Photography
I'm sorry to say, but thanks to a recent developments of this webpage I don't have my photogallery online at the moment. I'm working on it... This page just gives you some information on my subjects, equipment etc.
Subjects
For starters: At some point of my life I've been interested about almost anything even remotely related to photography. From science to extreme-sports, and from nature to portraits. That's one of the reasons why I've allways admired the work of "old-school" photojournalists. They had to have the skills to work on almost any of the different fields of photography. Of course the hard fact is that most journalists never get to shoot for Magnum but end up taking portraits of local politicians... But I still admire the shots of the photographers of Life, National Geographic staff etc. You all know the genre that I'm talking about.
How did I start?
When I was a kid my father was an active amateur photographer (and thanks to digital cameras, he's shooting again after a few quiet years). He took me with him to a local photographic society and I simply loved it. I originally started to do darkroom work when I was about ten years old. That was in the mid 80's, when at least in Finland SLR-photography was amazingly popular. So I have a background in B&W photography and darkroom work.
What do I shoot now?
When I was a teenager I got more involved in nature photography and that was my main interest for many years. In my twenties I got more interested in photographing people etc. and even got a very slight taste of photojournalism as a photo assistant of a national student magazine. Recently my interest to nature photography has started to grow again, and I've also started to take more and more travel photos. Well - I simply travel more... I've also written travel stories to go with the photos (and some have been even published :O) ). Every now and then I do some freelancing to pay for the equipment. Weddings, exhibitions, sports, events etc. - you name it. I may add a list of references here some day, but I've had clients from private people to the finnish Ministry of the Interior. Currently I'm refusing most assignments because I'm just too busy and rather spend my photography time for my own projects.
Equipment
I prefer using Nikon equipment because of the quality and solid construction, I started shooting with Nikons more than 20 years ago with my fathers trusty old FG-20 - the same body that is now in a glass cabinet in our living room. Since then I've owned a F-801 and a F90x, a few Coolpix-digitals, a D80 and now a D90. I'm not an "equipment maniac", but some might think so after seeing my camerabag... I love all these little gadgets, but behind this I believe that photographs come from the head and heart of the photographer, not from his cameras. That's why I also enjoy using vintage cameras, and more and more of those seem to end up in my shelves...
Mostly I use the following equipment:
Bodies:
Nikon D90 + grip
Nikon F90x + MB-10
Nikon FG-20
Rolleicord Medium-Format TLR
Pentax Optio W60
35mm Lenses:
Tokina AT-X Pro 28-80 f2.6-2.8
Tokina AF 19-35/3,5-4,5
Nikon E50mm f1.8
I also use a bunch of vintage cameras, extension tubes, bellows, flash etc. I usually carry my stuff around in a Lowepro Magnum AW camera bag. It fits all the gear I need, including all the little stuff like a Hitech-filter system, remote release etc. If you see me walking on a trail, I'm probably carrying a Velbon VE-3 tripod with a Manfrotto head on it. I nowadays shoot 99% digital, mostly on Sandisk Extreme -cards but I also use other brands. What comes to films, my favourite slide films were made by Kodak. I did use Velvia sometimes, but I preferred the tones of Ektachrome. Vevia was a bit too saturated for my taste. When I was shooting black and white, I usually chose between Ilford Delta/FP4 and Kodak T-Max.