ISSUE # 16 * JULY 2014
www.northernlandscape.org
NORTHERN LANDSCAPE
HAVING COFFEE WITH ANNDIXON NORTHERN WINDS: THE PLASTIC PROBLEM
PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL #16 - RULE OF THIRDS MONTHLY CHALLENGES
THIS IS (HI)STORY! FOULNESS ISLAND
COVER
Bow River HDR, Canada by AnnDixon Beautiful Canadian Rockies in April, Camera Details: Canon EOS Digital 350D, 55mm Lens, Aperture exp 5.6, Shutter speed 1/160, ISO 100,… HDR enhanced….Hand held…. blending five exposures…. 2,1,0,-1,-2 using Photomatix HDR software
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FROM THE EDITOR Greetings everyone! It has been a long time since we have had a new issue of our beloved magazine. I do feel the need to apologize! Here is what happened: I had the whole issue prepared to be published and the only thing that was missing was the interview with our BIG Challenge winner. I went on holidays and took the laptop with me. All I had to do was to add the interview as soon as I had it and release the issue. As soon as I got the answers to my questions I opened the magazine file and noticed that everything was gone. In the front of me I had a whole empty magazine template without anything: no challenge results, no links, no stories, no nothing, just empty! My only hope was that I had been working on the wrong hard drive and had the magazine ready in the backup hard drive instead, but as soon as I get home what I see in the backup hard drive is the same scenario. It seems that or I forgot to click on the button save, or something weird happened.
Editor Chief João Figueiredo
Test readers Charles Kosina, Alyson Kosina
Graphic Artist João Figueiredo
Tutorial by João Figueiredo
Special contributor Nigel Bangert
Web site www.northernlandscape.org
E-mail contact info@northernlandscape.org
Featured artists in this issue AnnDixon João Figueiredo
If you don’t mind, I will put all my money on “something weird happened” because as a professional in marketing I have the routine of saving every time I do some major change. So, following the logic, I shouldn’t have an empty template but an unfinished one if I had missed the save button... right? Well, welcome to the world of technology! Please enjoy your (late) 16th issue of the NLM! Your Editor Chief João Figueiredo
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INDEX 02 About the cover 03 From the editor & technical data 06 Northern winds - The plastic problem 10 Theme Challenge June ~ Skies 20 NLM photo tutorial #16 - Rule of thirds 26 Featured Work Challenge ~ June 36 This is (Hi)story - Foulness Island 44 The BIG Challenge ~ June 54 Having coffee with AnnDixon + her Featured works 64 Northern Landscape: Some facts 69 Back cover artist 70 Back cover 4 • Northern Landscape Magazine
THIS AMAZING MAGAZINE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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Norden winds
The plastic problem
Most of the people already know that plastic bags are a problem in mostly all aspects. It is such a great issue that EU has already “declared war” to them. In average, an EU citizen uses around 200 plastic bags per year. But, wasting plastic bags is not just a European problem: Countries around the world are struggling with the issue and not only the countries but as well the fauna and flora all over the world...
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tatistics say that on average plastic bags are used for about 25 minutes, then they end up in a rubbish dump. If this is not the edge of the consumption mentality/life style, then I don’t know wehat it is... It is also quite fair to say that plastic bags don’t have a particularly fulfilling life. A German environmental organization (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) estimates that more than a billion bags are used every year worldwide. How many are recycled? Only about 10 percent! The problems for the environment are several: Plastic bags take several hundred years until they degrade (about 500 hundred, depending on the kind of plastic!), while animals often mistake the plastic for food and choke to death or get caught on them and die in unexpected traps. Europe is actually a major player, producing nearly a million tons of plastic bags each year - not a million plastic bags a year, a million tons of plastic bags! But the problem is global, and especially in emerging economies like China, Brasil, Indonesia, Philippines, etc. These last two produce a lot of plastic bags, but they don’t have structures in place to dispose of them properly - in other words, a recycling system. Energy production from plastic rubbish like incineration is too expensive for many countries, says Ellen Gunsilius from GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation). The problem is even more serious in cities due to the fast life culture that cities impose on their inhabitantas. According to recent studies published in the journal ‘Nature’, city people produce twice as much rubbish as people living in the country. Landfill sites in Laogang in Shanghai and Bordo Poniente in Mexico City compete for the title of largest rubbish dump in the world. It is thought that 10,000 tonnes of garbage is dumped on each of them per day... Even in poor countries like Rwanda where it’s capital - Kigali that struggled for years
with plastic waste - have this issue. Plastic bags were everywhere, littering the streets and blocking the drain systems. Plastic bags are a 21st century plague! Luckily for Kigali’s inhabitants, Kigali is today one of the cleanest cities in Africa, even getting recognition from the UN by being awarded with the “Habitat Scroll of Honor” two years ago for their no-plastic policy. Anyone travelling to Rwanda nowadays is subjected to baggage checks. All plastic bags are confiscated and immediately disposed of! “In Rwanda, this tactic seems to work, but only because it is coupled with a large effort to control the problem. Taxing bags, like in Denmark and Finland still seems to be more effective,” says Gunsilius. This will again take us to Europe. Lately, many countries have started to adop similar strategies to Ireland. Over there the government has imposed a tax of 22 euro cents ($0.29) per plastic bag. “The taxes were not imposed to generate more tax revenue, but to change people’s behaviour,” says Benjamin Bongardt, policy head at the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union Germany. “Since the introduction of the bag-tax, less plastic bags have been produced.” Plastic bag consumption per capita in Ireland has fallen from 328 bags a year, to 20! In comparison, the EU average, according to a study by the European Commission, is approximately 198 bags! In November 2013, the European Commission made it clear that it wanted to diminish drastically plastic bag waste in a near future. Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik says EU states can completely ban plastic bags in future: “Plastic bags are a symbol of our throw-away society,” he said. Still, Ellen Gunsilius from GIZ says that bans alone are not sufficient. “In many countries, awareness of the damage a plastic bag can cause is often lacking,” (...) “Bans or taxes are more effective if people and business actually understand and accept them.”
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Conservation Union Germany (NABU). For over than a decade, marine biologists have been trying to assess marine pollution by examining dead birds. On average they find 31 different plastic particles in the birds stomachs - and the number of particles is increasing as we speak! Estimates based on those numbers show that there are about 18,000 plastic particles floating on each square kilometer of water surface! Some of them are microscopically small, others full intact plastic bags... “80 percent of all bags come from land, and not from the sea. That means plastic bags are not littered from ships, but mainly come from tourists, residents via the coastline or rivers, or are blown by the wind into the sea,” said Bongardt.
Marine biologists are finding more and more plastic particles in the stomachs of dead birds and fish. How do you think this affects the quality of the food you buy and eat? How much do you think this affects your health? EU’s plans to reduce plastic bag use by 80 percent are already being tested in somes member states who took the initiative to start imposing some bans and taxes on plastic bags. “The problem so big that we can’t even measure it,” said Benjamin Bongardt, an expert in waste at the Nature and Biodiversity
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The tragedy can even be measured in more shocking numbers. According to Janez Potocnik, the EU’s environment commissioner and a Slovenian politician, there are100 billion plastic bags being used in the European Union every year. “More than eight billion plastic bags end up as litter a year, causing enormous environmental damage - particularly for fish and birds that end up swallowing particles of these plastics,”. Danes and Finns use just four bags per capita each year, while in Poland, Portugal and Slovakia, annual usage per capita is more than 450 plastic bags. The EU commission wants to pull the brake and press member states to reduce the usage of plastic bags - which some populistic politicians take advantage on in order to pick up some points on the pols.
On November 2013 he presented a draft for a new packaging directive against plastic bags. According to that directive, member states will be obligated to reduce the usage of plastic bags. Unfortunately it is still unclear what is going to happen to that draft due to internal member states politics. By using what can be interpreted by the less informed people as an attempt of EU to control details in apparently internal member
state issues and citizens private life, rightwing extremists manage to use this as a weapon to use in their campaings, making it harder for the public intitutions (who actually have the power to solve this situation) to deal with the issue. This transforms a small issue, quite easy to be solved, into a major and delicate political game. In the end, it always comes to the same issue...
PHOTO FROM ALL-FREE-DOWNLOAD. COM AND ARTICLE BY JOﾃグ FIGUEIREDO WISH TO DEBATE SOMETHING? MAKE YOUR SUGGESTION TO: INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG
Northern Landscape Magazine 窶｢ 9
Theme Challen June ~ Skies 10 • Northern Landscape Magazine
nge 18 ENTRIES 31 VOTES 1 WINNER 4 DAYS FOR VOTING
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HARVEST TIME, NORTHERN IRELAND BY LUDWIG WAGNER WITH 6 VOTES
Challenge winner 12 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Ludwig Wagner Ludwig’s multi-faceted life experience is reflected in his art. He produces work inspired by people, objects and places – past, present and imaginary. He was born in South Africa where he studied Art at the University of Pretoria. Ludwig worked for a few years as a teacher and then in the film industry, one of the passions of his life. He now lives in London and runs a creative agency focused on design and advertising. www.zuluspice.com
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GOLDEN MOMENT BY REMO SAVISAAR
BIZARRE MAMMATUS CLOUDS AFTER A STORM BY GEORGIA MIZULEVA
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BUNGLAS - HIGHEST SEA CLIFFS IN EUROPE? BY GEORGE ROW POPPYLICIOUS VIEW BY IRINA CHUCKOWREE
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NORTH SEA COAST BY KASIA-D
SUSSEX SUNSET BY JOHN THURGOOD
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BLUE SKY BY JULIE08
SUNSET TREE BY NIGEL BANGERT
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CHANGE OF WEATHER BY ARIE KOENE
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NLM PHOTO T
RULE OF THIRDS This is probably one of the most hated and at the same time used guidelines in the world of art – which also applies to photography. Be aware if you still aren’t that this is not a true rule though. To be a great photographer you don’t have to follow this, you can use it like the salt on food: moderately and every time you fell like...
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TUTORIAL #16
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L
ike I was saying in the introduction of this tutorial, this is one of the most hated and at the same time used “skills” of all in the photography world. So, for those who hate it, I~m sorry but I can’t keep on talking about photography without talking about this! This rule – that actually is more like a guideline – is supposed to help you out getting a good composition, a kind of a kick starter when you are a newbie, lost your inspiration or you just can’t stop using it...
FIRST, A LITTLE HISTORY... The rule of thirds was first written by John Thomas Smith in 1797. In his book (Remarks on Rural Scenery), Smith quotes a 1783 work by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in which Reynolds discusses, in unquantified terms, the balance of dark and light in a painting. Thomas Smith then continues with an expansion on the idea, naming it the “Rule of thirds”. Thomas Smith’s conception of the rule is meant to apply more generally than the version commonly explained today, as he recommends it not just for dividing the frame, but also for all division of straight lines, masses, or groups. On the other hand, he does not discuss the now-common idea that intersections of the third-lines of the frame are particularly strong or interesting for composition. Writing in 1845, in his book Chromatics, George Field notes (perhaps erroneously) that Sir Joshua Reynolds gives the ratio 2:1 as a rule for the proportion of warm to cold colors in a painting, and attributes to Smith the expansion of that rule to all proportions in painting. Still today this rule is taught and used all over the world.
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WHAT IS IT REALLY? The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section. The main reason for observing the rule of thirds is to discourage placement of the subject at the center, or prevent a horizon from appearing to divide the picture in half. Divide to conquer, as simple as that! An image should be imagined as divided into nine equal squares (two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines) and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. If you are a “light” fan of this rule (like me), then you won’t take this rule too seriously and use it “so so”. What I mean is that you do not have to divide your canvas mathematically in order for this rule to work out. A great example of what I mean is the cover shot of this tut. I’ll explain you better on the next steps...
STEP BY STEP
1-
Get your camera and chose a subject. Any subject will do, even people!
2-
Some cameras have this functionality built-in, some not - it doesn’t matter, you can still do it anyway! If your camera has a grid display, put it on, if not, imagine a grid (on your canvas) like I previously explained: Nine equal squares or two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines (yes, it is the same).
tion and things will turn out great!
3 -
Now all you have to do is decide where will things be. No over the lines, please! Otherwise just place start placing the composition elements (trees, cars, people, objects, animals, etc) on the squares, or group them, etc...
CONCLUSION This can be a technique to help you getting started in the art world. Use it with modera-
own personal portfolio but before that let me tell you that some people have already this rule built in in their own creative minds. In fact, I know what I am talking about because I only found out about this rule for about two years ago and I have been using this since I started with photography, ages ago... So, if you have been using this ruile unconsciously, don’t worry, you are a fully normal person! In fact, there are some scientific
In the cover shot you can see that I chosen to have the waterfall occupiyng more or less the space of the bottom left two square lines with the angel on the middle right square and the other squares have “rest areas” for the eye. You can even make more sub-divisions but I will let you take your own conclusions. If you don’t understand what I am talking about, take a look at the image below. I will be showing you more examples of my
studies that point out that human beatuty pattern is defined by geometry. I would say that creativity uses the same principle... Just one last note. I don’t allways use this rule consciously. Sometimes I do it without even realising. In this particular case that is what happened - By then I still didn’t know that this was a rule and I remember that on that day I was just shooting as I thought it would look better...
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TUTORIAL AND IMAGES BY JOﾃグ FIGUEIREDO
WANT TO SEND US YOUR TUTORIAL? SEND IT TO
INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG Northern Landscape Magazine 窶｢ 25
Feature Work Challen June 26 • Northern Landscape Magazine
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nge
22 ENTRIES 41 VOTES 1 WINNER 4 DAYS FOR VOTING
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BOW LAKE REFLECTION BY VICKIE EMMS WITH 8 VOTES
Challenge winner 28 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Vickie Emms A true friend is someone you can disagree with and still remain friends. For if not, they weren’t true friends in the first place. – Sandy Ratliff Born in Scotland, married, mother of three grown daughters and have 7 beautiful grandchildren. I live in Manitoba, Canada, one of the prairie provinces. Most of my scenery is from those areas, although I do live close to the eastern lakes area of the province and visit my favorite parks often. My husband and I have been married 45 wonderful years, and travel quite a bit, usually within Canada and the United States. So you will see a mixed bag of shots from both countries. I love photography, camping, traveling, crafts, flower gardening and music. I’ve been taking photographs most of my life, upgrading to the newest cameras as they came on the market. Now with digital, I am having the time of my life. I’ve had photos published in Canadian Wildlife A Magazine of the Canadian Wildlife Federation in November/December issue in 2007 and the September/October issue 2008. I’ve also had photos accepted to Trail Canada and Ocean Treasures.
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OLD BRIDGE BY HANDSINFOCUS
DRIVING THROUGH THE RAPESEED FIELDS BY JCHANDERS
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MORNING LIGHTS BY RODDY ATKINSON
ERAMOSA RIVER BY JULES572
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KANANASKIS RIVER BY YUKONDICK
ROWING BOATS AT TOLLESBURY BY NIGEL BANGERT
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MEMORIAL DRIVE SUNSET BY MICHAELJP
THE COTTAGE BY THE SEA BY VOLUNTARYRANGER
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RAIL BRIDGE BY PETE JOHNSTON
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This is (h
Foulness Island 36 • Northern Landscape Magazine
hi)story!
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F
oulness Island is the largest island in Essex and the fourth largest off the coast of England. It has vast stretches of isolated marshland and is separated from the mainland by tidal waterways. The River Crouch is to the north, the River Roach to the west and the North Sea to the East. There are two villages on the north side, Churchend and Courtsend, with a total population of around 200. The island’s name is derived from the Old English fulga-naess. Fulga is the old word for fowl, meaning wild birds and naess is the Germanic word for promontory. It is an internationally important site for migrating and breeding birds. Foulness Point is designated as a site of Special Scientific Interest. Habitat consists of extensive mud and sand flats, which are covered twice a day by the tides, salt marshes, banks of shingle and shells, grazing marshes, rough grass and scrubland. During the winter months over 100,000 waterfowl have been recorded. During the North Sea flood of 1953 nearly the whole island was covered in water and two people died. The tide rose 15.7 feet, the expected tide was 8.7 feet. The sea walls around the island would have coped but for strong winds which produced large waves that washed away the sea defences. A rescue was launched by the army, the Southend lifeboat and various civilian services. A barge and an army DUKW amphibious truck rescued the people. Also rescued were 400 cattle, 14 calves, 28 horses, 72 sheep, 6 lambs, 3 pigs, 670 chikens, (ironically) 100 ducks, 2 dogs, 10 rabbits, 4 budgerigars and 16 dairy cows. The island is used by the military to test weapons and before 1922 when they built a road, the only access was across the Maplin Sands via the Broomway. The Broomway is a tidal path said to predate the Romans but the three mile walk to Asplins Head is still taken today by walkers and adventurers, it is advisable to go with a guide though as it can be dangerous. The Broomway itself is about
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six miles long. I went to the island on Sunday the 1st of June. You are allowed to visit the Heritage Centre, which is the Old School House, on the first Sunday of every month. The journey there took me through the busy seaside resort of Southend, which is a huge contrast to the peace and quiet I was about to experience. At the guard hut run by a security firm you give your personal details and car registration, a pass is issued entitling you to stay from 12-4. Once through the gate you follow the military road into Churchend, you are not allowed to stop or take photos along the way as this is not a public right of way. Once you enter the village of Churchend you are only allowed to visit the Heritage Centre and the church, though this has now been sold as the upkeep became too expensive, it is going to become a community centre. To see more of the island you can take a ride on the trailer of a tractor organised by Peter a local farmer and member of the Foulness Archaeological Society. Here is a link to the site http://www.shoeburyness.qinetiq.com/ Pages/default.aspx . You are also allowed to walk on Public Rights of Way or (PROWs) as long as you bear in mind all the safety regulations. There is a map on the website. The locals will guide you to where you can go. I went hoping to find a thriving local community with old traditions and plenty of history. The Heritage Centre is well presented and maintained, with plenty of artefacts to see and lots of local history. The islanders are very friendly and helpful, but the community seems to have been somewhat depleted. People have moved away to find work and with both pubs on the island now closed and the church sold, it feels as though the heart of this island has partly gone. Several farms have also gone bankrupt over the years, since the 1970’s. This place is unique, the only military site that has a civilian population living along side it,
I hope it survives for many years to come.
THE OWL BARN
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FISHERMAN’S POINT
THE BROOMWAY
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CHURCHEND
Northern Landscape Magazine ST MARY THE VIRGIN• 41
TRADITIONAL ESSEX HOUSE
GEORGE AND DRAGON PUB 42 • Northern Landscape Magazine
THE HERITAGE CENTRE
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TRACTOR RIDE
PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXT BY NIGEL BANGERT
WANT TO SEND US A STORY ABOUT YOUR 44 • Northern Landscape Magazine
LOCAL
MAIL US TO: Northern Landscape Magazine • 45 INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG STORIES?
THE BIG CHALL
14 ENTRIES 17 VOTES 1 WINNER
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4 DAYS FOR VOTING
LENGE ~ JUNE
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BOW RIVER HDR, CANADA
GAMLA ÅMINNE WAYS JOÃO FIGUEIREDO 3 VOTES
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ANNDIXON
3 VOTES
The BIG top ten
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AUTUMN - UPPER JOFFRE LAKE, JOFFRE LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA YANNIK HAY 2 VOTES
MISTAYA CANYON FALLS MICHAELJP 2 VOTES
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SEVEN SISTERS CLIFFS, EAST SUSSEX
LUDWIG WAGNER
2 VOTES
CROWFOOT GLACIER AND BOW LAKE
CHARLES KOSINA
2 VOTES
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DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK
LEZVEE
1 VOTE
DUSK SHORELINE NEAR MOVILLE, DONEGAL (RECTANGULAR) GEORGE ROW
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1 VOTE
KYLEMORE ABBEY - IRELAND
CELTIC LINES
ARIE KOENE
KASIA-D
1 VOTE
0 VOTES
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ANNDIXON
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Featured artist
nn Dixon seems to be a very popular artist among the members of our community. For the second time in less then six months she wins a second BIG Challenge. Congratulations Ann! As usual, we took a seat on our imaginary private jet and travelled from south central Sweden to Chester in the United Kingdom to have a little coffee with our winner and, take a look at her featured works in our group and last but not least, to have a little chat with her.
# Congratulations for the win. It is the second time you win this prize, what do you have to say about that? I am delighted with the win.
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INTERVIEW
Having coffee with AnnDixon + her Featured works Northern Landscape Magazine • 55
AT ONE WITH NATURE : LAC BEAUVERT, JASPER, CANADA
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# A second place and two victories on the BIG Challenge. Have you ever thougt about going pro? What’s the next level? I am having trouble with my joints and cannot get around so easy, so no to pro, its just a hobby.
THE ROCKIES, CANMORE, ALBERTA, CANADA
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# Do you save all your old cameras?
Yes I have all my old camera’s, I am a bit of a hoarder, my very first camera that is 50+ years old, I still have
# Which is your favourite photographing technique and why?
I love taking flower shots mainly, but Landscapes when in a place worthy of Landscape shots.
VILLAGE CHURCH SNOWDONIA
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VANCOUVER SKYLINE
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# Post processing can demand a lot of time. How do you deal with the post processing use on your shots? I don’t do a lot of post processing, but when I do I use ACDSee or ipiccy to do so.
# Describe me your worse shot ever! My worst shots are when they are blurry.
# Any other thoughts you want to put out there?
Thank you to all the members that voted for me, I appreciate all.
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SNOW COVERED TREE HOUSE
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WANT TO BE FEATURED?
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BOW RIVER HDR, CANADA BY ANNDIXON
THE WINNER OF OUR BIG CHALLENGE ~ JUNE
DON’T LOSE OUR NEXT BIG CHALLENGE! Northern Landscape Magazine • 63
Northern La Some facts Rubus chamaemorus
R
ubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry. English common names include cloudberry, bakeapple, knotberry and knoutberry, aqpik or low-bush salmonberry (in Alaska - not to be confused with true salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis), and averin or evron.
Hemisphere from 78°N, south to about 55°N, and very scattered south to 44°N mainly in mountainous areas. In Europe they grow in the Nordic countries and the Baltic states. In Asia across northern Russia east towards the Pacific Ocean. Small populations are also found further south, as a botanical vestige of the Ice Ages; it is found in Germany’s Weser
Unlike most Rubus species, the cloudberry is dioecious, and fruit production by a female plant requires pollination from a male plant. The cloudberry grows to 10–25 cm high. The leaves alternate between having 5 and 7 soft, handlike lobes on straight, branchless stalks. After pollination, the white (sometimes reddish-tipped) flowers form raspberry-sized berries. Encapsulating between 5 and 25 drupelets, each fruit is initially pale red, ripening into an amber color in early autumn. Cloudberries occur naturally throughout the Northern
How a Cloudberry looks like 64 • Northern Landscape Magazine
andscape and Elbe valleys, where it is under legal protection, and rarely in the moorlands of Britain and Ireland. In North America, cloudberries grow wild across most of northern Canada, Alaska, northern Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, and there is a small population on Long Island, New York. The cloudberry can withstand cold temperatures down to well below -40 °C, but is sensitive to salt and to dry conditions. It grows in bogs, marshes and wet meadows and requires sunny exposures in acidic ground. Despite its modern demand as a delicacy exceeding supply (particularly in Norway) the cloudberry is primarily a wild plant. Wholesale prices vary widely based on the size of the yearly harvest, but can reach €10/kg. Since the middle of the 1990s, however, the species has formed part of a multinational research project. The Norwegian government, in cooperation with Finnish, Swedish and Scottish counterparts, has vigorously pursued the aim of enabling commercial production of various wild berries (Norway imports 200 - 300 tonnes of cloudberries per year from Finland). Beginning in 2002, selected cultivars have been available to farmers, notably “Apolto” (male), “Fjellgull” (female) and “Fjordgull” (female). The cloudberry can be cultivated in Arctic areas where few other crops are possible, for example along the northern coast of Norway. The ripe fruits are golden-yellow, soft and
juicy, and are rich in vitamin C. When eaten fresh, cloudberries have a distinctive tart taste. When over-ripe, they have a creamy texture somewhat like yogurt and a sweetened flavour. They are often made into jams, juices, tarts, and liqueurs. In Finland, the berries are eaten with heated “leipäjuusto” (a local cheese; the name translates to “breadcheese”), as well as lots of cream and sugar. In Sweden, cloudberries and cloudberry jam are used as a topping for ice cream, pancakes, and waffles. In Norway, they are often mixed with whipped cream and sugar to be served as a dessert called “Multekrem” (Cloudberry cream), as a jam or as an ingredient in homemade ice cream. They may also be added to cakes that often contain marzipan. In Atlantic Canada, cloudberries are used to make “Bakeapple Pie”. Canadians also use them for jam, but not on the same scale as Scandinavians. In Alaska and Northern Canada, the berries are mixed with seal oil, reindeer or caribou fat (which is diced up and made fluffy with the seal oil), and sugar to make “Eskimo Ice Cream” or Akutaq. The recipes vary by region. Along the Yukon and Kuskokwim River areas, white fish (pike, whitefish) along with shortening and sugar is used. The berries are an important resource for traditional foods to the Native tribes. Due to its high vitamin C content, the berry is valued both by Nordic seafarers and by the Inuit as protection against scurvy. Its benzoic acid content acts as a natural preservative. Northern Landscape Magazine • 65
Tea made from cloudberry leaves was used in ancient Scandinavian herbal medicine to cure urinary tract infections.
The berry is called Bakeapple in Newfoundland. One explanation for the name suggests it is derived from the French term “Baie Qu’Appelle”, meaning “What is this In Nordic countries traditionally liqueurs such berry called?” as Lakkalikööri (a Finnish liqueur) are made of cloudberry. It has a strong taste and a high sugar content. Cloudberry has also served as a spice for akvavit. A cloudberry liqueur is also made in the northeastern Quebec region of Canada. The liqueur is known as chicoutai, which is the local aboriginal name for the cloudberry. The cloudberry appears on the Finnish version of the 2 euro coin. The name of the hill Beinn nan Oighreag in Breadalbane in the Scottish Highlands means “Hill of the Cloudberries” in Scots Gaelic.
W Worldwide distribution of Cloudberry
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IMAGES FROM WIKIPEDIA USED UNDER THE FAIR USE TERMS
WANT TO SEND US YOUR FACTS? MAIL US TO:
INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG
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Back cover artist
F
or the first time ever João Figueiredo got a prize at our BIG Challenge! With three votes – the same as the first place but no tiebreaker due to there was no more then 15 entries in the challenge – João managed to get the back cover of the NLM.
João has been the group moderator for about two years now and is the “engine” of the Northern Landscape Magazine project. João doesn’t say much about himself in his profile but he has earlier written a book that you are free to see and buy.
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NORTHERN LANDSCAPE ISSUE # 16 * JULY 2014
www.northernlandscape.org
GAMLA ÅMINNE WAYS There is a dirt road connecting the surroundings of Forsheda to the surro u n d i n g s o f H å n g e r. I n t h e m i d d l e t h e r e i s a s m a l l l o c a l n a t u r a l r e s e r v e that conservs the long lost original old Swedish woods. There is information about it in the local, but for what it seems I can’t find it any where online. Very strange… Gamla Åminne, Värnamo – Sweden
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