zadie in helsinki III.

just a few more photographs I took with Zadie that Saturday morning around Helsinki: that day we really walked a lot! these were taken in Tervasaari and in Kaisaniemenranta: in the first two pictures Zadie is posing with the colourful buildings of Kruununhaka in the background.

Zadie in Helsinki - Tervasaari and Kaisaniemenranta:

Nikon F5 - Kodak Portra 400

I have spent some lovely days with Zadie before sending her to her next destination. by now she is probably having lots of fun in Poland in the company of Kasia: keep on following her adventures!

♥ Zadie's Blog
♥ Zadie's Facebook

zadie in helsinki II.

unfortunately the weather was quite gloomy while Zadie was visiting Helsinki: the clouds did not stop our tour around town though. on a Saturday morning we visited Senate Square and the Market Square where we took some very touristic shots. I hope you will like them!

Zadie in Helsinki - Senaatintori and Kauppatori:

Nikon F5 - Kodak Gold 400

♥ Zadie's Blog
♥ Zadie's Facebook

zadie in helsinki I.

between the end of September and the beginning of October the lovely globetrotting clonette Zadie has spent some time with me in Helsinki. strolling around town with Zadie has been fun and taking photos of her has been quite different from what I usually do. I am going to dedicate my next few posts to this interesting experience: many thanks to Adeline for making it possible!

Zadie in Helsinki - Talvipuutarha and Töölönlahti:

Nikon F5 - Kodak Gold 400

the day I took Zadie for a walk one afternoon after work we visited the winter garden and walked around Töölönlahti. I was a little scared that she would fall in the water because of the wind but thankfully she did not. the weather was exceptionally sunny!

♥ Zadie's Blog
♥ Zadie's Facebook

in vienna with the lomography petzval IV.

here is the last selection of photographs from our short but lovely visit to the gardens of Schönbrunn in Vienna. I have said it before and some of you agreed that Schönbrunn Palace resembles The Grand Budapest Hotel when captured with the LomoChrome Purple and its pastel colours.

in Vienna with the Lomography Petzval:

Nikomat EL - LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400

lately it has been rainy and quite cold here and those summer days in Austria seem very far away. these are busy times but I got myself some new photographic equipment which I am really proud of: I cannot wait to try it out properly when I finally get the chance!

in vienna with the lomography petzval II.

it was extremely hot that day in Vienna and I did not handle the heat very well. I wish it was just a little cooler so that I could appreciate the beauty of Schönbrunn more and savour my first experience with the Petzval completely. still I cannot help but rejoice at the photographs we took!

in Vienna with the Lomography Petzval:

Nikomat EL - LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400

perhaps these are a little overexposed: the Petzval works best with a large aperture but the shortest shutter speed of my Nikomat is only 1/250 and the light was too bright for it. I am very pleased with the tones of the LomoChrome Purple though: the facade of Schönbrunn Palace looks so pink it reminds me of the one of The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson.

in vienna with the lomography petzval.

last weekend we flew to Austria to attend to a very special wedding not only as guests but especially as photographers. thanks to darling Simon of the Lomography Society International we got to borrow two Petzval lenses for the occasion: it was love at first sight! despite the busy schedule before flying back home we had a few hours to spend in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna: that was when we took each other's portraits with the Petzval lenses.

in Vienna with the Lomography Petzval:

Nikomat EL - LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400

this is just a first selection of portraits: I will share more in the next few posts. the Petzval is a truly magnificent lens: I had never had such results before when shooting on a 35mm film. I wish we had more time to go around the beautiful gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. Vienna looked like such a lovely city too: I hope we will have the chance to visit it properly one day!

chiavenna e val bregaglia.

I took my Hasselblad along only a couple of times while in Italy: when we visited Chiavenna and when we went to Val Bregaglia. Chiavenna is a beautiful old town not that far from my parents' village in Northern Italy. that day the weather was warm and sunny and we spent the afternoon strolling around the narrow streets. I especially like that photograph that Jacopo took of me!

photographs from Chiavenna:

photographs from Val Bregaglia:

Hasselblad 500 C/M - Lomography Redscale XR 50-200

the day we went to Val Bregaglia we were not that lucky: it started to rain on our way to Castelmur and most of my photographs did not turn out the way I was hoping they would. I still wanted to share a couple of them though: I really liked that vintage Toblerone billboard and the mill! once again the tones of the Redscale XR 50-200 turned out very differently: much redder in Chiavenna than in Val Bregaglia. anyhow I completely cherished both of those days! ♥

estate italiana.

I have been in Italy for almost two weeks and soon enough it will be time to go back to Helsinki. it has been a fantastic holiday: I could spend some days with my family and some more hiking with Jacopo at Stelvio National Park. as soon as I will get my rolls of film developed I will share more photographs and stories with you about my italian summer. here is a little preview with a selection of mobile shots: I hope you will enjoy them!

estate italiana - italian summer:

more photographs on Instagram!

these were taken in beautiful Varenna on Como Lake when my sister and I visited the magnificent gardens of Villa Monastero. I will always remember that day with pleasure. I especially love that photograph that my sister took of me!

transparency.

I am taking part in the collective exhibition Viimeinen Puolukka – The Last Lingonberry with my installation Transparency. if you happen to be in Helsinki on a sunny day take a walk around the beautiful nature reserve of Kivinokka: there you will find numerous installations worth experiencing.

Transparency at Viimeinen Puolukka exhibition:

Nikon FM - Kodak 200

Transparency is a double-exposed photograph printed on a glass plate and installed in the natural environment: the transparency and flimsiness of the glass symbolises the fragility of the relationship human-nature. you are welcome to visit Viimeinen Puolukka in Kivinokka until the 30th of October: the exhibition is also recommended by Helsinki City Tourist Information!

• more about Transparency
• more about Viimeinen Puolukka

lomography redscale XR 50-200 part 2.

I am happy to read that many of you seem to appreciate the colours of my first Lomography Redscale XR 50-200 rated at 25 iso. I wonder if I might have involuntarily encouraged someone to give a second chance to a film that provides such different results when rated at 200 iso.

Lomography Redscale XR 50-200 rated at 25 iso:

Hasselblad 500 C/M

here are a few more photographs from the same roll I took in Herttoniemi two weeks ago: most of it has turned out with the same beautiful warm tones and dreamy colours - I am still so impressed by them! I am also glad I have taken out my Hasselblad again after a very long time: I have missed the spectacularly high definition she can provide! Redscale XR 50-200 ♥ Hasselblad 500 C/M

lomography redscale XR 50-200 rated at 25 iso.

I had only tried the Lomography Redscale XR 50-200 last autumn in Northern Lapland: since the light was scarce I had to rate the film at iso 200 and all my photographs turned out extremely red. I was looking forward to test the Redscale during brighter days and - when last weekend summer finally came to Helsinki - I decided to take my Hasselblad for a walk with Jacopo.

Lomography Redscale XR 50-200 rated at 25 iso:

Hasselblad 500 C/M

I could not believe my eyes after getting a couple of film rolls developed: when rated at 25 iso the Lomography Redscale XR 50-200 behaved in a totally different way and the photographs turned out with some wonderful warm tones and not completely red. I am especially happy with this first batch though I will share more photographs from those rolls as the colours vary quite greatly throughout.

P.S. the author of the second photograph is obviously Jacopo! ♥

color film for spectra.

there is still one last photograph from our Easter Holiday in Northern Finland that I would like to share with you: a portrait that Jacopo took of me with his Polaroid Image System. that afternoon we ended up walking by the sea in Oulunsalo and the sun was shining bright on the pieces of ice scattered by the icebreakers - what a beautiful sparkling sight that one was!

a portrait of me taken by Jacopo:

Polaroid Image System - Color Film for Spectra

we seldom shoot polaroids nowadays and I really miss the beautiful soft tones of the Impossible Instant Film! this has been one of the first polaroids that Jacopo has taken since the start of 2014: Finnish winter is certainly not the best time of the year to shoot films that do not stand cold temperatures. I truly hope that we will have the chance to take more polaroids now that the summer is finally coming: I am looking forward to trying out more of this Color Film for Spectra.

I am currently waiting for two film rolls to be developed: I will not be posting anything new here for a few days. until then I am leaving you with a quote from a book I have just finished reading and found very inspiring: Tove Jansson Life, Art, Words: The Authorised Biography by Boel Westin.

Duty and pleasure are a long story for me, permanently relevant, and I've gradually reached an unusual and altogether personal conclusion. The only honest thing is pleasure - desire, joy - and nothing I've forced myself to do has ever given pleasure to the people round me. Tove Jansson - April 1955

adox color implosion III.

I have just returned to Helsinki after a trip to Northern Finland and the weather is so beautiful that it already feels like summer: unbelievable! my Easter holidays in the north were a little colder but very nice: I will share some photographs of those days soon. meanwhile here are a few more shots from the ADOX Color Implosion film that I liked so much.

ADOX Color Implosion - part III:

Nikon FM - ADOX Color Implosion

I took the first two photographs in Seurasaari on an afternoon walk with a dear friend and the third one in Töölönlahti on an evening walk. most of the evening shots I took did not turn out the way I wanted: the grain and the red tones were totally unbearable. I have really loved my first experience with the ADOX Color Implosion - though next time I will use it only on very bright days!

adox color implosion II.

the more I look at the photographs I took with the ADOX Color Implosion the more I like them: I really need to get my hands on some more rolls of this special film! meanwhile here are a few more of those I took that Saturday in Kivinokka with Jacopo: I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.

ADOX Color Implosion - part II:

Nikon FM - ADOX Color Implosion

Jacopo is the author of the second photograph: one of the rare cases when I actually like myself in a picture. the colours of these three are slightly darker than the ones of the previous photographs I have shared - though I am still very pleased with them.

P.S. tomorrow we are leaving on a little trip to Northern Finland for the Easter holidays. I wish you all a very happy Easter! I will be back on Passer Domesticus after the holidays.

adox color implosion I.

a couple of weeks ago while in London for work Jacopo got me a wonderful gift: an ADOX Color Implosion film which he bought at The Photographers' Gallery Bookshop. the film was advertised as a surreal color negative film which originally used to be a defective AGFA aerial 800 iso without a red filter in the emulsion: if shot as a 100 iso the ADOX would apparently produce imploding colors, bursting reds and toxic grain. needless to say I was very excited to try it out!

ADOX Color Implosion - part I:

Nikon FM - ADOX Color Implosion

this is a first selection of photographs I have taken with the ADOX last Saturday and I am very happy with these results: the colours and tones are really surreal and dreamy in my opinion! the grain is indeed quite toxic but somehow very appealing in these images. what do you think?

I will share more photographs from the ADOX Color Implosion film soon!

one afternoon in lammassaari.

one of my dearest friends has recently moved to Vanhakaupunki: the perfect location for me to visit her and have a walk around Vanhakaupunkilahti and Lammassaari. I took these photographs a couple of weeks ago during one of our walks: I had never been to that side of Lammassaari before and it was the first time I saw the wooden jetty - perhaps now a new favourite spot of mine.

one afternoon in Lammassaari:

Nikomat EL - Kodak 400

even though these photographs still look very wintry we have had some very springy days too - I will soon give you proof. the days are getting longer and busier for me: I have started a language course to improve my Finnish and I have been selected to work as a volunteer for the Helsinki Photography Biennial - which is very inspiring and fun too! on a sad note I did not pass the selection for the Photography Master programme in Aalto University that I was really hoping to start: it feels bad to know my work was not appreciated enough but I am not going to stop believing in what I do!