25.8.2011 / Vivian Maier

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Every now and then I come across something so inspiring that I feel the need to share it with others. Such is the case with Vivian Maier. Originally I read something about her on British Journal of photography and thought it was pretty amazing. Then, for some reason, I kinda forgot about it until today. Someone has done all street photography lovers a huge favor by transforming Maier's images into a homepage. Great!

Vivian Maier is a virtually unknown photographer. Or at least she was. During a thrift sale/yard sale or something similar, some boxes with her photos were suddenly discovered. The quality of the work, as well the quantity, made everyone wonder why she never published anything (apparently). Talk about a creative, yet a bit difficult, genius.I find myself enjoying street photography more and more with each passing day and her stuff really stands out. She didn't have time to browse the web or compare different lenses on various message boards and she probably never went to school to learn photography. She only did what she had in her heart and followed a vision. Throughout her whole life. I'm inspired. Greatly inspired.

There's more info on her website so do check that out. You can click on the pic below to check her website out.

17.8.2011 / My M9

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Oh, the day finally came. Pretty much ever since I got into photography a little over two years ago, I've been lusting after rangefinder cameras and Leicas in particular. Well, I found an amazing deal (well, it was still insanely expensive) on the brand new black M9-P. I had to seize the moment, I had to get it. And I did. It's a completely new world to me and it's gonna take me some time to get my head around the camera and the whole rangefinder approach, but it does seem incredible. I can't quite put my finger on it yet, but I do love the fact that I'm in complete control and that it doesn't have anything that's not absolutely needed for making great pictures. The essence, the fundamentals, the gritty basics.

I have some ideas as to what I'm going to start to do with the Leica (personal projects), but more on those later. For now, enjoy my first portrait with the Leica (and pretty much my first picture with the Leica in general, too).

P.S. If there are any photography geeks out there, this picture was shot with F2.4 on a 35mm lens. The bokeh (the out-of-focus areas in the picture) is pretty damn incredible for such a lens. I'm really not using to getting that, not even with the Canon 35 F1.4 L. Ok, enough of the geeky stuff..

1.8.2011 / Paris and the parisians

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Bon soir!

I'm currently in Paris, but only for a few days. Tried my hand in street photography today. No long exposures of Seine, I'm afraid, but rather moodish pictures of people and their expressions. I'm definitely going to continue my experiments as the trip progresses. Still waiting for my M9 though, one day soon...

15.7.2011 / Kuusamo

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Finally, the day is here. I'm officially on a holiday now! As of tomorrow, I can't be reached, mostly, as I'll be spending two weeks far, far north in Kuusamo. After that I'll take a quick plunge into Paris and then I'm back in action, business as usual. So, for the next three weeks it's gonna get quiet. Real quiet. Hear the grasshoppers kinda quiet.

I ain't got no specific plans other than fishing, looking at the lake and of course - photography. As this trip is a "get in touch with your roots" kinda thing for me, I figured I'd give the old film SLR's and Rangefinders a go. I've had these rolls of old Tri-X in the fridge for quite some time now and it would be great to put them to some use. Whether or not these cameras are still able to produce anything decent is anybody's guess, but hey, we'll see. I'll take my digital cameras as well, duh...

Anyways, next post is due in August. Hopefully. Enjoy the summer, while it lasts.

My Petri camera ready for some photo shooting.

P.S.

Here's some music to celebrate my holiday with. No, it's not Danny.

11.7.2011 / Elina & Ville

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Whenever a couple invites me to be their wedding photographer, I feel honoured. It's a special day for them and for me, too. Not only do I get the chance to document what will most likely be the most important day of their lives, they trust me enough to let me roam around and make photos as I see fit. It was a beautiful wedding, thanks Elina and Ville!

Oh yeah, I will blog more photos of this wonderful wedding sometime soon.

 

30.6.2011 / Love X100

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I'm in love with this little thing. So much so that I'm considering to take it with me to Paris in August as my only camera. No DSLR's, no bag of lenses. Why? So that I can zone myself into that "35mm street shooter" -mentality. Though I'm not (yet) much of a street photographer, I've noticed how much easier it is to get close to people with this camera as it's not intimidating. Not so with my Canon DSLR's and big lenses, people are aware of those things and instantly see you as "a pro" which is not always a good thing.

I haven't yet had much time to properly go out with the X100, but here's a few snaps I made at the studio rooftop terrace & at Vuosaari. There's more to come, rest assured.