Sammalvalo

Sammalvalo I'm Paul Stevens, a photographer based in Finland that organizes nature-based, wellbeing services around nature photography and biodiversity.

I like to take pictures of just about anything natural.

The moment when the rising sun peeks througj a gap in the tree line.
03/09/2026

The moment when the rising sun peeks througj a gap in the tree line.

When you slow down, you can find all kinds of wonderous organisms in the Finnish forest. This lovely orange growth is mo...
02/09/2026

When you slow down, you can find all kinds of wonderous organisms in the Finnish forest. This lovely orange growth is moss going mouldy. Instead, it is the fruiting body of a slime mould called sammalparanvoi in Finnish and Lignydium muscorum in scientific language. I couldn't find an English name for it, so I shall just translate from Finnish - moss shaving cream 😄

Slime moulds are not fungi, but colonies of single-celled amoeboids. The amoeba cells hunt for prey in the soil, providing and important service in recycling nutrients. At some point they form together and come to the surface to reproduce. And that is what we see here.

Geese flying out and away. Perhaps just to better pasture nearby, perhaps to their wintering grounds. I made two version...
01/09/2026

Geese flying out and away. Perhaps just to better pasture nearby, perhaps to their wintering grounds. I made two versions. One in colour - it was a beautiful evening, the other in black and white, which is perhaps, as black and white often is, more melancholic and shows the mood. Autum is here and the days are drawing in, but that just means different subjects to photograph.

Speedy cranes shot at 400 mm and using a slow shutter speed of 1/20 s.
31/08/2026

Speedy cranes shot at 400 mm and using a slow shutter speed of 1/20 s.

In the Finnish forest, you can find all kinds of weird and wonderful organisms like this Cladonia lichen.
27/08/2026

In the Finnish forest, you can find all kinds of weird and wonderful organisms like this Cladonia lichen.

So small and light to balance on moss. When you're a young toad haircap and sphagnum moss form a forest to navigate one ...
26/08/2026

So small and light to balance on moss. When you're a young toad haircap and sphagnum moss form a forest to navigate one way or another.



Instaluontokuvaajat

A quieter spot in Nuuksio national park.
25/08/2026

A quieter spot in Nuuksio national park.

The Finnish Kalevala saaga was a source of inspiration for Tolkien and it is well known that the Finnish language gave h...
24/08/2026

The Finnish Kalevala saaga was a source of inspiration for Tolkien and it is well known that the Finnish language gave him a base for the elven language. But now I'm starting to think that the Finnish forest and its trees gave him the idea for Ents - the guardians of the forest. I often find ent-like trees. This juniper certainly looks like one to me. Perhaps not Treebeard, but perhaps a rarely seen female Ent 🤔

Fiery pond on Viiankiaapa.As the sun slowly rises, its rays light up the mist rising from the water. Walking around an a...
20/08/2026

Fiery pond on Viiankiaapa.

As the sun slowly rises, its rays light up the mist rising from the water. Walking around an aapa mire in the midnight sun was spmething very special and magical. Viiankiaapa is also very special and should not be under threat.
Keep up the good work Suomen luonnonsuojeluliiton Lapin piiri

Meet Finland's national butterfly, paatsamasinisiipi - holly blue - (Celastrina argiolus). I found these two resting wh...
19/08/2026

Meet Finland's national butterfly, paatsamasinisiipi - holly blue - (Celastrina argiolus). I found these two resting while on a midnight sun walk on Viiankiaapa.

It's catterpillar secretes a compound that attracts ants, which then take care of the catterpillar and protect it from predators.

Suomen Luonnonvalokuvaajat

Osoite

Espoo

Nettisivu

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Hälytykset

Tiedä ensimmäisenä ja anna meille oikeus lähettää sinulle sähköpostitse uutisia ja promootioita Sammalvalo :ltä. Sähköpostiosoitettasi ei käytetä muihin tarkoituksiin, ja voit perua milloin tahansa.

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