“Who is she?” I kept following with my eyes a slender blond beauty who moved with the grace of a gazelle. I was in my client’s apartment ready to photograph a boudoir session and I was not ready to believe that this fine young supermodel lady is the same girl I met couple of weeks before. Though she did warn me upon our first meeting that it’s not her best day and that she had a long string of nights filled with work instead of sleep.

Oh how she laughed when she saw the bewilderment on my face. (I am honest! I am already Finnish!) And pointed it to her boyfriend, who also had a good laugh. Well, that time boyfriend, nowadays a fiance. I like to think that the status change has something to do with my boudoir photos. Btw. he is an awesome guy with a radiant smile and an inclination to naked-chefiness.

It was the darkest day of 2011, believe me. It was snowing and raining and it was +2 and the wind was blowing so hard that we didn’t believe we could photograph partially outdoors as planned. I crammed my client against a window in their boudoir-looking apartment and fired of at ISO 3200 (for the geeks). The light that resulted from the the lack of light was delicious (paradox #1), the model was stunning with huge heart and enormous sense of humor (paradox #2). At the ends she suggested that we should perhaps go out to take some photos of her new fur coat anyway. I said ok, but you must wear nothing but underwear and boots under the coat. And she said yes. The strong wind made for a fabulous Hollywood effect and despite the biting cold that even I felt with 6 termolayers, we spent good 15 minutes outside and took some of the most amazing boudoir images that I have ever had the honor to create.

The paradox #3 is that …

… I can’t share them with you.

So you will just have to believe me that the images are absolutely breathtaking. Here the ones that made it through the censorship. Congratulations on the engagement, I hope to be part of your all celebrations (and a friend). ♥♥♥

PS 1: My American friends told me that I am lucky to be able to mix boudoir and family photography on one webpage. I told them that after boudoir there are usually newborn sessions scheduled by the same couples.

PS 2: Shoes by the amazing Minna Parikka.

Just a pic of a chique chick. Or few…

Funky Friday to all of you! ♥♥♥

PS: Long or short hair on a girl? What’s your preference… Rapunzel or Twiggy? Don’t just talk to your computer there, leave me a comment below

“Should we put a little make up on you too?” I suggested. And I didn’t mean to even out his skin. Moment of hesitation. I quickly searched for a photo of Viggo Mortensen on my iPhone to prove what a touch of eye-liner can do for a drama. If Aragorn can pull this off, so can I, was the conclusion and the stylists were already on it.

This was my first couple boudoir session and I LOVED it!!!! (add more exclamation marks depending on how much extrovert you are)

We only had one trouble, the beautiful lady not being able to give the camera a serious face. There were fontains of giggle, rainbows of laughter and then after all that colorful sparkling bubbling stream of smiles, she released the tiger in her and the boudoir party started.

We had a view of Helsinki center from the hotel window, it was raining hard and we photographed and photographed and enjoyed the creative process to the maximum.

I loved it. ♥♥♥

PS: Now tell me, boudoir sessions for couples – yes or no?

Blessed is the season of weddings that brings in front of my camera all the great ladies, who wish to have stunning boudoir portraits taken of themselves. Just before my holidays I had several boudoir shoots during the course of just few days. Every session was special, all filled with laughter and every time it feels like I found a great friend. Letting the lioness out (as I call it) requires a great deal of courage and open-heartedness on side of my models, especially since they are usually not used to being in front of a camera half naked. However there was never that much laughter like in the session where my model, soon-to-be-bride, admitted that she had no idea how to wear a garter belt and when she was trying it on at home she had to google a video tutorial to be able to put it up at all.

So for all of you ladies, who somehow grew up without the essential knowledge of how to put on a garter belt (sukkanauhavyö) – here’s a tutorial. For the useful part watch 1:15-1:28, but for full education check out the whole video. Good luck and get yourself a garter belt, if you don’t already own one. It will make you feel very different, I promise. ♥♥♥

It is the time of the year, when I get a lot of boudoir clients. Actually, most of them are huomenlahjakuvaus clients (for non-Finnish speakers, this mile-long word means “boudoir photos meant as a gift for the beloved husband the morning after the wedding”). Yes, in Finland there is a lovely tradition that spouses exchange gifts the morning after the wedding.

Before I get into the philosophy of this all, let me tell you two things:

1. I LOVE shooting boudoir.

2. I am a firm believer that every woman has a lioness inside.

Let the big cat out, purr and grawl and show me your claws and we shall get images that will make your husband all fresh after the first legally spent night! I so wish that I could share all the awesome boudoir that I have shot lately. As I once said on Facebook, your eyes would fall out. Yes, they would!

Today I would like to remind you though, that you should throw all your hesitation away. If you have ever considered doing boudoir, do it now! Yes, I know, you first want to shed 15 kg (or gain five), yes, you want to get in shape, yes, you want to have longer hair, shorter hair, bigger boobs, smaller boobs, bigger butt, firmer butt, smaller butt, invisible butt, visible butt, round butt, JLo’s butt, this butt, that butt, … BUT despite your resolution to actually do something about it THIS TIME, I bet 100€ and my Mexican earings it won’t happen. Really.

What, on the other hand, will happen, is this:

I don’t care what your excuses are, but if you ever so much as thought for one second about getting boudoir photos done of yourself, the time is now. And to make it a success grande, you want to make sure to follow my advice:

- wear much stronger make up than you would ever do, camera takes away a lot!

- fake eye-lashes are a must…

- pay attention to details – chipped nails, dry skin and dirty shoes can kill any master photograph

- drink loads of water and sleep a lot couple of days before the shoot

- don’t be afraid to include something personal in the photos – your man’s shirt or sunglasses or hat or tie … He will love it!

- accessorize! And what I meant is ACCESSORIZE

- and the most important of all – do practice poses before the shoot – in front of the mirror when you are brushing your teeth, for example…

- oh wait, the most important is your eyes – the lioness comes out through your eyes, remember… !!!

Oh, you don’t know any poses? Check out some inspiration (and listen)

PS: No, unfortunately, none of the photos above are mine. You guessed it …

PS2: Yes, Finnish husbands are more and more getting the boudoir photos as their gift the morning after, but what are the wifes getting? I am not aware of male boudoir being on the rise … It must be something else. Tell me! ♥♥♥

I could go on and on about how much my job means to me, how happy it makes me and how lucky I feel that I get to meet THE COOLEST people in Finland and more than that – I get to photograph them and befriend them. I love it when a customer turns into a friend, and nothing else happened with Malena “Sunshine” of Malenami.com. Malena and her dearie husband Ante have been such great source of energy and help. On any given dark day, I go to check out Malena’s news on her blog and there is always something that makes me smile (despite the sad nonexistence of my Swedish).

It’s Malena’s birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday, darling. Keep on being sunshine and inspiration. Love you! ♥♥♥

Ok my dear readers. I have not been around that much lately, but that’s just because it’s been super busy with the häämessut in Wanha Satama and all. It was lovely by the way, I met  loads of new people and even some fans of my Facebook pages. I shared a booth with the awesome Maria Hedengren, befriended girls from the Villeroy and Boch booth and found out that one girl from Iitala stand was a cousing of my client. All in all it felt homey and lovely and big thanx goes to Liisa Silla of Menään Naimisiin magazine for organizing the whole thing.

My husband and angelitos with friends came to say tsemppiä but they didn’t stay long. When my daughter and her friend started dancing dangerously near the Villeroy and Boch stand, I quickly asked them to just go have fun in the sunny weather outside. Apropo sunny weather. Of course the ONLY two sunny days in what must have been weeks now were the weekend of the wedding fair. It feels now like I will never ever see a ray of sunshine again.

But here is a sunshine offer for you! I still have a few of the gift certificates left, so I decided to be extra good right from January. When Joulupukki asks next December how I behaved the whole year, I will be able to tell him:

I gave out 100€ gift certificates for the price of 35€. Ain’t me good?

So for today and tomorrow only – the 100€ value gift certificate is available for the price of 35€.

On Thursday and Friday they are going to be available for 45€ and during the weekend for 55€. After that they will be back at their regular price 100€ value lahjakortti for 100€ price. Go get them while I have them. ♥♥♥

Will be available at the häämessut! Come get them for yourself or your friends. The wedding fair is in Wanha Satama this weekend – both on Saturday 15.1. and Sunday 16.1. opened 10-17.I will have a stand in the A salli. Rest assured you won’t miss me.

I PROMISE you will LOVE the results. ♥♥♥

PS: These will be regularly available after the häämessut, of course.

My dear reader will remember that some time ago I lived 7 crazy days with my “A week with Niki in a Victorian bed” project. There are some images behind these links. I loved those 7 days, every minute of it, despite the fact that I snapped my lower back when carrying the bed on a cold morning and it still hurts now, a month later. I don’t care!

Photographing outdoors with a 900€ worth antique Victorian era bed gets you attention, even if you are only in a park and people posing on the bed are dressed appropriately to the weather conditions. But trust me, you get ATTENTION when you position the bed in the middle of Esplanadi, or as locals would call it, Espa, and you start shooting some outdoors boudoir. (Espa is a twin-street + park miracle in the heart of Helsinki that harbors some of the most expensive shops and certainly the most famous hotel in Finland.)

Since my Easter bunnies boudoir marathon I knew I had to work with Linda again. Linda is not a model, but she is a natural and has enough guts to show up on Espa in sexy undies and smile graciously at the passers-by who usually didn’t manage a different facial expression that dropped jaws. Boy, did we have F.U.N. ! And it was some sacrifice too, as it was just +3 degrees when we started in the morning. I invited my colleagues/friends Anna Jarske and Derek Latham of derekandanna, because I felt appropriate there would be more of us sheltering Linda’s innocence from an excess interest of certain individuals. And imagine, amidst the shoot we are and suddenly I hear someone call my name. And there is another friend/colleague/photographer Jyrki Vesa in a car, envying us so much he almost turned green. Well, he didn’t turn green, but he did turn up later on that morning to join us for a few shots and a lunch afterwards. Yeah, we were very popular that day – almost every tourist took a picture of us taking pictures of Linda.

Linda, I love you. You are awesome! ♥♥♥

It’s hard to pick a favorite, isn’t it… Which one do YOU like the most?

When was the last one you saw someone who stepped out of the glossy mag’s pages? Out of the latest ad on Gaultier dress or Dior perfume? Well, doesn’t happen to me every day, so I just gasped when I saw this young lady. I could not believe she is going to be my model You are gorgeous and perfect and beautiful and … my English is not sufficient! Sending you love! Plus a few pics…