Hi! Welcome! I felt like starting a blog, since I always feel like I'd like to share my thoughts on photography with my Flickr friends but it's not really possible on that site. So I warmly welcome you to my photographic world! Please, feel free to leave a comment, to discuss or just to say hi. That'd make me really happy.
I thought I wouldn't post that many of my photos in this blog mainly because you can find them in my Flickr, that is, here. In this blog, I'll focus on writing about my thoughts.
This first entry is a bit long because I have so much to tell! I've learnt very much in the past two weeks and I just couldn't wait to write it down. In the future, I'm sure, I'll write shorter updates.
Joining the photography club
I've studied the Finnish language (my mother-tongue) in the University of Helsinki for two years now, and this fall, at last, I joined a photography organization. I almost joined it a year ago but I thought I wouldn't have enough time for it. This fall I knew I most definitely would have time so I paid the registration fee.
Now I've gotten new friends and already learnt a lot. I attended "photo night" where people can show their photos to others. The photos really took me by surprise - everything from band photography with signatures to abstract balloons and umbrellas in Berlin or subtle high quality pornography in the studio. I had one stupid photo with me (this one) and I felt embarassed. I decided to learn more. Still, everyone was really friendly and told me to eat more cookies. Man don't I just love cookies!
My first time in the studio
I attended a course on studio photography at the photography club. It was really good. The teacher really seemed to know a lot - and he was young. I felt like I'm in the right place. First I thought the subject must be really hard - would I really learn how to use the expensive gadgets or adapt my camera in the new situation?
I learnt how the flashes work and what you need to know before going in the studio. I learnt how to use a light meter, I had never tried it before. I learnt that my Canon Speedlite was perfect with the big slave flashes. After taking the course, I would be entitled to photograph alone (or perhaps with a model ha-ha) in the studio with all the great equipment: six flashes, a proper background etc. I took one good photo of the course teacher (who later became a friend of mine) and spent the following two or three days being excited about it!
The same day the course was held, I phoned my friend Laura, that I knew had lots of nice dresses and a good sence of humor. She was to become my first model! So later, I rented the studio for 4 hours (it costs like 5 euros) and wow, we had such a fun time! The use of the equipment wasn't at all as difficult as I had believed before taking the course.
So... We took really nice photos of Laura. She was excited and really innovative. I moved the flashes around, put more light, put less light, put light to the background, to the model's face etc. I tried out new things! The photos turned out really good, I think (you can see them in my Flickr, naturally) - just the way I imagined and perhaps a little better. Of course, after I had slept over it, I already knew a hundread things I could've done better. So I'm looking forward to learning more next time. Plus I got some good tips about the lighting from the professional club members. How cool is that? (After that discussion we went and ate and drank all night and we had a blast.)
Learning film photography
Yes, I am not kidding! I have also stepped into the history of photography and bought film. I got my mother's old Minolta camera with a few good lenses (she used to need them while she worked as an editor). Then I attended two courses at the club: film development and printing (I hope you call them those in English). They were only this week. And this is where I got my inspiration to start this blog: when I photographed with the old film camera and developed and printed a photo of mine, I learnt so much about photography in general that I was truly amazed.
I started my photographic career with a digital camera. After that, I once tried a film camera (I'm talking about (D)SLRs now) at the age of 18 and had the photos developed in a camera shop. So I haven't really had experience on the old-fashioned way before.
During these few years that I have photographed, I developed an attitude towards photo manipulation. I took photos with a digital pocket camera or later with my DSLR and thought, I don't want to crop my photos! I want to learn how to get a good composition while taking the photo, without changing the frame later. I also thought really strictly that changing contrast or brigthness after loading a photo on the computer is for cheaters. This, of course, was partly good, because it made me learn more about my camera instead of just point-shooting randomly.
Back to the course. I took the film out of the small can, cut the ends of it with scissors, put it in the spiral and in the tank in total darkness. I soaked it first in water, then in three other liquids and again with water. I dried it. I zoomed the little frames with a loupe. I set the six negatives on a paper and made them one big photo showing all the little frames in positive. I picked a photo and adjusted the focus, framing and brightness with the big printing machine (I don't know the name for it in this language!). I soaked the white paper in four liquids and water. Then I dried it. Guess what? The photo turned out just the way I had wanted! I felt so good and clever. I can post the photo somewhere later, if I get to scan it somewhere. It's not really that interesting, it has golden silk and fur in a shop window, in black and white. I wanted to test how different textures would look in black and white film.
After I left the darkroom, I felt really nauseous the whole night. Next time, I'll make sure I have more oxygen and less chemicals.
New perspectives
After the film courses, I started thinking, perhaps I shouldn't be so strict about adjusting digital photos after all. Obviously, I hadn't had any perspective on the whole thing called "photography" at all! I felt embarassed, again. Adding contrast and re-framing were there decades before Photoshop! A friend of mine always tells me, I'm silly with my attitudes about adjusting the photos after they're taken. Now he was glad to hear that I had changed my mind. That day, I learnt so much more and got such a better perspective on the whole matter that I was just bouncing with inspiration!
Oh, and one small note more. When I walked in the center of Helsinki with the film camera the first time and the daylight had already stopped for the day, I felt important and a bit solemn. I would only have 36 frames. And I should get at least average photos for the film course because I knew the others would have such brilliant photos with them (in the end, not that much better than mine!). I took up to 3 shots per object instead of 10-15 as I usually do with my digital camera. It felt more exciting.
And the funniest thing was, when I took photos with my digital equipment some time later, I didn't feel the need to take 15 similar photos anymore. I felt, 2-3 per idea will do.
I thought I wouldn't post that many of my photos in this blog mainly because you can find them in my Flickr, that is, here. In this blog, I'll focus on writing about my thoughts.
This first entry is a bit long because I have so much to tell! I've learnt very much in the past two weeks and I just couldn't wait to write it down. In the future, I'm sure, I'll write shorter updates.
Joining the photography club
I've studied the Finnish language (my mother-tongue) in the University of Helsinki for two years now, and this fall, at last, I joined a photography organization. I almost joined it a year ago but I thought I wouldn't have enough time for it. This fall I knew I most definitely would have time so I paid the registration fee.
Now I've gotten new friends and already learnt a lot. I attended "photo night" where people can show their photos to others. The photos really took me by surprise - everything from band photography with signatures to abstract balloons and umbrellas in Berlin or subtle high quality pornography in the studio. I had one stupid photo with me (this one) and I felt embarassed. I decided to learn more. Still, everyone was really friendly and told me to eat more cookies. Man don't I just love cookies!
My first time in the studio
I attended a course on studio photography at the photography club. It was really good. The teacher really seemed to know a lot - and he was young. I felt like I'm in the right place. First I thought the subject must be really hard - would I really learn how to use the expensive gadgets or adapt my camera in the new situation?
I learnt how the flashes work and what you need to know before going in the studio. I learnt how to use a light meter, I had never tried it before. I learnt that my Canon Speedlite was perfect with the big slave flashes. After taking the course, I would be entitled to photograph alone (or perhaps with a model ha-ha) in the studio with all the great equipment: six flashes, a proper background etc. I took one good photo of the course teacher (who later became a friend of mine) and spent the following two or three days being excited about it!
The same day the course was held, I phoned my friend Laura, that I knew had lots of nice dresses and a good sence of humor. She was to become my first model! So later, I rented the studio for 4 hours (it costs like 5 euros) and wow, we had such a fun time! The use of the equipment wasn't at all as difficult as I had believed before taking the course.
So... We took really nice photos of Laura. She was excited and really innovative. I moved the flashes around, put more light, put less light, put light to the background, to the model's face etc. I tried out new things! The photos turned out really good, I think (you can see them in my Flickr, naturally) - just the way I imagined and perhaps a little better. Of course, after I had slept over it, I already knew a hundread things I could've done better. So I'm looking forward to learning more next time. Plus I got some good tips about the lighting from the professional club members. How cool is that? (After that discussion we went and ate and drank all night and we had a blast.)
Learning film photography
Yes, I am not kidding! I have also stepped into the history of photography and bought film. I got my mother's old Minolta camera with a few good lenses (she used to need them while she worked as an editor). Then I attended two courses at the club: film development and printing (I hope you call them those in English). They were only this week. And this is where I got my inspiration to start this blog: when I photographed with the old film camera and developed and printed a photo of mine, I learnt so much about photography in general that I was truly amazed.
I started my photographic career with a digital camera. After that, I once tried a film camera (I'm talking about (D)SLRs now) at the age of 18 and had the photos developed in a camera shop. So I haven't really had experience on the old-fashioned way before.
During these few years that I have photographed, I developed an attitude towards photo manipulation. I took photos with a digital pocket camera or later with my DSLR and thought, I don't want to crop my photos! I want to learn how to get a good composition while taking the photo, without changing the frame later. I also thought really strictly that changing contrast or brigthness after loading a photo on the computer is for cheaters. This, of course, was partly good, because it made me learn more about my camera instead of just point-shooting randomly.
Back to the course. I took the film out of the small can, cut the ends of it with scissors, put it in the spiral and in the tank in total darkness. I soaked it first in water, then in three other liquids and again with water. I dried it. I zoomed the little frames with a loupe. I set the six negatives on a paper and made them one big photo showing all the little frames in positive. I picked a photo and adjusted the focus, framing and brightness with the big printing machine (I don't know the name for it in this language!). I soaked the white paper in four liquids and water. Then I dried it. Guess what? The photo turned out just the way I had wanted! I felt so good and clever. I can post the photo somewhere later, if I get to scan it somewhere. It's not really that interesting, it has golden silk and fur in a shop window, in black and white. I wanted to test how different textures would look in black and white film.
After I left the darkroom, I felt really nauseous the whole night. Next time, I'll make sure I have more oxygen and less chemicals.
New perspectives
After the film courses, I started thinking, perhaps I shouldn't be so strict about adjusting digital photos after all. Obviously, I hadn't had any perspective on the whole thing called "photography" at all! I felt embarassed, again. Adding contrast and re-framing were there decades before Photoshop! A friend of mine always tells me, I'm silly with my attitudes about adjusting the photos after they're taken. Now he was glad to hear that I had changed my mind. That day, I learnt so much more and got such a better perspective on the whole matter that I was just bouncing with inspiration!
Oh, and one small note more. When I walked in the center of Helsinki with the film camera the first time and the daylight had already stopped for the day, I felt important and a bit solemn. I would only have 36 frames. And I should get at least average photos for the film course because I knew the others would have such brilliant photos with them (in the end, not that much better than mine!). I took up to 3 shots per object instead of 10-15 as I usually do with my digital camera. It felt more exciting.
And the funniest thing was, when I took photos with my digital equipment some time later, I didn't feel the need to take 15 similar photos anymore. I felt, 2-3 per idea will do.
MY FILM PHOTOS SOAKING IN THE WATER
(THE PHOTO HAS BEEN MODIFIED)
(THE PHOTO HAS BEEN MODIFIED)
Thank you so much for reading!
Helena
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