Jani Sourander

We had this schoolwork where one was supposed to make a photo set about the four times of the day (morning, noon, evening, night). Instead, I decided to do it about the four seasons. More accurately: what hobby does Kekkonen have in each of the seasons? These photos are quickly photoshopped, but anyways, I decided to share the set with my beloved readers.

In spring, Kekkonen melts the ice with his laser sight by removing his glasses.

In summer, Kekkonen lifts weights and helps the chronologically gifted to cross the streets safely.

In fall, Kekkonen walks on water.

In winter, Kekkonen gives presents to the economically marginalized.

Strap

 If you’re gear bag’s strap starts to look like one in the photo above, maybe it’s time to fix it or buy a new one. I hate Lowepro and Tamrac bags that are made out of synthetic nylon fibre. It’s not an enviromental issue for me. I just hate the feel of those materias. I liked my old Domke J-2, but.. well, look at it. It’s dead. The strap isn’t the only problem. The whole bag has lost its posture. 

But I found a good successor for Domke.  National Geographic satchel (W2160) is a great bag for a photo journalist like me. Kata manufactures those of cotton and hemp and all my photo gear fits into it perfectly. Only problem is that there are too many zipper-sealed flaps, so I just cut one of, as can be seen in the photo below. The main flap I’ll just roll and arrest with velcro. Flaps are good for those who use a camera bag as a strorage. I don’t. I change camera objectives frequently since I use prime lenses. My camera bag’s must be within easy reach. 

Detached flap

But Domke, you’ll always live in my memories… on a red carpet. We’ll always have Paris.. 

Domke J-2, rest in peace.

A Google car at Valkeala

About a year ago, in April 2009, I posted an image of a google car in my old blog. But I wasn’t the only one taking a photograph. Watch this photo which the Google car took of me:

A photograph of me by the Google car (c) Google maps

If you enjoy movie trivia, here’s a completely useless piece of information you won’t find anywhere else: I made a movie prop for the Backwood Philosopher (Havukka-ahon ajattelija) by Kari Väänänen last summer when I was working for Kainuun Sanomat newspaper. The movie was shot in Kuhmo and Puolanka in the Kainuu region.

The paper, as seen in the photo above, is dated 8th of August 1952. I started the restoration by removing the coffee stains and wrinkles. As the movie is dated in the 1950s, the newspaper needed to look new. I then replaced one of the news articles with a fake article to match the story of the movie. The final product was printed using a large format printer by Mainospalvelu Kurkinen Oy (advertising agency). You can see the result in a close-up scene in the movie. The movie isn’t the best one ever produced, but it’s still surely worth watching. It’s still rolling in the cinemas (in Finland).

I’ve worked for Kainuun Sanomat for three last summers, but this summer I will work for Keskisuomalainen.

In school, we had to do art with fruits and vegetables. Somehow me and Eero Vihavainen ended up making Kiwi-Sackboy. I ran home, took the Canon 7D (which I had for test purposes) and we shot the video. The whole process took like 5 minutes, so please, be merciful with your comments.

And the song playing on the background is: Moby – A Freak. A thousand thanks to Moby for the permission to use the song.

As I meantioned in previous post, I was given a Canon 7D for test purposes. Above you can watch an Youtube HD clip (which is nothing compared to real Full HD quality of the film). 

The short film is now at post-production phase. All the sound will be narrated or otherways recorded afterwards. 7D has an internal microphone and a stereo jack for external mic, but this project needs more. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work, and so on.

Editing 1080p video can be a real pain in the ass. Even if your computer is “good enought for everything normal”, you’ll probably find yourself realising that you’ve run out of nerd power. But don’t worry, there’s a remedy called editing with proxy files.

Editing with proxy files means that you shrink your 1080p clips. Then you use these small files as “placeholders” for the real videos while editing.  Then, right before exporting the media, you just replace the placeholders/proxy files with the BIG ones.

This link contains more specific instructions for Adobe Premiere.

Now someone might ask, why anyone wants to shoot Full HD at all? Well, cause it looks great. And I really mean it. 7D is a still camera, but its video quality is ansolutely stunning. At least when you are not panning. While panning, the image staggers a bit. You can see it in the video above, but better example can be found from here. 

NOTE: Youtube seems to add some staggering effects. Well encoded H.264 staggers so little, that it is hard to notice. The rolling shutter effect, which makes the vertical lines to wobble, is visible only with really fast panning.

I’ve used Canon EF-S 15-85/3.5-5.6 IS USM for filming. The 7D itself is very sturdy, so the lens feels a bit rickety compared to the camera. If you aim down with it, the zoom will slowly slide out. I had to use tape to lock the ring while shooting from a bird’s-eye view.

A plushie

Jesse and the Canon 7D

A storyboard

The board of stories

I got myself a Canon 7D for test purposes. I will shoot a short film with it. Here is some behind the scenes stuff.

Don’t wait in anticipation, as the post-production will take its time.

Photos by Eero Vihavainen.

This is how a photographer sees the world: wide-angled. I drew and painted this architectural image with a pen and ink. Main idea of this schoolwork was to practice drawing geometric perspective. This was done in an orthodox chuch located near the school.

And yes, the church really does have that Terminator 2 floor.

I was at the Digiexpo (a digital entertainment and consumer electronics event) today. Thank you, Canon Oy, for the tickets. There was all kinds of electronic devices for us mortals to touch and fondle – while spreading the swine flu – but I’m not gonna write about those. Go and see yourself if you like. And remember to wash your hands.

I read the latest National Geographic in the train. The magazine included an interesting news article about ecofont. I mean, wow. A font with holes in it. It’s not a beautiful font, but it can save money. According to font’s website, it saves up to 20% of ink. NG tells us that a company with 5 000 emploees can save almost 100 000 euros per year in printing costs. That’s a good alternative for firing people.

And Nebular spool (Ugress’s side project) has released a new album called Shul. Ugress offered the background music for my portfolio in 2007. The new album can be heard on Spotify, but if you demand quality (320kbps mp3 or FLAC for example), download it from here. You can pay as much as you like.