Saariselkä, northern Finland 2012
Sometimes you visit a place that takes you so far out of your “comfort zone” and exposes you to a lifestyle, and conditions, so very different to that you are accustomed to that it almost changes your complete outlook on the world. I was in Finnish Lapland, just about as far north you can get in Europe, the people were fair skinned Europeans, they looked pretty similar to us, and they liked the same kind of stuff that we do – music, food, beer etc. – but , yet I felt isolated, a little uncomfortable and unsure of myself, very much a foreigner in a strange land.
That was hard to understand, as it was not the people – they were warm, friendly and very hospitable. The food was different of course, but not so dissimilar to ours, lots of fish and soup but perhaps more reindeer on the menu than we would find at home! So what was it, giving me that “fish out of water” feeling?
What it really came down to was the cold, but not just that, it gets cold back home. I think it was the fact that it is so cold for most of the year (they are only snow-free for only three or four months of the year, May to August), as low as -40°C for much of it, but life goes on completely unhindered for that period. That is what I think made me uneasy.
Think about it, in England when the temperature dips below freezing and we get 2 or 3 inches of snow it is almost like the country grinds to a halt. Cars go nowhere, school buses are cancelled, the message comes over the news “please do not go out if you don’t have to”, but in this part of Finland people still live, they work, they go to school, they go to the shops. Don’t get me wrong, of course I understand the difference, they live for most of the year below freezing, they have snow tyres on their cars and buses, they have fleets of snowploughs and JCBs keeping the roads clear, planes get de-iced TWICE on the way to the runway, it’s all in the preparation and a different way of behaving.
Take the trip from the airport: it came as a complete shock to me that the road was covered in snow and yet the bus was being driven like any bus at home would be on dry tarmac. It was a scary trip to start with, all my instincts were screaming “slow down!”, but I was naive and soon I was relaxing as I was starting to notice the details. Snow tyres are amazing, almost every bus and taxi is heavily sponsored by a tyre manufacturer – what better testing could a tyre company have than all year round on an arctic taxi? The buses actually slowed down on the parts of the road that were clear – they had far less grip on tarmac than they did on snow, and when the drivers hit the snow, they put their foot down again. They all do what we fail to do in the snow – they all slow down WELL before their turn, and they drive smoothly, no heavy throttle pedals. It was an education as to how to drive in snow, and I soon realised that I was safer there than I was at home.
So with all this hardship, why do people live, work and play here? Well to answer that you just have to look around – it’s completely stunning. You can tell that the nation is extremely proud of their heritage and love to show it to anybody willing to travel there to experience it. It’s a culture that seems to have grown out of the necessity for survival in a wilderness. From the food – fish and reindeer caught and reared locally to the wilderness huts that can be turned from cold and desolate to warm and welcoming at the strike of a single match. You get the impression of a hardy race, completely at one with their environment and you can be pretty sure that out in the wild is where they love to be.
The guide on our husky safari took great pleasure in educating us in the art of camp fire coffee – he said “never touch a mans coffee that he is preparing, and never criticise, you see these traditional Sami knives we all carry?” They take great pride in their heritage, their dogs, their snowmobiles ….. and their coffee. It was great coffee by the way!
So, if you get the chance, go and experience it. You’ll find truly welcoming people who will gladly and proudly show you what undoubtedly you won’t see anywhere else – and do it the Finnish way, on the back of a dog sled, driving a snowmobile or for the more adventurous (and perhaps fitter!) try snow shoes or skis. I can assure you, you won’t regret it.
So it finally snowed, it may well be the only snow we get this winter, but it did so with style!! Not too much, perfect consistency for snowmen, snowballs and sledging, and it all fell on a saturday night so we could all enjoy it on a Sunday.
This time the client was the Grafton Shoot, and today I had pleasure in delivering their Premium Photobook. It is a truly classy product: 14″x 10″ hardback book, with custom designed pages, photographic paper for the ultimate quality, and lay flat pages that allow the image to bleed almost seamlessly over the 2 page spread. Professionally bound with a stitchbound spine and presented to the customer in a presentation box with a cover, there is no doubt that this is a prestige product.
It’s nice to try something new for a change, but this was a challenge!!
A warm welcome and little warming tipple awaited me at the meet. 9 guns, 14 or so beaters and a number of willing and eager hounds were ready for the off! Grafton Shoot takes place on land surrounding Grafton Regis on the very edge of Northamptonshire close to the A5. It is a place steeped in history, with a Norman Church, links to Henry VIII and a brief skirmish in the civil war. So it was an honour to join the shoot on one of their last meetings of the season.
A good day was had, plenty of high and fast birds, the usual chat, good food, great sloe gin and the occasional excuse was made. As usual on these events I was made extremely welcome, I only hope I can do them justice now and produce them a fantastic photobook.
I have been a photographer since the age of 15, but I have also been a “shooter” for the last 10 years. That being said, I am passionate about both just the same. I know shooting is a contentious issue, and I am not going to get into a political argument here, but all I will say is this: There is no true wilderness in our kingdom, every last inch is managed by us in some way. The Highlands of Scotland were once covered in trees, before we found the need to build a Navy. With management comes the responsibility for control, the only birds that are shot are those reared and introduced for the purpose, or are feeding off the crops cultivated for our consumption. I would rather be a pheasant than a farmed chicken any day!
And does anybody have cat photographs taken? I would love the opportunity to take some cat portraits but it does seem that pet photography means 