Background Check

Couple weeks ago, I presented headshot about myself as self-portrait for Photo Friday and Strobist Bootcamp. On Saturday, I completed Strobist BootCamp's second assignment by doing 'Background check', where the goal was to shoot bigger portrait in vertical orientation.
I am still not confident enough to start doing self-portraits in outdoors, so I rearranged furniture within our apartment, picked up Kirk Tuck's 'Minimalist Lightning' book and made photo that is shown on top of this article.
Let's see, what I can pull off for next assignment, which is going to be 'Look Smart'.

Aleksi 13

Suurempi kuva Aleksi 13:sta

Olen pitkään katsellut kuinka ihmiset ovat aina viikonloppuisin osallistuneet YyKaaKoo4 numerohaasteeseen, mutta itse en ole syystä tai toisesta tullut koskaan lähteneeksi niihin mukaan. Tämän viikon (31. haaste) numero on 13.
Muistelin aikoinani yrittäneeni eri numeroiden kuvaamista ykkösestä lähtien ja päässeeni numeroon 14 ennenkuin into tähän teemaan hiipui, joten syöksyin kaivelemaan arkistoja, jotta näkisin mitä olin kuvannut numeron 13 kohdalla.
Numero 13 kuvaksi oli näköjään päätynyt Helsingin Aleksanterinkadulla sijaitsevan Aleksi 13 liikkeen ulko-ovi, jonka yläpuolella (kahden naispatsaan alapuolella) on vaakunassa numero 13. Aleksi 13 liikkeessä on viidessä (?) kerroksessa vaatteita farkuista pukuihin, kengistä hattuihin, ...

Lisää kuvia samoista maisemista:
Aleksanterinkadun kuvat

Arctic Tern in flight

Arctic Tern

This week's topic in Photo Friday is High Speed.
I think we are going to see lot of photographs about motorcycles, cars and airplanes, but my best response to this challenge is photograph about Arctic Tern. At least for me, these birds can be quite tricky to photograph, because they fly whole lot faster than gulls and right when you think that you are able to drag them, they suddenly make sharp turn and dive down to catch a fish. However, sometimes you get lucky and for me this was one of those moments.

Related material:
Seabirds

Ahaa elämyksiä etsimässä

EXIF ja suuri versio Sinisorsan poikasista

Valokuvatorstain 133. haasteen aiheena oli Ahaa.
Aihetta postiessa minulle tuli ensimmäisenä pieneen ryömimis ja konttaamis ikään päässeet vauvat, mutta päätin lopulta kuitenkin hakea ratkaisun eläinkunnan puolelta. Nämä tämän kevään sorsanpoikaset eivät vielä tiedä hirveästi heitä ympäröivästä maailmalta, mutta seuraavat sitäkin suuremmalla innolla emoaan uusien Ahaa elämyksien äärelle.

Lisää aiheesta:
Sinisorsa (Anas platyrhynchos)

Childhood Memories about Winters

EXIF and larger version of Kid's motorcycle

This week's topic in Photo Theme for Thursday is "CHILDHOOD" (Toys, Stuffed Animals, Games, Clothes, Play, Fun, Messes,...).
My first ideas around this topic were about teddy bears, but eventually I decided to take this photograph about kid's playground that was taken in December 2005. It is some kind of anecdote about how we always seem to think that when we were kids winters were longer and colder than what they are nowadays. If global warming really hits in and we don't get any snow during winter (in Finland) then it can actually turn out to be truth about issue.

Water-Skiing

EXIF and large version about Water skiing

This week's topic in WDYL is Sports.
At first, I thought about taking old photograph about ski jumping in summer, but at the end I decided to go for water-skiing (skiing being common denominator).
While I would like to photograph sports (paddling, climbing, etc.), but I still have relatively small selection of sports photographs that I would really love.

Swans (Mute and Whooper)

EXIF and large version of Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

This week's letter in ABC Wednesday is S.
I decided that S is for swans. With swans I mean those birds (Mute and Whooper) instead of sailing boats. :)
There is strange contradiction how people feel about these two species of swans. Mute Swans in general seem to have bad reputation about being aggressive against anyone who comes to their territory and they tend to have large territories, while the Whooper Swan are Finland's national bird.

Here is quick summary about what they look like:

Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)	Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
April 2009 in Kuusamo, Finland	April 2006 in Azores, Portugal

Church of Teijo

Large version + EXIF about Church of Teijo

This week's topic in Two 4 Tuesday is 'Public - Private'.
As rule of thumb, all the church buildings in Finland are owned by religious institutions (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Finnish Orthodox Church, ...) and as such people consider churches as public property. Church of Teijo is rare exception, because it is privately owned by local community.
Building was constructed in year 1829 by local landowner. Wooden parts of the building burned down in year 1972, but reconstructed in 1973. There are couple interesting points in this church. It is smallest stone church in Finland. It was sold to its current owners in an auction that was held in January 11, 1999. After the auction, site has been classified as part of our national heritage in Finland.

Related links:
Weekend in Teijo

Pihasireenin silmuja

EXIF ja iso versio Pihasyreenin silmuista

Parin viikon takainen kuva pihasyreenin lehtien silmuista. Nyt voidaan jo alkaa odottelemaan, että missä vaiheessa puutarhoihin alkaa ilmestyä syreenien valkoisia ja lilan värisiä kukkasia.

Helsingin Taiji & Qigong Päivän albumi on valmis

Iso versio Sandasta

Eilen tuli vihdoinkin käsiteltyä Helsingin Taiji & Qigong Päivän (HTQP) viimeiset kuvat ja sen myötä voi sanoa albumin tulleen valmiiksi (vaikka ainahan sitä voi karsia tiiviimmäksi). Tulevina viikkoina olisi uusien kuvien osalta tarkoitus keskittyä kasveihin ja lintuihin, mutta saa nähdä että sopivatko ne valokuvatorstain ja muiden vastaavien haasteiden teemoihin.

Snow covered Scott's Pine

EXIF and large version of snowcovered pine

Scott's Pine is quite common tree in Finnish forests. While the tree looks pretty good as it is, I feel that snow cover makes it look even better.

Related photographs:
Roihuvuori, Helsinki
Pinales

Roihuvuori Water Tower

EXIF and large version of Roihuvuori Water Tower

This week's letter in ABC Wednesday is R.
After little bit of thinking, I thought about making post about 'Room in Roihuvuori', but I had already used that photograph in article, where I wrote in finnish that we are selling our apartment. Next idea was to use photograph about nighttime in Roihuvuori, but at the end I had to settle down to daytime view about Water Tower.
Roihuvuori is one of the many city districts in Helsinki. It is probably best known from its water tower and Japanese style garden, where all cherry trees are currently blossoming. If you want to know more about it, I will give you few URLs for web surfing.

Related albums:
Roihuvuori
Japanese style gargen in Roihuvuori

People in queues

EXIF and large version of Peoples in queues

This week's theme in WDYL is crowd.
My choice for the challenge is about people, who are in queues for tickets to Eiffel Tower.
Eiffel Tower has three levels available for visitors, 3rd level is highest point in tower, which can only be reached by taking elevator up from 2nd level. 2nd level is where many people will probably stop, because it is the highest point, which can be reached by climbing up on stairs. It provides you nice views to surrounding Paris. Since this weeks challenge was crowds, we'll have to skip those and go to 1st level, which has interesting square hole in middle of it. When I looked through it to find out what is down below us, I noticed all these people in queues and how those queues formed interesting formations.

Related photographs:
Long weekend in Paris

Empty and Full in Taijiquan

EXIF and large version of Tuishou

This week's theme in Two 4 Tuesday is 'Empty - Full'.
I have to admit that first image on my mind was question about whether your glass if full or empty, if you've already drink half of it. Since I didn't have any good photographs about this topic, I had to do little bit more searching. At the end, I decided to bring taijiquan to this week's topic.
People are generally aware of yin and yang in taiji symbol, but relatively small percentage knows that in same fashion it is all about empt and full as well. When you shift your weight forward, you put your weight on a leg that is front of you and it becomes full. When you sit on the other leg and move weight away from leg in front, it will become lighter and eventually become empty until you start moving forward once again.
People in this photograph are doing tuishou, which is taiji exercise for two people. Idea is to maintain contact between two people at all times and learn to anticipate if someone is trying to change pattern and to notice weaknesses in your opponents posture. At the sametime its good exercise for legs and mid-section of the body.

Related topics:
Taiji

Self-Portrait

This week's challenge in Photo Friday is Self-Portrait 2009.
I couldn't have asked better excuse for publishing my new avatar image in bigger size and 3:2 ratio. Photograph was taken as my entry into Strobist Bootcamp 2009 project in flickr, where participants have to go through six assignments as learning process in off camera lightning. The process of taking self-portrait with off camera lightning was small challenge for me, because I haven't taken that many self-portraits before and my experience from softboxes and umbrellas is limited (compared to shooting landscapes, etc.).

Assignments in Strobist Bootcamp are following:
#1: Headshot (shown on top of this post)
#2: Background Check (deadline: June 1, 2009)
#3: Look Smart
#4: Water
#5: View with a room
#6: CD cover

I will probably post results from rest of assignments, if/when I submit them into Bootcamp pool in flickr.

Vanha ja Uusi Pariisi

Notre Damen kellotornista

Valokuvatorstain 132. haasteen aiheena on 'Ennen ja nyt'.
Ensiksi aloin miettimään kuva-aiheita, joissa olisi sama paikka ollut kuvattuna talvella ja kesällä, mutta päätin lopulta hakea hieman suurempaa ajallista eroa kuvan teemojen välille. Tämän johdosta aloin miettimään vanhoja suurkaupunkeja joissa on tullut käytyä. Pariisista löytyvän Notre Damen kellotornin patsaat nousivat sangen nopeasti voittajaksi. Lopullinen vertailu käytiin ylenkatsovasti ympäristöä tarkkailevan, maailmanmenoa kauhistelevan ja mietiskelijän välillä.
Päätin lopulta, että näistä vaihtoehdoista maailmaa ylenkatsovan kuvan kohdalla moderni Pariisi mahtuu parhaiten kuvaan ja sillä perusteella se tuli valittua minun osaltani valokuvatorstain kuvaksi.

Lisää aiheesta:
Pitkä viikonloppu Pariisissa

Waiting for sunrise in Poon Hill

Poon Hill, Nepal

This week's theme in Photo theme for Thursday in "BIG" (Massive, Tall, Roadside Monuments, Buildings, Trees, Animals,...).
My choice for this topic is a view from Poon Hill to Annapurna massif in early morning. This is experience that large percentage of hikers in Annapurna Region want to experience.
If you are staying overnight in Ghorepani, which is closest village to Poon Hill in 2855m altitude, it requires that you wake up before 5 am in a morning, put your gear on (including headlamp) and hike few kilometers uphill to Poon Hill (altitude is 3210m). Among six peaks of Annupurna massif, one is above 8000m altitude and rest are above 7000m, so it is a view that you don't want to miss.

Related photograph:
Week in Annapurna region, Nepal

Pigeons with Surveillance Cameras

Large version with EXIF information about Pigeons with CCTV cameras

This week's topic in WDYL is Urban Art.
I chose Pigeons with Surveillance Cameras as my contribution to the theme. These pigeons were photographed in downtown Helsinki (August, 2008). I think the owner of these pigeons deserves some credit from an effort to hide those cameras into something that is more pleasing to an eye.

Related photographs:
Helsinki

Qenqo in Cusco, Peru

EXIF and larger version of Qenqo

This week's letter in 4th round of ABC Wednesday is letter Q.
Q is quite tricky letter. I was thinking about quick, quattro and quintet, but ended up with strange place called Qenqo in Cusco, Peru. It is some sort of ritual place for Incas. What makes it interesting is that it is rocky hilltop, which is full of passageways like Swiss Cheese.
What makes this photograph interesting is that according to our guides archaeological studies on this site were started, when couple archaeologies discovered that zigzag shape on a rock and decided that it must be man made.

Related photographs:
Two weeks in Peru (including Inca Trail)

Swayambhunath's Stupa

Swayambhunath's Stupa in Katmandu, Nepal.

This week's topic in Two 4 Thursday is 'Wealth - Poverty'.
My immediate thought was that my challenge will originate from Africa or Asia, where contrast between wealth and poverty are quite dramatic. I haven't done whole lot of people photography in Africa, so at the end I decided to take photograph my latest trip to Asia.
Photograph on top of this article is from Swayambhunath's (also known as Monkey Temple's) Stupa in Katmandu, Nepal. People in Nepal might be poor when we are measuring things in western material terms, but due to their rich culture they are wealthy on spiritual things.

More related photographs:
Week in Annapurna Region, Nepal

Impala in a morning light

EXIF and larger version about Impala (Aepyceros melampus)

This week's topic in Photo Friday is Wildlife.
I had to do little thinking whether I should take big cats (lion, leopard, ...) or just some wildlife from Africa. After little bit thinking, I decided that photograph about Impala in a morning light from Tarangire National Park would my best pick for this topic.
We had left for the park ride in Toyota Land Cruisers during sunrise and sun was still coming from really low angle, when this photograph about male impala was taken.

Related photography:
8 days in Tanzanian National Parks

Cherry flowers from Helsinki

EXIF and larger version of Cherry Flowers

This weeks theme in Photo theme for Thursday is "SPRING" (Birds, Flowers, Puddles, Trees Budding, Spring Cleaning, Young Animals,...).
My take on this topic are cherry flowers. Usually they start to blossom in Helsinki downtown in beginning of May and week later in Roihuvuori. Photograph was taken year ago (May 7, 2005) was taken from Roihuvuori, but this year I have not yet seen them. Hopefully they will soon start to blossom.

Related material:
Japanese style garden in Roihuvuori, Helsinki

Pihtsusköngäs Falls

Pihtsusköngäs Falls

This week's letter in 4th round of ABC Wednesday is letter P.
As an effort to get back to more traditional finnish topics in ABC Wednesday, I chose photograph about Pihtsusköngäs falls in northern part of Lapland in Finland. It is less than 20km south from Halti fell, which is highest point in Finland (even though highest point in Halti fell is actually in Norway).

Related information:
Photographs from Hiking trip to Halti and back
Notes from 1st day to Halti
Notes from 2nd day to Halti
Notes from arrival to Halti
Notes about return trip needs to be written at some point in future.

Double Negative

EXIF and large version of Double Negative

This week's topic in Two 4 Tuesday is 'Order - Chaos'.
My response to this challenge is photograph about traffic sign in Tübingen, small university town in southern Germany.
I feel that traffic sign fits both themes (Order and Chaos), because traffic sign on its own gives clear orders, but once you start to negate its effect with tape, it raises question about whether or not it really is double negative and if it is does it mean that you are allowed to drive on ...

Related photographs:
Week in southern Germany

Fiellu Waterfall

Large version of Fiellu Waterfall

This week's theme in WDYL is Water.
I had to make hard choice between Pihtsusköngäs (near Halti) and Fiellu waterfall. Both waterfalls are in northern parts of Lapland in Finland and they nicely demonstrate how water means life to plants.
Fiellu waterfall with its 26 meters vertical drop is quite impressive sight among Finnish waterfalls. It is pretty much midpoint on Kevo hiking trail, which is 63km long hiking trail through Kevo Strict Nature Reserve. Hikers usually start from Sulaoja and finish to Kenesjärvi in Utsjoki. It is also quite common that hikers make trip to Guivi fell, which brings additional 20km to their journey.