In a photo you can’t remember taking

Hot

The photograph was taken on December 18th.

This morning the temperature dropped to -23 °C. I drained three LX100 batteries during the walk, the first time ever this has happened. In summer one battery is usually enough for a two-hour walk.

A year ago I bought new shoes for walking. For some reason they are called "hunting boots" even though I don't see any difference compared to usual hiking boots. The boots are rated for -25 °C, and even though I have no idea what the rating means, my feet have never got cold while wearing these boots. With the previous hiking boots I got a seriously bitten by cold so that one toe nail got black and loose.

(Posting title is from the poem The Island Within by Richard Blanco.)

That when brought into vision become an inferno

Cold 1

Cold 2

Cold 3

Cold 4

Cold 5

Cold 6

On December 29th at Oittaa there were artificial snow machines making big noise, sucking water from lake Bodom and making piles of snow, to be used for cross-country skiing tracks. It was cold, and there was plenty of frost covering the landscape.

Today I commuted by bicycle. It was -13 °C, and the conditions were good, even though the road was a bit bumpy. The commute takes 55-65 minutes in one direction, so I'm getting two hours of exercise.

I tried today the new Alpina K9 boots, and they fit just right, even though I bought them one size larger than usually. They were on sale as "hunting boots", but as I'm not into hunting, I think they are good also for walking with a camera. Coincidentally I'm currently reading The Hallowed Hunt, a novel by Lois McMaster Bujold.

(Posting title is from the poem The Mystery of the Hunt by Michael McClure.)

So don't, don't, don't let it slip away

Bug

I have commuted by bicycle each day this week, and on the way home there has been headwind, up to 10 m/s. I have had a little bit of muscle cramps, but I have also taken magnesium, and it seems to be helping.

The temperature had dropped to +3 °C during the night, and there has even been a little bit of snowfall here in south Finland.

I hope that the young birds are not suffering too much, and all the other little critters.

(Posting title is from the song You've Lost That Loving Feeling by The Righteous Brothers.)

With mittened hands, and caps drawn low

Lake 1

Lake 2

Tomorrow I'm planning to go to the movies with the children. It has been several months since I last saw a movie. And about two months since I watched tv.

This week I commuted by bicycle on four days. It was already quite cold, one morning the temperature was -1 °C, otherwise 2...5 °C. And when returning home is was only slightly warmer, 5...8 °C. I realized my gloves are no longer warm enough, as the fabric has worn rather thin, and there are holes in the finger parts.

Today I shopped on the net for new gloves, and finally bought skiing gloves, which probably are quite all right for riding the bicycle. I also bought lobster-style bicycle mittens for colder weather, to be used when the temperature is -5...-10 °C. For even colder weather I have thick mittens, but they are a bit too warm when the temperature is above -10 °C.

Also, I have been hungry most of the time. I wonder whether this is due to commuting by bicycle and other exercise, or is autumn causing it?

The photographs were taken a week ago at lake Myllyjärvi in Luukki.

(Posting title is from the poem Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl by John Greenleaf Whittier.)

But the tune your bones play

Helsinki

Street

Shadows

Lamp

House

Moon

This morning the outside temperature was at -22 °C, and there was wind. Cold indeed! And it didn't get much warmer during the day either. And tomorrow it will be the same.

50,000 photographs taken with the Panasonic LX5

Street

Boat

Bus

Sunset

Lamp

Fence

Today I crossed the 50,000 photographs milestone with the Panasonic LX5. I have had it for six months now, and it has worked well all this time, even in winter weather.

One of the good points about the LX5 is the battery endurance, as I'm getting over 1000 photographs with one charge. The average may be about 1200, but I haven't really kept count. Now that it is winter the battery may have less juice, but I haven't noticed any drastic problems.

Today the temperature rose to about -6 °C in Helsinki, but now we are at -15 °C, and it is getting colder. Real winter weather. And there is frost in addition to snow, which changes the landscape a bit.

A sheet of blue

Red

Grass

Ice

Rock

Pine

Calm

Shore

Island

Today I went for a walk to the Luukki forests with my eldest daughter. We walked for more than two hours, enjoying the frosty landscape, deep blue sky, and the bright sunshine.

It was an excellent day for exploring the forests and lakes. Some of the smaller lakes had a thin covering of ice, which had been forming during the cold night. When we started out, the temperature was -5 °C, and when we came back, it was -2 °C.

Batteries in a glove

Marks, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Oak, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Fields, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Rose, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Wall, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I went for a walk this morning when it was -16 °C outside. It is a bit challenging to take photographs in such cold weather, and this is a skill which you tend to forget during the warmer months. I had thick gloves on, and using the camera controls was a bit awkward in the beginning, but then it went smoother.

I wonder how well the LX5 would behave in such a weather when operating the camera with bare hands is not an option. The control stick on the LX3 is a bit awkward with thick gloves, but you learn to operate it. How about the control wheel on the LX5? I read some reviews where they said it is difficult to operate with gloves, but this is not the same as impossible. Has someone tried it?

Another matter is the batteries. My two batteries for the LX3 have now about 150-200 recharge cycles, so they are not yet at the end of their lifetime, but a little bit worse than in the beginning. Today one of the batteries went soon dead, and when I tried another, it too was dead, as I had forgotten to charge it. But then I warmed up the batteries in a glove (with a hand inside of course), and managed to get several dozen exposures. You had to do the warming trick again and again, but it worked all right.

Cold and blue, windy and sunny

Light and shadows, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Light and shadows, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Leaf, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

It is cold today, and a snow storm is predicted to arrive here next night. But it was a sunny day today, and although the wind was biting, it was nice to be walking outside. Not many people were outside, despite the sunshine, but having the right clothes the weather wasn't much of a problem.

It is good to be skiing

Red barn, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Blue landscape, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Treetops, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today was a cold day, temperature between -16 and -21 °C. It was good to be outside. I did some more cross-country skiing, which provides excellent exercise. I wore the Polar heart-rate monitor, which told that I used 800 kcal in one hour of skiing.

Here are three photographs from today. Sunny and bright, cold and blue.

Bright blue winter sky

Roof, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Red barn, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Oak, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today we had a cold and sunny winter day, good for walking outside with the family. (Though not too long to avoid frostbite.) Here are three photographs taken today during the walk.

Cold - and pondering cameras: LX3 and EP-1

Snow and shadows, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

There have been new records of coldness for this winter in Finland. Here in the Helsinki region it was -21 °C when I went out for a walk. Lots of snow everywhere, and it was hard to use the camera because the fingers got soon cold (even though I have very good gloves).

I have been thinking about the micro 4/3 cameras, especially the Olympus EP-1. Even though the LX3 is still going strong, I'm tempted. The best choice (in terms of capabilities) seems to be the Olympus EP-1 either body only or with the standard zoom. And a pancake lens, to keep the camera small: Panasonic 20 mm (40 mm equiv) f/1.7, which has got quite good reviews. With this combo you have an almost pocketable camera with excellent low-light capabilities plus image stabilization in the body.

But why then I haven't yet invested in a new camera? Well, I have just learned to use the LX3, and it works perfectly. The LX3 is smaller, the lens is great, and the camera is silent. Of course, EP-1 is not loud, but it isn't silent either.

But when an improved version of the EP-1 becomes available (I don't regard EP-2 as such) with a better selection of pancake lenses and primes, I'll probably switch. I would like to have (in addition to the 40 mm equiv. f/1.7) the following lenses: a 24 mm equiv. f/2.0 and a 85 mm equiv. f/2.8 macro. With these three lenses I would be very satisfied.

It is hard to be a bird during winter

Snow on branches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Sunlight, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Bird house, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Bird house, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

It is a wonder that so many birds survive the Finnish winter, all the snow and temperature at -20 °C or less. But they do, clever creatures. (And I guess they are equipped with an extremely good insulation.)

By the way, Finnish researcher Tiina Pääkkönen has concluded that long-time exposure to cold decreases the reasoning capability of humans. This happens because the body needs the energy elsewhere than in the brain. Also, the effects can be long-lasting.

In any case, our family exposed ourselves to the cold today. It was a bright day once again, although the sun was low on the horizon. Here are some photographs taken today.

I calculated some statistics about this blog. I started it in the middle of 2008. That year there were at average 118 visits and 180 page views per day. In 2009, these numbers were 103 and 143. So, the blog has been going downhill in that sense. On the other hand, more of the visitors have come here before. In 2008, only 32 % were repeat visitors. In 2009, this rose to over 40 %.

So, thanks for coming here (for whatever reason), and especially thanks for all the comments and other feedback.

Bright and cold

Winter forest, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I'm continuing in the snow priority mode. Today was a bright day, also a cold one at -18 °C. There is a lot of snow on trees and on the ground, but not many people outside.

For those daring to go outside the day provided an ample dose of bright winter sunshine, even though the sun was low on the horizon. But still, the length of day is now almost six hours (5 h 58 min).

Update: TOP lists the most popular photobooks of 2009. I only have #1 of the listed books, and it is great: Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art by John Szarkowski.