1. Tell us about your background and journey. How and when did you realize your passion for wildlife photography?
I’ve been very interested in nature and especially wild animals since I was a young kid. Already before when I knew how to read, I was carrying a bird book and binoculars with me everywhere.
I used to spend lot of time in nature near my home observing animals with binoculars or bare eyes. When I was 18 years old (2015) I borrowed my dad’s camera and took my first photos of a bird in our backyard. I fell in love with photography right away and started taking a camera with me whenever I went out.
In 2017 when I managed to photograph red foxes for the first time, I realized that wildlife photography is really something I want to focus in my life and possibly make a career out of it.
I had started my geography studies in Helsinki University but in January 2019 I decided to take some time off and focus on my photography career. I’m still on that path and still haven’t returned to my studies. Right now, I make my living fully from photography and other things related to it. I’m not sure if I will sometime later continue my studies.
2. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?
The best way to learn photography is by simply taking lot of photos. You can always read books, watch online tutorials etc. but the best teacher is yourself. Just go out as often as possible, take as many different kinds of photos you can. Every day you will get better and better.
If you want to photograph wildlife, make sure you know what you are going to photograph first. Find out information about the animal species: Such as where they live, what time of the day they are active, how they behave etc. That gives you a much better chance of finding and getting a good photo of them.
3. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?
You don’t need to have any skills when you start learning, but over years you will learn to be patient. Especially in wildlife photography, there’s lot of days that you don’t get any photos at all. You need to be able to get yourself motivated enough to go out even if you know that it’s very low chance of finding something interesting.
I spend probably 99% of my time for searching and waiting for the animals and only one percent to actually photograph them. No matter what you photograph, you have to invest lot of time to be able to take photos that really stand out. Patience and not being afraid to fail are very important skills for a nature photographer at least.
4. What are various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?
Making a living with nature photography is very difficult. If you photograph people, events, weddings etc. it can be easier. But even then, you need to be good at what you’re doing. Luckily there’s lot of need for photographers and people are still willing to pay for good, high-quality photos, even though I think the market is getting more and more challenging as taking good photos is getting easier with new technology.
I can’t speak on behalf of other photographers, but at least as a full-time nature photographer, you really have a freedom to do what you want. Of course, you need to get new good content all the time, but no one tells you what exactly you should photograph. It’s more about going out and photographing what you like and then trying to sell the photos afterwards.
To become a good photographer, it’s important to do lot of self-learning with just taking lots of photos, but also to build networks with other photographers. Others always know something that you don’t and vice versa.
You can learn photography in school also (at least in some countries) but a degree may not guarantee you any job as the quality of your work is what matter in the end. Instead of a school I’d try some online courses or workshops organized by other professional photographers on a chosen subject.
5. Which is your favourite book and why?
To be honest, I haven’t read many books in the past few years. It’s difficult to name a favourite but one that I recently read and really liked is “The Secret Wisdom of Nature” by Peter Wohlleben. The book tells in a very interesting way, how everything in nature is somehow connected to each other,
how everything has its purposes and how badly things can go wrong if human tries to interfere to the balance of nature.
- Interviewed by - Anushka Gagwari
The best way to learn photography is by simply taking lot of photos. You can always read books, watch online tutorials etc. but the best teacher is yourself. Just go out as often as possible, take as many different kinds of photos you can. Every day you will get better and better.
If you want to photograph wildlife, make sure you know what you are going to photograph first. Find out information about the animal species: Such as where they live, what time of the day they are active, how they behave etc. That gives you a much better chance of finding and getting a good photo of them.
3. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?
You don’t need to have any skills when you start learning, but over years you will learn to be patient. Especially in wildlife photography, there’s lot of days that you don’t get any photos at all. You need to be able to get yourself motivated enough to go out even if you know that it’s very low chance of finding something interesting.
I spend probably 99% of my time for searching and waiting for the animals and only one percent to actually photograph them. No matter what you photograph, you have to invest lot of time to be able to take photos that really stand out. Patience and not being afraid to fail are very important skills for a nature photographer at least.
4. What are various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?
Making a living with nature photography is very difficult. If you photograph people, events, weddings etc. it can be easier. But even then, you need to be good at what you’re doing. Luckily there’s lot of need for photographers and people are still willing to pay for good, high-quality photos, even though I think the market is getting more and more challenging as taking good photos is getting easier with new technology.
I can’t speak on behalf of other photographers, but at least as a full-time nature photographer, you really have a freedom to do what you want. Of course, you need to get new good content all the time, but no one tells you what exactly you should photograph. It’s more about going out and photographing what you like and then trying to sell the photos afterwards.
To become a good photographer, it’s important to do lot of self-learning with just taking lots of photos, but also to build networks with other photographers. Others always know something that you don’t and vice versa.
You can learn photography in school also (at least in some countries) but a degree may not guarantee you any job as the quality of your work is what matter in the end. Instead of a school I’d try some online courses or workshops organized by other professional photographers on a chosen subject.
5. Which is your favourite book and why?
To be honest, I haven’t read many books in the past few years. It’s difficult to name a favourite but one that I recently read and really liked is “The Secret Wisdom of Nature” by Peter Wohlleben. The book tells in a very interesting way, how everything in nature is somehow connected to each other,
how everything has its purposes and how badly things can go wrong if human tries to interfere to the balance of nature.
- Interviewed by - Anushka Gagwari
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