'TENTACLES OF VEGETATION'

Till the other day, I used to walk in quite fast pace. Then,  my left leg decided not to co-operate with me. I was compelled to stay  put in Kolkata during 2013 . My visit to  Rajasthan/Delhi in November, 2014 was two years after my  Bangalore/Mysore visit in 2012.It was only the 2nd half of my 2015 visit to NJ/Helsinki when I started regaining my confidence. that too quite slowly.

Puistola, Helsinki is a typical Finnish suburb - a lot of greenery , undulated  topography surrounding the houses, schools and other urban amenities. I have taken lots of photographs of nature , colourful during the Fall and then bare & dry as the winter approached. A few berries,  both black and red took on the weather with all the resilience they had. Otherwise, bare branches, dull- yellow dying leaves littered on the forest ground was a common scene.

 I took photos to familiarise myself with my new Nikon camera and explore the surroundings as I have never seen anything like this earlier, not even at Banbury. And .... to insert a few pauses during the walk to catch my breath.

While editing the photos after six months or more during this hot summer night in May'20 Kolkata, this photo of dead branches ( tree trunk on viewer's right not in the photo ) attracted my notice. Just like tentacles. I photoshopped  and arrived at the B&W version which is at the top of the post. No one 'liked' the photo which I posted  in my flickr.com page.  Nor in FB, anyone noticed it but for my wife and a friend/poet. But, I believe this is a strong composition - not by me, just another 'one' of nature.

the original photo, before photoshop is here. Just count the numbers of branches creeping inside this photo's 'frame' !! They almost seem to be of an animal, not of vegetation.

PORTRAYALS ON NATURE'S CANVAS

SCRAPBOOK of HELSINKI VISIT_2015

 

Colour of sunset against a deep blue sky 

Scandinavia's nature is a photographer's delight.  During my short visit in June,15, I found Helsinki green. Lingering day - light seeping through curtains even @ 2 am. The second round - September to  November - was more interesting as I witnessed the change of season. Bright blue sky, orange sunset, colours of autumn and then ground frost on brown trees......

Colour of 'Autumn'.

 Trees which have shed all the leaves have another kind of appeal. In a photo, it looks like a painting with Chinese ink. My bro-in-law suggested  - if I would lie down on the ground and take photos of a cluster of trees , the puddle-like sky seen through the cluster. Well, I did not go that 'far' , but, clicked several photos with camera-lens pointing up , while I stood at the bottom of the bare branches. On the flip-side, when I returned home, I found my hair and jacket have collected good nos of insects.

And... this one is almost monochrome. 

As if painted by Chinese ink !

 

 

I took scores of photos of berries - both black and red -  on near-barren branches . And... of white and yellow mushrooms which grew on a stack of cut-off trunks of birch trees.

TREES WITH COPPER-COLOUR LEAVES

From our house to the neighbouring horse firm. 

Half the trees are bare in October,15.

During October,15, we were blessed with beautiful sunshine for a large nos of days. It was one such  bright day - 3rd Friday of October, when we went for a walk in the neighbourhood of Puistola , Helsinki . We went from our house to the near-by horse-stable  through a path strewn with leaves , shed by the shrubs and trees through this path runs. We walked into the cluster of  houses in the neighbouring area. And... then we came out on E75 , strolled on the foot-path for a whole before we returned home. During this leg of our walk, we noticed a few trees - not many though  - whose leaves were wearing a copper-like colour. Bright mid-day sun made these trees stand apart from the ones whose leaves have turned yellow or deep orange. Unfortunately, I was not carrying my camera and missed the opportunity of clicking.

 Copper-coloured leaves. 

Lack of sun-light affected brightness !

After 3 days, I went out with my camera, tracing the same route, capturing the photos of  neighbourhood in general , colourful trees and shrubs as well as the bare ones. But, the sky was mostly covered with cloud . Occasionally, sun-rays pierced the cloud , offering little photo opportunities.

 Sun less noon !

During this walk, I discovered a tree with copper-colour leaves in the compound of a house in a by-lane of my route. Fortunately, a gentleman was coming out as I posed  with my camera from the road outside. With his permission, I went inside the compound, took several photos of the leaves adorning its branches . When I walked out, I noticed : this gentleman was talking to  his neighbour as she was preparing to out in her car and watching my movement !

 With thanks to the 'unknown'  gentleman.

Combines a bare tree and that with copper-co;our leaves.

My eyes and camera looked for the trees with copper-colour leaves. Yet, other scenes also crept in.