Another studio shoot with Charlotte

I was very tired today and not in my best form, but I think I managed to salvage a few half decent shots from today's shoot.









Oh, and one of Charlotte's boyfriend Damien!

Home Sweet Home

Back on the south coast of England. And loving it. A couple of shots in Brighton on the way to Newhaven. Click on the images to see more detail.

Finland Day 13

Last day - mainly to travel back. Starting at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.



I asked Miles (who had the window seat) to take some shots of the Finnish archipelago.






And then, the fields of England...

Finland Day 12

First rays of sun woke me up in our little cabin this morning. I immediately wanted to scamper out, head for the water and witness an early morning by a Finnish lake.



Still half asleep, I zombied closer to the lake....



And this is what I saw. In a complete silence. Fabulous.






The main cabin in early sun rays.



Once we were all up and awake, we went for a little boat trip on the lake. The first thing I saw was the shoreline...



And Kimmo working the oars.



Meiju had told me about a law that says that every cabin/land owner is required to leave five meters from the water line in its natural state, i.e. not to cut any trees etc. I could see why, when we got on the lake: one could hardly see the other cabins around the lake, of which there were many. They blend in the scenery quite nicely. Can you even see a cabin in this photo? It's there...



The first birds we saw were this merganser family.









And a loon.



...or two - just what you'd expect to see in Finland.



More specifically, it's actually a Black-throated diver.

Koivunen cabin seen from the lake. See what I mean about blending into the scenery?



And once we got back Meiju released the hounds to resume their cabin guarding.



Last photo before we left. We were very lucky with the weather... glorious sunshine while we were there, nice clouds when we left.

Finland Day 11

Looovely day. We drove to Sienijärvi with Kimmo, Meiju, Saku and Reetu. To the Koivunen cabin! The dogs seemed to love it there... almost as much as we did! Here's Reetu:



From the front.



And Saku. They are both Chow Chows. Fabulously extravagant, funny dogs.



After a little snack and a couple of Lonkeros, the hosts set out to get some potatoes for our dinner.






The doggies had taken their places as guard dogs.



We enjoyed a typical Finnish evening at a summer cabin by a lake including a fabulous sauna, naked swim in a freezing cold lake, sauna beer etc. And then, makkara!



Kimmo made a fire and we were mesmerised by it. Apart from when we ate the makkara.



We felt so lucky, so happy. This is what I miss about Finland. Only this. Nothing else. And this day was just perfect.

Finland Day 10

Today:



We slept in this morning in our hotel in Turku and enjoyed every minute of it... and then headed for Helsinki. Parked our car and walked to Esplanadi. While having lunch at Kappeli, these guys entertained us on the Esplanadi Stage:



The Show Band of The Finnish Defence Forces (!). They were really good! Played some jazzy adn Blues Brothers-y stuff and such. I'd never seen such a thing when I lived in Finland.

There were more surprises. Apparently this is what happens on an ordinary day in Helsinki.

Scarcely clad youngsters in a fountain.



With other youngsters giving orders.






And...









Truth be told, today was Taiteiden Yö, or Night of The Arts in Helsinki, when lots of strange things happen, apparently. If nothing else, it was probably the most Finns I've seen in one place at any time before.



Around 11 pm we rode to Vantaa with our friends Kimmo and Meiju, as Kimmo was playing the bass at a gig with Kiiva. It was a strange venue where no over 20's were allowed, it seemed.



...and the band, who have fabulous music of their own, were hired to play cover music only.



Sadly, I think I took the worst ever photos of the band! Seriously. They didn't ask me to take photos as such, but they said they could use some gig photos, and I would have loved to give them great shots.... but for some reason I just couldn't get really good shots. As an excuse, I could say that the lighting at the venue was appalling - and it was - but I would like to a be good enough photographer to come back with great shots whatever the circumstances. Sadly, I'm not that good yet. I still have so much to learn... especially about using flash!









Soon after the one-hour set, the disco returned...