30 September 2012

100 feeders (19).

there is no more waiting for postcards - the 15th of september has passed a long time ago: it is now time for printing the story of 100 FEEDERS and eventually get ready to present my master thesis. 4 more postcards have come last week: more than the 20% of the postcards was sent back.
the last 100 FEEDERS postcards:

✻ from Finland.

✻ from Poland.
I would like to thank the 22 people that have eventually sent their postcards: thank you so much for respecting this work of mine which is so important to me. now 100 FEEDERS project is almost over - yet I hope you will not stop feeding birds. I cannot know for sure if all of my 100 feeders are still in use somewhere around the world - but I like to hope so.
✻ ✻ ✻
I am proud to tell you that 100 FEEDERS got featured on KALTBLUT MAGAZINE: please go and check out my interview about it!
P.S. get ready for the 20th post dedicated to 100 FEEDERS: I promise it is going to be a very special one!

lapland IV.

the second part of the walk through Malla park had been harder than the first one - since we started to climb the mountain: the muddy path was partly covered in swamps and full of big rocks which were likely the result of various landslides. the closer we got to the top of the mountain the harsher the path became - yet the landscape was becoming more and more spectacular and that kept me going.
photographs from Lapland IV:

Nikon FM - fuji superia x-tra 400.
on the way up we spotted a couple of reindeers running away: I managed to captured that moment with my Nikon - even though I was far from them. on the top of the mountain we saw a full herd of them as they were eating on the edge of the cliff - but I didn't dare to get close.
click on the 2nd, the 4th and the 5th photo to see the reindeers better!
this is the last of my posts about Lapland: it was a truly beautiful journey and I will never forget it! I didn't see any of the birds from my list though - one more reason to get back there soon.
Scandinavian Music Group - Manner

♥ the album I had listened to the most while I was in Lapland: enjoy!

28 September 2012

lapland III.

before leaving for Lapland I had thought that one film roll would have been enough for one week - but I was wrong: how could I possibly limit myself to take such a few photographs of those majestic landscapes? in fact on the third day I had already started a second film roll.
photographs from Lapland III:

Nikon FM - fuji superia x-tra 400.
that day the weather became foggy again - yet random rays of sun were sometimes visible through the clouds. we took a boat to the border with Sweden through the lake of Kilpisjärvi: the plan was to walk the sixteen kilometers of the Malla park across the mountains to get back to Finland. the weather was much colder on the other side of the lake - the frost on the ground made the autumn colours look even more vivid than the previous days. we took the whole morning to reach the bottom of the mountain and we were going to need a few hours more to walk across it: I hadn't walked that much in a very long time - yet I kept on taking photos despite the difficulty of the path.
I am going to share more photographs of the Malla walk in my next post!

♥ Kilpisjärvi's special postmark.
I couldn't possibly forget to send a postcard to Jacopo: Kilpisjärvi gets the most beautiful postmark I have ever seen!

26 September 2012

lapland II.

it wasn't just foggy and misty in Kilpisjärvi - one day in fact the sun was shining so bright that my cheeks turned red. on that day the sky was so clear that we could see as far as the norwegian mountains - when we climbed up the Saana.
photographs from Lapland II:

Nikon FM - kodak portra 800.
I must admit I am not a great hiker when I have to walk uphill and I still cannot believe I had made it almost to the top of the highest mountain in Finland - the Saana is 1,029 meters high - yet the view was totally worth the effort! not to mention that I had finally got the perfect chance to photograph reindeers: we had seen some every single day we were in Lapland but we had never got so close to them as we did that day on the Saana. I will never forget the moment I took those shots: they may seem average to you but I was extremely excited to be able to photograph those beautiful wild animals so close to me - with only a 50mm lens!
the last shot of the 1st film roll:
my friend Kasia took this portrait of me just after we saw the reindeers - it shows how ecstatic I was after taking those photographs. ♥ thank you Kasia!

24 September 2012

lapland I.

last saturday I got back from Lapland with some beautiful memories in my heart and a couple of film rolls to develop. I couldn't possibly restrain myself from taking a lot of photographs since the landscape was absolutely spectacular. today I eventually got my films developed and I decided I am going to share my favourite shots in four different posts.
photographs from Lapland I:

Nikon FM - kodak portra 800.
the first day the weather was rainy and foggy: the grey sky was contrasting beautifully with the colourful autumn landscape. we had the chance to look closely at the Saana mountain - which we were going to climb up the day after. we then drove to Norway and the Arctic Ocean - which isn't that far from Kilpisjärvi.
what is your favourite photograph among the six I have uploaded? I need a little help to decide which one to eventually upload on my flickr.

this delicate flower is a special souvenir from Saana mountain.

13 September 2012

100 feeders (18).

some more postcards that have arrived over the past few days: at the moment I have got back a total of 18 postcards.
100 FEEDERS postcards:

✻ from last week.

✻ from this week.
I am still hoping for more! despite the fact that saturday is the 15th - I wonder if I will find more postcards when I return from Kilpisjärvi. soon enough I will have to write my conclusions about 100 FEEDERS project and print my thesis!

10 September 2012

getting ready for lapland.

if you have been reading Passer Domesticus for a while - you might remember that I have already been to Lapland with Jacopo in july 2011 and it was a really beautiful summer road trip.
PX 680 from that journey:
this coming sunday though I will be leaving for a one week workshop in Kilpisjärvi with a group of people from the Environmental Art program - among which are some close friends of mine. I am very excited about the trip: I have got my first pair of trekking shoes and I am going to bring my Nikon FM with a couple of good film rolls. I have also been looking through a list of birds that are possible to spot in Lapland.
10 birds that I would love to see:

✻ from my book of birds Pohjolan Lintukirja: Bohemian WaxwingArctic WarblerBluethroatLong-tailed TitSiberian TitLapland LongspurSnow BuntingBramblingArctic RedpollPine Grosbeak
P.S. at this time of the year in Lapland there should be already what in finnish is called RUSKA - when the landscape gets all the beautiful colours of autumn!