Ru

 

Travel notes

KARELIA - 2015

This time we chose a place not far from Lahdenpohya town for our 3D photography trip. The very beautiful nature of Karelia and the picturesque views of the Ladoga skerries beckon us.

We plan to make of beautiful 3D photos with views of the Ladoga skerries, if we will be lucky with the weather. And between times we will able to rest )))

Two cars are packed to capacity. There are five of people, boat, motor, saved vests, tire for 3D photography, tripods, cameras, food for 9 days, things, a canister for gasoline and two tanks for the boat.

The way took us 15 hours to cover the distance of 1000 km from Moscow, driving past different roadworks on Leningrad highway.

The most dangerous sections is the serpentine after Priozersk. Local reckless drivers manage to overtake on a sharp turn by oncoming traffic lane. And trucks entering a turn at high speed can also partially enter the oncoming traffic lane.

So you need to be careful....

Fortunately, our way was without incident.

Some parts of road was a dirt road. It was about 45 km of our way.

(Now the new road is excellent and in the next time we’ll be able to travel around Republic of Karelia with great pleasure.) To tell the truth, it is great pleasure to travel even now. The nature so beautiful that you can admire picturesque landscapes from the window of your car.

            

We stayed in the tourist camp not far from the lake Metsolancelkya. From our house where we stopped, you can enjoy the most picturesque view of the lake. You can see blue sky with white clouds, yellow meadows, blue water, clean air, just ringing from the deafening silence.

            

We are perfectly located on the first floor of the house where were two bedrooms, one of this with fireplace and view on the lake, and kitchen with gas stove and refrigerator.

First, we got our cars unloaded and things unpacked. Although we got tired after the long trip, but the thirst for adventure took its toll))). It takes us five minutes to get the boat and pump it up. We connect the pump to cars battery terminals and our boat is already inflated. (A little bit about our boat: this is an Aquilon-390 . boat with a Tohatsu 18 hp engine.)

We know that our boat can drive 4 men, two gasoline cans and all necessary possessions with the speed 37 km/h. But there are 5 of us on this trip, and we don’t know the boats speed with 5 men.

            

There is still much work to do. We should unpack the motor, fix it to the boat, connect the cans, fit up chart-plotter with depth finder. It’s necessary, because the water in Ladoga has got low for a meter this year and it’s dangerous to go boating without chart-plotter (Especially since our boat is inflatable…) The chart-plotter shows the depth and course, and we’ll be able to come back the same way.

We were awarded for our haste – the view from the water to the tourist camp was as beautiful as the view from the camp to the water. The lake seems to be the mirror. This lake is boarded from Ladoga by islands, so even if there are the wind on Ladoga, the lake is calm.

            

The shortest way to Ladoga passes through a channel that connects the lake with the big water. The width of the channel, at its narrowest point, just over a meter, and the depth isn't more than 30 cm.

In the first day we didn’t risk to float here, because the plan to stay without the boat didn’t make us happy. But, having talked with locals, who said that we could drag our boat, we risked and we were succeeded.

The loaded boat with turtle speed, maneuvering between stones with the help of sculls and our claims. Thus we reduced the way by 28 km. It would take us 1 hour to cover it with the speed of overloaded boat 28-29 Km\h.

            

After the Bayou, we go to the Ladoga skerries. The beauty is indescribable. Islands, rocks covered with fir trees, a strange, harsh landscape.

            

But to see all the beauty you need to land on the beach.... And then everything looks very different…

You can lay on the stones and get warm. They become warm from the sunlight and stay warm all the day long. The people say, that the temperature of the stones is 60 degrees sometimes. One day, when I slided into the water and got soaked to the skin, I dried out my clothes on the stones. Tested on personal experience)

??? Пропущено Виктором: And of course what views open from the shore to Ladoga:

            

        

Beauty, serenity, rough charming… The time’s stopped. You can just sit and watch this landscape, impinging waves, listen they intriguing rustling, admire driving clouds in the sky.

It’s so great pleasure to set camp, go fishing, sit around the fire during sunset… But we have no time to relax, because we should return in the camp in the evening. There is still to cover 8 km of the way to Putsaary Island.

And on Ladoga began to rise excitement. The waves aren’t very big yet, but the weather here changes very quickly and at any moment the calm may change to a storm, we must hurry. We should hasten and cover 6 km of the way along the open Ladoga.

The waves rock the boat, throwing it up and sloshing us with splashes from top to toe. The captain throttles down, and the overloaded boat slides on the water just with the speed of 12 km/h.

Resetting the gas, again gas to failure... Glisser… And so several times.

Wet and frozen, we look hopefully at the treacherously slow approaching shore. We don't know what's waiting for us there. Whether we can place to dock our boat. Will we be able to go ashore.... The coast is near, We can hear the power of the waves hitting the rocks… But here is ahead, among the rocks, a small Bay, the main thing to pass the stones… And here we are moored....

The place we came is dazzling with its beauty.

            

            

Fortunately, the sky is not completely covered with clouds, the clouds are piled with gaps, so there is hope for a good 3D photo. We should take more than one shoot, for example 36 or 72, with an offset for our lenticular printing. And we need constant lighting for this job.

The process of shooting is difficult and fun. The base for the shooting we should define by eye. We have no time to make two photos, to define a shift of the objects. The weather can change. So, we shoot off hand. The difficulty is to choose the base. If it’s too small, the picture will be flat. If it’s too big, the 3D-effect will be degraded. We rely on our experience for create lenticular printing.

Here is the first lenticular printing from this trip. We managed to shoot 72 shots step by step.

The second example: 36 shooting.

Landscapes of Putsaary Island

            

            

We took all the photos and it’s time to have supper. We cooked oiled buckwheat, vegetables and chopped meat.

Our team at grass.

            

It's time to go back to the base. This time the gas is full and without slowing down our boat forces the incoming waves, splashing us.

This is a little scary, the bow of the boat on a wave hangs in the air for a few seconds and poot down in the other waves with a lot of spray. It's not the waves that are scary, it's the fact that the coast in all directions is at least 2 5 km away and if is wrong with the boat, we will can`t swim to shore. The water in Ladoga lake is very cold.

Waves run one by one: several small waves run first, one big wave run the last and spray us with cold water.

Thank God the boat and crew confidently cover the distance to the Islands and the weather does not have time to deteriorate. Entering to calm waters. The sun goes down, everything is filled with Golden light....

            

And again our favorite channel on the way to the base )

Below is a mix of photos with different views: these are beaches on Ladoga lake, even with swings ))), granite rock with inset rocks of a different color, mosses, saxifrage, flowers... a little bit of lyrics.... And there are some mysterious in a quaint...games of light and shadow in the Karelian rocks.

            

Beaches on the Ladoga lake..., on this trip we stayed for 3 of them....

        

            

Veins of pink color in the granite rock.

            

        

            

By the way: we managed to catch the 2nd of spring. One in Moscow, the other in Karelia. June 29.... Lilies of the valley and lilac blossom )))

        

        

And this is Valaam.

            

        

And a little bit about the mysterious....

Under the influence of temperature and water, the rock is constantly destroyed, pieces and blocks of various sizes. They are raising a bunch of spray, fall into Ladoga lake, the relief of the rocks slowly changes, and when the sun rises....

??? Пропущено Виктором: A little imagination....

What can You see in the play of light and shadow?

            

These places are mysterious and beautiful.

It’s pity, that our trip is ended. But we hope, that the end is the beginning of something else. It’s time to make preparations for the next trip.

Where the trip will be? We don’t know yet.

But we know, it’ll be very interesting! And it’ll bring you a lot of new lenticular art pictures!

SOLOVKI - 2019   to menu

The material on our creative trip to Solovki is in the final stage of development and, hopefully, that it will soon be completed and made public.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2012 Stereograd - 01.2007, corrected 29.05.2020