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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.

Aurora Borealis

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The Aurora Borealis is like a sunset in one sense—it never looks the same twice. These photos were taken on September 7 2015 in Nykarleby, Finland.

Here people often make the mistake of thinking that the Aurora Borealis can only be seen in the winter when it's really cold. The reason for this being that our summers are so light even at night that it's impossible to see the Aurora Borealis. And in the winter, when it's dark not only at night but most of the day too, you can only see it when it's cold. That's because it's not that cold when it's cloudy, and the clouds cover the Aurora Borealis too.

Well, anyway you can see it whenever it's dark enough. I use to check the Aurora activity on a few websites, such as this one, and then wait until it's dark before I take a look at the sky. This particular evening I knew the possibility was hight. To be honest it turned out to be one of the biggest Aurora Borealis shows I've ever seen. You could see it in any direction and it more or less covered the whole sky. It was pure fantastic! It lit up the road on the pier with its green light so I didn't even have to use my flash light.

I placed the camera on a tripod, turned the ISO upp to 1000 and shot it at 20 seconds with f-stop 6.3. I also took a few pictures of myself holding a flash light that I lit for maybe one second and then trying not to move too much for the rest of the exposure time.

After about half an hour the Aurora Borealis started to fade and I decided to go back home.

View to the west.

Looking straight up.

Looking north.

North-east view.

Scorpions

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 The art of shooting concert photos

I was 10 when I heard Scorpions for the first time. This was in 1982 and I listened to that band A LOT during the rest of the decade. They were easily one of my top five favourite bands. I never saw them live though. Living in Finland (and especially since I did not live in Helsinki) opportunities to attend rock concerts with international artists were rare back then.

Hence I was happy and surprised to learn that Scorpions would visit Jakobstad (Pietarsaari in Finnish). That's just 20 minutes away from me! I had to see them. And so I did on August 1 2015.

My best advice for any concert photo shoot is to use the maual exposure program. The stage lights pointing straight into the lens would make exposures vary too much had I used an automatic exposure program.

Intense spotlights sometimes make quite nice lens reflections.

Remember the audience is also a part of the concert. Don't concentrate exclusively on the artist.

I love the hands reaching into the photo.

The dramatic clouds made a beautiful backdrop.

Matthias Jabs is into his music. Bright stage lights make high quality photography possible. It's like half the job is done already, you just have to point and shoot.

Klaus Meine of the Scorpions.

You gotta love the amazing light show and the big screens.

Rudolf Schenker is a true showman. I got him to point straight into my lens. I'm very proud of this picture!

I can't help it. The security guys make me think of another German band. Hint: NOT a hard rock band. Wir sind die Roboter...

The crowd in focus.

The acoustic part of the set.

“… and listen to the wind of change.” The 14th best selling single of all time!

Spotlight shadow.

Drummer James Kottak is a huge showman. He would probably steal the show if he didn't have to sit behind the drums.

Album covers appearing during the drum solo.

You've got to love that guitar!

Like most concerts photographers had access to the photo pit only during the first three songs. The rest had to be shot from the crowd. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Klaus Meine appearing between waving hands.

Although shooting from a distance of maybe 30 meters Matthias Jabs seems to look straight at me. He probably didn't.

It can't be easy to throw a pick more than a few meters but Matthias Jabs really does his best to try. Luckily I captured the pick just below the upper edge of the photo. The rain that finally came at the end of the concert looks quite cool too, I think.

Thank you and bye bye!