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January 2019 – Photography

The start of this year has been quite interesting for my photography. I’ve attempted some more heavily-edited fine art kind of stuff, as well as some more food and product photography. Unfortunately, many of my shoots this month have been unsuccessful, and I’ve often returned home feeling like some kind of lost ice man with a cold memory card full of ”meh”, photos in his pocket. Yes, the failures have scoffed many times at my attempts to create what I seek, but I know that in the end they are just showing me some well-needed tough love. I have however managed to get a few decent images, and being outdoors is always a pleasure for me. Below are some pictures from January 2019.

”INTERESTING SKY”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: The curves of snow are back this month! The sky was also quite amazing that day, the sun bursting through the clouds and creating a really interesting effect.

”BUTTERNUT SOUP”.

Above: Yup, soup. The cold has made it a favourite food choice for me this month, and I thought I’d work on my photography while I’m at it.

”THE HILL”. Model: Rosa Summanen.

Above: ”The Hill”. Model: Rosa Summanen. This image is a composite and was really fun to make! There was so much grey, overcast sky in January, so it was great to get out and get creative with it 🙂 You can see more and follow Rosa Summanen here on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosesummanen/.

”WINTER SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: I love winter sunsets. The contrast between the hot sun and the frozen landscapes, the soothing colours and textured snow. The icy curves along the shore of this frozen lake were beautifully highlighted as the sun went down. Good times.

”DUDE, WHERE’S MY STAR?”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Often, one doesn’t need much to get creative. I headed out to a local spot and experimented with some photos along the frozen lake shore. This time I brought along with me a camping lantern for a different mood.

”TONES OF WINTER”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: A calm and tranquil scene, featuring my favourite local island ”Voiluoto”. You can see more of my photos of this island here: https://jasontiilikainen.com/2019/01/25/voiluoto-the-island-that-keeps-on-giving/.

”WAITING FOR NIGHT”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: A month or so ago, I bought myself a new headlamp. This particular one had a few different modes, including a mode where the light would be red. This was my last photo of the month, and was just a filler image idea I had while waiting for the sky to get darker.

So that was January. I’m really happy with the photos that worked out, and grateful to learn from the ones that didn’t. I’m a happy dude.

See you out in the snow!

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2018 – A Year of Photography

2018 was an incredible year for photography. I learnt a lot and am forever grateful that I managed to spend so much time with nature. With each sunset, sunrise and starry night burnt brightly into memory, I will move forward with a goal to experience them all over again in 2019. Below are photos from each month in 2018.

January:

”TAMPERE CITY”. Tampere, Finland.
”SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.
”EVENING THOUGHTS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SNOWY LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SUNSET FROM THE ART MUSEUM WINDOW”. Joensuu, Finland.
”TAMPERE TOWN HALL”. Tampere, Finland.

Above: As far as I can remember, January was a mixed month. It had its share of awesome winter sunsets, but there were many overcast days too. I also visited Tampere and managed to photograph some of the city.

February:

”MORNING STROLL”. Joensuu, Finland.
”STAR TRAILS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ISOLATION”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.
”RAINING TWILIGHT (VERSION II)”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER TREETOPS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER NIGHT SKY”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SNOWY EVENING”. Joensuu, Finland.
”INTO THE COLD”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: In February, I started to focus on night skies. Star trails were something that I wanted to work on, and I spent many nights waiting for hours in very cold weather. The experience was worth it, and now I have a greater understanding for this kind of photography.

March:

”JOENSUU CHURCH”. Photo was taken with an old box camera in Joensuu, Finland.
”GLOWING SUN”. Joensuu, Finland.
”STRANDED”. Joensuu, Finland.
”APARTMENTS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER TREES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”MAZE OF TREES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SUNSET & REEDS”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: March was an experimental month. I bought an old Kodak Brownie camera at a local second hand store and got into using film. It was a side of photography that I had not explored since childhood. It was both fun and challenging. Don’t know when I’ll get into that again but it was definitely a good learning experience.

April:

SNOW & TREES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ROCKS AND SNOW”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SUNSET & BRANCHES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”THAWING LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER FOREST”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ICY LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”BLUE LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”PEACEFUL LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WINTER SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: April had a nice variety of scenery. The lakes were thawing, and that created some really cool-looking shapes of ice to use as an interesting foreground element. I remember the crunching sound of the ice under my boots when walking on the shores.

May:

”MISTY LAKE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”PURPLE EVENING”. Finland.
”GLOWING FOREST”. Finland.
”SUNLIT”. Finland.

Above: In May, I visited a summer cottage and spent time with family. I good time and a change of scenery. ”Misty Lake”, was also taken in May. One of my more popular photos.

June:

”MIDNIGHT FULL MOON”. Finland.
”STORMY SHORE”. Finland.
Just having fun.
”SUNSET IN FINLAND”. Finland.

Above: June was a month with sunny nights, swimming and sauna. I spent a lot of time again with family and exploring new areas. ”Midnight Full Moon”, was my most popular photo from this month.

July:

”VIBRANT EVENING”. Joensuu, Finland.
”UNWINDING”. Joensuu, Finland.
”GOLDEN”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ROCKY ORANGE SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: July was a quiet month. I wasn’t feeling very inspired but still managed to get a few shots. ”Unwinding”, was definitely my favourite from this month. It was something different from my usual ”rock & water”, vibe. A lot of swimming and raining that month.

August:

”DAY IN HELSINKI”. Helsinki, Finland.
”JOENSUU ART MUSEUM”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: I visited Helsinki. Next time I visit I want to try some street or cityscape photography. There were also preparations for a light show at the Art Museum in Joensuu, and I grabbed a shot while they were doing the testing.

September:

”NIGHTLIGHT III”. Joensuu, Finland.
”HARMONY”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ROAD HOME”. Joensuu, Finland.
”AURORA OVER JOENSUU”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ENVY”. Joensuu, Finland.
”NIGHTLIGHT II”. Joensuu, Finland.
”THE HEAVENS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ONKILAMPI II”. Kontiolahti, Finland.
”ABSTRACT TREES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”NIGHT & DAY”. Joensuu, Finland.
”LAKE SHORE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ALMOST AUTUMN”. Joensuu, Finland.
”NIGHTLIGHT”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ONKILAMPI”. Kontiolahti, Finland.

Above: September, you cheeky bastard. This was a month that I will never forget. I saw the northern lights for the first time and worked a lot on photographing the Milky Way. Many nights were spent waiting by the fire for the dark after twilight. I also started to think more about cityscapes that month.

October:

”LIGHTS OF THE NIGHT” Kontiolahti, Finland.
”BIRCHES IN THE FOG”. Joensuu, Finland.
”EARLY MORNING JOENSUU CITY”. Joensuu, Finland.
”MY KINDA MORNING”. Joensuu, Finland.
”GOLDEN BUILDING”. Joensuu, Finland.
”KONTIOLAHTI AURORA”. Kontiolahti, Finland.
”FOGGY JOENSUU PANORAMA”. Joensuu, Finland.
”ROCKY SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.
”BIRCHES IN THE FOG II”. Joensuu, Finland.
”KONTIOLAHTI AURORA II”. Kontiolahti, Finland.
”WHERE’S MY CITY?”. Joensuu, Finland.
”FOGGY WOODS”. Joensuu, Finland.
”MOONLIGHT”. Finland.

Above: If September was a cheeky bastard, October would be his outright vulgar older brother. The aurora was back again that month, and it was an even more amazing experience seeing them for the second time. I also got a great chance to do some foggy cityscapes and woodland photography. Definitely my favourite and most memorable month of the year.

November:

”ICY SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.
”WHITE ICE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”CURVES OF ICE”. Joensuu, Finland.
”LONELY ISLAND”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Not as good as the previous months, but still an interesting one. It’s always nice to see how the lakes freeze over and create interesting shapes along the shore. I should have definitely taken more photos that month, but the few that I got were decent enough.

December:

”ICY SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.
”SNOWY TREES”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: December was a quiet end to the year. Only a few photos from the outdoors, since I spent more time on other types of photography. Hopefully next December will be better.

 

So that was my photography for 2018! I hope that my photos have been interesting to look at and give you an idea of what the Finnish nature is like. I also hope that I can bring some new and fresh ideas to the table and expand my knowledge even further in 2019. Enjoy your new year and thank you all for the support!  🙂

 

”CLEAR SKIES”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: See you out there in the snow 🙂 My first photo of 2019.