Credits: Tea Karvinen / Repovesi National Park
Finnish nature photographer Tea Karvinen shares her list of Finland’s ten most beautiful landscapes. She has travelled Finland from north to south and captured spellbinding scenes along the way.
Tea’s first choice is this shot from Pyhä-Luosto National Park. On a December afternoon, she climbed to the highest peak of the Pyhä Mountains to catch the sky in a beautiful shade of pink. The last rays of light had just hit the peak of Luosto Mountain 25 kilometres away, and the fog that had descended into the valley made the scenery appear dreamlike. Snow-covered birch trees naturally framed the photograph.
“I had spent a weekend in November in Åland and now it was time to go home. I hopped on board a ship in Mariehamn and began the 5-6 hour trip towards Turku. In the afternoon around 4 pm, I went out on the deck and watched the scenery of the Baltic Sea as we floated by. Windmills of a rugged yellow stood against the background of the sky on the rocky islets,” Tea says.
Tea finds Finland’s southernmost inhabited island, Utö, to be an exceptional window into both past and present Finnish island life. This photo of the ice and movement of the waves near the shore was taken late in the afternoon on a cold January day.
Utö, a rocky island that’s just over one square kilometre in size, has only 50 year-round residents, but its population triples during the summer. After Finnish Armed Forces vacated the island in 2005, their premises were taken over by locals, and they’re now rented out as tourist accommodation. A free ferry takes five hours to reach this small island in the Baltic Sea, but Utö is a popular spot both during its freezing cold winters and when birds are migrating in spring and autumn.
It was still quiet at the top of Ylläs ski resort on a Sunday morning in February when this amazing view from the top of Ylläs Mountain appeared. Looking towards the national park at its base, she could see the Pallas Mountains in the distance, already bathed in sunlight.
“Right in front of me was the Kellostapuli Mountain, with the Kesänki Mountain behind it, and the mist just floated along the valley,” Tea says.
Learn more about Pallas-Ylläs National Park at the national parks site.
Tea captured this view of Finland’s most iconic national landscape, Koli, in northern Karelia. This particular hill is called the Mäkrävaara and in the distance is Ukko-Koli, the highest peak, soaring 253 metres above Lake Pielisjärvi.
“The famous painting Autumn Landscape of Lake Pielisjärvi by Finnish painter Eero Järnefelt captured this scenery back in 1899, so a friend and I climbed up to witness this amazing view ourselves one September afternoon,” Tea recalls.
Oulanka National Park in Kuusamo is one of Finland’s most popular national parks and is famous for its impressive rapids and falls. The most well-known of the bunch are the Kiutaköngäs rapids in the Oulanka River, as well as the Myllykoski and Jyrävä falls in the Kitka River. Tea uses a slow shutter speed when photographing rapids to bring out their natural beauty.
“I am most taken with the glowing white beauty of the ice and snow,” she says. “This photo of the Myllykoski rapids was taken in January 2012 (at 2 pm).”
“It was 6 pm at the beginning of October. I was driving from Kuusamo towards the tree-covered hills of Koli in northern Karelia. During the day, I had hiked for five hours at Hiidenportti National Park. As I drove along the small roads towards the south, I spotted a big field with a lake behind it. The lovely autumn landscape was reflected on the surface of the lake, so I walked to the shore to capture this vision lit by the last rays of the sun,” recalls Tea.
Discover more highlights of the North Karelia at the Visit Karelia site.
“It was about midday and the temperature was about minus 30°C as I parked my car in Riisitunturi National Park, which is less than a couple of kilometres from the summit (466 metres). At the top of the hill, it was much warmer and a lovely sunset illuminated the idyllic winter scenery. The snow-covered trees of Riisitunturi in mid-winter are known among nature photographers worldwide,” Tea explains.
“I was walking through Repovesi National Park one July afternoon. I had taken a tent and some provisions with me since I was planning to spend the night there. In the evening, I ended up by the Olhava cliffs. I climbed up to admire the spectacular view when I noticed movement along the rock wall: climbers were making their way up the near-perpendicular rock face, 50 metres above the lake surface. It must be an amazing feeling!” Tea says.
At Kilpisjärvi, there’s a popular tourist attraction where the borders of Finland, Sweden, and Norway meet. Not far from there is Saana Mountain. If you go further to the north, you’ll find Halti Mountain, which, at 1,324 metres, is Finland’s highest point.
“On one August, I had the privilege of photographing the blue iridescence of Kilpisjärvi Lake from a helicopter,” Tea explains.
Visit the Kilpisjärvi camping site, to learn more about the accommodations in the area.