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! ♥

lapland 2013 part I.

since the trip I took last year I had always wanted to go back to Kilpisjärvi in Northern Lapland to see the beautiful autumn colours that the Finns call Ruska. those incredible looking landscapes have stolen my heart once again this year: Jacopo and I had spent a few days hiking in the area and we had a great time despite the cold rainy weather. I have taken various film rolls and I was planning to share some photographs earlier this week - unfortunately though there have been some problems with the developing machine at the lab so I am not sure when the rolls will be finally ready. while I am eagerly waiting to see my analogue photographs I can at least share a few shots I have taken with my mobile phone - though I am sure most of you have already seen them on Instagram.

photographs from Lapland part I:

more on Instagram

I know that mobile phone photographs are not really the best way to represent the beautiful autumnal landscapes of Lapland but I just wanted you to understand why I have not yet posted anything since I got back home. I will tell you more about the trip as soon as I will get my photographs from the lab - please be patient!

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! ♥

konstruktor in suomenlinna III.

finally here is the third and last selection of the photographs from Suomenlinna I took with my Konstruktor DIY camera. I have a feeling that the previous couple of posts were not as appealing as I thought - I really hope you will find this last one of the series more interesting though. I am in fact going to share my favourite shots from that film roll now: save the best for last - as they say.

Lomography Konstruktor DIY:

film roll: Fuji Superia X-tra 800.

in the middle of the island there is an open field that is always full of birds during the summer: that day there were plenty of young seagulls and Barnacle Geese - as soon as Barnacle and Canadian Geese will start their migration the summer will end for real. Jacopo and I spent a long time looking at the birds and finally walked down the rocky beach to gaze at the open sea - I love the sea on cloudy days.

P.S. there is a new section on my website that you are welcome to take a look at: Konstruktor Diary - let me know what you think about it please!

konstruktor in suomenlinna II.

I have still got a few more photographs I took in Suomenlinna last weekend that I would like to upload here: I was happy with many shots from that film roll and I think some more are still worth sharing. if you have missed the previous post about the first part of my day trip to Suomenlinna with the Konstruktor please take a look at it here!

Lomography Konstruktor DIY:

film roll: Fuji Superia X-tra 800.

during our photography walk around the island Jacopo and I had time to sit down on a solitary bench and enjoy some delicious food bought at the local grocery store - eating outside makes everything more tasty. in the backyard of my favourite building somebody had used an old wheelbarrow to grow flowers: it looked so beautiful and colourful I felt like I loved that building even more! ♥

P.S. the film roll jammed a little while I was winding it forward and that made a few frames overlap with each other: no serious damage was done though and I actually find those couple of shots to be quite special - what do you reckon?

konstruktor in suomenlinna I.

I hadn't been to Suomenlinna in a very long time - snow was still covering the ground last time I was there walking with Jacopo. to tell the truth I had been avoiding the island on purpose: during the summer it is so packed with tourists it is almost overwhelming. last saturday though it felt more like an autumn day than a summer one and the grey sky was threatening - that would have stopped at least part of the tourists: the perfect time for a visit to the island with my Konstruktor. my dear DIY camera has done once again a lovely job with her second film roll.

Lomography Konstruktor DIY:

film roll: Fuji Superia X-tra 800.

despite the clouds the weather was mild: Jacopo and I decided to take our time strolling around the island taking photographs and passing through all of our favourite spots. I really love that pink building: it looks like a palace belonging to a different era - every time I visit Suomenlinna I love it a little bit more with its fading paint on the walls.

I will share more from this roll next week. I wish you all a lovely weekend! ♥

1st adventure with my lomography konstruktor - part 2.

the first outing with my Lomography Konstruktor last week ended up in Töölönlahti. I really like passing by that bay: that bit of the sea stands in between my neighborhood and the rest of the city and whenever I have time I choose the trail around the bay instead of crossing the bridge Pitkäsilta. Töölönlahti is literally in the middle of Helsinki and yet a place where nature is beautifully preserved.

1st adventure with my Lomography Konstruktor:

film roll: Kodak Ektar 100.

are you familiar with the nervousness that one feels before getting a film roll developed? I was very nervous before developing this first roll taken with my Konstruktor - what if I had built it wrongly? when I got my prints done eventually I was so pleased with the results that I set off immediately with a second film roll - results from that one coming later on this week.

I am starting to connect really well with my new camera! ♥

1st adventure with my lomography konstruktor - part 1.

everything started a few weeks ago when I was contacted by Lomography: they were positively impressed with my portfolio and they were hoping to start a collaboration with me. needless to say I was enthusiastic about their proposal and that was why I was sent a selection of Lomography films and a Konstruktor DIY Kit. I had never built a camera before and putting together the Konstruktor was very interesting and so much fun - I especially enjoyed decorating her with the colourful stickers. once she was finally ready I took her around Helsinki for a first test roll: together we visited some of my favourite places in the neighborhood and here are the results.

1st adventure with my Lomography Konstruktor:

film roll: Kodak Ektar 100.

I am pretty pleased with these first results! I am always nervous on my first outing with a new camera but it didn't take long for me and my Konstruktor to become friends. she is wonderfully light and spontaneous and I love the softness of the images she takes. I am so grateful Lomography gave me the opportunity to experience this camera! besides there is more I would like to tell you about this collaboration but let's take one step at a time - I will keep you posted!

P.S. more photographs taken with my Lomography Konstruktor to come soon!