Two-Years Ago (07-August-2014) — Finland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 68: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Reindeer, Sammi, and Santa Claus Field Trip. Rovaniemi, Finland.

Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. The white line marking the Arctic Circle that just happens to lead to Santa’s Workshop is off by 50 meters (~150 feet). After entering the “free” Disney like/horror house and finally reach Santa’s chamber you find out that no cameras are allowed, and you need to pay 40 euros to have you picture taken next to Santa. There were several folks with me that wanted to take my picture next to Santa to compare beards. We walked out. The next day my beard fell off… Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014.

Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (07-August-2014) — Finland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 68: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Rovaniemi, Finland.

A short time-lapse video taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. Viking boat ride in Rovaniemi. Like Hitchcock, I did a cameo at the end.

Two-Years Ago (07-August-2014) — Finland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 68: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Reindeer and Santa Claus Field Trip to Rovaniemi, Finland.

Late at night (04:43) they finally found an empty berth on the sleeper car on the overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. I got to share a sleeper berth with the picture of a Dog rather than a Bed. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 7, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Sleeper room signs on the overnight train to Rovaniemi. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Sleeper room signs on the overnight train to Rovaniemi. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 400, 24 mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)

Two-Years Ago (06-August-2014) – Finland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 67: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki Train Station. Field trip to Rovaniemi. Waiting to board an overheated (35°C) overnight train. We were supposed to get a sleeper car, but instead were put on an out of date car attached to the end of the train that didn’t have air conditioning. I expect they never thought it gets hot in Finland.


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One-Year Ago (07-August-2014) — Finland

Gone to See Europe 2014. Day 68: Semester at Sea, Summer 2014 Semester Voyage. Rovaniemi, Finland.

Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. The white line marking the Arctic Circle that just happens to lead to Santa’s Workshop is off by 50 meters (~150 feet). After entering the “free” Disney like/horror house and finally reach Santa’s chamber we found that no cameras were allowed, and you need to pay 40 euros to have you picture taken next to Santa. There were several folks with me that wanted to take my picture next to Santa to compare beards. We walked out. The next day my beard fell off… Reindeer and Sami Field Trip. Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014.

Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)
Tourist Trap, Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland. Reindeer and Sammi Field Trip. Image taken with a Fuji XT1 camera and Bower 8 mm fisheye lens (ISO 400, 8 mm, f/8, 1/4000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC 2014. (David J Mathre)