Finland is often referred to as the Land of the Midnight Sun and at this time of year you can see why. This weekend people in Finland will be celebrating Juhannus (midsummer), so I have compiled some photographs of the midnight sun. Hopefully If the weather is good over the weekend I will be able to add a few more.
Many of my photographs were taken during my time in Lapland, I even snuck one in from Norway, as there are many more days when the midnight sun is visible (depending how far north you go it can even be two months before the next sunset). In the south of Finland the midnight sun is usually in a state of constant sunset/sunrise during midsummer, if the weather allows.
It has been a while since I have talked about tourism related topics on this blog but after seeing the news from the Tiger Temple in Thailand I couldn’t ignore it. For those who aren’t familiar with the recent news or the Tiger Temple in general I will quickly recap.
The Tiger Temple is a place in Thailand run by Buddhist monks with, supposedly, conservation at its heart. They allow the opportunity for tourists to see tigers at close proximity and even the chance to have a photo with an adult tiger or feed tiger clubs, of course for an extra charge.
There has always been speculation about the true intentions of the Tiger Temple and even about the welfare of the animals. It has been believed that the animals are sedated, as they were so relaxed around people and some even saying that their teeth and claws had been pulled when they were clubs.
Now in recent news their has been a raid on the facility and shockingly 40 frozen tiger clubs had been found in a freezer. What the tiger clubs were doing there is still unclear but the most likely reason is the temple has been breeding tigers and selling them to China for medicinal purposes.
When doing a Google search for the location of the Tiger Temple I was happy to see the message ‘permanently closed’ on my screen.
To me this shows that conservation is far from their priority and the temple has always put making money first. I have travelled in Asia and also Thailand, I have visited Kanchanaburi (the province where the Tiger Temple is located) and knew about the Tiger Temple, but I never visited. Asia is full of these attractions created for the tourist dollar and I had decided to stay away from them. People are fooled to believe that their money or entrance fee is going to conservation or helping the animals in some way but, more often than not, that is far from the truth.
My closing message would be that we think carefully about how the money we give is being spent, especially when visiting less developed countries like in Asia. Of course many of us would jump at the chance to see a tiger close up, I know I would, but we have to ask ourselves at what cost. Do your research and if you are happy that the animals needs are put first, like they are in many zoos, then go ahead.
Outside the Ateneum museum in Helsinki is this installation by Kaarina Kaikkonen. The shirts have been hanging in the tree since February and when they first went up they were clear to see. Now, not so much.
For more comparisons in the seasons see HERE or HERE.
Night photography takes a little more technique and time than just point and shoot. You have to know the functions of your camera well but the end results can always be different and sometime surprising. For me I think that is part of the appeal.
The inspiration for this post comes from a post card a friend of mine would always send me. The card would be completely blank with the simple phrase ‘(Insert name of city he was visiting at the time) By Night’. Â The scene never changed, just the name of the city it was supposed to be representing.
The National Library of Finland has reopened again after refurbishments. The outside is interesting but the inside is more than just books. The oldest part of the building was designed by C.L Engel, the man behind the Helsinki Cathedral. The library even has its own book cave, kirjaluola in Finnish.
Our Shadows Will Remain 