January in Helsinki
We had a couple of quite cold days in Helsinki last January. It was probably -22C at the market square, but the sea was kept open so ferries and ships could car...
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We had a couple of quite cold days in Helsinki last January. It was probably -22C at the market square, but the sea was kept open so ferries and ships could carry people to the nearby islands and abroad. A mixture of free water and freezing cold air produces so called "sea smoke", which happened to look unreal when almost hiding the old buildings on the island across the bay.
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Dec, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this picture at the Helsinki market square, looking out to the sea, where there are a couple of islands with some old restaurants and sailing club buildings.Time
One January morning a few years back, around 10 am, I was walking to our office at the Helsinki city center. It was pretty cold, maybe -22C, so I'd taken my camera with me, since for some reason I love the cold days of the Finnish winter. I decided to take a short detour through the market square, just to see the sun over the sea and the islands. The combination of free water and cold air produces "sea smoke", which creates quite stunning views when combined with silhouettes of the islands.Lighting
Well, it is all natural light from the sun. I used automatic settings on my camera, since I was lazy and the aperture and shutter settings were not very easy to change with Canon G11 and -22C.Equipment
The picture was shot with hand held Canon PowerShot G11. I had just started taking more pictures, so this was probably kind of lucky accident.Inspiration
Freezing cold winter days are quite rare in the Southern Finland, so I try to enjoy them as much as possible. Thus, when it is -20C or colder, I always take some extra routes just for the sake of good luck. I almost never plan my shots beforehand, but try to expose myself to some serendipity. Sometimes quantity equals quality.Editing
The image is pretty close to the "straight from the camera" quality. Some cropping was done, and probably some basic brightness/contrast adjustments.In my camera bag
I updated my gear from the pocket style G11 to Olympus E-PL7 a year and half ago. Now days I carry the E-PL7, with Olympus 14-42 mm pancake on it as default. There is also Olympus 40-150 mm zoom lens and Samyang 7.5 mm fisheye in my new Lowepro 140 as default. Sometimes I also take my 30 mm F/1.4 Sigma and a 15 cm high tripod with me. I'm starting experimenting with some filters and extension tubes, so those will follow me in the future.Feedback
If you want to catch some sea smoke, you need to find a place with open sea and colder than -20C. Helsinki is such a place maybe one or two days a year, if we are lucky. Maybe more important is to carry a camera with you all the time, and if there's something unusual in the light, air or atmosphere, don't hesitate to be late from your work and take some extra steps, maybe off your usual paths.
