real paradise - aurora borealis and reindeer in Lapland

aurora borealis, Nellim, Finland

As previously mentioned, I prefer cold places to hot.

Something to do with the comfort of hiking boots and thermals reminding me that I am about to go on an adventure.

A long awaited trip to Finnish Lapland with friends.

Snow, wilderness, reindeer, and if we were really lucky the aurora borealis.

We were really lucky.

aurora borealis, Lapland

aurora borealis

For once I was really glad that I had taken my tripod on my trip. Camera exposures to catch stars and the northern lights are a few seconds long, and hand holding the camera is not an option. When the aurora starts 'dancing' in the sky you know you are really, really fortunate.

The days are very short at this time of year. Sunrise and sunset only four hours apart, with a lovely blue twilight that lasts for some time before and after. The sun did not emerge above the horizon during our visit, but just moved slowly around below the top of the hills.

We did a bit of ice fishing on Inari Lake. I don't think anyone really expected to catch a fish.

The best bit is drilling a hole. The ice was about 70cm thick.

The fishing rod was tiny.

Fishing had the potential to be a very cold, zen-like experience.

It is a very popular sport in the summer when the lake is swarming with mosquitos and the bears are awake in the forest.

Reindeer are plentiful. Most are in the wild until rounded up for stock taking.

Reindeer herders know their own stock from the markings cut on the reindeers' ears.

They have a book of ear markings.

reindeer with ear marking

lunch of reindeer stir fry

a reindeer passes by our picnic spot

Some facilities were a little chilly.

snowy seat

instructions best avoided

the scenery was everything that I had hoped

Lake Inari

trees in the snow

sunrise

I took many, many photos of trees, and if we hadn't been so busy fishing, snow shoeing and aurora watching I would have taken many more.

A place of peace and beauty. 

 

trees at dawn

 

String, nets and dead leaves at Dungeness

Sea holly © Caroline Fraser 2012 made with iphone

A day out at Dungeness with an old friend was just what I needed. I had been playing around with some iphone pictures of sea holly, and whilst they look fine on the screen, when printed out the quality is lacking, and my plan to create a series was aborted.

Dungeness on a sunny Sunday is a photographer's paradise; wherever we walked we were bumping into tripods and camera cases along with their owners.

Not for me the popular images of rotting boats and bits of old metal; I got seriously attracted to some fishing nets hanging from the roof of an old wooden hut. They reminded me of my recent forays into bits of string; the netting has a beauty and purpose; the knots around the edge of the nets looked like lace at the edge of a tablecloth, and I spent a happy hour (with tripod and a 105mm lens) trying to capture the beauty of the folds and layers against the tarred wall of the shed. I am grateful to my friend Steve for lending me his tripod and getting me back into slow-mode.

Nets © Caroline Fraser 2012

But the image that pleases me most from my day out is of a desiccated sea holly leaf that I picked up from the shingle and photographed against the shed wall. My plan to capture the sea holly in autumn at Rye Harbour when the leaves were rotting and wilting into the ground were thwarted by a lack of time; on returning to capture them they had vanished; blown away by the winds and rain.

At Dungeness I realised that fragments of desiccated leaves have survived the winter and that opportunities remain to create something from their curves and delicate shapes.

death and desiccation © Caroline Fraser 2012

This dried sea holly leaf has a simplicity that I enjoy, and the background of the fishing shed seems entirely appropriate for the subject matter. It was processed in Lightroom using a cream tone monochrome.

I will return to explore this subject further; it takes me back to my basic instinct to create something beautiful.