snow is here.

last year at the end of november I remember posting this wishing for the snow to come - yet it didn't until after Christmas. this winter though the snow has already come thankfully: it has been snowing for almost three days now and the whole city of Helsinki is completely white. tomorrow is the 1st of december and it already feels like Christmas.

snowy photos from Flickr Commons:

❄ some of my favourite ones.

of course I have already been out taking my own photographs of the snow - yet I wanted to celebrate especially today's snowstorm with this post while waiting for my film roll to be developed. I am so happy because everything around the city is white and it won't be so dark anymore.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and a snowy start of december too!

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birds contemplating landscapes.

november is coming to an end and I am hoping for a snowy december. since Christmas is getting near and some of my friends are soon leaving Finland for the holidays - I have already been preparing a batch of home-made cards to give or send to my dearest ones: this year's theme is birds contemplating landscapes.

sneak peek of my christmas cards:

✻ collage of some of my favourite finnish birds onto some of my photographs of finnish landscapes.

what I love the most about Christmas time is preparing home-made cards for my friends and family and sitting down with Jacopo to write them on a free afternoon.

I cannot way for December to start!

oulun siirtolapuutarha.

my obsession for siirtolapuutarhat is growing stronger. since I remembered spotting one in Oulu a few summers ago - last weekend I decided to finally visit it properly as we were in town staying at Jacopo's grandparents' place. after the disappointing results of the 1980's expired slide film I took at the siirtolapuutarha in Herttoniemi - I was then looking forward to take some decent photos at Oulun Siirtolapuutarha instead.

Nikon FM - Fuji Superia 1600:

✻ from the last frames of the same film roll I took to Koitelinkoski.

sure enough the photographs turned out good - my Nikon FM never fails and the Fuji Superia 1600 is a great film roll. I have found Oulun Siirtolapuutarha to be less appealing than the one in Herttoniemi though: most of the houses were too big or too new and the vegetation seem to be scarce and tidier - overall I didn't get the same fascinating feeling of decadence of Herttoniemi's. still a few houses were well worth a photograph and a siirtolapuutarha is always worth a visit - don't you think?

koitelinkoski part 2.

I wanted to share here some more photographs from our morning trip to Koitelinkoski - last weekend. I am very happy with the way the film turned out: the unsaturated dark colours were what I appreciated the most about the landscape.

Nikon FM - Fuji Superia 1600:

it is fascinating how deeply a place can change during the winter: I remember being to Koitelinkoski a couple of times before and the bright summer colours were giving it a totally different feeling compared to the wintry ones of last weekend - even the closed café looked melancholy and therefore more intriguing.

Vuosi Metsässä - a year in the woods:

when we got back from Koitelinkoski I got this beautiful book as a graduation gift from Jacopo's grandparents - which made me very happy: Heikki Willamo's nature photography is truly inspirational to me.

♥ kiitos Kyllikille ja Matille!

koitelinkoski part 1.

we spent last weekend at Jacopo's grandparents' place in Oulu: we enjoyed Kyllikki's delicious home made pastries and perunapiirakat while chatting away in finnish - which was good for my practice. one morning we drove to Koitelinkoski: a forestal area with a tumultuous river.

Nikon FM - Fuji Superia 1600:

snow hasn't come to northern Finland either - yet we got to experience a magnificent frosty landscape: I couldn't restrain myself from taking photographs.

P.S. I will soon post more photos of the trip in Koitelinkoski part 2!

precious things.

yesterday was the day of the presentation of my master thesis: everything went very well and most of all I was happy because all of my dearest friends in Helsinki were there to support me - Jacopo even took some time off work for the occasion.

♥ from Myriam, Essi and Kasia:

these beautiful hand made envelopes were part of a surprise that my best of friends have prepared for me: they were arranged in a pretty ribboned basket - each of them full of delicious sweets.

♥ from Vanessa:

a wonderfully decorated letter from my dear friend Vanessa arrived from Italy - just on time for such a special occasion.

♥ from Jacopo:

at home Jacopo had prepared some lovely surprises too: a magnificent Fazer Joulukalenteri and a delicious italian panettone with figs were waiting for me on the kitchen table - Christmas really came early for me on such a special day!