Last week I had a shooting session with the C-juniors of ÄU (Äänekosken Urheilijat) Volleyball girls. Portraits shootings with sport juniors are always a very rewarding experience. The youngsters are very excited and are having a lot of fun in front of the camera and in the midst of mobile studio flashes; the shooting and the photography itself are an empowering experience for the models (and for the photographer too :)). Unlike classic school photography, which basically is a money making mass industry, I prefer to take more time and aim to create a dramatic light setup. In addition to conventional portraits, the real fun starts when doing the action portraits. This is where portrait photography meets sports photography! The girls and boys give everything to look good, and they always do!
After the shooting, I take the time to create a unique style in post processing and individually process every selected image. All in all this takes, of course, a lot of time, but it’s worth every brush and dodge! The result is something very different from the classic school photography style. It emphasizes the individual, the environment and the circumstances, giving every image a unique ambiance.
