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

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.

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?

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!

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.

lapland 2013 part III.

on our first day of hiking in Kilpisjärvi we spent the whole morning climbing to the top of Saana mountain: unfortunately the view from up there was not as mesmerizing as it was last year because of a thick layer of fog. despite the unforgiving weather we decided to continue hiking towards Saanajärvi - a lake that I had not yet seen. it took us a couple of hours to finally reach the lake - which was completely hidden by the fog: how disappointing! the red and orange colours of the landscape though were so beautiful that our walk had been totally worth the effort.

photographs from Lapland part III:

Nikon FM - Lomography Color Negative 400
Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Lomography Color Negative 800

some might wonder what is so fascinating about hiking through bare and rocky landscapes in such foul weather: I think the extraordinary silence and the incredible scenery make it one of the most intense experience one could ever have. it is difficult to express this into words - our first day of hiking was over and I could not wait to start another one.

lapland 2013 part II.

on friday I finally got my photographs from the lab: I was so excited to be able to look at them that I have spent most of the weekend sorting out the prints and scanning them - there are many I would like to share here and I will do so little by little in chronological order. I will start with the photographs I took with my Nikon FM and my Konstruktor and I will share the ones taken with my Hasselblad in the end - I have used a very special film for her and got quite unique results.

photographs from Lapland part II:

Nikon FM - Lomography Color Negative 400
Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Lomography Color Negative 800

the morning of the first day Jacopo and I decided to hike to the top of the Saana mountain: it is the highest one in Finland and a must-see if you pass by Kilpisjärvi. unfortunately the higher we went the thicker the fog became and we could not admire the valley below us the way I did last year - the Ruska colours though were as beautiful as I remembered them. in the afternoon we headed towards Saanajärvi - I will tell you more about it in the next post.

P.S. quite many posts about Lapland will follow this one: in hope that you will enjoy them at the end of the series I will have a little surprise for my dear readers! ♥

last days of summer II.

I wanted to share a few more photographs from that beautiful sunny day - when summer did not seem to be over just yet. I am glad I have received so many lovely comments to my previous post: I am quite pleased with the way this film roll turned out and I hope you will enjoy this second selection of photographs as much as the first. Fuji Provia 100F has been a wonderful discovery this summer: I am going to miss it when the days will get darker.

more photographs of the last days of summer:

Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Fuji Provia 100F

I wanted to experiment a little by taking double exposures with my Konstruktor: here you can see one Jacopo took of me and in the previous post there is one I took of him - I am happy with both!

tomorrow morning we will leave for a five-day trip to Lapland: Ruska must have started already by now and I cannot wait to see those magnificent colours again - last year I took some of my favourite photographs ever there! besides my Nikon FM and my Hasselblad I am going to bring along my Konstruktor as well this time. plus I have been saving the films I was sent by Lomography for a special occasion: this trip will be a special occasion indeed so I am taking them all with me!

I will see you all next week! ♥

last days of summer I.

I am always a little melancholic when summer ends but this year September has been very kind so far: the weather has been sunny and quite warm for Helsinki and the first signs of autumn have barely started to appear around the city. the following photographs were taken last week on a beautiful late summer day during one of our walks outside town.

some photographs of the last days of summer:

Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Fuji Provia 100F

that day was probably the last for me to wear my beloved straw hat: soon I am going to have to pack it away until next summer. thankfully I have plenty of wool hats to choose from instead but I will miss light clothes so much! autumn is really coming: even the swans are getting ready to leave Finland - that pair in the first photograph was so beautiful I really had to capture them with my Konstruktor! ♥

puu-vallila.

there are still a few wooden houses scattered around Helsinki but perhaps the best place where to find plenty of them at once is Puu-Vallila: the oldest part of Vallila neighbourhood. Wooden Vallila - puu means wood in Finnish - was built in 1910 as a residential area for wealthy people living in Helsinki. it is one of the most fascinating parts of the city: the old wooden villas are beautifully preserved and come in different colours giving the whole neighbourhood a very cheerful look.

Sunday morning walk in Puu-Vallila:

Lomography Konstruktor DIY - Fuji Superia 200

last weekend the weather was glorious in Helsinki and Jacopo and I went for a morning walk around Puu-Vallila. these are a few impressions of the lovely wooden villas of the area taken with my Konstruktor - she has become a great companion for my walks. autumn is slowly coming to the city: if you look carefully you can spot the first signs of it on the trees in my photographs. Helsinki can be truly beautiful in autumn-time when the sun is shining!

I wish you all a lovely autumn weekend! ♥