IDEAT KUVIKSI!

27.11.2019

“Politricks is the word ‘politics’ altered to convey the empty-campaign promises often experienced after politicians get elected.”

About a year ago I had this thought of making a picture from this word. I needed a suitable location and model that looked like a politician and had no problem to come and act one. Finding the right location was quite challenging because many of the locations were actively used by political organizations and obviously the content of the image does not flatter this activity so I had to find a sufficiently neutral place for the photoshoot.

After I found a model to act the politician and the location, I started sketching the photo in Photoshop and build the props needed for the photo. Long noses were tricky one, at first I thought I use some kind of latex noses that I could buy from costume stores but then I figured out that Styrofoam could do the trick, it’s easy to shape and after coating it with water-based paint I sprayed little bit of lacquer to it to make it bubble and that way create the illusion of skin pores.

The lectern was simply made from glulam tabletop that I had and because I knew from which angle I was going to shoot the photo I needed to make it whole from one side only. The only props that I needed in addition to the previous ones were some blank paper and posters that I could finish in Photoshop by adding the “campaign” photo to them.

Because of the time we had in the location both models were photographed separately. This way I didn’t need so many lights and could work fast and efficiently. The lights I used in this photoshoot were two Godox AD360s, a Godox V1 and a Nikon SB24. The politician was photographed with three lights with a rectangular softbox, one with a honeycomb straight from the top, one from the right and one light on the left side of the model. I wanted the cleaner to be a bit in the shadows so I used two softboxes right behind and in front of her.

After the models were photographed I took a couple of shots from the scene with one flashlight in different places around the scene. The last thing of the photoshoot in the location was to take the “campaign” portrait from the politician and it was a wrap. The whole photoshoot was done in 2 hours.

In the post, I made the politician nose longer, removed lines from the floor, combined the shots into one, and added little details like sawdust on the politician’s jacket, campaign posters to the walls and papers on the floor.

19.3.2019
Amazing weekend.  I won both the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year 2019 and also illustration / digital art category. Austria were beautiful and the ceremony was amazing! Thank you all who work hard to make these competitions and awards happen! 

You can find more information from here: https://www.europeanphotographers.eu/

2.2.2019
It has been said that meat consumption should decrease by 90% in the West if we want to avoid dangerous climate warming. And because all of us should be involved to achieve this goal, I of course decided to invite zombies to join in the effort of combating climate change.

Surprisingly there are many vegetables that have similarities in shape and textures to our human innards, so the first thing I did when started this project was to find proper lookalike innards with a vegan twist in them.

And this kitchen came with two zombies: my sister and her husband. My wife did the makeup for both of them and I enhanced the details of the zombie faces in Photoshop.

All the stickers and posters were added in post as well, as was the light bulb above the table.

This article was also published on Petapixel

FOR THE MAKING OF "HUMAN RIGHTS..." VIDEO CLICK HERE

13.1.2019
The long planned image finally came true when the right location and props were found in the same place. The restoration carpenter Ville Lammi’s workshop is a true treasure trove and, as a sincere helper, he offered not only to model but also offered perfect location and objects for the picture.

The idea for the picture was born a couple of years ago when we threw thoughts on various religious topics together with Ville. Here in Finland they call Duct-tape “Jeesus-teippi” which means (you guessed it right) Jesus-Tape. Rough sketch of the picture has also been done in photoshop long time before photoshoot so I knew that it will work as soon as the location and props are found.

Because the budget is limited and it is difficult to borrow large amounts of duct tape, I decided to make the rolls myself. These fake taperolls were created by sawing cardboard tubes to little pieces and wrapping a piece of tape around them, finishing touch for the top of the rolls I made in post-process. The Savior’s outfit with wig was purchased from a local shop selling mascot suits, and the rest of the items of the image was managed by Ville´s stocks.

In the photo I used two Godox AD360 flashes and a pair of Nikon SB24 hand flashes. Lightmodifier above the model was Godox parabolic 90cm softbox, on the left side of the model Godox 50 x 70 softbox with grid and from above directly pointed to models face was handflash with snoot. One flash is behind the model without a light modifier pointing to the hair. The smoke in the picture was done with a small smokemachine.

When the main picture was taken, I moved the tape rolls on the floor and took separate photos of them. This way I could easily increase the number of rolls by finally combining the pictures in Photoshop.

In post-treatment, in addition to general cleaning and adding more rollers, I also added sparks, glow and motion to spinning wheel, as well as labels on the sides of cardboard boxes.

Suomenkielinen versio löytyy Kamera-koulun sivuilta.

FOR THE MAKING OF "HOLY ROLL" VIDEO CLICK HERE

21.1.2018
Before shooting this series, I saw a documentary about how different groceries are made. Big factories with endless assembly lines and hundreds of machines handling the products from start to end. It was quite interesting to watch how the products change their appearance completely from start to finish. An idea was born to create alternative ways of making these same groceries. And when you add just a drop of humanity to it, I think that’s a story.

Groceries are food (really??). They have no persona (you sure??). How do you create a story around them that creates a character to these lifeless pieces of healthy little things? These were thoughts in my head when I opened my refrigerator when brainstorming themes for my upcoming project… so I picked corns, cucumbers, tomatoes etc. and started sketching.

My garage is full of pieces of wood and plastic. That’s my huge treasure chest when I’m starting to create all kinds of props. If I don’t have the exact piece, I planned on using, I still usually have something to replace it. Having this “box of tools” means I don’t have to think about buying materials to start creating. That’s a big thing for me, especially if I suddenly have some free time or some instant inspiration that demands to be created.

Like my usual work, the props here are made of wood and plastic. They are by no means perfect or detailed, but they work well enough for me and my story. When I create a scene, I already know what I can in postprocessing, so I don’t have to worry too much about little details. This way, I keep the whole construction process efficient and don’t have to use more than a day for the entire process: props and scene creation to finished photo.

The whole process starts with sketches. I use the photoshop to draw the different ideas that are in my head so I can see if they work in “real life”. When the sketch is done, I start building the props and the scene. Construction is the part that takes most of the time. Then I shoot a couple of frames (3-5 photos) with different light setups. I usually use one flash with a beauty dish and a grid, so I have good control of the light. I then combine these differently-lit frames in photoshop and add the details that were too intricate in real life, or easier to create in post.

The name for this series came with the idea of gross ways making groceries…Grossceries

This story was featured on Diyphotography, Boredpanda, Fstoppers, 121clicks and also published on Kamera-magazine

28.3.2018
Huge weekend behind. There was couple of competitions that I participated in last year and the results of those were published last weekend. I am so happy to say that I collected commercial categorys second place in the biggest photocompetition in Finland called Fotofinlandia that is is held once every two years.
http://www.fotofinlandia.fi/vuosi/2018/

I also won the bronze camera in digital art / illustrative category in FEP professional photographer of the year 2018. In the same competition I was in 9th place in commercial category. 
http://www.europeanphotographers.eu/competition/competition_winners.php?compo_id=50&cat_id=161

8.11.2017
I’m a creative minded person and feel very frustrated when the creativity strikes and I have nothing to photograph. This was the main reason I started making these cardboard models.

I thought of all the everyday home items that could be used for creating figures. I found the boxes we used when we moved into our home are still in our garage. They had also “nice” package symbols on them which gave me a couple of ideas of the story that could be created around them and also ended up using them concretely on two of my pictures.

I use a multilayer lightning technique when photographing these scenes. It gives me much more control in post and I can correct the mood of the light if the background required it. When I have all the necessary photos taken I combine them in Photoshop and add a background that I have photograph myself or take from stock and modify to fit in the story/feeling.

I’m very happy with the results. They all have a story around them and you can create it on your own terms of imagination. I see and feel something sad but romantic and also hopeful in them, all the ingredients of drama. Creative mind satisfied… for now.

This article was published on Diyphotography.net
https://www.diyphotography.net/make-miniatures-cardboard-create-stories-around/
And Featured on:
PetaPixel.com: https://petapixel.com/2017/11/20/photographer-builds-subjects-cardboard/
Fstoppers.com: https://fstoppers.com/diy/cardboard-turned-photo-art-203320
Creativeboom.com: https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/miniature-cardboard-models-that-are-photographed-to-look-like-the-real-thing/