Fashion & Portraits

Had a shoot  with Katja today. She was great -just like last time – , but I seem to fail every time I get her infront of the lens. She has a strong presense and I have yet to match that with light. I’m getting closer thou. Hopefully she will allow me to take her portrait again. I just have to flip to mcnally-mode and think magic..

And who ever took the white chair from the hospitals backyard.  I hate you! You ruined  my photo today as my main prop was gone.

–

After the photoshoot  I rushed home. I had to make something to eat, import the photos from the shoot, unpack and repack the gear, get all the stuff together and head out again. This time it was something complitely new to me.

I have walked around the Valkmusa swamp once or twice, but this was different. We were somewhere in Kouvola – I think . – I never sat in a hide before. Nor have I walked through the swamp waiting to get soaked.. I didn’t. I was amazed. I was sure that this was a swimming trip for me. Another suprise were my boots as they actualy kept the water out! Had a blast at the swamp!! Big thanks to all the fellows! Especialy to karvakuono who had a great hide for us to enjoy the day and the scenery. I learned a lot and got to know another side of a photogarphy.

Its around one thirty in the morning and I’m watching Zack Arias’ critique videos. (Episode 5 going on. This is my fourth time around these videos.)  At the same time I am thinking about ways to improve my self as a photographer. What am I doing wrong here? I shouldn’t need to take 100 exposures for one keepper after a five years of shootting and reading endless hours of strobist.com, wacthing pictres of the masters…

So what do I do?

First and for most! I have to think more about the light. Stupid as it seems I thought: hey, I’ll give myself assingments which will force me to do so. Watching these screencasts from Arias I saw few of  ‘black on black’ and ‘white on white’ “school assingments.” Thus I have to shoot them! For me and to make me think more about the light!

Two: For my pictures to be something else than they are now, they need to have a story behind them. I have some ideas for these kind of shoots, but .. I have’t shot them. Why? Because the first one went to shit.  Film noire set was almost this kind of a project but enough. Thus, I have to think of stories to shoot and to think about the light to underline the statement! Light, not photoshop.

Three: down shift! I love digital for its speed and flexibility, but at the same time it has made me to rush. Slow food is IN right now, so whats the hurry with the pictures? I had a quick  shoot today with Hanna. Usualy I would have  the first three images gone through the postproduction pipeline before the midnight  but not today.

I flipped through those 173 images very carefully and tried to find every single little error I made. And there were plenty! After that I started editing, slowly and widely. Usualy I just quickly pick the best image and I take it through the “pipeline.” Now there are double the amount of images with a basic editing on them. They are waiting for the next round.

Huoh.. Ive been kickig and punching my head against the wall with this newish blog for days now. Its finally done, although content is nonexistend, language terrible, and desing  is sloppy.

This is what happens when just can’t do shit!

Tomorrow the new blog will take over my domain and this will be published. I’d be happy to recieve some feedback. Don’t mind the language you can still diss me in finnish!

I’ll be adding old and new photos to the gallery and trying to tweak the flickr and facebook feeds.

A BIG thanks to Toni Kopra for all the understanding and tech support!

It one a clock in the mourning.. ..night I’d say.

I have been fighting with the menalto gallery and WPG2-plugin for it to run in WP. ….they make it sound so easy on the illustration pages.

I have established few basics for the new blog.

1. I’ll create two or three portfolios, which have to be embeded in some way.
2. I still keep the gallery as a stock.
3. Blog turns to english.. no real reason, no one reads this anyways.
4. I have some thoughts about upcomming content for the NEWsite..
5. I coudn’t care less about the spelling.. this one I had to ditch ..for the start.