Room where I exist and look at things and eat them

Lights

The photograph was taken on December 25th.

(Posting title is from the poem And when I say poem by Rebecca Wolff.)

We go to war to feel free of the fear

Snow

The photograph was taken on December 22nd.

(Posting title is from the poem "Love my enemies, enemy my love" by Rebecca Seiferle.)

A burning so beautiful you want it

Red 1

Red 2

The photographs were taken on December 24th.

Today I commuted by bicycle, and got over two hours of exercise. The roads are covered by packed snow, which is melting, and thus riding the bicycle is quite heavy.

(Posting title is from the poem Indigo by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni .)

For the wicked have grown strong

Christmas 1

Christmas 2

Christmas 3

Today I rode the bicycle for 1 1/2 hours. It was hot, and maybe I pushed a bit too hard, as I was quite tired afterwards.

The photographs were taken at the Santa Claus Village in Lapland, near Rovaniemi, on July 20th. It wasn't a place where one would like to spend time, but we had a look anyway. These are illustrations of Finnish Christmas traditions.

(Posting title is from a poem by Anthony Hecht.)

Somewhere north of this familiar scene

Shop 1

Shop 2

I really don't like shopping, especially when there are a lot of other people queuing and searching for things to buy. This time of the year is about the worst. But I'll go shopping nevertheless, as the children have in mind some things we should buy. These photographs were taken a week ago when it wasn't yet so crowded.

(Posting title is from the poem Reading the Bible Backwards by Eleanor Wilner.)

Then for a thought my vision cleared

Window

On Monday I went once again shopping with the children. Two hours in a shopping mall went in a hurry. I don't much enjoy shopping, but I guess one gets used to it this time of the year.

(Posting title is from the poem Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight by Yvor Winters.)

Even a map cannot show you

Street

Tree

I did a lot of Christmas shopping with the children on Saturday. Not a favorite chore for me, but they enjoyed it a lot, especially the youngest one. And then of course there was a lot of writing cards and packaging presents afterwards.

(Posting title is from the poem Christmas, 1970 by Sandra M. Castillo.)

And seek no guerdon of the skies

Car

Street

Twigs

Lamp

Fence

Tall

We got quite a lot of snow today, over 15 cm, and depth of snow is now 73 cm. For tomorrow the forecast promises additional 10 cm of snow. This is really white Christmas...

(Posting title is from the poem The World's All Right by Robert William Service.)

Where nothing bad has happened

Playground

Shadows

Moon

Lights

Hazel

I have been rather busy shopping and preparing for Christmas. Mostly I have been shopping for food, to have enough to eat for the family during the Christmas time. I don't think we have ever had more foodstuff inside the house as we have now. Children are growing up, and so are their appetites.

Here are five photographs from yesterday, taken well after sunset. It is interesting that even though the day isn't really longer that it was at the shortest, one does have a feeling that we are now going towards sunnier times. Maybe it is just a feeling of Christmas.

(Posting title is from the poem Talking Richard Wilson Blues by Denis Johnson.)

Whatever I’d dream, the world is not a lie

Decoration

The Finnish independence day, a birthday in the family, and the nearness of Christmas have generated a need to go shopping, which is something I try to avoid, especially in times when many other people are performing the shopping rituals (or are caught in the shopping frenzy). But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

(Posting title is from the poem The Troubles That Women Start Are Men by Rodney Jones.)

Playing, eating, walking

Forest

Fallen

Trees

Lake

Red

Rain

No snow at all for Christmas, but otherwise it has been good: children playing, happy with their presents, eating traditional Christmas dishes, slowing down.

Today it was good to go for a walk with the children, to the Luukki forests. The sky cleared up this morning, and at noon it was dry, excellent for walking. Little drops of ice fell from fir trees when the air warmed up, and it sounded like it would be raining in the forest.

Then the clouds hid the sun and the blue sky, and it started really to rain, getting dark. But those few sunny moments this morning, they were good.

Cleaning, shopping, walking, baking

Boards

Ice

Wild rosemary

Stump

Bent

Preparing for Christmas. I wonder why the children got a keen interest in cleaning up, and did a very good job of it also... Then there was shopping, and doing a little bit of baking as well, the children once again busy at it.

And we went also walking with the children, enjoying the last bit of the remaining snow. It was already raining, and the snow was disappearing fast.

Rauhallista joulua!

Street, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Lights, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Black and white, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Field, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Ditch, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

"Rauhallista joulua" is a way of wishing Merry Christmas in Finnish. And here are some photographs to go with the wishing, taken while going for a walk with the wife.

Yesterday we had -25 °C, today -15 °C, but because of the wind it hasn't been much warmer. However, it is promised to get warmer, and we'll get more snow as well, perhaps even 20 cm within the next couple of days. Deep winter.

Wintering

Window view, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Traffic, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Tree, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today we didn't have such a snowy day as yesterday or the day before yesterday. The snow of course remains, and it is forecasted that it will remain for quite a while, as the weather won't be getting warmer any day soon. And it is rather certain that we will have white Christmas this year.

Speaking of snow, there is a rather good article about photographing snowy landscapes by John Gravett, discussing various issues, including gear. His advice on exposure goes as follows: "Keep a close eye on your histogram and expect to have to adjust your cameras meter reading by between +0.7 and +1.7 stops. Ideally, your histogram should end just at the right hand axis, anything less than this will indicate underexposure."

This is in line with my experiences, except that sometimes there are situations where you may need to use even less adjustment to exposure, for example photographing snow on the branches of dark firs. And if there is sun in the view, then it is another game altogether. But practice makes - if not perfect, at least good enough.

Long night

Car, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Reeds, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Fresh ice, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Here are some photographs from yesterday and last night, when we had the Christmas party in our company. Kulosaari is an island with really beautiful views, even at night, as you can see here.

Christmas party

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Just wanted to let you know that today we have the Christmas party in our company. Have to see whether I manage to take photographs tomorrow. This photograph is from yesterday.

Oh yes. Please remember that today is BND: "Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an international day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2010 the dates are November 26 and 27 respectively."

Memories of tomorrow

House, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Lights, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birch, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I got a nice Christmas card from Shanghai, having in it the following text: "May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow." A very nice wish.

I was very pleased today, making and eating a Finnish Christmas dinner. This year we didn't have ham on the table, instead we had turkey which tasted very nice. Some year you get to eat the traditional Christmas dishes so much that you are fed up with them, but not this year. A very pleasant dinner indeed.

Here are three images taken today, when we went for a walk with the wife to burn some calories. Plenty of snow on the ground. It is getting colder, temperature is no longer near 0 °C.