Fashion & Portraits

Its  one am again and Im here editing.

I shot a wedding last saturday and here is a really quick preview. There was a group of truckers that fell in love with the bride in at same gas station that the couple met. Guys came around and put on a quite a dance show. Just to remind the groom that there are takers if he ever lets go. Not gona happen thou.

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One of Finnish tabloid paper put up 15 wedding portraits for the readers to choose the best one. I don’t know what to think of those pics. Some are really cool, but others are shot with “the nephviews new awsome digital camera.”  It would be ok to do a technicly bad picture if the concept rocks but nope. Point and shoot wedding portrait. You get what pay for I suppose.

I said it before and I’ll said it again. Biggest problem is not me failing a job its me getting a way with it. If I mess things up I need to get shouted at. For magazine and newspaper shooters there are picture editors to do the shouting  but I do not have the luxury of someone else going over my wedding photos.  I have to be my own worts critique.  That said, I just send out an email to a client which basicly said that Im not complitely happy with the set I delivered and I will do another set of black and white pictures for them. For free, of course. If and when I get to choose I would only do black and white wedding pictures.

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On the side note something cool is happening. Plenty of ideas flying around at least.

I met some intresting people couple of weeks ago on my way to the bar. One the models is in there.

The dog is called honey. Ironic because she is everythign else but cuddaly. She might try to sit on your lap just get close enough to bite. Just kidding. Shes a really nice staffer.

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What a dumb day. I have another Elinchrome Skyport reciever waiting for me at the Telefoto. Asked Janne if we could meet for a coffee when I pick up the reciever. He was kinda busy but said OK. He called me back fifteen minutes before my arrival and asked “has telefoto always closed at five?” F#@£! What a dumb thing to do, why I did not check before I left Kotka? I was too sure that it would close at 7pm. Seven my ass. It said five pm all along on the web page.

I was late and could not even get in to the store. Janne did not seem to mind too much so we went to a cafe and chatted for half an hour or so about photography. He has very good points about how to survive or even how to break out in the business. Not that either of us are total pros in our fields of photography.

On my way back I figured I might as well call to Maiju, the stylist. She lives on Porvoo these days and its only couple of kilometers from the road #7 that goes from Kotka to Helsinki. We met, had a coffee and talked about some ideas and life in general. All of sudden the trip was not in vain.

All in all, it wasn’t so dumb day after all. Actualy it was a good day on the road. Even snapped some pictures throught the wind shield but not much to say about those.

I just turned 26 years old.

I took my first “real” pictures nine years ago in 2001. Meaning that the pics were my own and not what someone else told me to shoot. I remember taking my dads Nikon EM to summer job to shoot some picutres and I was so excited. The Haapasaari Curch where I worked as a clerk/tour guide is a beautyful wooden church 25km south-east on the coast of Kotka.

For years I’ve watched dad take family pictures with the EM that has a magical sound to its shutter. It was so complex that all I was alowed to do was to focus and press the release. Of  cource it was not that difficult but I did not know it back then. I was  stoked having the camera with me and padded carefully to the back back not to break it. It was going to be a slow day at the island and I had all the time to take the 24 frames. (most likely some cheap color neg film out of the market that comes in 24 exposure rolls.) Me being me I forgot which was the correct aperture for inside and outside and shot at f1.8 all day.

Bad move. Over exposing the whole roll by good 3-6 stops.  Never saw the pics. Dad payed for the developing but said that there is nothing to print from.  Auts, but after that the diffrence between f1.8 and f8 has been clear.

The camera laid low for the winter and many winters to come but I always picked it up during the summers to shoot my friends on our boat. Tried to shoot my kid brothers soccer game but did not get a single frame with the manual focus midrange telezoom. I had to shoot my sisters “old dance” but at the time it was just snap and hope at the venue. Dad kicked my ass with a simple window light portrait of Laura in our living room.  I’ve always wondered where did his talent and pursuit of goof photographs disapeared. Now days he is happy with the nikon coolpix pocket camera and snapping on auto-mode.

I’ve never liked just snapping pictures. There had to be something else and more often than not that something is was another humanbeing. One of the pictures on my books is a simple portrait of a old school mate shot in our high schools lounge. Very simple, nothing to it actualy, but I thought I got something worth keeping. After school that day I went out side to shoot the streets but all I can remeber is the cold weather that numbed my fingers.

Never I thought it would come to this.

Almost everything meaningfull in my file is related to photography.

Im not complaining though. I love it.LOVE IT as Maiju Siekkinen would scream.

The pic above is a selfportrait shot in valkela churches sacristy. I was  shooting a wedding for a awsome couple from Kouvola last saturday.

More to come.

Uuuh jee..

The Camera101 “speedclass” was yeasterday and seven friends turned out. Which was pretty much what I hoped for. Two or three new facse and it would have been perfect. But the orginal idea in my head was to do this for people I know.

I’d love to get some feedback from all but here are some thoughts of what needs to be changed if I’ll do this  again. (I’ve agreed to do this for the folks at the parish if they ask. And a lighting demo for their cameraclub. What a nutjub that will be.)

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1) Two hours instead of one  so there is no need to rush. And IF things go out smoothly there will be time to do a quick demo or leave early.

2) Too much stuff – white balance was useless, focus and metering could go quicker. They are straight from the manual so only a quick tips where to start and how they are “at the most simple to use”-mode.

3) More of the basics, basics and the basics. And this means going over the terms and the camera structure before heading out to shutter speeds.

4) SLOWER on the ISO-SHUTTER-APERTURE section.

5) Break for a smoke and coffee.

6) Normal coffee next time not the fair trade crap.

7) All in all slower so the who ever is in the audience could have their camera in their hands and make the adjustemts as we go along.

8) Screen captures from info screens of the entry-level model cameras to show exactly where the aperture number is.

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Plenty of things to do better but all in all I felt quite good about the whole thing. I feared that no one would understand a single word I say.

Camera basics course! 30th of June at 18-20pm.

IF you own a dSLR but its stuck at the auto-mode you should think of joining a little “camera basics course” on the 30th of June / six pm/ at Arkku on Mariankatu 14 just next to the taxi station in Kotka.

Its not really a course. Its a about two hours of chatting about how the camera works, what is f-stop, what is the shutter speed and so on.

Very informal but very informative and does not take hours on end. The basics are simple, but you are doomed if you go to a photoforum! Trust me its not worth it.

The meat of the course is the relationships between aparture, shutter speed and iso-setting, what is a f-stop.

On the way we’ll go through  these things as well: Depth of Field, camera structure, different operation modes, light metering, focus-modes, one or two flash tricks and plenty of more small things  and tips.

The cost?

Not more than 10 euros, just to cover the rent for the room, get the coffee and something to eat for the evening.

About twenty places and Im hoping to get at least 7-8 so its worth of putting this together. With less participants its just more relaxing to go in to the field and shoot.

Sing up in facebook or via email (on contact page).  Of cource you can call or text to me 050 5731858

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Important notice

the exact date and time might change if the arkku is not vailable – or if real work interferes.  In anycase everyone will be informed and the course will take place at least very close the 30th of june.