Niki Strbian Valokuvaus Blog » portraits

Malena+Ante are in love (Beloved session) – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:26:28 +0000

Hello everyone, I am back! Back from Italy, the land of gorgeous women (and men), delicious wine and sweet sweet fruit. And let’s not forget pasta and food in general! How Italian women maintain their slender figures while being tempted by so many goodies, I honestly don’t understand. But they do. They also have a spark in their eyes, teeth whiter than walls in the hospital where my husband works and they wear their hair like a crown. When we landed in Vantaa and I walked to the baggage area and looked around, I saw too few such people here. We are crushed by the weather here – that is the only explanation, because Newsweek says all else is in Finland top notch. So here is a challenge for you – bring out the sunshine you carry inside – be nice to people, smile a lot and others will smile back.

There are of course some people here who are Finnish by origin but Italian in every other aspect. I know such a lady. I am lucky. She enjoys life, friends, being in love. She has a spark in her eyes and wears her hair like a crown and also walks like a queen. You have met Malena before! Of course. Malena’s blog today celebrates 2 years of much successful existence, congratulations. Even if you don’t read Swedish, go check it out, it’s much worth it. If for nothing else, then at least for your daily dosage of sunshine bottled up as photos of Malena. She has a sunburst smile…

As a tribute to the 2-years of blogging celebration I finally got around to proof photos from the Beloved session we did with Malena and her husband Ante during summer. Hope you enjoy them, darlings. Much looking forward to seeing you again. (soon!)

Someone I love – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:09:26 +0000

I have owned you this post for quite a while now. 3 weeks, almost exactly. It was my birthday and our friend/nanny arrived in the evening when I went to visit an old neighbour (and deliver the last saved piece of cheesecake). The neighbour lady wasn’t at home and our nanny didn’t come to congratulate me but to work, so my dear, dearer and dearest husband could have finally revealed that we are going out. Surprise! Not to eat, I hope? was my answer. Because I have been stuffing myself during the whole day and now cannot even breathe or drink, let alone eat some more…
Have you ever seen a deflated balloon? A kid who buys an icecream that falls on the ground immediately? A dog whom you say that today we are not going out for a walk? Then you know the face my husband pulled. Poor dear! Surely enough he booked a table in the hot spot of the Finnish summer and was starving himself the entire day in order to be able to enjoy the luxurious dinner. Well, that obviously didn’t happen, instead we went to the movies and he ate a hamburger in front of the public library in Leppävaara.
What’s most important is that he let me take some portraits of him while destroying his favorite suit on the rocky benches with whatever-was-in-that-hamburger sauce. And we did enjoy the movie!

My love, despite the frequent empty threats, I am never going to want to upgrade you. I love you!

This is my beloved and chosen one and his idea of a cool pic. Holding library’s bear’s paw through the window… Don’t ask!

I will not be jumping here like an ape, he stated firmly. Sure you will, honey, it’s my birthday!

Then few portraits of us together. We have none, even the wedding kind of passed without proper portraits of us taken… If you want something done, do it yourself, right?

Then it was already time to head to the movies. After all the coke he drank, a visit to the smallest room was necessary. I did the same and it took me twice as long because I was doing this!

Ok, thanx for looking, enough of the crazy stuff, back to serious business tomorrow again!

Do you believe in angels? – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:17:06 +0000

Having visitors living in our home for a week was stimulating nad intellectually refreshing. We discussed other topics than the same ol’ “kids, photography, medicine, weather”. We spent hours discovering each others’ opinions about healthy choices in live, alternative ways of raising children, alternative ways of living and many more … and it all reminded me of my dear friend Gunta. (Darling, if you are reading this, you must know again that all the good decisions about these topics in my life I did because of you. Thank you for being so persistent!) Our friends also believe in angels.

This post is dedicated to all people who don’t cease to learn and explore new ways in and of life. I firmly believe that changes are for the better. So if you are not satisfied with some aspect of your life, go change it. It will get better. And if not, at least you gave it a try. Being passive doesn’t get you anywhere. I am still amazed by how simply and most happily people can live if they only start listening to their hearts. If you don’t listen to your heart yet, start today. Don’t do things that make you feel bad – guilt, sadness, negative gut feeling are all signs that what you are doing or about to do is not a good idea. Find other solutions, be creative!

Oh and don’t forget to make others happy along the way. Especially the old and lonely people, you will be old and lonely yourselves one day, no matter how much you push this idea away. Small things are sometimes the big things… Good karma to you all. I am off to bed now.

Angels do walk amongst us. You can be one of them. This can be your story.

My angel in civil life … Malena of Malenami.com. Probably the most beautiful and positive person I met in Finland. Thank you for being such an awesome model!

With 2 photographers on Suomenlinna – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:14:11 +0000

I am so late with posting all the images I have been taking lately, so brace yourselves, the blog shall be flooded in the next few days with a lot of new cool stuff. Come back daily

About two weeks ago my friend photographer Derek Latham asked me if I would like to take portraits of him and his colleague, Anna Jarske. Sure, any time, I answered. As it turned out, any time was not good enough, it had to be soon and on a specific day as well. But I love demanding people and was happy to sail my whole family over to the island of Suomenlinna to take portraits of Anna and Derek, two great wedding photograhers. I left my hubby bewildered since I was selling it to him as a “family trip and quality time together” and suddenly I was leaving him with our two angels to do daddy magic and hopped and skipped away with a camera around my neck. Not a good sign for the family trip, as he knows all too well.

After we finished shooting, Derek and Anna were kind enough to return the favore and took awesome photos of me and my family. I have NO photos of me and my kids. So it made me all teary and sentimental. But of course, them shooting us went well, because kids and hubby were all thrilled to have me back so we looked like a fairly happy family. But as it is with photographers, neither Derek nor Anna felt really home in front of a camera and I didn’t feel myself either, because I think they are really good photographers. I have to admit, I was quite nervous. Judge the results yourselves…

Derek is supposed to have a mild arachnophobia… too bad I made him lay in the grass. For a long time too… I am a bad bad girl…

52 weeks challenge … CHAIR – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:47:27 +0000

My friends, photographers Whitley (of Whitley Pollet Photography) and Kate (of Kate Craft Photography) came up with a healthy excersise. Any photographer who is interested in honing own skills will agree that shooting on a given subject is one of the best ways to improve. So Whit and Kate came up with 52 different themes, one for each week of the year. And though I missed the first three (I will do them at the end), I finally managed to jump in and here I am with week 5 topic “chair”.

This is Julietta and her two kids. Julieta is without a doubt the most beautiful woman I know in real life (and actually she is more beautiful than any of the virtual creatures magazines and movie industry daily serves us). Yet she hates being photographed. The nerves some people have! My heart aches and bleeds and my camera twists and turns in the bag whenever I see Julieta … I met her about 3 years ago when she had few weeks to the due date with her son. She and her husband were strolling through a mall where I was searching models for one project I then photographed. Unfortunately, solely to my own mistakes and wrecked nerves, the photos turned out to be a disaster. I didn’t keep them. But I kept Julieta, we became friends and I love having her in my life. Not only is she absolutely stunning, but she also makes the best hot chocolate in the world. Who would not want to be friends with her?

Julieta, darling, I love you. Don’t move anywhere abroad, my life would become really boring! And please, please, PLEASE, let me photograph you more!

And dear readers, if you like the photos, please leave a comment to tell this stubborn lady that she has to let me photograph her. Ok?

Julieta and her charming kids.

Just in case the 52 weeks challenge intrigues you, here the first 10 topics:

Time
Trees
Books
Candy/treats
Chair
Water
Money
Shoes
Hats
Tools

A different family shoot – Niki Strbian Perhekuvaus

admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:35:01 +0000

I love my job!

Where should I start? Oh, by mentioning that I love my job because it allows me to make people happy. Different people. First time mums. Parents. Small kids. Teenagers. Brothers and sisters. (getting all emotional now) People of all kinds let me in their homes and close to their hearts, if just for a moment. It’s precious. It’s priceless. I value it above all. And this time powers of universe brought me the most exceptional family. A sister and two brothers, grown-ups, who share their lives, sorrow and happiness alike, so tightly that they made me feel like I want to be part of it for longer than just a moment or two. And what more – they were absolutely cool in front of the camera as well. We had so much fun, I hope the pictures show it! (besides the lovely photos we took at the beginning, there was a surprise theme … heavy metal!) You guys are not getting rid of me now …. because this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

First few for their mom and grandmother (happy birthday, by the way )…

Then we started unleashing the devils…

And finally, the Theme! There are two heavy-metal drummers in this photo, do you care to venture a guess which ones they are?

The little ones are SO lucky to have such fun family…

It’s my birthday today! – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:09:06 +0000

Yep, I am old! It’s official now

33.

Not afraid to say it. I don’t feel age matters anyways. I have all I need. My husband and my kids (I LOVE YOU). My great family who always supports me – my sister and my parents who believe in every step I take. And if they don’t agree, they will tell me! A mother-in-law that is an angel (which never happens I heard…). My soulmates Irene and Raduska. My friends, Svend, Juhana and all the Czechoslovakians here in Finland. My photographers. Super cool chics who call Wende “mum”. I love you all and I owe so much of my energy to all of you. I cannot walk through life without my loved ones.

This is me and my family on Suomenlinna yesterday – fooling around and playing hide and seek. It’s hard to say with the big party still coming on Sunday, but this might be just the best gift I have gotten and not only this year. I am eternally in debt with my two awesome colleagues, wedding photographers Anna Jarske and Derek Latham. Thank you guys, you just made my day. (I am in tears really.)

(do put the speakers on…)

me and my family

BELOVED – celebrate your relationship – Niki Strbian Beloved Photography

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:11:58 +0000

A gigantic photography event. A huge auditorium. A delicate man. A vision. Jesh de Rox and his Experiential Photography.

I am a member of a few photography forums, dedicated to portrait photography and children portraiture. Jesh’s lecture has been discussed there more than once and people raved about it. I am the type who doesn’t go to see a movie if everyone raves about it. I am the type who doesn’t believe in mass happiness. (Yet I am a potterologist and avatarlogist. Go figure!) I missed the lecture anyway. One evening, after having a rather difficult day with my little angels (sometimes it happens even in the best of families), I was editing photos and thought to myself that I will give it a try. I listened to the recording of the lecture and it

CHANGED. MY. LIFE.

My life as a photographer. My life as a person. As a human being.

I knew instantly that I wanted to become a part of this movement. BELOVED movement. And one day a package arrived. The BELOVED field guide. Which changed my life still more. Ok, I know you want to know now what this photography voodoo is about. Bear with me a little longer.

Imagine that you decide to have your photos taken. Any given occasion will do. You got engaged. Married. Secretly married. Your wife is pregnant. You have a newborn baby. You have a family. You celebrate your wedding’s 50th anniversary. Any occasion will do. Even one as simple as: “it’s a beautiful day”. So what is it that you want to have captured?

Poses.

Feelings. Laughter. Deep gazes into each other’s eyes. Hugs. And … do we dare … kisses.

I bet it’s the second one. And it damn well should be! BELOVED photography will empower just that. Through a number of small tasks (for a lack of a better word), you will experience real feelings in front of the camera. You will BE LOVED. And if you let me, I will capture the feelings in a timeless manner. Resulting in a true celebration of your relationship.

Oh common. Say it out loud! This is unheard of in Finland. This will never work with the Finnish nature. Finnish culture. Finnish personalities.

Really? Try me! Book your Beloved session now. (It’s also a perfect gift.)

Oh and not that it’s the most important thing. But I am officially qualified for the Experiential Photography. You can also find me listed as a photographer of the Beloved movement. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your Beloved photographer, Niki

PSHHH: The first three Beloved sessions will receive a special gift from me.

Yo-kuvaus competition – THE WINNER – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:01:33 +0000

Yay! Today is the 1st of June and this day is important not only because it’s the International Children’s Day (how did you celebrate with your kids? by ice-cream, gifts, plays or, oops, a little unnecessary shouting?) but also because it’s the day when the winner of my yo-kuvaus competition should be announced. And is going to be announced.

I am pleased to notice that none of my blog readers, who left a comment, voted for the traditional yo-kuva (a rose, a glass of champange and a stiff posing). But unfortunately only one of you could be the winner of a free yo-kuvaus with me… Without further ado, I went off and used a random number generator, did hard job programming the machine to randomly choose a number between 1 and 14 (since the last of 15 comments was not really a yo-kuva seeker) and hit the “generate” button.

scrolling in the original post, scrolling in the original post and the winner is …..

….. TIINA (or actually her brother!).

Congratulations! Looking forward to working with you.

I walked through her eyes into her soul – Niki Strbian Valokuvaus

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:56:19 +0000

Amazing what life has in stock for us sometimes. I went to photograph a pregnant colleague of my husband, a doctor/scientist from Turkey. Her mum, who arrived for the birth from a small village outside of Istanbul, came along to the shoot. At the end, just as the sun was setting behind a small patch of moss, this amazing lady graciously allowed me to take a portrait of her. She looked at me and a miracle happened. The sky opened, the earth cracked, the moss became a fire and through her eyes I walked into her soul. It felt cozy being there, her soul reminding me of a grand kitchen full of people talking over each other, with a grandmother knitting small woollen animal toys in the corner and one of the dogs secretly steeling a piece of sausage from the table. Nobody got angry at him, even when they noticed. I didn’t want to come back to the real world, but someone had to press a shutter.

You have marked my heart and I will never forget you. You are beautiful.