30 August 2013

one day in the archipelago II.

I would like to share a few more of the photographs I took last saturday during our trip to the archipelago of Parainen. one might think that taking two cameras along for a one day trip only sounds like an exaggeration - but I am always happy to be able to switch from the square format of my Hasselblad to the rectangular one of my Nikon whenever I please.
my photographs from the archipelago:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
what I loved the most of the archipelago were the numerous old barns and farm houses we encountered along the road: they added a splash of colours to the landscape and some of them had horses and even llamas. I also enjoyed the various rides on the ferries in-between the islets: the calmness of the sea was really soothing. when we saw some ferries leaving for the Åland Islands I felt like I wanted to go there even more - hopefully next time!
I wish you all a lovely weekend and a wonderful start of September! ♥

27 August 2013

one day in the archipelago I.

last weekend the weather was so sunny that we sized the opportunity to travel somewhere new: in the South West of Finland there is a beautiful archipelago of little islets not that far from Helsinki - we decided to go there for the very first time. I have always wanted to visit the Åland Islands but that would require more time - the archipelago of Parainen instead was more convenient for a one-day visit and with equally breathtaking landscapes. we truly had a wonderful trip on and off those ferries!
my photographs from the archipelago:
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 400H
I will tell you more about the trip in another post with a few more photographs - meanwhile I hope you will enjoy the ones I have decided to share already! the colours of the landscapes were incredibly beautiful - various shades of yellow, green and blue - and the atmosphere was the perfect one of a quiet summer day in the countryside.

23 August 2013

from the darkroom - part 2.

I would like to share a few more prints from my latest darkroom session of Monday morning: three more photographs to compensate with the three ones I have already shared a couple of days ago. whenever we go for a walk with two cameras Jacopo and I always like to pass them on to each other - so that both of us get to shoot we both of them. my Nikon FM looks so small when Jacopo is holding it: I bet it feels less heavy for him than it feels for me!
a few more darkroom prints:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Ilford HP5+
I am going to use this post to take the opportunity to thank you for the numerous amount of comments you have been leaving here lately: Passer Domesticus has got many new followers and that makes me really happy! just so you know I appreciate every single comment you write.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend! ♥

21 August 2013

from the darkroom - part 1.

last week had been raining practically every day and when on Friday the sun finally came out Jacopo and I decided to go for an evening walk. the light of the sunset is particularly beautiful this time of the year! I took both my Hasselblad 500 C/M and my Nikon FM along: the first one with a black and white film and the second with a colour one. as on Monday morning it was raining again I took the chance to spend some time in my darkroom: it had been a lovely start of the week!
a few darkroom prints:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Ilford HP5+
there is nothing more relaxing than spending a rainy morning in my darkroom! I am not really looking forward to the end of the summer but I already know that the darkroom will be the best place for me to shut away from the coldness of the winter.
I am going to shoot many more black and white films!

19 August 2013

liminganlahden luontokeskus.

the last weekend of July we took a few days off to visit Jacopo's family in Oulu. the weather had been extremely summery and warm enough to sunbathe at the lake and eating outdoors - which was lovely! one beautiful morning we decided to drive to Liminka to visit the nature reserve of Liminka Bay - where I had never been before. Liminganlahti is a popular spot among bird watchers and the Vistor Centre offers an interesting and detailed exhibition about the birds of the area. we spent a couple of ours walking around the bay and I took my Hasselblad along.
Liminganlahden Luontokeskus:
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Fuji Pro 160 NS
from the rooftop of the Visitor Centre and from the top of the bird tower we could admire the whole of the bay from above: it was such a beautiful sight with that blue sky stretching out ahead. also the big windows inside the bird tower framed the landscape beautifully - I really had to take a photograph!
I would like to go back to Liminganlahti again in the winter time: I am sure it would look so different covered in white snow!

15 August 2013

july in helsinki: seurasaari.

it is so true that days fly by when you are spending them with someone you love: everytime my sister visits Helsinki - no matter how long she is planning to stay - it will never feel long enough to me. the day before she took her flight back home the weather was still quite gloomy and wet and I could not take her to the forest as I was hoping to do. we decided to take the bus to Seurasaari instead and spend some time on the island - which is one of Emi's favourite places in Helsinki.
in Seurasaari:
Nikon FM - Fujichrome Provia 100F
despite the cold weather we could still enjoy a little picnic with some riisipiirakka, perunapiirakka and porkkanapiirakka - our favourite local food. it always amazes me how fast birds and squirrels can come along everytime I have some food at hand in Seurasaari - even though that day they were a little disappointed with what we had. I will have to take some seeds and nuts next time!
the day after my sister left and the weather turned sunny again: it made me sad that she could not see that. I hope she will be back soon and I will have to visit her as well some time! ♥

12 August 2013

july in helsinki: annala.

that cloudy monday on our way home from Vanhankaupunginlahti - my sister Emi and I decided to stop in Annala to have a look around such a beautiful neighbourhood. the main attractions of Annala are a magnificent ancient villa and its garden full of colourful flowers - besides them though there is much more to see. it never fails to impress me how so close to the city lays such a cheerful group of beautifully preserved wooden cottages scattered around the neighbourhood: the grey blocks of Arabianranta are only a five-minute walk away and yet being in Annala feels like being in the middle of the peaceful finnish countryside.
in Annala:
Nikon FM - Fujichrome Provia 100F
as much as I wished we could walk around Annala a little bit longer we soon had to take the bus back to Kallio: the stormy sky was threatening and it could have started to rain at any time - which it did as soon as we got home. luckily I still had the chance to take a few photographs of the wooden cottages and their colourful flowers before leaving. I will have to go back to Annala some other time for more.
even though we did not spend much time in Annala - I am glad I could show my sister yet another beautiful piece of Helsinki she had not seen before! ♥

08 August 2013

july in helsinki: vanhankaupunginlahti.

unfortunately the weather had not been as good as I was hoping it to be while my sister was here - in fact that week had probably been the coldest and the cloudiest of the whole summer so far - yet it did not stop me from taking Emi around as much as I could. I had never took her to Vanhankaupunginlahti before and I just knew she would have loved the place. that day we set off with a packed lunch in our backpacks and had a little picnic at the top of Lammassaari - despite the windy weather it had been a lovely outing.
in Vanhankaupunginlahti:
Nikon FM - Fujichrome Provia 100F
I have to say that the dark clouds added a certain mood to these images which I really like - as much as I enjoy going out when the sun is shining I still think stormy skies may be more interesting to photograph. the sky looked really stormy that day but we were lucky enough to manage to get back home before it started to rain.

a note on the last photograph: it is not from Vanhankaupunginlahti but from Southern Savonia - where we travelled one day to support Jacopo during one another of his triathlon competitions. the nature in that region of Finland is truly beautiful but unfortunately I did not have time to take more than one photograph. I really need to go back there one day!

06 August 2013

july in helsinki: talvipuutarha.

I have finally got developed the film roll I took while my sister was visiting us in Helsinki: two weeks have passed already since she left but in my heart I still cherish the lovely memory of those days together. during that week - which flew by too fast for us - I have brought Emi around the city trying to show her some places she hadn't yet seen in her previous visits. I took my faithful Nikon FM along during all our little field trips and in the next few posts I am going to share some of my favourite photographs of those days.
at the winter garden - Talvipuutarha:
Nikon FM - Fujichrome Provia 100F
funnily enough the best time of the year for visiting the winter garden is late summer - when all its beautiful roses are in bloom. I discovered Helsingin Kaupungin Talvipuutarha a little less than a year ago and came back many times ever since: my sister hadn't yet visited it though and I thought it best to show her around the garden on her first day here - when she was still a little tired from traveling. isn't a garden the perfect place to relax? Emi looked beautiful among those roses!
P.S. I hadn't used any reversal film in a long time and I was pretty pleased with the results I got from this Fujichrome Provia 100F - the colours turned out perfectly.

05 August 2013

3 years of finland.

I cannot believe it is that time of the year again to celebrate: three years ago on the 5th of August I moved to Helsinki and therefore starting from today I have been living in Finland officially for three years. congratulations to me! it has become a sort of tradition of mine to share a selection of photographs to celebrate this special anniversary: this time I have decided to share one per season to represent a whole year - it was hard to choose only four among the many I took.
happy 3rd anniversary of Finland!
Syyskuu 2012 - Kilpisjärvi
Talvi 2012/2013 - Kaisaniemen Kasvitieteellinen Puutarha
Kevät 2013 - Kivinokka
Kesä 2013 - Seurasaari
as much as I am grateful for my third year in Finland - I am now wondering what the fourth year will bring: the third year brought us a new home, a few new friends and some traveling and I am hoping for the fourth to bring us more friends, more traveling and many more photographs! ♥

02 August 2013

summer polaroids.

I had been posting about our trip to Iceland for the whole of July: now August is here and more than a month has passed since we got back to Helsinki. while here on Passer Domesticus I was sharing some photographs and memories of our icelandic journey - which I still hold close to my heart and I still regard as the best part of the summer - many more things have happened both in Finland and abroad. July had been a busy month: while the weather had been generally pleasant in Helsinki and I had been trying to make the most of it - I had also spent a long weekend in Bavaria, Germany to support Jacopo during one of his triathlon competitions. despite my indifference towards sport in general our staying in Germany turned out to be really nice: not only I had the possibility to visit some very romantic little towns but I have also made some new friends. I should start to accompany Jacopo more often during his trips! back in Helsinki my sister had come to visit us and it had been lovely to have her around again - she hadn't been here since last summer and I was really missing her!
♥ a couple of summer polaroids:
Polaroid Image System - PZ 680 Color Protection
if summer is the season for polaroids I haven't really been taking enough of them this year - yet the few ones we took are worth sharing in my opinion. when Emi visits Helsinki we always take some polaroids and this time around we took two with Jacopo's Image System camera. Jacopo took the first one with me and my sister at the botanic garden in Kaisaniemi: now I have placed it in front of my desk so that I can look at it every now and then when I miss Emi the most. she took the obligatory romantic picture of Jacopo and I on a very sunny afternoon in Töölönlahti - that day had been truly beautiful: we even spent sometime at Linnanmäki amusement park!
P.S. in July I had also been shooting a couple of film rolls with my dear Nikon and Hasselblad: I will soon share some photographs from those and a few more memories.