Month: May, 2010
I so wanted a new portrait for the About me page on my website. I have been wanting one for quite some time. Booked a time with a talented fellow photographer. That got cancelled because of some personal issues (mine) and also my total lack of self-esteem. I am so bad in front of the camera! Stiff, cranky and lousy, photographer’s nightmare really. And then an idea popped in my head. I will ask my daughter to take the pics. She luuuuves taking pictures (with my camera, of course – must wear neck strap, must wear neck strap!). Excuse the slightly soft pictures, my daughter is doing modelling poses while shooting! 
Ok so how do you like these instead of the pic I currently have on my web? Wanna hear your opinion….
And YEAH I am wearing a tractor hat! I have a son. I have a daughter too, hence the flowers. 
Oh I have my own hat too, and this time I even wear it the right way. And my little colleague, she is sometimes a bit camera shy… I love her so! (But why does is she look so tiny besides my giant, hmmm, bottom??)
And this is how I will most likely show up in your shoot. Rubber boots, jeans and a t-shirt, except that it’s usually a white t-shirt. Hire me, we will have some fun! Call 0400-358990!
A newborn baby is a true miracle maker. They make you functional for hours, around the clock, and even at 4am because of their sweet scent and a little cry you produce all the shhh sounds and kissing and rocking and singing… As said before, babies emit cuteness, so adults emit love. And it was same with this tiny gentleman. I knew he was actually not going to be so tiny, since he postponed his grande arrival to the last possible moment (2+ weeks over the due date). But he is tiny compared to the normally sized gentlemen, isn’t he?
Anyways, despite the difficulties his beautiful mom withstood during the birth, when the family arrived home, her thoughts were: “I want more children!” And that’s because this little bub is so stinking cute. 
But he slept well the night before and therefore didn’t have almost any interest in sleeping during my entire visit. But as it is, he fell asleep the minute I closed the door. I believe we still got some lovely shots, even of the older and slightly more hairy other child in the family.
May I introduce you to the hairy older brother, Vadim. A true aristocrat, greeted my camera with a little bow.
No baby is complete without a loving family.
One day I was cooking and suddenly a phone rang. A cultivated voice asked whether I would have time to photograph their newborn girl. She is already 2 weeks old, but very tiny, the honey-smelling voice said. My heart started sining: “Newborn girl! Newborn girl!” Of course, I answered, we set a date and I continued cooking. And singing: “A newborn girl! A newborn GIRL!” You don’t understand my sudden maddness, do you. Well, you would if you were a newborn photographer who was in the past few months hired only to photograph newborn boys. Make no mistake, I love photographing any newborns, boys or girls (or puppies), but boys look a bit weird in cute headbands and hats, and I own a box full of those … Despite this girl’s father, who wanted something unusual, not necessarily sweet, I could not have resisted and used few of the cutie props anyways. Oops. Sorry! The baby-girl slept through the entire session (mostly because of total lack of sleep the night before, a little bit because of the space heater and maybe a tiny little bit because of the baby magic I can do ) and was the sweetest little thing. And her parents love her so… And each other. So, there you go: a bunch of photos full of unusual amount of happiness and love. Enjoy them, more coming soon
I have been claiming for years that I don’t know Finland outside of Helsinki. Ok, I exaggerate a little, but not too much. I know Espoo. And Klaukkala The travel gods must have heard my complaints and they have arranged bunch of little trips for me lately. This time I was going to visit Hyvinkää. With all gear loaded me and my beautiful assistent Irene we set off to the road. Arrived in time to snack on some Fazer chocolate with hazelnuts and check out the possible locations around our clients’ home. Since they lived at the edge of Hyvinkää, it was easy to find an old barn and a few of other nice places. Good plans… With five kids, two dogs and a rabbit, not that many location changes were going to happen! As we soon discovered. Luckily this great family had a beautiful garden full of blossoming trees. You were great, I loved the challenge and I hope you will enjoy your sneak peek I always wanted a large family myself. You made me dream about it again!
My first thought, when I met this young fellow, was: “If I knew how tall you were, I would have packed a ladder.” Oh, but Max is a sportsman, body and soul, and he didn’t wink once when I asked him to sit, squat, crouch and not even when I climbed on all possible and impossible places – putting my little black buddy in danger. I don’t care if I fall and break my leg, that’s going to heal, right? But what about my precious camera … Anyways, we drove off to the cultural center in Suvilahti to take some cool yo-kuvat around the famous grafitti wall. Little did I know that the wall has been torn down and no longer exists. But at least we enjoyed the 40-minute drive to the location:
“Hi! So you are a typical Finn, silent and all?”
“Mhmm.”
“So sorry for you, I usually have Bridget’s verbal diarhea. You are going to die tonight…”
Needless to say, Max is still alive and kicking and as he claims, it was even fun! Disappointed from the non-existence of our grafitti location we took off to the Hakaniemi bridge and in the last rays of rapidly setting sun photographed perhaps little unusual yo-kuvat. Max, this was fun for me too. You were great, very patient and not a bit distracted by a photographer turned climbing monkey. I hope you will like your photos…
it was hard to choose, but this must be my favorite…
There is still time to book a yo-kuva session with me or participate in the “win a free yo-kuvaus” competition!
Best friends – Niki Strbian Lapsikuvaus
20/05/2010
When a friend asked me recently, which country I dream of living in, I answered instantly: “Italy!” I have an Italian blood, temperament, need for family bonds and socializing thirst. Needless to say I have Italian taste in food, wine and men and also their lust for omnipresent sunshine. So what exactly are you doing in Finland, I hear you asking. The answer is simple. In Italy I would never be able to take such beautifully green photos. I love Finnish spring. Summer. Whatever it is now It makes me happy.
Sun is shining, birds are singing and I am in the mood to do something nice and pretty for my blog readers What about a little competition? The prize is great! And you don’t have to do much Sounds good, right?
You see, I am a person who likes to learn new things, try new stuff, move forward all the time. I guess I inherited this quality from my father (thank you, Dad, you are awesome!). I also think that a change is always for the better and that bad quality always comes to bite you in the butt. That’s why I think it’s time to push the yo-kuva to a new direction. Nothing against the traditional studio portraits (a bit dusty, don’t you think?) or against the outdoor rose-between-teeth-champange-in-right-hand photos (a bit spastic maybe?).
Do you agree with me? Yes? No? (*raising eyebrowes*) Join the competition…and answer my question (= leave a comment to this blog post):
Would you like yo-lakki kuvaus to stay traditional or do you think it’s time to funk it up?
- What is the prize? – a free yo-lakki kuvaus, value of 150€
- What you have to do? – leave a comment under this post with your answer
The competition runs until May, 31st, when the winner is going be selected by a random number generator. The photosession only applies to one person.
Share this forward, I want to hear your opinions! Oh and don’t forget to fan me on Facebook, there’s a button up here you need to hit. I am looking forward to hearing all your answers!
8 Comments
Sorry, in English – just wanna say, that this lady is the best photographer I have ever met….she is so so so nice and ….and….and…. U need to meet her:-)
Niki,
You are beautiful! Love how your daughter captured your personality!
Niki, you so need to change the photo for one of the new ones. Kájinka finally captured your friendliness. …and craziness.
The crazy ones scream, ‘let’s have fun!’ The old one’s beautiful and seems to be more about you, not the client, unlike these. Change the pics already!
Niki, you are so cute and fun!
Soooo, fun! How great that your little one captured your kooky side.
Such fun! I love the many “hats” you’re wearing – model, photographer – but best of all – mom! I love seeing your silly side!