Category: no box suits this
Pin to Win | Contest (win a free session)
15/01/2012
I have promised you a contest – here it is…
I’m excited to launch a fun contest on Pinterest! All you have to do is create a board on Pinterest that features some of your favorite among Niki Strbian photographs (e.g. from my blog, www.nikistrbian.com/blog). You can name this board anything you want, I am looking for creativity! Show off photos of mine that inspire you. You can also pin photographs that don’t belong to Niki Strbian (as long as they are not the work of another wedding or portrait photographer). Show off locations where you’d love to have a session at. Pin photographs that contain wardrobes, props, or other unique item that inspire you! Post pictures of yourself and anyone that you’d like to include in your session (boyfriend, girlfriend, family, pet moose). Important: All photos and the board should be tagged using #nikistrbian (so the name of your board/image should look like this “here’s to winning #nikistrbian“).
The contest will end in (almost exactly) 1 month on Valentine’s Day 14th of February. The winner will receive a free portrait session + 7 high res. digital files with Niki Strbian! This portrait session can be an engagement session, family session, newborn session, boudoir session, or wedding portraits session.
So, to recap:
1. Create a pinboard. Call it anything you like, but be creative. I will consider creativity when judging the contest. Include the tag #nikistrbian in the name of your board.
2. Post images from www.nikistrbian.com that inspire you in this pinboard. Post as many as you like, I love to be flattered 
Type what you love about the image, and be sure to tag it #nikistrbian
3. Also post images that inspire your idea of a portrait session. You can post images from other companies (please don’t post the work of other portrait photographers or wedding photographers). For example, if you love Marimekko, post some wardrobe ideas from there. If you want to shoot in the Turku castle, post some images from www.turunlinna.fi. If you want a circus themed portrait session- post some circus images. Again, describe what inspires you about this photo – and remember to tag it #nikistrbian
4. I will search tags to view pinboards, but feel free to to post a link to your pinboard on my Facebook wall so I can make sure to see it! (www.facebook.com/nikistrbianvalokuvaus)
5. The deadline is 14.2.2012. I will announce a winner by 29.2.2012. The winner will receive a portrait session + 7 digital high res. photos with Niki Strbian anywhere in Uusimaa. (I will give the winner a list of available times for them to choose from, based on location and my availability).
Start Pinning! ♥♥♥
PS: If you are not on Pintrest, you will need an invitation. Instead of getting on the Pintrest waiting list, send me an email, I will provide the invitation. (Beware, Pintrest is HIGHLY addictive. 
)
PS 2: And the bonus? Follow me on Pintrest and you will get to see what inspires me!
About the dreaded question: Is Santa real?
05/01/2012
On the first day back in Finland we discussed with my two lunchmates the major happenings of this holidays season. Other than the storm on the Boxing Day (the biggest pine tree broke behind our house) and nearly melted game and poultry in the freezers the news were the same – their kids discovered that Joulupukki (Finnish version of Santa) is not real. Thank God for invisible flying baby Jesus delivering gifts in the Czech republic, my lil ones will hopefully enjoy another season filled with Christmas magic.
Though one of my friends commented that there was an article in Finnish paper by an acclaimed psychologist that parents should not tell children that Santa is real. As it is essentially a lie and discovering the truth will also mean discovering that parents lie – which might cause life-lasting troubled minds and scars on the fragile souls.
This, my dear reader, is how far a Finn will go to stay truthful. 
I myself don’t remember the moment when I discovered that even the invisible flying baby Jesus was not real. Clearly it didn’t have any profound impact on my mental health. (At least I like to think so.) But I, too, was wondering what I will answer when my lil ones will inevitably ask one day: “Mommy, is Santa/Joulupukki/baby Jesus real?”
Luckily, I have already found the perfect answer. It is not from my head, but I will bluntly copy it when the need comes. The credit and my deep thanks go to Martha Brockenbrough, a Seatlle based writer, teacher and mum. She is also the founder of SPOGG, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, and can be found at marthabee.com.
And here Martha’s answer to her daughter who once asked in their secret home post, using capital letters for emphasis: “I NEED TO KNOW, ARE YOU SANTA? TELL ME THE TRUTH.”
Become my fan on Facebook to get updates about the upcoming (big) news right under your nose.
Elf on the shelf | Helsinki perhekuvaus
08/12/2011
Nothing makes me realize that I am a foreigner in this country like approaching Christmas.
Not the fact that after a decade I still speak a troll version of the local language. (deeply ashamed) Not my different humor. Not missing meadows and the rythm of nature in Central Europe.
But Christmas coming closer always make me miss home. Because Christmas is about spending time with your family. You know, 80-year old grandma, auntie Hedwig and the whole pack. And my family is awfully far. And so we always travel for Christmas. Which makes decorating home in red-green and going nuts about baking and cooking a bit pointless, really.
And then the whole Christmas Eve drama. A normal Finnish offspring gets bunch of waiting and then !!!!!!BANG!!!!!! Joulupuki swoops in on the Eve loaded with gifts. And it’s all over in couple of hours, but the built up anticipation turns the whole event into a major experience.
Travelling kiddos get – anticipation – waiting – anticipation – waiting and than BANG first Christmas Eve (before our departure, because we refuse to travel with the gifts that are meant to end up in Finland anyway).
And Bang, the second Christmas Eve with grandma no. 1.
And bang, the third Christmas Eve with grandma no. 2.
Can you read between the lines the difference in the size of the “bang”?
So it was decided – we needed a new, solid Christmas tradition. And then the Elf on the Shelf came to the rescue. We got two elves last year and kids are in loooooooooooove with them. In case you get inspired, here some ideas for elfcapades.
Our elves got pretty domesticated to Finland though. They travelled all the way from Rovaniemi, started in late September to be able to walk the whole distance. 
We calculated their progress and marked it on a map. The 1st of December thy finally arrived and since prepared a little something for my angelitos every morning:
reindeer food to share with animals outside, little gifts, sweets, new gloves, answers to letters, small notes, they even baked little joulutähdet for breakfast and of course, they have sisu
As I said, kids love them – and we do too! ♥♥♥
PS: You might want to look at my new portraits of a beautiful newborn girl.
… but I must bring to your attention once more the pictures I shot with Malena and Ante last year before the Blog of the Year gala – I still love those images so much!
Aaaaand you can see more of me in action on Malena’s blog.
Sadly, Malena didn’t win the Blog of the Year prize, which I can only attribute to the old paradox that people were so sure that she was going to win, they didn’t bother to vote. And so she didn’t. (Learning – next year please vote – I did!) Alas that is not the end of things, because Malena is clearly in her Element when blogging – and so I have a complete trust she will not be defeated by such a small inconvenience as one less prize on her shelf constitutes – and she will continue enriching our lives with her daily dose of energy and positive views of worldly affairs.
Hugs to you all (tomorrow back to newborn photography).
♥♥♥
PS: What inspired this shoot? Can you guess?
Is USB or CD a better media to deliver photos to a customer? Pros and cons for both, yes, I could not quite decide myself and so some time ago I posted a question poll on my Facebook page. Twelve people marked their opinion and with a slightly higher amount of votes, a USB became the future favorite. Since we were deciding between 2 options, it’s still not statictically kosher, but good enough. Of the people who voted I randomly chose a happy owner of a gift card to Ben&Jerry’s on Esplanadi (you might notice that I left out 2 poor souls living abroad, but I took a wild guess and concluded that even Ben&Jerry’s is not worth a separate plane ticket).
And the winner is:
Congrats, Betsy! Please send me your current address via email and the gift certificate will instantly be shipped to you with some good wishes too
Ok, so now you are all jealous. Ice-cream season is over, but it’s always nice to win something, I know… *sour face*
Dispair not! I have got something for you… I need to know more about your preferences!
Answer these questions in comments below. One of you, who will care to leave a comment, will get another gift card to Ben&Jerry’s
1. mini or regular USB? (lenght of mini USB is 3-3,5cm, lenght of regular USB is anything between 5 and 8cm)
2. what capacity – 2GB, 4GB, 8GB? (driving for sustainability here, so answer what would be the most useful size for you and don’t be greedy if not necessary )
3. what material?
metal | metal + rubber | plastic | wood | recycled paper
4. what shape?
5. any other thoughts? (white magic and flowers included)
Now leave me that comment!
To remind you of Sun
11/10/2011
Sun.
Almost perfectly spherical.
With diameter of 109 times that of Earth.
Consists of hot plasma intervowen with magnetic fields.
Is now thought to be brighter than about 85% of stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
In the mean distance of 149.6 million kilometers from Earth.
Light travels that distance in about 8 minutes and 19 seconds.
And what a beautiful light it is, especially when the Sun is setting. ♥♥♥
If I had been born in the ancient Greek times, I would have married Helios. Which of the Greek gods is your favorite? Leave me a (long and elaborate) comment below. Of course, you are allowed to confess that your favorite goddess is the one from my today’s blog post! Her name is Canote…
About creativity and struggle…
05/10/2011
We all want to be creative… but damn, it’s kind of a struggle! Watch this and leave us all a comment – what are you trying to get better at? ♥♥♥
4 Comments
Oh dear, I’m on the Pinterest waiting list now. Can’t wait to start pinning! Oh, but I have so many ideas!
Wonderful little contest, Niki.
Niki I am addicted!!!
Here’s what I started, I saw many pinning “your babies” already. Great idea! Check Out http://pinterest.com/mherrane/joybubbles-nikistrbian/
Dear,
I wanted to search with #nikistrbian in Pinterest, it did not give me any result. Doe sthat work, or how do you track those boards? I would like to see all lovely creative boards.
Hi Minna, when you search, you have to click on boards when the results appear.