The Quiet Picture

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…