Serenity

Lonely cottage standing next to River Oulanka in Oulanka National Park, Kuusamo, Finland.

Autumn at Myllykoski

Autumn is coming

Swamp landscape at Finnish Karelia. 3 image vertical panorama with tilt/shift lens. Taken August 2019.

Cascade Stream

Fall colors along river Kitka in Oulanka National Park, Kuusamo, Finland. One of my favorite places to visit in Ostrobothnia region.

Dawn at Riisitunturi

Shot 30 minutes before sunrise at Riisitunturi National Park, Posio, Finland.

Chilly Winter Day at Kuntivaara

I spent a week on Kuusamo, Northern Ostrobothnia region late February 2017 participating on a winter landscape photography workshop. After the official workshop was over I spent few more days on the region with my road trip buddies, visiting e.g. this location. This picture was taken from a watchtower on top of Kuntivaara, a hill reaching 481 meters. This hill is located only a few kilometres from Russian border. During summertime one can drive to the bottom of the hill and hike up 1.7km trail. Unfortunately during winter one has to leave car more than 2km from the parking lot. We ended up hiking 10+km with our snow shoes following snow mobile tracks to reach the top. It was really worth all the trouble. We ended up reaching the top of the hill just before clouds began gathering over bright blue skies. Even freezing (-15 degrees Celsius) weather didn’t stop us from getting some nice views. HDR bracketed from 3 different exposures. This is one of the first pictures I took with my new Laowa 12mm ultra-wide lens and I am extremely happy with the end result.

Blue Hour at Myllykoski

Myllykoski (literally Mill Rapid) is one of multiple rapids on river Kitka. It has gotten its name from old mill standing on the right hand side of the picture active from 1926 untill 1946. Nowadays being part of Oulanka National Park old mill acts as a hut along Karhunkierros (literally the Bear Trail), a 82 kilometer-long hiking trail that brings together some of the best views one can see on the Northern Ostrobothnia Region. This is a single exposure panorama consisting of 60 vertical pictures, shot at the end of February 2017.

Sunny winter day

Snow-covered trees and winter landscape in Riisitunturi National Park, Posio, Lapland, Finland.

Solitude

Lone rabbit tracks and snow-covered trees in Riisitunturi National Park, Posio, Finland.

Icicles in Lauttasaari

Open sea, chilly winds and snow create small ice coves and icicles into shore in Lauttasaari shores, Helsinki, Finland.

Winter Sunset at Kuusamo

Blue Hour at Riisitunturi

Snowy trees and lonely hiker on top of Riisitunturi, a forested hill reaching 465 meters high in Posio, Lapland.

Blue Hour at Ruka Peak

Panorama of Ruka, a 492m high fell and ski resort in Kuusamo, Northern Ostrobothnia region in Finland. Panorama shot late February 2017.

Winter in River Kitka

Kitkajoki (River Kitka) Single shot taken just before sunset late February 2017.

Winter in Myllykoski

Myllykoski rapids in Kuusamo, Finland

Winter Solitude

Blue hour in Riisitunturi National Park, Posio, Finland. Blue hour is the moment when these snow-covered trees really turn alive. Taken February 2020.

Paradise doesn’t have to be tropical

Lake Tshaikal is a small lake located next to Saana fell in Kilpisjärvi, Finland. Located well above arctic circle, vegetation on this area consists mostly of shrubs and bushes typical to tundra. Mild summer (10 to 20 degrees centigrade) with 24 hours of sunlight is perfect for those looking to hike and enjoy rugged nature. This is a composite of a single four minute exposure (with Nisi ND6 and Medium Grad ND1.2) for sky and 5 exposure HDR image. I have started to experiment long exposures only lately and still fighting issues of dust specles on long exposures. Taken July 2020.

Sunset at Riisitunturi National Park, Posio, Finland. Taken February 2020.

Summer Storm Approaching

35 kilometre long range of fells from Pyhätunturi (500m, location from which the photo was taken) to Luosto (514m, can be seen beneath the massive rain) is one of the oldest mountain ranges on the face of the earth. After 2 billion years of erosion, these fells still stand as majestic landmarks in Finnish Lapland and are usually the first major fells one can see when driving from south into Lapland. Buried beneath the snow for almost 8 months, vegatation on these fells is very rugged. Pines, spruces and shrubs grow between mossy rocks wherever possible. Taken July 2020.