Photowalk With Old Chums In Tampere

I drove up to Tampere to visit my parents and for work for a few days yesterday. One Tampere go player had invited two other guys from the capital region for a weekend visit. They're all former members of the Tampere club. The visitors are also advanced photographers. I hadn't seen one of them for a long time because he and his family had moved to the capital region and spent some years living abroad, too. We met up at Plevna and went on a photowalk in the area. I was the only one with a DSLR but one the guys had a two-year-old Samsung Galaxy S10(?). The camera and the image stabilizer on it were stunningly good. The display was also top notch. I was able to get some long exposures, too, when I laid my camera on top of a couple of bridge rails that had flat tops. The photowalk was also a learning experience as was able to get tips.

ƒ/4.0 24.0 mm 1/13 3200

Here's a mystery character leaning against a wall potentially up to no good.

ƒ/3.5 18.0 mm 1/13 3200

It wasn't a particularly hard decision to head towards Ranta-Tampella as the views that way are quite spectacular.

ƒ/4.2 28.0 mm 1/15 3200

The building photographed from a bridge over the rapid is Alexander's Palace. It was the bachelor pad of Alexander von Nottbeck, the son of one of the owners of Finlayson's cotton mill. Now it's a restaurant.

ƒ/7.1 18.0 mm 30 100

This one is a long exposure taken from the bridge towards the south. The rapid is Tammerkoski between Lake Näsijärvi in the north and Lake Pyhäjärvi in the south that used to power industrial plants along it. It is the reason why Tampere became an industrial center. It's about 1 km long and the lake surface elevations are about 18 m apart.

ƒ/7.1 34.0 mm 10 100

The building on top of the hill is Milavida, the residence of the owner of the cotton mill. The tower behind it is Näsinneula, an observation tower built in between 1969 and 1971.

ƒ/5.6 36.0 mm 1/6 6400

We went through a tunnel under a railway and ended up in Ranta-Tampella, a new district on the shore of Lake Näsijärvi and a giant construction site. I did manage to talk about crypto and Steem with one of my friends and the reception was positive. I showed him my blog and talked about Steem. He jotted down steemit.com. He also said he has a starving artist friend in Russia who is a painter and a photographer who has had installations in Finland, too. I'm going to follow up on our discussion and ask the artist friend's contact information.

Two of the guys went to upper secondary school in Päivölä, a special school for those talented at mathematics. It turns out the guy who made 24 million euros in Bitcoin and Ethereum last year is also an alumni of that school. They talk about crypto at the school a lot. It seems that the very top minds in the country are aware of the space and into it. That's a good sign despite the mainstream and even educated mainstream people having a negative perception of it. The third guy observing the other two in the process of taking a picture didn't go to Päivölä but he is a very talented programmer as is his identical twin brother.

ƒ/5.6 55.0 mm 1/5 6400

This one is very grainy as there was nothing to support the camera with but I do like the smoke.

ƒ/5.6 18.0 mm 1/5 6400

This is what Ranta-Tampella looks like at night. It extends about one kilometre behind the tall building.

ƒ/5.6 18.0 mm 1/5 6400

One of my buddies said the empty bridge felt post-apocalyptic. Maybe with the lights out. :)

ƒ/5.6 18.0 mm 30 100

A long exposure taken using a bridge rail as a support for the camera. Camera angle adjusted using my beanie. :)

ƒ/5.6 55.0 mm 30 100

Another one with a different framing. This is probably the best image in the whole set. What do you think?

ƒ/5.6 30.0 mm 1/4 800

A UFO has landed. This one can be found in the yard close to Milavida.

ƒ/5.6 18.0 mm 1/10 3200

Milavida.

ƒ/5.6 55.0 mm 1/10 3200

One of the signs at Tallipiha, a group of buildings conserved at the northern end of Kuninkaankatu.

ƒ/5.6 55.0 mm 1/10 3200>

I enjoyed this photowalk very much. I had an opportunity to catch up with old friends, learned a thing or two more about photography, spread the good word about Steem and received positive feedback for a change. It seems that the very best minds of the young generation are aware of the space and understand its potential. Crypto is no longer in the pioneering phase. This is early adoption. I wonder what will trigger mainstream adoption. Probably a combination of development and maturation of the space and some sort of visible disruption. But there is still so much negativity in the air and a general lack of understanding of the whole thing. It was funny when I asked my parents a few minutes ago if they had read about the 200 billion euro money laundering scandal Danske Bank had been involved in. My mother immediately brought up Bitcoin for some reason and wondered whether there was criminal money in it, too. My father considered it a speculative vehicle some made money on because they got into it early on and managed to get out at the right time. If you only see what's happening right now, then that's how it must seem. Internet was the same back in the day. It was branded as a playground for child pornographers and other criminals. Understanding the long-term potential of technology is notoriously difficult.