Once again it was a great chance to see inspirational photos in Budapest as last weekend there was 'Foto utca fesztivál' - Photo Street Festival - in the front of Capa Center.

A part of the street was totally closed from cars and several containers were brought there. They were like mini pop up galleries. What a fantastic idea!

The exhibition was part of Budapest Photo Festival.

~~~~

Budapestissa oli jälleen kerran mahdolisuus nähdä upeita, inspiroivia valokuvia, sillä käynnissä oli 'Foto utca fesztivál' - valokuva-katufestarit - Capa Centerin edessä.

Osa kadusta oli kokonaan suljettu autoilta ja sinne oli tuotu kontteja, jotka toimivat mini-pop-up gallerioina. Aivan loistava idea!

Näyttely oli osa Budapestin valokuvafestivaalia.

You can still go & see these exhibitions in Budapest:

// Vielä ehdit käydä katsastamassa nämä valokuvanäyttelyt Budapestissa:

Resistance

Scapes

Instax

Resistance Exhibition At ToBe Gallery

If you are in town (that means in Budapest) pop in to ToBe Gallery to see Resistance - Power Or Capacity To Resist photo exhibition. 

All the displayed photos have strong message and statement by the Venezualan artists who had to leave their home country after the conflicts on April 11th in 2002. This is a very impressive & emotional exhibition. It's not political - it just shows how these artists saw, felt and experienced "11A".

Have to bring you some bad news - Bea & Tomas are closing down the gallery so this is the last exhibition at ToBe. But the good news are that they are not leaving Budapest (they just spent 3 months in Miami!) and they have great new plans, so we will hear from them soon!

(FI) Jos satut olemaan Budapestissa, kannattaa pistäytyä ToBe Galleriassa katsastamassa Resistance - Power Or Capacity To Resist -valokuvanäyttely. 

Kaikissa näytteillä olevista valokuvista tulee selkeästi esille niiden vahva sanoma ja viesti. Kyseessä on venezualaisten taitelijoiden ryhmänäyttely.  Nämä taiteilijat joutuivat jättämään kotimaansa vuoden 2002 (11.4.2002) tapahtumien jälkeen. Näyttely on vaikuttava ja tunteita liikuttava. Se on taiteilijoiden oma näkemys siitä miten he kokivat "11A:n" eli huhtikuun 11. päivän tapahtumat.

Valitettavasti Bea & Tomas ovat sulkemassa gallerian, joten tämä näyttely jää ToBen viimeiseksi. Hyvä uutinen on se, että heillä on uusia loistavia suunnitelmia eivätkä he ole lähdössä Budapestista (he olivat juuri Miamissa 3 kk!), joten tulemme varmasti kuulemaan heistä pikapuoliin!

Tips For Children's Portrait Photography

Small children are always super cute but not the easiest ones to capture in portraits. I don't so often take photos of people, but as I had a chance to practise with a friend of mine and her little baby boy in a studio enviroment, I was very excited. 

I had made a plan what kind of pics I wanted to take, but with an active one-year-old things didn't go exactly the way I had in my mind :D I did learn a lot from the session and therefor I want to share these tips for children's portrait photography for you. Hope you'll find them useful!

1. Have patient. A small child does what he/she wants, not what you ask.

2. Be ready. You want to capture that special moment and it can happen just once and at any time.

3. Get down to their level. It's important that the perspective stays natural. 

4. Choose the focus mode carefully. A good idea is to shoot in burst as a child is most probably not staying still.

5. Use a flash if there's not enough good light. Bouncing the light off walls and ceiling is the most ideal.

6. Be an entertainer. Play with the child, have toys, smile. Make the kid feel comfortable and safe.

7. Don't bring anything too delicate or easily breakable. I did that mistake! I brought glass balls... not a good idea!  

8. Go with the flow. Be creative. Anything can happen!

Pienet lapset ovat niin suloisia, mutta eivät välttämättä valokuvattavina helpoimmasta päästä. En kovin usein tule kuvanneeksi ihmisiä, mutta kun tässä hiljattain sain mahdollisuuden harjoitella studiokuvausta ystäväni ja hänen pikkupoikansa kanssa, olin aivan innoissani. 

Olin tehnyt suunnitelmat siitä millaisia valokuvia halusin ottaa, mutta touhukkaan yksivuotiaan kanssa se ei ihan mennyt strömsöön tapaan:D Opin koko sessiosta valtavasti ja sen takia haluan jakaa pari vinkkiä siitä miten kuvat lapsipotretteja studiossa ja misket muuallakin. Toivottavasti näistä on jotain hyötyä!

1. Ole kärsivällinen. Pieni lapsi tekee mitä huvittaa, eikä mitä pyydät. Varsinkin jos hän on vasta yhden vuoden ikäinen.

2. Ole valmiina. taroitus on saada tallennettua ainutlaatuinen hetki ja se voi tapahtua minä hetkenä tahansa ja ehkä vain kerran.

3. Mene lapsen tasolle eli ihan fyysisesti lattialle. On tärkeää että perspektiivi säilyy luonnollisena.

4. Valitse tarkennustila huolellisesti. Voit ottaa kuvia myös sarjakuvaustoiminnolla, sillä lapsi tuskin pysyy paikoillaan ainakaan kauaa. 

5. Käytä salamaa jos hyvää, oikeanlaista valoa ei ole tarpeeksi. Seinien ja katon kautta heijastava valo on ihanteellisin.

6. Viihdytä lasta. Leiki hänen kanssaan, varaa leluja, hymyile. Luo lapselle mukava ja turvallinen olo.

7. Älä tuo mitään helposti rikkimenevää rekvisiittaa. Tein itse tämän virheen ja toin lasipalloja...aivan typerä idea! 

8. Anna flown viedä. Ole luova. Kaikki on mahdollista, voi tapahtua mitä vaan!

Print A Photo

There was a photo expo in Budapest the other weekend. Had a a chance to take a couple of photos with hundreds of other kindred spirits. So there was not really space there and had to snap and try to capture moments whenever possible. My favourite spot was this nicely staged flower girl portrait place, which was made by Rooms Studio.

For me the most interesting thing was to find out different materials for photo printing purposes. It doesn't always have to be just the 'normal' photo paper - there are really a lot of options out there. You can choose luster, matte, watercolour or metallic paper. A photo can be printed also on canvas, aluminium plate, acrylic plate or on glass. I think I will try all of them starting with canvas. I have photo series of 3-6 pics and it would be great to see them on different materials. I have found out that the smallest size what you can print on canvas is 30x30cm. First I wanted to have 15x15 but that might have been too small anyway, so I'm happy with the 30x30cm.

At the Photo Expo I found Poster Shop, which is a place for printing. It operates here in Hungary in two places at Kolosy tér in Budapest and in Debrecen. If you're not living in Budapest you can still use the services of Pigmenta as they ship abroad as well. I've been using Pigmenta for some time now and can highly recommend it. Their service and quality are excellent, and prices reasonable. 

Have you recently had your photos printed?

(FI) Viikko sitten Budapestissa oli Photo Expo. Paikka oli täynnä samanhenkistä porukkaa kamerat kaulassa. Kuvausmahdollisuudet oli väentungoksesta johtuen rajalliset ja tästä johtuen napsin kuvia eri ständeiltä aina kun vaan oli mahdollista. Suosikkikuvauspaikkani oli tämä Rooms Studion kauniisti stailattu kukkaistyttö spotti

Mielenkiintoisinta messuantia itselleni oli eri printtimateriaalien esittely. Mahdollisuuksia on vaikka kuinka paljon eikä aina tarvitse käyttää sitä 'tavallista' valokuvapaprua. Kuvan voi printata kiilto-, matta-, vesiväri- tai metallipintaiselle paperille. Tulostus onnistuu myös canvas-pinnalle, alumiini- ja akryylilevylle sekä lasipinnalle. Taidan okeilla kaikkia näitä vaihtoehtoja ja aloittaa tousta canvasista. Olen tehnyt 3-6 kuvan sarjoja ja olisi mielenkiintoista nähdä miltä näyttävät eri materiaaleilla.  Kuulemma pienin koko canvas-taululle on 30x30cm. Alunperin olisin halunnut vielä pienempiä 15x15cm, mutta tarkemmin ajatellen tuon kokoiset taitavat olla jo turhan pieniä, joten olen tyytyväinen 30x30cm kokoon.

Photo Expossa tutustuin Poster Shop -nimiseen firmaan, joka toimii Unkarissa kahdessa paikassa - Kolossy térillä Budapestissa ja Debrecenissä sekä tietysti myös netissä. Mikäli et ole Budapestissa voit silti käyttää Pigmenta-nimisen yrityksen palveluja, sillä he toimittavat myös ulkomaille ja palvely tapahtuu englanniksi.  Pigmenta on minulle vanha tuttu ja voin todellakin suositella - palvelu ja laatu on erinomaista ja hinnat kohtuulliset!

Oletko kokeillut valokuvien printtaamista pitkään aikaan?

At Home With Irma

I have known Irma for ages, since the early 90s. After living seven years in Budapest she moved back to Finland with her husband and daughter for seven years as well, and now they've been back in Hungary for more than ten years. Not the whole family though - their daughter studied and is now living & working in Helsinki. Oh, I forgot - they have a new member in the family - Otto! He's a super cute & playful Yorkshire terrier.

  All the Finns in Budapest know Irma, but here are some trivial details about her :)

First of all it's not a secret that Irma likes cooking. 

In my fridge there're always... cheese, cucumber, margarine, white wine and dark bread, because those are always needed.

My three essential cooking ingredients are...oil, onion and black pepper. They work so well together and are base for so many dishes.

A kitchen is useless without... cutting board, good knife, sauce pan and cooking range, of course.

I spend a lot of time in... cooking! We often have dinner guests and I like to plan the menus carefully and prepare everything from scratch.

I often cook to my friends... fish. I'm a fan of classic French kitchen.

My favourite city is... Rome. You can feel the atmosphere & history,   smell the food - it's a city made for human beings.

My favourite scent is...lemon. I love its freshness and clearness.

A colour that often pops up in my home is... yellow. Especially in flowers and curtains.

I'm collecting... glass balls with snowing effect, perhaps they are called snow globes. And Zsolnay's porcelain figures. I would love to collect old plates and have them on wall in our dining room. Maybe one day...

My personal style is...pretty simple, minimalistic & comfy. I often wear jeans and a colourful twin set.

I love to read... The Etruscan by a Finnish author Mika Waltari. That book is always a great choice. I would also pick up any book by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk.

In the mornings... I need one hour to be on my own, just watching the news on TV and having my morning coffee. Not a word. 

I enjoy...the summers in Finland. White nights, crispy weather and that quietness. Gardening & cutting logs are things I really enjoy to do. Usually I spend the entire summer in Finland. 

My favourite place at home is...the armchair in my daughter's room. I often sit there reading a book with Otto on my lap.

Thank you, Irma, for the nice talk and photo shoot session :)

Flower Crown Workshop

Mihaela at flowerMe had once again organized such a lovely workshop. This time we made flower crowns. I like the idea that Mihaela always wants to choose as organic materials as possible. For flower crowns you should pick up flowers that stay alive for long, but fillers can be picked up straight from a garden. Sage, lavender and explosing grass make a great filler. Ivy is a perfect choice for a pliable branch.

Here're 12 steps how to craft an organic flower crown:

1. Gather the goods

- two or three types of flowers

- one or two types of fillers

- floral wire

- plain twine (optional)

- garden shears or sharp scissors

2.Cut the pliable branch

Wrap the pliable branch around your head to see how much is needed.

3. Pick your flowers

Group your flowers. Create mini bouquets that are beautiful from all sides.

4. Get taping

Use floral tape and wrap it around the stems of the flowers.

5. Admire your cute mini arrangement

6. Get busy

Keep creating clusters until you have seven or eight of them.

7. Get wrapped up

Wrao a single piece of floral wire around the pliable branch and the base of flowers.

8. Keep it tight

Wrap until the flower bunch feels secure.

9. Add another bunch

Grab another mini bouquet and lay it along the pliable branch in the same direction.

10. Keep adding...

11. Grab your plain twine

Wrap it around the end of the branch so it gives a more vintage look.

12. Admire your work :)

Had a wonderful time! Thanks to Mihaela, Jule, Mari, Emma & Sofia! It's always nice to learn new things!

Do not hesitate to contact flowerMe for gorgeous organic flowers!

Pattern Coffee

Pattern - a perfect coffee place for an interior designer:)

So many interesting details that got carried away and just couldn't put my camera down.

Pop in if you're craving for coffee and nearby King's Cross!

Random Snapshots - Into The Blue

About the colour BLUE

Blue regularly tops popularity charts thanks to its perceived calming, peaceful qualities, and its appeal goes back centuries - in the Renaissance, for example, the deep blue pigment derived from the mineral lapis lazuli was so prizes that it was used to piant the sacred robes of the Madonna.

You can create a relaxed, beachy feel with pale aquamarines (perfect set against sandy beiges); contrast blocks of brilliant cobalt with white walls or go for a jewel-box feel by saturating a space in teal, petrol and turquoise shades.

Not all blues are restful: the brighter the tone, the more invigorating the effect. 

"To me, blue is the colour of distance and expansion, and makes me think of the sea and the sky - immediately happy thoughts. In an interior it has the effect of increasing the sense of spaciousness, but it really needs to be used in areaswhere the natural light is good, otherwise it can be rather clinical."

- Sir Terence Conran, designer -

 "Blue is found in hte natural world, so anytime you put a colour against it, it's complementary."

- Eileen Kathryn Boyd, desiger -


More about blue here, here, here and here...