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Photo of the Day

Where a standout image is featured as a Photo of the Day, with some background text on how and why the image was taken.

Helsinki 6

Finland 100: 6 – Baana

Sony A7RII : f/11@200th : ISO 400 : EV -0.7 : FE 35mm f/2.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence Winters may be long but the fireworks heralding the dying days make it all ok. And then there’s Baana, the cycle lane for all seasons cutting through the centre from east to west. A pity I’m only a fair weather cyclist. When I first arrived in Helsinki back […]

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Helsinki 5

Finland 100: 5 – Linko

Sony A7RII : f/8@320th : ISO 500 : EV -0.3 : FE 55mm f/1.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence Linko Pizzabar is one of my favourite eateries in my local area of Take-Töölö. This image was taken at their original venue, where they became so popular that they moved to a larger site. I was worried that they might lose the special something in the move but, […]

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Finland 100: 4 – Delete

Sony A7RII : f/14@160th : ISO 100 : EV +0.3 : FE 55mm f/1.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence I’m not sure if all cities are the same but Helsinki certainly seems to be in a constant state of renovation, with huge ongoing public works as well as private. Just off the top of my head, there’s the recent renovation of Parliament, the ongoing work at the […]

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Olympic Stadium Renovation

Finland 100: 3 – Signs of the Times

Sony A7RII : f/5.6@320th : ISO 400 : EV 0.0 : FE 35mm f/2.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence The Olympic Stadium is one of Finland’s most iconic architectural landmarks. Originally built for the 1938 Olympics, the games were not held in Helsinki till 1952. In 2016, it closed its doors for major renovation works and is due to open again in the summer of 2020. 

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Basketball Smile

Finland 100: 2 – Hard on the Outside

Sony A7RII : f/9@200th : ISO 640 : EV +0.7 : FE 35mm f/2.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence Finns may have a reputation for keeping their emotions in check and their thoughts to themselves but they also often top the tables for being a pretty happy bunch in comparison to other nations. Certainly, when I first moved here and was organising meetings to introduce myself, I […]

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Finland 100: 1 – Grains of Sand

Sony A7RII : f/9@640th : ISO 200 : EV +0.3 : FE 55mm f/1.8 A countdown of 100 images for the 100 days leading up to the 100th Year of Finland’s independence In the year 2017, Finland will celebrate 100 years of Independence. In celebration of this event and leading all the way up to New Year’s Day, ‘From HEL and Back’ will be posting 100 images of untypical scenes of Finland. The majority of the photographs are likely to be from Helsinki (HEL), as this is where […]

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PotD: A classic Pisco Sour cocktail

Sony A7RII : f/3.5@160th : ISO 8000 : EV 0.0 : FE 90mm f/2.8 A shot of a pisco sour cocktail just arrived at my table in the bar of the Hotel Maury in central Lima; it’s one of my favourite cocktails, the texture of the egg white topped with angostura bitters perfectly complementing the pisco mixed in sweetened lime juice. This bar is one of the places that is often credited as the birthplace of the pisco sour and the traditional […]

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Birds

PotD: Birds in an Urban Jungle

Sony A7RII : f/10@400th : ISO 640 : EV -0.3 : FE 55mm f/1.8 I thought this street art of birds in a jungle setting would go well with the previous ‘Photo of the Day’ involving the rhino. What I particularly like about the two of them is that they are made to fit so well into the environment where they are created. The rhino has the real trees in the foreground similar to the trees in its background; and here the artwork of […]

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