Stumps (and a word on a photography competition)

Fallen, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Stump, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Here are two more photographs from today in the square format. I guess there are some possibilities with the format, but it is indeed challenging.

Some time ago I took part in a nature photography competition organized by the staff of our company. This week I learned that an image of mine had won. It was a photograph of icicles taken at the Ahvenkoski hydroelectric power plant.

I was surprised, as I'm not really into nature photography. Of course, landscape and nature are interesting for me, but I'm not taking "nature photographs", just photographs. In fact, some of the published nature photography is so "industrially made" that it doesn't interest me at all.

I posted the images here in January, the winning image is the last one. We went to visit the city of Kotka and there was plenty to see. In fact, some of the photographs from the visit look even nicer than I remembered.

Plenty of ice (even if no snow)

Icicles in a waterfall, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Ice treatment, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Ice curtain, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I took quite a lot of photos of ice today, first at Kotka at the Sapokka water park (where a waterfall is generating a lot of ice), and then at a hydroelectric power plant at Pyhtää (Ahvenkosken vesivoimala). The latter would have provided a lot of opporturnities for photography, but there was little time for that. The varying water level in the river after the plant generates interesting ice structures in the trees, rocks, and the shore.

Ice and water in Kotka

Frost on glass, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Boats in Kotka harbour, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Icicles, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Waterfall at Sapokka, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

It was a cold night, and when we woke up there was frost and water drops on the hotel window. It was a nice morning, with yellow and red on the sky. In the Sapokka harbour there were some boats in the open water. And in the Sapokka water park the waterfall which at night is lighted up looked quite different at daytime.

Visiting Maretarium in Kotka

Crawfish, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Big fish, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Fish moves, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

This morning we visited the Maretarium aquarium in the Kotka harbour. Here are a few snapshots from inside - nothing great photographically, just capturing a few scenes. The place is different from any aquarium I have previously visited in that it aims to exhibit all the Finnish fish species in the collection. Everything has been put together in a visitor-friendly way, with enough variety and exitement for the smallest ones.

Night in Kotka

Moon-lighted, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Waterfall at Sapokka, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today was a busy day, coming back home from Kotka, and returning to normal routines. I haven't had time to look through my images from today, and that may have to wait until tomorrow. However, here are two photos from yesterday in Kotka, a building with moon giving some light to the scenery, and a lighted waterfall at the Sapokka water park. Today at noon we had a walk in Sapokka again (after visiting the Maretarium aquarium), and it was quite nice also in daylight.

Sharp vs. noisy and blurry

Stone view, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

There are photography subjects which require extreme resolution and image quality, and then there are subjects where the image quality does not really matter so much.

Both kinds of photos can offer a lot - looking at the photo you may dive into the small details and appreciate the extreme precision. Or then you may cherist the noisiness and the blurriness, the feeling of image caught just before it escaped forever, a glimpse of reality visible just as a shadow on the fabric of reality.

I'm not too much into abstraction, but I liked this view, in front of the Kotka City Theatre, a reflection from a curved stone. I feel that this photo represents a bit of both photography styles. Or is it that it represents neither?

A walk in Kotka

Creeping, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Cranes, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Vellamo museum exhibition, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today was again a sunny, cold day, -10 °C and slight wind. We had a walk in the center of Kotka, and went to Vellamo, the Maritime Museum of Finland. There was a nice city landscape on the way, and a lot to see in the museum, even for the youngest one. The exhibitions showed pieces of history in going to the seas, and also the occasionally violent history of Finland under various regimes.

Views of Kotka

Kauppatori, Kotka, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

View to a roof, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Although we had a sunny day, the day is still all too short in the middle of winter. We are spending the night in a hotel in Kotka, and had a walk outside after dinner. It was cold, and there were few people walking outside. In the local shopping mall the situation was different, as the discount sales are attracting people. Tomorrow we will probably visit one of the local museums, and take care of some other things.

As for photography, I probably won't have much time to really take photos in a sense of doing photography. But snapshots, that is another matter. It was the same today.

Visiting Kotka

Sculpture, Sibelius park, Kotka, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Palotorninmäki, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today we are visiting Kotka, a small town near the Russian border, 120 km east of Helsinki. It is cold, -10 °C to -12 °C, and the wind bites hard because of the nearness of the sea. There is snow as much as in Helsinki - none (except for a couple of millimeters of frost here and there). The sculpture is in the Sibelius park in the center of Kotka. The view in the second photo is from the Palotorninmäki hill towards west.