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July 2019 – Photography

This summer has been a bit slow for me in terms of photography. Although the season has many unique and interesting weather conditions, I found myself staying up late for the midnight sunsets only a handful of times. July was definitely not my best month for photos, but it was still a blast to be outdoors and enjoy the heat, sauna and swimming. Autumn is around the corner and I have a feeling that it will inspire me once again to create some interesting images. Below are a few photos from July.

”SUMMER MOON”. Finland.

Above: I spent a fews days at the summer cottage again this year. This is a simple shot of the moon over the lake.

”SUMMER EVENING ISLAND”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Another of my favourite local island ”Voiluoto”, here in Joensuu.

”SUMMER NIGHT SWIM”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Summer is great for swimming. Another simple shot on a summer night.

”SIBELIUS MONUMENT”. Helsinki, Finland.
”SIBELIUS POLAROID”. Helsinki, Finland.

Above: I was in Helsinki this July for a week or so, and finally decided to visit this monument dedicated to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. If you visit this site, make sure to go underneath it and grab a shot. Interesting.

”JOENSUU POLAROID”. Joensuu, Finland.
”JOENSUU POLAROID II”. Joensuu, Finland.
”NATURE POLAROID”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: A few Polaroid photos from around Joensuu using my SX-70.

”PUPPY”.
”PUPPY POLAROID”.

Above: My portraits for the month 🙂 One of my family members recently got a dog, so I spent a bit of time in the yard with this little dude and snapped a few. I’m still editing a lot of photos from my previous shoots with Rosa Summanen, so I will probably add more of those to my website when they are ready.

 

That was it for July. I think that autumn will bring the weather conditions that I crave and I hope to get some great shots once again. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer and get some great photos!

 

See you out there at the lake!

 

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June 2019 – Photography

Summer is here and so are the amazing colours that come with it. The days feel long due to the sun only setting around 11pm, so staying awake until late is crucial if one enjoys the golden hour style of photography. I managed to get a few nice landscapes and did a couple of fun portrait shoots again with Rosa. I also got a chance to visit Helsinki and to use my classic Polaroid Sx-70, which is always an intriguing and unique experience in my opinion. Below are my photos from June.

LANDSCAPES:

”SUMMER SUNSET”. Finland.

Above: Late night sunset somewhere over Lake Kapustaselkä.

”SUMMER SCENE”. Finland.

Above: I don’t usually post photos that I’ve taken during the middle of the day since I find the colours around sunset to be more pleasing, but I thought I’d add this one just to show what the nature looks like on a sunny day here in Finland.

”SUMMER DAY”. Finland.

Above: This photo was taken before sunset somewhere on Lake Kapustaselkä.

POLAROID:

”SUMMER HELSINKI”. Helsinki, Finland.
”SUMMER HELSINKI II”. Helsinki, Finland.

Above: I’ve really been enjoying my Polaroid Sx-70 recently. Using this old instant camera from 1974 has given me a reason to approach my photography in a different manner, and every shot feels in a way like a gamble. The photos develop in around 10-15 minutes, and you never know exactly what you’re going to get. I’m constantly looking for an excuse to use it despite the cost of each photo, which works out to around 2-3€ per photo.

PORTRAITS:

I had a really fun shoot with Rosa Summanen at the beginning of June. The weather was great and so were the flowers, giving us a good chance to get outdoors and get creative with the colours. Below are some photos from the shoot. Please go and check out Rosa Summanen’s Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/rosesummanen/

”BRIGHTER DAYS I”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.
”BRIGHTER DAYS III”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.
”BRIGHTER DAYS II”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Photos from shoot with Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

 

So that was it for June. Not so much to show this month, but it was fun and rewarding as usual. Hope that you all have a great summer!

 

See you out there in the bushes 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 2019 – Photography

April was a bit of a mixed bag. The lakes have been thawing nicely and I have managed to get out into the nature, but in the end there were only one or two landscape photos that I thought were useable. It’s that time of the year where the scenery is mostly brown and patches of snow scatter the landscapes. Sure, these moments should ideally be used as a means to stir ones creative juices, but the photos that I have taken in the forest or by the lake just haven’t stood out for me enough. The rest of my photography time was spent developing my portrait skills in the ”studio” (my lounge), taking cityscapes or trying out older vintage cameras. April was an interesting and greatly rewarding month for me. Below are some of my photos from April 2019.

 

”SNOW WOLF”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Joensuu’s local wolf-dude statue caked in snow. A snapshot from an early morning walk.

”SPRING CITYSCAPE”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: ”Pielisjoki”. Our local river that runs through the city was one of the first places that I noticed had thawed. This is a panorama of one of my favourite spots for a cityscape photo. I’m a sucker for reflections.

”POLAROID ROSES”. Joensuu, Finland.
”POLAROID – JOENSUU ART MUSEUM”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: This April I got my hands on an old Polaroid SX-70 from around 1974. I’ve wanted one of these cameras for a very long time now, and I finally decided to get it. I like the idea of having any instant camera for taking photos that focus on family, friends and other personal details that could one day serve as memories. The physicality of using a Polaroid has a unique feeling to it, and reminds me that not everything needs to be perfect or predictable when creating an image. I hope to do a full blog with more of these Polaroid photos.

”RED APPLE PORTRAIT”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Rosa Summanen was back again in April to help me out with my journey into portraiture. This image above is a photo from a simple, red-themed shoot. As someone who has relied mostly on natural lighting for my landscape photography, learning how to manipulate and control the light has given me goosebumps. It’s been great to develop my skills and I’m now starting to feel more confident with this side of photography.

”RED APPLE PORTRAIT II”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Another one from the red-themed shoot.

”LIGHT WAVES”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: Experimenting a bit using a combination of flash and continuous lighting.

”SPRING REEDS”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: A soft and muted lake scene at golden hour in Joensuu.

”SPRING SUNSET”. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: My only decent sunset photo of April. Being back in the nature and enjoying moments like these have reminded me of what brought me into photography in the first place. Can’t wait to do more.

”SMOKEY”. Model: Rosa Summanen. Joensuu, Finland.

Above: I’m really happy with this image. I did another shoot with Rosa for this one, but this time we went with a noir-style theme. The smoke was added afterwards with Photoshop, and was created with another photo of burning incense that I took separately. I definitely want to do a separate blog post detailing the whole shoot, as there were many interesting images, many of which I’m still busy editing. The photo above was definitely one of my favourites, and I was really happy to have it featured on the Fstoppers Instagram feed.

That was it for April! I hope you enjoyed the photos and please go and check out more of Rosa’s modelling skills here on Instagram.

Have a great May! 🙂