Forests, Forests, Mushrooms, Mushrooms and the Sea

Baltic sea, sailboat
Late afternoon on the Baltic Sea.

Something very beautiful about the rain in Europe is that it can be raining and you don’t see until you feel it, then you focus and the faint, tiny drops come into focus.  I suppose that must happen in other places, but it is something that we rarely if ever witness at home.  Finland, yes we did a workshop there, but what is foremost in my memories – the forest, the mushrooms, the archipelago – largest group of islands in the world, the rain, the Baltic sea and wet shoes that didn’t dry for three days.  It was magical.

It’s rare that a series of images can tell a story by themselves, but in this case I think that’s the case.  I was going to write something and turn the photos that follow and a description of the workshop into one post, but I think I will simply include nothing more than photos.

Of course, I will follow shortly with an account of our workshop that was all the more enriched by its setting on the edge of the sea.  For now, I’ll leave you with the magic of Finland.

And as you will notice, they’re all iPhone images again, I’m finding it what I would describe as the most appropriate device for the task of recording what we are seeing.  I have thought a lot about it these days and it’s place in photography, but rather than get into it here, I found an article that says most of what I want to say and perhaps better.  It’s by a photojournalist who did a story for the New York Times only using the iPhone, here’s the link – //lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-hipstamatics/

After all, this is about Finland and then I must follow with an account of the excellent workshop we had there.

Baltic Sea, rocks on coast
Coast line on one of the islands - Baltic Sea
Reed beds, route to see, Finland, Baltic Sea
Leaving the dock, passing through the water reeds en route to one of the Baltic Sea islands.
Rocks on the Baltic Sea coast
Colored rock pattern along the beach.
Finland forest.
A glimpse into the forests of Finland.
Mushrooms in the forest
One of many, many mushroom photos taken in the course of a short 3 hour walk.
Forest mushrooms Finland
Some of the many, not only beautiful, but edible mushrooms.
Chanterelle mushroom
Favored by many locals, the exquisite and delicious Chantarelle mushroom.
rocks, moss
Sometimes it is difficult to find the ground for the abundance of lichens, moss, ferns.
Forest outhouse
No caption needed.
Baltic Sea dawn.
Dawn on the Baltic sea from our workshop site.
Clouds on the Baltic sea
Afternoon clouds on the sea.
Small boat near Helsinki
Setting sun outside of Helsinki.
Baltic sea sunrise.
Quiet beginning to another day.

 

 

 

 

 

Prev Clay Plaster Workshop in Denmark
Next Marvelous Mud on the Baltic Sea

13 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting these, Bill. The photos remind me of the rich time I’ve spend in coastal British Columbia, south through Bellingham and Oregon to northern California’s coast; a terrane where a life embroiled in the landscape and natural processes is unavoidable: the rain so vaporous as to flow into your lungs, while the line of sea and the line of forest ebb and flow, into, out of, each other. The fog in such places doesn’t obscure, it seems, but heightens one’s awareness of the flux of boundaries and definition. And when it enwrapped you completely, and thick, the sense of disorientation was delicious. One lingering sense I had in such places, however, was that if I stood still for a moment more, the moss would soon be tickling my ears.

  2. Thank you, Bill and Athena. I see know why my relatives relocated to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from Finland a immigrants of the late 1800’s. The geography of each place looks so similar.

  3. Nice Shots. I am running out of stuff to say. I’m not very good at one way conversations. While I would like to hear your thoughts on things that I might bring up, clearly that’s not what this blog is for. I’m not really sure why you have comments. I suppose it’s just a wordpress thing. But that’s cool. Have a blast in Finland. I look forward to seeing what interesting mud creations you are doing.
    Milt

    • It’s more a question of when I catch the comments. If it’s in a time of a little leisure, then easy to respond like now. However, if it’s in the middle of a workshop or the like, almost impossible. Tell me if this works and gets to you clear.

  4. Bill Athena Panther good to hear from your magical images makes my heart sing again from distant past songs remembered
    good to see landscapes that are not in stress
    Here the floods after the fires have pressed through the fields in front of our house like Tzunamis pushing trees and boulders ahead in a thick black wave Animals came to find food and water in our small oasis in the charred forest We fed bears dog food, deer and turkeys corn, and so forth for 6 weeks Then as it greened up all the animals disappeared into the forest

  5. What can I say.. Nice photos, for some of them is hard to believe it comes from iPhone 🙂 About Finland, Yes it is beautiful there. In cases about mushrooms and forests… close to Latvia and Estonia only added bit more rocks… 🙂

Leave a comment Cancel reply