The Quiet Picture

I talked about the Moose Lake hike a while back. Another favourite hike I have is north-west to the Kvarnsjön lake, then south to Ryggskog and home via Gäddtjärnen. I used to do it a lot when I was still skiing, but not so much now that I’m snowshoeing because it’s a tad long for that. But when you’re on foot, it’s possible to take the road from Ryggskog back to Loos so it was easy to make the decision today to do this hike.

Photographically this route is not quite as good as the Moose Lake, but yesterday I went to Älgsjön and had very little to show for it, so today all I wanted was to have a nice hike and maybe take a few snapshots along the way. And the hike certainly started well, I got a real kick out of the wide open spaces and the new snow. It was snowing and there was almost no contrast at all, so the trail is barely visible in the picture.

When I got to Kvarnsjön, I had a look at the Storryggsån brook that runs into the lake from the west. During milder winters this brook is almost always open, but now it’s been covered with ice since December. I found a great opportunity for a panorama though, and there aren’t a lot of places around Loos that would work as a panorama quite as well as this. It was still snowing but the sun was starting to come out, which provided an interesting light on the landscape. I found a few other opportunities as well, but they would have required digging my way through the deep snow. I had already done one 50m detour and my legs were screaming for oxygen afterwards, I’m really not cut out for hiking knee deep… but following my own tracks back was easy. I can see the benefit of snowshoeing in a group – people can take turns in doing to the hard work. Anyway, I missed those other opportunities I speculated about because my legs were still shaking from the first effort and I had to leave some energy for the hike to Ryggskog.

The trail from Kvarnsjön to Ryggskog is not used a lot. I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen a snowmobile here, but they do drive the route occasionally because the tracks are there. Except now of course, nobody’s done the trail since the snowfall started this week, so I had to pulse through the new snow. It’s uphill almost all the way to Ryggskog, but I love the forest that this trail runs through. It’s a fairly dense forest, mostly pines but a good dose of spruces as well (which is the norm around here). Because of the closeness of the trees, you’ll often see snow here when it’s already fallen down from the trees everywhere else. I haven’t found a way to photograph it so I could do it justice, but as an experience to hike through this forest it’s just simply wonderful. For me it’s a mile of pure winter bliss! And today it felt like it was better than normal… I don’t know if I was stopping so frequently to catch my breath or to enjoy the sight and silence!

The weather forecast kept saying that last night would be completely overcast. The full moon and stars in the sky disagreed though and after all the snowfall earlier this week, the conditions were just perfect to try some night photography.

As I was peering up through the tree crowns I noticed that the sky wasn’t quite as clear as it had seemed at first – there was some very light cloud that dimmed the stars a little bit. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I like the effect of the clouds especially when they are blurred by the long shutter speed.

I wish we could have more nights like this. That feeling when you’re in a quiet snowcovered forest and the moon is shining bright enough so you don’t need a flashlight to see where you’re going… awesome!

I was really looking forward to enjoying the winter landscape today as well. Yesterday they were still saying that it would be around -15°C today but it was -22°C in the morning and now the forecast is around -20 degrees the whole day. Not sure if I enjoy the winter landscape quite that much… I hope the temperatures will rise a little bit in the afternoon because it kills me to miss the scenery as it is at the moment!

Late in the season, I’m still exploring new places. We were following the same river that we visited last week, and it meant discovering more remnants of log driving activity in these waters. The rock walls that line up the riverbank in some places is an obvious sign of log driving, but then there are other things that are starting to disappear from sight, like the wooden channels from the late 19th century that are now overgrown, or the duckboards which are half rotten so you have to be careful where you step because the plank can break under your foot when you least expect it. A fresh dusting of snow on the old planks doesn’t help…

Photographically a tough day, but this late in the season it almost doesn’t matter what the weather is, it’s tough any which way. So the day was better used for scouting, and we did find some very promising places that are definitely worth a visit in the summer. Just need a bit more colour and water, and it’s keepers all the way!

The forecast said that it would rain all day and some of it heavy, so I gave up the idea of dragging around the big camera. Instead, I manufactured a rainjacket for the G10, couldn’t go out without any camera at all…

We had good day out searching for flowers. I learned two new places for lady’s slippers, one of them quite different from my “regular” slipper spot so I think I’ll do my lady’s slipper photography there next year. The place was also home for some butterfly orchids, will take another week before they are in bloom so I’ve booked a visit there next weekend.

Another flower I have to photograph next weekend is the wild rosemary (Rhododendron tomentosum). The flowers we saw today were still mostly budding.

And there’s all those orchids in my favourite place that should be in full bloom – next week. Sounds like I’ll be busy, but it’s the kind of busy that I like!

All the excitement about the mandarin ducks yesterday almost made me forget that I had a productive trip to the Hamra National Park as well. Hamra National Park is currently the smallest national park in Sweden, but it will multiply in size next year when the Svartåmyran bog and the Svartån creek valley will be added to the park. 2009 is also a special year for the park, as it is 100 years now when the park was introduced as one of the first national parks in Sweden. The celebrations will take place on the 24th of May, I’m actually half considering of joining in even if I normally want to avoid the crowds. I just want to take an opportunity to walk around the park with a guide, because one thing that is currently woefully inadequate in the park is information – not a single information board anywhere along the trail to explain anything that makes the park so special.

But you don’t need to know anything about the park to enjoy it. I love old growth forests, it’s just nature being left on its own and it’s absolutely fascinating to see the circle of life, from rotten old tree trunks to fresh new sprouts. Photographically however, old growth forests are a nightmare for me. Too much information! I just can’t control all the detail to make any sensible pictures out of the forest, so this time I didn’t even bring a wideangle with me. I figured I could use the macro to isolate detail from the forest, and it turned out to be the right choice of equipment because this trip was more productive than all the previous visits put together. Having said that, it was still a very frustrating experience. I was looking around, absolutely convinced that there are countless pictures here but they just weren’t coming to me. I wish I could one day go to a chaotic forest with a skilled wideangle photographer and look through their viewfinder. Or maybe I need to go there with the fish-eye and film camera, maybe the extreme angle will jolt my vision!

It’s still early in the season so the park wasn’t at its best yet. I think I spotted a few ops for a normal wide-angle as well, so a new visit will be in order in the summer. The Hamra National Park is not there for great landscapes or exciting animal life, but that shouldn’t discourage anyone from visiting – you can’t find many of these untamed forests anymore so I’m happy to have one just around the corner!

As I was waiting for the jays or squirrels to appear, I noticed that the forest was looking rather photogenic. So I concentrated on the background then, because nothing was happening in the foreground. That white strip at the bottom is the pile of snow in the jay image last week.

The sun has now come out and snow is falling again, except this time it’s the snow falling from the trees as the sun is quite warm already. Such a strange thing… blue sky. Can’t remember the last time I saw it.

I don’t know what I was thinking with this picture-a-day crap. I’ve never been comfortable with taking pictures on cue, even when I’m the one who’s made the order.

I know there are photographers who can be sent into the forest and an hour later they will emerge with the memory card full of pictures. I’m more likely to emerge with a head full of frustration. I can’t force my inspiration – I don’t know how to explain it, but somehow I need to see the picture before I take it. I can’t just look at something and come up with a way to see it. You know? If I’m put in a situation where I’m expected to take a picture, my photographic brain just ceases to function and suddenly I forget everything I’ve ever learned about photography. I can only take pictures when the process starts from the inside, when I have the genuine will to create an image. So when I’ve told myself that “ok let’s have at least one picture to show for every day of the holiday”, I’ve effectively deadlocked myself. I’ve gone around thinking must take picture, must take picture. I like it much better when it’s will take picture, will take picture!

Today’s picture is a rock. I drove to my favourite creek, thinking that it’s bound to inspire me like it always has. But maybe it only works in the autumn – I sure didn’t find any of the white water interesting now. Then when I was heading back through the pine forest, I rounded up this rock and got the inspiration I had been looking for. You can see this kind of scenery all over in this region, open pine forest with lichen covered rocks scattered for good measure. It’s barren land where the blueberry brush dominates the forest floor, and cowberries mingle with the lichen and moss. Maybe not a flower photographer’s forest, but I don’t have to see everything through the lens to enjoy it.

I was out looking for pale pasque flowers today, after a tip I received. The place was the SÃ¥nghussjön lake a few km south from Färila, I’ve never been there before but I’m glad I got there now. When I found the flowers though, it was all for naught – they were over.

The forest in this part of the lake is open pine forest, my favourite type of forest. These forests don’t have a lot of flowers to offer (lichens and mosses are plentiful though), but the few there are just stand out all the better (for example, I saw some tiny buds of green flowered wintergreens, and lesser butterfly orchid leaves, so I guess they will blooming in just a few weeks). The simplicity of an open pine forest appeals my eye, and it’s very easy to walk around thanks to the lack of vegetation. So I walked up and down the lake shore and then into the forest, hoping that I’d find some more of the pale pasque flowers, but I didn’t strike lucky. After a while though I didn’t care – it was a warm and sunny evening by a calm lake, with just the lonely call of a distant loon for company. And then when the wind picked up a little bit and I found my way to the beach, I could hear the waves gently rolling in the sand.

I didn’t find any photographs, but I did find something even better – peace for the soul.

The weather forecast can say otherwise, but for me this was a moment of summer.

One thing I’ve been wondering about is how everyone looks so familiar here. Every time we visit the town, I keep staring at people (especially the older ones), thinking that I know them. It wouldn’t be impossible because this is where my family comes from (almost all of the younger ones have moved elsewhere but the older folks remain in the Savonlinna region). But no, every time I have to conclude that they are all strangers to me. I think I figured it out today though. The older folks all look so… Savo. Not just Finnish, but southern Savo. I will probably look just like them in 20-30 years…

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The windy weather has continued. I have just about exhausted my ideas for windy weather photography, so I can only hope for the weather to turn tomorrow…