A Calm Summer Night

The Finnish summer makes you wanna stay up all night – every night. That's why Finns sleep way too few hours in the summer. After sunset the sky is orange/pink/blue/yellow for hours until the sun rises again a few hours later.
We are now going towards darker times and there's an end to everything – even the light nights. With a clear sky there is no total darkness at night until mid August where I live.
These photos were taken on 29 July at the darkest point of the night. It was calm and quiet and stunningly beautiful. If you ever visit Finland at summer, be sure to stay up until sunrise at least once!

I started out at the beach pointing my camera to the north.

Pointing my camera in the opposite direction. The clouds had a very different color in the south. 

I moved from the sea to the open fields and took a self portrait leaning against my car.

I found this small road going through the fields of barley. Yes, just like in the Sting song Fields of Gold. Although these are still green. I'll revisit this place when they are yellow.

At 02:20 I took my last photo before going home to get some sleep. There are lots of abandoned old wooden houses here.

Night at the beach

Nights are light from mid May to early August here in Nykarleby, Finland, where I live. For the last few years I have become a more and more dedicated night photographer and I although I love dark nights with Northern Lights and a starry sky I decided to try to capture some of the magic of the light Nordic summer night this year. Well, here are my first photos of that.

Late sunset
Sun sets right after 11pm now (eary July) so I went down to the coastline to take some “after sunset photos”. I could easily have stayed there shooting a lot longer but I had to get up early the next morning so after half an hour I went back.

Very quiet, very calm but still warm in the air. The water is still cold though.

Every photo is a multi exposure HDR. I used 4 photos for this one.

As I turned around to shoot the boats in the harbour I saw the moon rising at the horizon.

I was already on my way back to the car when it made it over the treetops.

This is exactly how the Finnish summer nights look. At least in our minds. Believe it or not — even we have bad weather sometimes.

Want a photo on your wall?

Remember, all photos in this blog (most of them anyway) are for sale if you want it hanging on your wall. Just email me on info@crealiodesign.com and let me know what you would like. Any size and print material is possible.
Or just send an email to say hello. :)

Looking forward to hearing from you!
Ove

Aurora Borealis at the harbour

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Here are my latest Aurora photos. The wind was so strong I had to lay my body weight on the tripod to prevent it from shaking. But a lot of my photos got stars looking like short lines anyway.

Well, at least the Northern Light was strong too. I thought I came too late but suddenly things started to happen on the sky. I really like having the boats and the lonely harbor light in my pictures. Not just the Aurora Borealis. I think I'll come back to this place again.

But we are heading towards the light period of the year now so shooting the Aurora has to be done after midnight now. And soon it will be impossible because of the light nights. But I'm looking forward to that too!

The lonely harbour light got company.

Boats waiting for the summer season. The harbour was still frozen.

Light Nights and Dark Days

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Finns love summer. It's short but very light. It actually never gets dark. But as a photographer my love for the Finnish winter has really grown stronger over the years. The reason is very simple: it is astonishingly beautiful. At times it is, I should say. But it's very dark too. Daylight lasts for less than six hours in late December and the sun is visible only for about four hours where I live. It's dark when I go to work and it's dark again when I go home.

Winter daylight reflected in the frozen river.

Let's look at the Nordic light for a moment. Since days are so short in during the winter the sun never rises high over the horizon. It's a constant twilight which can be very beautiful. The sun rises slowly over the treetops and starts setting without giving us any real daylight.

Some might think it's strange that the sun rises and sets so slowly. Of course the sun visually moves just as fast in the sky here as anywhere else in the world. But the angle is so flat. Even at noon the sun is close to the horizon. And when the sun sets it doesn't get dark quckly.

The sun's path on the sky in mid winter. The photo is taken in mid February. Two months earlier the sun would be even closer to the horizon.

In the summer it the other way around. The sun goes slowly down and never go far below the horizon. (Turn the image upside down in your head to get the picture.) Hence the light nights. You can't see the midnight sun where I live. Around midsummer the sun is out of sight only for four hours it never gets dark.

A foggy night in the end of June at 01:15 AM.

Midnight at the beach.

Visitors may find it hard to sleep because of the light nights. Some Finns too, but for most of us it's not a problem.

In the end of July darkness slowly reclaims it's power over the nights. I think it's a kind of cozy although I know many people hate that the light nights are over.

A Finnish summer cottage at 11 PM on 31 July.

Let's go back to the winter for a while. Snow makes a huge impact on the light. Obviously, since it reflects light. Maybe that's why I like the winter from a photographic point of view.

Faint sunlight on a snowy landscape.

Snowy trees reflecting the sunlight.

The abandoned boat

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While filming for a trailer and shooting promotional photos for a local theater project that isn't to be launched until summer 2017 I was forcing my way through the forest together with the writer/director of the play. We tried to find the right angle to film the river and the old factory when suddenly she pointed at the boat and said: “You should take a photo of that boat.” I turned my eyes the way she pointed and did not see it until I looked at the exact right spot.

There it was. Abandoned. Dilapidated. Overgrown with moss. But most of all—irresistibly beautiful! I took only two photos. We were there for another reason, remember?

I will return to the boat and take more photos, that's for sure.

The abandoned boat.

We spent four hours outdoors when the light was at its best. Sun is setting really slowly this far north (N63,31°) so you actually have a lot of time to use the low angle sunlight. Our models got really cold. But what a beautiful day to capture the Finnish nature just as the snow was melting but before every plant and tree had awakened from its winter sleep.

After shooting that boat I could concentrate on filming the next clip.

Looking the opposite direction, that's what we came for.

This muddy road was our main location for filming. I love the birch trees!

I made this young model walk through the picture several times. Once you're there you've got to get it right.

Finally we were done. Please have a seat! ;)

Covered in ice

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We had a storm right after Christmas. Driven by the strong wind the waves crashed hard against the coast. Everything got very wet. Fortunately for me the temperature was below the freezing point and the water froze on rocks and plants covering everything with ice within a few meters from the sea. A strange fantasy landscape was created.

© Ove Lillas

I took my oldest daughter (or maybe she took me, I really don't know which) for a photo shoot, capturing the scenery the day after the storm. The coastline looked surreal with all the ice. Walking was a challenge. But the photos turned out quite nice I think. I haven't seen her photos yet but it's hard not to get interesting pictures from a landscape such as this.

The fantasy landscape. © Ove Lillas

Right now it's the darkest time of the year. The sun rose slowly as we walked around with our cameras. As a matter of fact sunrise lasts for like a couple of hours and then we have two hours of sunset. The sun is moving almost horizontally and barely makes it above the treetops. The light is beautiful as long as the sun isn't covered in clouds.

The sun at noon. © Ove Lillas

The photographers: Me and my daughter Nora.