Winter leaf (Photo: Helena Hurme)

Some leaves were still green last Sunday at the same time with the new snow falling. This picture is taken with a macro lens. Therefore not all part of it are sharp, but I liked the colors.

I have been negotiating the price of a new Nikon D200 digital camera instead of the 3.5 year old Nikon D100 I have. With it I could use my best lens: a Nikkor 50 mm, f 1.2. A real beauty!

Rowan berries (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture I took last Sunday. There has been a lot of rowan berries this year. Today's newspaper had a feature on drunken birds getting killed after having eaten too much fermented rowan berries which contain alcohol. The poor birds fly against window panes!

Hotell Alba (Photo: Helena Hurme)

In this picture, Lake Jyväsjärvi in Jyväskylä, Finland, is reflected in Hotel Alba's windows.

Snow patterns (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is taken last weekend in Suvilahti in Vaasa in a building site where an exhibition of new housing will take place.

A door at my job (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture of a wrought iron grid on a door is taken last winter. I liked the shapes and the colors of this picture.

Vaasa's five faces:Nature (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is the first in a series of five pictures with the title "Vaasa's five faces" with which I won a photo competition which had been arranged to celebrate the City of Vaasa's 400th birthday. I called it "Natur" (Nature). In fact, I had saved it under the wrong name and thought I had sent in another picture (!). The citizens of Vaasa live very close to nature, especially the sea. The picture I intended to send shows the sea and is posted below under the title "The real Nature picture". The picture here is taken between the prison and the hospital and one can just about see nature in the trees to the right and in the fact that there is a morning fog because of the sea.

Vaasa's five faces: Culture (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is the second picture in the series of five pictures with the title "Vaasa's five faces" with which I won a photo competition. I called it "Kultur" (Culture) because Vaasa already in the olden days was known for cultural activities, for instance schools. This still applies: the density of students per capita is one of the highest in Finland. The picture shows a man entering the City library through a passage connecting a new building with the old one.

Vaasa's five faces: Commerce (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is the third in the series of five pictures with the title "Vaasa's five faces" with which I won a photo competition. I called it "Handel" (Commerce) because it has been and still is a central aspect of life in Vaasa. The picture shows the Freedom statue and a modern restaurant as well as the sign of te K chain of shops in central Vaasa.

Vaasa's five faces: Industry (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is the fourth in the series of five pictures with the title "Vaasa's five faces" with which I won a photo competition. I called it Industri (Industry) because without industry, Vaasa would not be what it is today. We had a large mill, a cotton mill, a net factory and so on. Today, the largest industries are Wärtsilä and ABB, but there are others, too. This picture shows a part of Wärtsilä's building in central Vaasa.

Vaasa's five faces: Seafaring (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is the last in the series of five pictures with the title "Vaasa's five faces". I called it "Sjöfart" (Seafaring) because it hs been so important for Vaasa in earlier days. Today, small boats are important for the citizens who own summer cottages in the small islands outside the city. The ship to the right is "pohjanmaa", one of the marine vessels. The state flag can be seen against the sky. In the background, a small boat is seen.

The real "Nature" picture (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is the picture I thought I had sent under the title "Natur" (Nature) to the photo competition I won (I cleaned it as my camera was terribly dirty, lightened it up a bit as well as cut it on the left side). It was taken during winter in the inner harbour in Vaasa. I chose this picture because it shows how important the sea is for the citizens of Vaasa. In winter, the ice makes a magnificient place for cross country skiing, for example.

Industries in Vaasa (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is a picture of the Wärtsilä factory in central Vaasa.

Spiral stairs (Photo: Helena Hurme)

These stairs can be found in central Vaasa.

Autumn trees (Photo: Helena Hurme)

These trees stand in a nearby park to where I live, close to the Greek orthodox church in Vaasa. The picture is taken last autumn.

The Greek orthodox church and an oak (Photo: Helena Hurme)

I can see this small Greek orthodox church from my balcony (but from a different angle). This picture is taken in autumn 2005.

Winter shadows (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is taken outside my job towards Tritonia, the university library and learning center.

The eagle statue (Photo: Helena Hurme)

The eagle statue is a symbol of Vaasa. Here it is hardly visible in the background to the left on a winter say with frost.

Winter blossoms (Photo: Helena Hurme)

The Sundom bridge (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is one of the pictures from last autumn.

Look & Life (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This guy I caught on May 1 2005.

A door at my job (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture I took from inside one of the buildings at our university last winter. The cast iron grid on the door is frozen.

An esplanade in Vaasa (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This picture is taken in the autumn 2005 on the lower part of Korsholmanpuistikko. The picture below is from a slightly different angle.

Last year's shadows (Photo: Helena Hurme)

This is picture I took in the autumn 2005 when I walked around in Vaasa a lot with my camera. This year the autumn has not been sunny during the time when the leaves were colorful.