahti looked nevertheless very fascinating.
a very colourful autumn II:

Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
meeting the family of swans on the shore and being able to get so close to them was certainly the highlight of my walk that day: they did not seem to be disturbed by my presence nor the clacking of my Nikon FM at all - I managed to take quite a few good photographs of them but those two are definitely my favourite. I will miss the swans in Töölönlahti when the winter comes!

21 October 2013

a very colourful autumn I.

autumn in Helsinki has been particularly beautiful this year: between the first and the second week of October each tree in the city turned colourful and everywhere you looked was red, yellow and orange. some days the sky had been bright blue and some others dark grey yet the colours of autumn made everything look cheerful even on cloudy days. the morning I took a walk with my Nikon FM in Töölönlahti the weather was foggy but I still got to capture some vivid colours.
a very colourful autumn I:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
those days the Barnacle Geese were gathering around the city to get ready to migrate: there were many of them in Töölö bay and many people like me were walking around with their cameras to capture the birds and the beautiful autumn colours. a family of swans too was getting a lot of attention from the passers-by: I will share some photographs of them soon.

18 October 2013

the beginning of autumn II.

I would like to share a few more photographs from that morning walk in Vanhakaupunkilahti that we took at the very beginning of the autumn - it was the last weekend of September. Jacopo took that PZ680 Color Protection of me standing on my favourite wooden bridge while the sun had briefly come out from behind the clouds - what a perfect moment!
the beginning of autumn II:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
Polaroid Image System - PZ680 Color Protection
between the first and the second week of October every tree in Helsinki turned yellow and red: I had never seen anything so beautiful. I will share some photographs of those colourful days next week.
I wish you all a lovely weekend! ♥

16 October 2013

the beginning of autumn I.

since the start of autumn I have been taking a few film rolls: I would like to share some photographs from those in my upcoming posts. autumn really deserves to be photographed with its soft light and brightly coloured leaves. this year the beginning of autumn in Helsinki has been quite warm - an Indian summer - and extremely colourful: the most colourful autumn I have ever seen here.
the beginning of autumn I:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
I took these photographs one of the last days of September on a Saturday morning walk in Vanhakaupunkilahti. there were still some green leaves at that time but the chilly air was a clear sign that autumn had finally begun - I remember wearing my woolen hat that day.

14 October 2013

Iceland, rauður grænn blár.

it is time to talk about Iceland again: do you remember the photographs I had been posting in July? do you remember reading that Jacopo and I were going to work on a book dedicated to Iceland? the book is almost ready now and all we really need is your support to finally be able to print it.
Iceland, rauður grænn blár

Iceland, red green blue: a book dedicated to the magnificent Icelandic landscape.
during the past few months we have selected the best photographs among the ones we took in Iceland and have worked with five talented Icelandic poets and writers: the result will be a finely designed coffee table book with the perfect combination of photography and poetry.
Iceland, rauður grænn blár - video trailer:

pre-order your copy of the book and support us on Indiegogo!
I would be grateful if you could share this video and this crowd funding campaign with your friends and family so that Jacopo and I will be able to print the book with your help. also what will not be spent for printing will be donated to charity - you can read more about it here. at the top right corner of Passer Domesticus I have added a widget to promote Iceland, rauður grænn blár: you can also share one on your blog using the HTML code below - that would be lovely of you!
<iframe src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/542425/widget/3789673" width="224px" height="486px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
thank you so much for your support! ♥

11 October 2013

lapland 2013 part VII.

for this last post dedicated to our hiking trip in Northern Lapland I have finally put together a selection of my favourite photographs taken with my Hasselblad 500 C/M: some of them were taken from the top of Saana mountain, some others in Mallan Luonnopuisto and some more are views of Kilpisjärvi lake - the first and the last are a courtesy of Jacopo. I decided to share these shots separately as the red tones make them so different from the ones I posted previously.
photographs from Lapland part VII:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Lomography Redscale XR 50-200
that was my first time shooting with Lomography Redscale film and I have to say the results are quite incredible: the reds are so intense that Lapland looks like Mars. this may be because I had to expose the roll at iso 200 for every single shot - as it was too dark to expose it at a lower iso. that surreal look though makes these red photographs decisively unique - don't you think?
thank you for following my posts about Lapland over the past couple of weeks - here is my surprise gift for you: I have prepared a digital booklet with a large selection of photographs - most of which I have not yet shared online. download Ruska and let me know what you think about it! ♥

P.S. I am also very happy to finally be able to reveal that I was interviewed by Lomography for the Lomo Amigo section of their international magazine: you can read the interview here.

09 October 2013

lapland 2013 part VI.

the last day of our short holiday in Lapland came too soon for me: since the driving to Kilpisjärvi and back took us two full days we only had three days of actual hiking. I really wished we could have stayed longer and the morning of the third day I was a little sad - unfortunately though the campsite was going to close for the winter and it was time to go back home as the weather was starting to get even colder. that morning we took a shorter path that led us to Tsahkaljärvi lake and in the afternoon we walked to Salmivaara to take some photographs of Kilpisjärvi lake.
photographs from Lapland part V:
Nikon FM - Lomography Color Negative 400
Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Lomography Color Negative 800
before leaving the campsite I decided to taste a local pastry called Saana - like the mountain we climbed on the first day: it was absolutely delicious with its wonderfully rich whipped cream filling! ♥

P.S. I am going to share one more post dedicated to Lapland: I still have the photographs I have taken with my Hasselblad 500 C/M and a very special film roll. I am going to share that little surprise I was telling you about as well: aren't you all curious to find out?

07 October 2013

lapland 2013 part V.

I hope you all have had a lovely weekend and a wonderful start of this new week. I am going to share a few more posts dedicated to our hiking trip in Lapland though - before telling you a little more about the day we spent at Mallan Luonnonpuisto - I would like to bring your attention on the new header I have created for Passer Domesticus: what do you think about it? perhaps I will customise it from time to time according to the season - this one fits quite well with autumnal colours.
photographs from Lapland part V:

Nikon FM - Lomography Color Negative 400
Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Lomography Color Negative 800
we spent most of that day hiking through Mallan Luonnonpuisto - we walked for nearly 10km and even if my knees were quite painful towards the end I could have gone on much longer: those colourful landscapes were absolutely mesmerizing I wanted to keep on taking photographs and my mind did not feel tired at all. fortunately we still had one more day of hiking before heading back to Helsinki and I was going to make the most of it!

04 October 2013

lapland 2013 part IV.

during our staying in Northern Lapland we were based at Kilpisjärven Retkeilykeskus: the campsite offers an abundant breakfast and a very tasty buffet for supper - it is so important to eat well when you are hiking all day long. I loved having breakfast every morning looking outside the window onto the Kilpisjärvi lake and I really miss the friendly atmosphere of the campsite! the morning of the second day we set off for Mallan Luonnonpuisto: a magnificent natural reserve.
photographs from Lapland part IV:
Nikon FM - Lomography Color Negative 400
Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Lomography Color Negative 800
despite the light rain that kept on falling - the day at Mallan Luonnonpuisto had been my favourite one: we walked to the top of Pikku-Malla mountain and then all the way to the Kitsiputous waterfall. the colours of the landscape were unbelievable: from the intense orange of the ground to the piercing turquoise of the mountain lakes. I am going to have to dedicate one more post to the natural reserve - I have still many photographs to share of that incredible scenery!

Note: I am very pleased to say that finnish online magazine Satyyri has featured a selection of my photographs from Lapland: you are very welcome to take a look at Polly Balitro: Ruska.