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~ Selections from Tim Bird's travel photography archives

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Tag Archives: Baltic

Singing the praises of the beautiful book

26 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by Tim Bird in books, bookshops, helsinki, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

awards, Baltic, book, design, graphic design, helsinki, islands, photography, suomenlinna, travel photography, UNESCO World Heritage

It’s probably hopelessly old fashioned of me but I love books and bookshops. Books in covers, made of paper, lovingly conceived, designed, produced and edited. I feel protected, safe and at home walled-in by them in a bookshop. Especially proper bookshops, where the books are piled high in apparent disorder but whose shopkeepers know exactly where to find the book you might be looking for.

I took to reading novels and guidebooks with Kindle on my iPad for a while, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. The most important thing is that people write and people read, and to some extent the format is irrelevant as long as that continues. I would say that the digital format is less conducive to concentration, however. And rumours of the death of the book are premature.

In any case, to my mind the physical, tactile, artifact book is in the top tier of creative production. Books are to keep or, at worst, to resell. Unlike newspapers and magazines, books are rarely thrown out for recycling. Opening a box of new books fresh from the printers (as long as the printers have done their job properly) and inhaling that fresh print aroma is one of the great joys of life.

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In the running for Finland’s Most Beautiful Book of the Year, with text in English and Finnish

So I was thrilled this week to learn that my latest book, Suomenlinna – Islands of Light, is being entered in the Most Beautiful Books of the Year awards in Finland by the publisher, Docendo. This is the kind of book that wouldn’t work well on an iPad. It’s a book for browsing at leisure in a way you couldn’t really do on a digital screen. Bear in mind too that Finland was rated as the World’s Most Literate Nation in 2016, so it should know a thing or two about what makes a good book.

The honorary awards (no cash or other prizes are handed out) are judged by the Finnish Book Art Committee, whose aim is…

…to draw attention to the book as an artistic whole. When choosing the Most Beautiful Books of the Year the Committee tries to find works in which form and content support each other as well as possible. The starting point for evaluating works is the overall graphic design, beginning with the typography and ending with the finished printed product. As well as classical printing skills, the Committee values fresh and new creative solutions.

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Back cover shot from Islands of Light. Suomenlinna feels a world apart from Helsinki, although it’s only a 15-minute ferry ride away.

The beauty of book, which is a collection of photographs of Helsinki’s most atmospheric and historic quarter, its UNESCO World Heritage-listed sea fortress, is largely thanks to its designer, my friend Ea Söderberg. She also designed my eBook, Motion Pictures – a travel photographer’s companion. OK, so I’ll snatch some of the credit for the contents. Especially since I’ve spent countless hours out there in all weather. But I can’t design books. That is a different talent with which Ea is blessed. The shots here are from the book.

View of Suomenlinna from Vallisaari island, Helsinki

View of Suomenlinna from Vallisaari island, Helsinki. Vallisaari is one of several islands that used to be restricted to the military for many years but which are now opening up to the public. A good thing too: why should the military get all the best islands?

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As well as showing view of the islands throughout the year, the book introduces some members of the community who live and/or work in the fortress – artists, musicians, craftspeople, museum curators, naval officers, all sorts of interesting people. This is traditional boat builder Mikael Holmström.

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If you get the chance to visit Suomenlinna on a really cold winter’s day, when the steam is rising from the sea as the mercury plummets, you might be rewarded with scenes like this. Your fingers might also drop off if you’re not wearing gloves. Then how will you turn the pages of my book when you’ve bought it?

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The view of Helsinki looking north across the South Harbour from Suomenlinna. I wish I had a euro for every time I’ve made the ferry crossing over this little stretch of water in the last few years. 

Obviously I’m not going to wind up without urging you to consider Islands of Light for your Christmas shopping list. Not as a stocking filler, unless you want big book-shaped stockings, but as a full-blown gesture-of-love top-class gift! You can order it online at this link or contact me directly if you have any trouble getting your hands on a copy! And wish me luck in those awards.

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Six Images: Six photos to check from the bucket-list

18 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by Tim Bird in bucket-list, travel photography, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

aurora, Baltic, Bandhavgarh, bucket-list, finland, himalayas, India, mountains, northern lights, Stromboli, Taj Mahal, tigers, travel, travel photography, volcano

There are certain things you simply have to get shots of. As a travel photographer you can never exhaust the photographic possibilities of the world around you, whether it’s the people or the places or the natural phenomena. I know I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to tick off quite a few items on my photo bucket list. On the other hand, if you don’t go looking for those opportunities they’re not going to fall into your lap. So luck is only part of the story. You need to be at least a little bit adventurous and resourceful.

Here are six images of things I really wanted to photograph and managed to. Some of them, like the Northern Lights, I could happily photograph daily – or nightly – if I had the chance. But then I wouldn’t have time to shoot all the other amazing people and things I see on my travels.bucketlist-9397

Walking on water: I live in Finland and large parts of the Baltic Sea freeze every winter, although climate change is affecting the extent to which ice forms. But it’s still possible to walk on water – an enthralling experience. I shot this during a cruise on the Sampo icebreaker, converted to tourist use from the north-west port of Kemi.

http://www.visitkemi.fi/en/sampo

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2. An erupting volcano: Shooting an active volcano has always been an ambition. I went through a period of travelling throughout Central America peering into dramatically smoking craters, even glimpsing red hot lava just a few metres away. But I didn’t see a properly erupting volcano until I went to Sicily and the island of Stromboli, probably the most frequently and visibly active volcano in Europe. When I was there the lava spewed out every 20 minutes or so. This was shot from a ledge about half a kilometre from the eruption. Less intrepid volcano-watchers have the option of viewing more distantly but very comfortably from the terrace of a pizzeria further down! Or like my even more intrepid companion, trek for several hours almost right to the rim of the thing, where shooting has to be done at far greater speed.

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3. Wild tigers in India: The first time I tried this, I got one shot of a tiger’s head emerging from the bush and another of its tail disappearing into the undergrowth on the opposite side of the track! My second visit to the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve in the state of Madhya Pradesh was much more fruitful. This little family (minus Dad) came strolling along the track towards our jeep and passed within a few feet of us. A breath-holding moment.

Thanks to my hosts at http://junglemantrasafaris.com/ for helping me on this one.

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4. The Taj Mahal: This extraordinary building has a lot of hype to live up to as India’s most famous tourist destination – but it succeeds. It really is magnificent. It also is really crowded during the daytime, so get up early (getting up early is an essential thing for photographers to do if they want to get the most interesting light) and head across to the other side of the river just before sunrise. When I did this I was rewarded with this wonderful view of the marble domes wrapped in mist. The night before I had seen it in moonlight. Go out at different times, see the same places in a different light…

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5. The Northern Lights: The aurora borealis is without question – in my view at least – the most magical, transfixing and addictive spectacle on the planet. It reduces me to blubbering infancy every time. You can’t just see the Northern Lights once, you have to keep trying to see it again once you’ve seen it. It casts a spell. I still haven’t got what I think is the perfect shot and the alerts I have on my phone frustratingly let me know that activity is sometimes strong – even when the sky is covered in cloud! This shot was from a lakeside near Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, almost bang on the Arctic Circle. Note the reflections on the water – this was taken in September before the lake was frozen and snow-covered. So you don’t need freezing temperatures but you do need clear skies.

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6. The Himalayan Mountains: This dawn shot of Kanchenjunga, the summit of which is in Nepal, was from Darjeeling in India. I love mountains, all the more for their rarity in Finland where I live! I remember waking in a village in Nepal on the Annapurna trail and parting the shutters on my guesthouse window and seeing the Annapurna range in this kind of light, shaking my room mate awake and telling him: “Juha, you have to see this!” Is there anyone who cannot be humbled and awestruck by a view of mountains?

That is my bucket list shortlist. If you have enjoyed this visit (and thanks for dropping by), do come again, and feel free to share, but contact me if you have something commercial in mind – copyright for all photos is mine, all mine. If you’d like to find out more about me and my photography, visit my website at www.timbirdphotography.com

I am also in Instagram at @tim_bird_photo

and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/timbirdtravelphoto/

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Six Picks: highlights of 2016 – my Christmas gift to you!

25 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by Tim Bird in Finland, India, lapland, photography, tourism, Travel, travel photography, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Assam, Örö, Baltic, finland, India, Japan, kabuki, Kanchenjunga, Kerala, Lapland, Northern Ireland, photography, Stromboli, Theyyam, travel, volcanoes

It’s Christmas Day 2016 and I’m in a generous gift-giving mood, so for my review blog for the year I’m giving you not six, not seven, but EIGHT pictures. Well, that includes the header above, taken one November morning as the sun’s rays spread across the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga, from the West Bengal hill station of Darjeeling.

It’s been another exciting year with some amazing assignments and adventures. Here are a few highlights – well, seven to be exact:

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Reijo Jääskeläinen runs the Levi Husky Park near Levi in Finnish Lapland. In January I visited Lapland to write a story about how this part of Finland is becoming popular with film makers – with animals among the acting casts.

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In May I went to the one-time Finnish military island of Örö. It’s a spring tradition for myself and a group of friends to ‘conquer’ a different Baltic island. Because access was limited to the military for many years, Örö’s environment is especially pristine.

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My visit to Japan included a tour of the mountainous region north of Nagoya, where I went behind the scenes at a Kabuki theatre.

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Northern Kerala in India is the exclusive location of the weird and wonderful Theyyam ritual, a colourful spectacle involving several hours of make-up and an attempt by participants to become  inhabited or possessed by the deities they impersonate. Extraordinary.

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In the summer I found myself in Belfast in Northern Ireland for the first time, taking a tour in Billy Scott’s black cab around the city. This stop was at the Peace Wall which separates the Republican Falls Road and Loyalist Shankill Road communities.

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Capturing this shot of the Stromboli volcano erupting  in October was something a ‘bucket list’ moment. I’ve seen volcanoes smoking and steaming in Asia and all over Central America but I’d never seen or shot a full scale eruption before.

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I was honoured to attend the wedding of friends Drahkya and Subrata in the town of Nagaon in Assam, India in November. The hospitality of my hosts was overwhelming and the occasion was touching and colourful, and an opportunity to make new friends.

So where next? Lapland again, a voyage on a working icebreaker in the Baltic, and another India adventure are planned so far, but new years always bring new surprises. Watch this space…! And best wishes to all ‘visitors’ for a happy and peaceful Christmas.

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Six Picks: the Estonian island of Hiiumaa

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Tim Bird in Estonia, Travel, travel photography

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Tags

Baltic, Estonia, Hiiumaa, Kaptenite Villa, Kärdla, natural environment

A lamentably irregular photo blog, presenting half-dozen selections from my archives and/or recent travels. Find more at www.timbirdphotography.com

Apologies for absence. I haven’t been blogging for a while, but a long weekend of cycling and hiking on the lovely island of Hiiumaa off the Estonian Baltic coast has moved me to share some shots.

We reached Hiiumaa by bus from Tallinn, the capital. The bus ticket includes the hour-long ferry ride from Haapsalu on the mainland – itself worth an exploration, with its old wooden quarter, intimate local bars and castle. In the island ‘capital’ Kärdla, we stayed at the Kaptenite Villa (their website seems to be under maintenance currently, and it was formerly known as Villa Loona), a very hospitable guesthouse run by mother and daughter Maria and Sigrid, whose breakfasts lived up to their ‘luxurious’ billing. Highly recommended as a base for a visit.

Like its bigger and better known neighbour island Saaremaa, Hiiumaa was a ‘closed’ island during Estonia’s Soviet era, with military bases dotted around the coastline. This ‘closed’ status, which forbade visits by foreigners and most Estonians, means that the natural environment is especially well preserved.

My friends and I rented bicycles and braved the elements (Estonia in the spring can be cold and blustery). Here are a few highlights:

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Tahkuna Lighthouse, one of several lighthouses on the island and the site of a memorial to the wreck of the MS Estonia in September 1994.

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The entrance to a military museum near Tahkuna is marked by a Soviet tank with flowers placed in its barrel.

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The shingle spit at Sääre tirp, with millpond calm to the east and angry seas to the west.

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Barrel chalet accommodation in the community of Kassari.

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Grazing sheep at Orjaku

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Wild spring flowers – cowslips and forget-me-nots – in a meadow close to Kärdla, Hiiumaa’s main town.

I strongly recommend a visit to Hiiumaa. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to an Estonian treasure. Welcome back, and please share, shout, tweet, hoot and Google Plus as much as you like – but please give credit where it’s due and remember copyright is MINE, ALL MINE!

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Six Picks: New life for Söderskär Lighthouse

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Tim Bird in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Baltic, finland, helsinki, lighthouse, Moomins, Söderskär Lighthouse, Tove Jansson

Six images in a (fairly) regular photo blog chosen from my archives and latest assignments: www.timbirdphotography.com

The Söderskär Lighthouse is a couple of hours by tourist launch from central Helsinki and half an hour by faster motor boat from the Vuosaari district. The 150-year old lighthouse is unused these days for its original purpose, but it’s popular with day-trip tourist groups who head out here from late June to mid August from both Helsinki and nearby Porvoo, avoiding the early summer bird nesting season. The lighthouse gave inspiration to the creator of the Moomins, Tove Jansson, in her Moominpapa at Sea, in which the Moomintroll family take up residence in… a lighthouse. Jansson knew these waters and islands well and spent summers on another nearby island.

There are a few basic rooms in one of the renovated outhouses for those who want to stay the night (for a fee, naturally), and overnight packages include an evening meal, breakfast and lunch the next day. The place can be booked for special functions too. There’s a good old fashioned wood burning sauna too. You’ll find all the contacts and details for tours and visits at the link above.

Luckily no other visitors were there during my late summer visit with three friends, just the friendly warden and the boatman. Standing on top of a lighthouse on a pretty much deserted Baltic island under a starry sky is a surreal and wonderful experience. Here are a few shots to prove it:

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Light from the town of Porvoo beams across to the Söderskär Lighthouse.

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A light in the lighthouse keeper’s house still shines.

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Tourists can visit the lighthouse for day trips – or to spend the night. It’s popular with birdwatchers but its status as a nesting area means part of the area is off limits during the nesting season.

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A hanging bridge adds an element of adventure when crossing from one island to another – especially in the dark. Three people at a time only!

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The view from the lantern chamber. Estonia is to the south across the Baltic.

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When it was functioning, Söderskär marked the south-eastern approach to Helsinki. It stands on one of a small archipelago of typically rugged Baltic islands.

Thanks for dropping in and please do follow future blogs. Also please feel free to share, tweet, twot, google, gaggle and toot the actual blog to all and sundry… but please remember that copyright rests with the photographer, that is, me, Tim Bird, and you need to get permission for any other use. Thanks!

 

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Six Picks: Helsinki – world’s best summer city

06 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by Tim Bird in Uncategorized

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Baltic, finland, helsinki, Lutheran Cathedral, Market Square, Sibelius, summer, Vantaa

Six themed images from the archives at www.timbirdphotography.com.

This week I wish it was 12 picks, not just six. The summer in Helsinki – when it finally arrives in earnest – is, well, more summery than just about any other city I know. The sun barely sets, there are mountains of berries in the market places, there’s a continentally European feel to the cafes and bars spilling out onto the pavements, and the Baltic horizon is dotted with sails, cruise ships and tourist boats. This week we’re in holiday mood, so here is a quick photo tour – almost as quick as the summer itself – on this magical July evening in the Finnish capital. Not just a run-through of the main tourist sights.

New potatoes in the market places are a sure sign that the Helsinki summer has arrived.

New potatoes in the market places are a sure sign that the Helsinki summer has arrived.

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Get on your bike and cycle around the Helsinki shoreline and you’ll come across plenty of small, sometimes quirky cafes and ice cream kiosks. This one, Regatta, isn’t far from the Sibelius monument but thankfully off the itinerary for the bus loads of Japanese tourists that make a beeline for this tribute to Finland’s most famous composer.

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The classic harbour view of the Neo-Classical centre of Helsinki, dominated by the Lutheran cathedral. The quayside market square is in the foreground.

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The summer climaxes with the Helsinki Festival in August. The 2013 festival included the Harmonic Fields installation along the shore front close to Eira and Hernesaari – literally, wind instruments.

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If I could do it all again… Helsinki is a great place to be young.

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Traditional hay making in full swing in the fields near the manor at Tapaninvainio, close to the Vantaa River. Anyone can join in.

If you’ve enjoyed these quick glimpses from my photo archives, please share and follow this weekly blog. And take a look at my substantial photo galleries from Finland and around the world at www.timbirdphotography.com

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Six Picks: Midsummer feast on the Danish island, Bornholm

02 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Tim Bird in Uncategorized

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Baltic, Blue Wings, Bornholm, Denmark, Finnair, Gudhjem, midsummer, Rønne

Six themed shots from the archives at www.timbirdphotography.com

Sol over Gudhjem – Sun over Gudhjem – is a midsummer food festival (and the name of a local sandwich) on the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm, and my article with photos about last year’s festival and Bornholm’s other attractions is published in the just-published summer issue of Blue Wings, the Finnair inflight magazine. There are a few weeks left until midsummer proper, but here are six summer shots to get you in the mood.

Bornholm is an exquisite concentration of the best of the Nordic and Baltic character, its shores and meadows are dotted with charming fishing villages, rugged cliffs, churches, castles and forests. It’s also criss-crossed with excellent cycle routes and renting a bike is affordable and easy in the capital Rønne, where ferries and flights from the mainland arrive, and the other towns.

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Click here to find my article in Blue Wings.

If you’ve enjoyed dropping by or you’re interested in any of these photographs, why not drop me a line using the form below or on the ABOUT page (you’ll find the link above). Feedback and comments welcome!

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