PhotoGrunskis

11/09/2026

Some rifled artillery of the 19th century

11/09/2026

Architecture of Daugavpils Fortress: gunpowder magazine with Gothic Revival facade and guardhouse with Egyptian Revival entrance.

10/09/2026

Daugavpils Fortress after summer rain.

10/09/2026

Rainy July days in Daugavpils.
Last summer was quite busy, and I could not find time or energy to post much. Now it feels a bit calmer, so I better start posting my summer photos before the snow falls!

Let's start with my visit to my hometown. It was a heatwave before I arrived and pretty hot when I left, but for the most part while I stayed in Daugavpils, it was raining! Nonetheless, rainy weather gives some nice opportunities for pretty shots!

17/08/2026

Here is a little ad from LinkedIn that I made about my graphic design and illustration services 😊

Make sure your work stands out - commission a graphical abstract! • Graphical abstracts for grants, posters and articles • Logos for projects & labs • Infinitely scalable custom vector & high-resolution raster illustrations • Editable formats and print-ready files You can reach me at photogr...

27/07/2026

North Karelia summer trip.
Koli National Park

Another day among the beautiful landscapes of Koli National Park.

I said it in the previous post and I’ll say it again - I think the views don’t get any more Finnish than this! Especially when you have a Finnish spitz posed on a backdrop of quartzite cliffs, old, crooked pine trees and massive lakes with endless tiny forested islands.

But despite being a cherry on top of the composition and perfectly completing this lovely scenery, our little Finnish spitz had had enough of this trip and started protesting against hiking further. Eventually she was embarrassed by being carried in the hands of Ilze Brila and later continued to walk on her four paws.

26/07/2026

North Karelia summer trip.
Koli National Park

Incredibly beautiful landscapes of massive forested hills, 1,8-billion-year-old quartzite cliffs, and endless lakes stretching to the horizon…

It doesn't get more Finnish than this! No surprise it was a place of inspiration for the artists of the Golden Age of Finnish Art.

24/07/2026

North Karelia summer trip. Ala-Koitajoki nature trails (Part 1/2)

After the Petkeljärvi National Park we went towards Koli National park, but we had to
check a couple of spots on the way there…where I could obsess over every mossy stump, every lichen and every fern 😁

Our first stop was at Ala-Koitajoki. Beautiful river with a lot of greenery and forests on the banks, frequent rapids and endless damselflies everywhere. Some of the paths looked like people walk there rarely and in two days walking on different trails we met people only once! It made me almost forget that I am on a hiking trail. Oh, and we also saw some nice beaver traces!

24/07/2026

North Karelia summer trip.
Petkeljärvi National Park (Part 2/2)
Here are photos of how we walked on eskers, enjoyed birds, snakes, and landscapes...

Unsurprisingly, we saw black-throated loons (6th photo), which are symbols of the Petkeljärvi National Park.
There you can also still see the remains of the WW2 trenches (13th photo).
Not far from the visitor’s centre, there is an osprey’s nest in the distance (7th photo) On one of the eskers around a dozen grass snakes were occasionally crossing our path path (11th photo). Grass snakes excited equally Ilze Brila, Charli and , the only difference was that Sisu was very keen to hunt them and tell us very loudly what she thinks about us not letting her hunt!

1st photo - Charli and Ilze Brila looking at birds
2nd photo - Common sandpiper
3, 4 - narrow esker we walked through
5 - Common goldeneye
6 - black-throated loon
7 - osprey’s nest
11 - grass snake
12 - snake’s skin
13 - WW2 trenches
15 - Great spotted woodpecker
16 - very tired Sisu after a good walk

Petkeljärvi Center