Julius Koivistoinen is a young Finnish student passioned about photography. He's mostly self taught but has already been working as a photographer for a couple of magazines published not only in Finland but worldwide, and his photos have reached to become the cover shots of those magazines for plenty of times. In addition to commercial work, he loves to work on personal projects and with smaller clients. Currently he's available for assignments near Helsinki and Lahti. Be sure to visit his portfolio and Flickr page!
Few weeks ago I was photographing the collerctor’s cover photo for a Finnish airsoft magazine Softaaja. Our models Stefan (on left) and Janne were dressed up as post-apocalyptic scavangers inspired by the Mad Max movies and the Fallout game series. Stefan likes to describe himself as a cat hunter and Janne is a sand warrior.
Keeping the light simple was a good idea this time as the models were interesting enough in my opinion. One big light source comes with a very natural look while it’s still very pleasing to the eye also.
Even though we shot these in the afternoon it still was quite bright outside. That is why I chose to use a silver reflective umbrella as it’s the most efficient light modificator when used with my small 430EX strobe units. In addition I like the little rougher light coming out of the reflective umbrella compared to a shoot-through brolly as the light doesn’t scatter as much. I had two strobes instead of just one pointing in one umbrella so that I could turn their power a bit down to gain a faster recycling time.
The photo is taken with a Canon EOS 5D camera and a EF 17-40mm f/4L lens which is a combo I love. The strobes were triggered wirelessly using a ST-E2 transmitter.
Here’s three details from the image seen above:
The equipment those guys are wearing is epic. Self-made armor based on a hockey harness, real ammunition boxes and the outsoles of shoes, leather clothing, vintage sunglasses from the 50′s, laser protective goggles, self-made shoulder guard with chainmail and a steel plate protecting the heart (I made that, actually!), self-made pistol holster and the list goes on.
Underneath are two examples on the images that were used as reference while building up those layouts. Just to give you a clue what I’m talking about.
Screenshots from the early episodes of Fallout game series
Photo from the movie Max Max 2: Road Warrior starring Mel Gibson
The following photos are random snapshots from the same photo shoot. Just a neat little bonus to all of you hungry for backstage imagery.
In addition to airsoft guns I’ve been handling real deals for quite a while at work already but just now I got the chance to test out shooting with one.
During this week we were at a shooting range in Helsinki with Jarkko Koskinen from Rekyyli. The firearm I was practicing with was a 9mm pistol CZ-999. The model is used by the Serbian army.
Besides shooting from a standing position from the distances of 5, 10 and 15 meters, my accuracy was put on a test from a distance as great as 25 meters (27 yards) too. Those shots I fired the gun supported as seen in the video below. I shot five to six bullets at a time and I’m prertty proud of my best result: the pattern of six shots could be fitted in my fist.
Here’s some images from the shooting range photographed by Jarkko. The lights were set by me though.
Note: The following image is staged. The gun seen in the photograph was safely unloaded before taking the photo. Pointing towards someone with even an unarmed gun is strictly forbidden.
Strobist info: Bare 430EX strobe unit attached to the wall on my right side and another one far back in the shooting range lighting up the target. The strobes were triggered wirelessly using a ST-E2 transmitter.
Luckily Jarkko was carrying a video camera with him too. Here’s a short clip from the shooting range. The title is: “Julius uses his head”…
In other news…
I figured out that the photos of me and my bike I uploaded two weeks ago were so very lousy for not showing the beautiful bicycle in its full potential. So here’s an another try!
Kona Paddy Wagon and me shot with Canon EOS 5D and EF 135mm f/2L
Viikonloppuna liityin viimeinkin valkolakkisten ylioppilaiden joukkoon oikein rymisten!
Lukiossamme pidimme Joonaksen kanssa puheet opiskelijoidemme puolesta. Omaa puhettani tykkään luonnehtia loppukevennykseksi.
Kuvat puhukoon puolestaan. Kuvannut Jorma Koivistoinen.
Me giving a speech to my minions.
Lisäksi…
Nelipäiväiset pääsykokeet Lahden muotoiluinstituutissa ovat tältä erää ohi!
Meidät valokuvauslinjalle hakeneet laitettiin suurimmaksi osin piirtämään ja tai maalaamaan, mutta myös valokuvaamista kertakäyttökameralla ja filmijärkkärillä päästiin kokeilemaan. Tehtäviä oli yhteensä 10 kappaletta, jotka mittasivat kykyämme hahmottaa kokonaisuuksia, sommittelua, kuvallista oivaltavuutta ynnä muuta. Työajat vaihtelivat viidestä minuutista seitsemään tuntiin asti.
350 hakijasta noin 50 otettiin pääsykokeisiin. Näistä taas karsittiin haastateltavaksi 30 henkeä, joista arviolta 10 saa opiskelupaikan. Itse selvisin haastatteluihin asti ja sekin tuntui menevän ihan hyvin. Ei mitään vaikeaa.
Nyt ei muuta kuin odottelemaan heinäkuussa saapuvia vastauksia.
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