Helsinki Festival 2013 - Open air cinema

Film projector van.

Helsinki Festival 2013

Father with his children at Helsinki Market Square after the Helsinki Festival opening concert.

Ilkka & Vilhelmiina

Congratulations.

Huoratron - Flow Festival 2013

Huoratron - The Circus, Helsinki

huoratron.com

Setting up for Rock The Beach festival

Main Stage
Hietalahti beach, Helsinki

Roope Salminen & Koirat - Viking XPRS 1.6.2013

Red Bull Illume 2013 - Action & Adventure Photo Contest

These are my photos for Red Bull Illume 2013 Action & Adventure Photo Contest.

Ruka Spring Break

Bandy team from Kuusamo having an end-of-the-season party.

Omsk Philharmonic Concert Hall

In July 2010 the Governor of the Omsk Region asked Valery Gergiev to conduct in the Omsk Philharmonic concert hall in April 2011. While the 1960's hall had hosted many important events, the acoustics in the room weren’t designed for the beauty of unamplified music performance. So the Governor had a vision to renovate the room to support the rich musical talent of the Omsk Philharmonic in time for Gergiev’s performance.

Sergey Bannicov, Executive Director of the Omsk Orchestras had begun to research the concert halls of Russia and found that the renovated hall in Kazan, Tartarstan was acoustically among the best. The team contacted the acoustician for the hall—Nicholas Edwards of Acoustic Dimensions—to interview him for the project. Edwards began his work with research on the hall, but there was little information. After all, the hall was concealed within a city that had been closed to Westerners until 1991. Nick was able to connect with pianist, Andrey Chulovskiy who informed him by email that the concerts of the symphony orchestra were well attended and the hall was very comfortable, but that the acoustics did not fully support classical music.

Nick received his first real clue about the acoustical nature of the hall when he was sent a photograph of the interior: The low, wide, multi-purpose hall had strongly sound-diffusing wall and ceiling surfaces. While the design worked for multipurpose performance, for concerts it lacked the volume and sound-reflective surfaces needed for listeners to receive the reflections which define the great halls. It struck him that much would need to change to meet the Governor’s visionary goals and to facilitate the connection between the performers on the stage and the patrons in the audience.

Later that day the next photograph arrived showing a view to the back of the hall. The steep seating rake provided excellent sightlines—perfect for a lecture room or cinema but it created a shape that worked against the acoustic needs of a concert hall. Nick also noticed that demolition was in progress – before the concept for the new hall had even been proposed – evidence that the decision to renovate the hall had been made and was in progress. He shortly received another email saying “We'll be calling you soon. We're waiting for the answer about the wall's covering - to remove or not to remove?” By return, he said “There is no question -- the wall covering must go.”

To meet the rapid timeline prior to receiving his visa and the architectural drawings of the hall, Nick used the photographs to create line drawings of the hall to scale, and began to compare the hall with other concert halls. When the sketches arrived, it was revealed that beyond the prominent inner walls of the hall lay a simple rectangular box shape. For an acoustician, this was an exciting discovery. The rectangular shape opened up acoustical possibilities that the fan shape would not have allowed. However, the seating rake was not as easily resolved. To create the volume needed for the music, the main floor had to be demolished.

With a passion for the project, Nick went to work utilizing proprietary IMAGES software to begin the predictive analysis to draw the concept for the renovation. A week later, Edwards submitted his design.

When he was later asked “Where did the design come from? And did it really just take a week?” Nick laughed and clarified, “It actually took thirty-two years of design experience, and a week.”

- Cathy Hutchison, Acoustic Dimensions Blog

Meilahti Hospital

Meilahti Hospital under renovation.

Sunny Sunday

Seurasaari, Helsinki

Helsinki in the afternoon

Arctech Helsinki shipyard cranes

Kaivopuisto winter sports

Birthday boy

My nephew is now two years old.

Caribbean style

A school of approximately 100 dolphins came to say hi when we were returning from a dive trip on December 26th.
A definite highlight of 2012.

Matkus Shopping Center Grand Opening - Kuopio, Finland

RIP CURL PRO PENICHE 2012 - Supertubos

Gabriel Media (BRA) saying a prayer before going into the water.

Photographer getting ready.

Julian Wilson (AUS) doing it big.

Gabriel Media waiting for the results.

Rip Curl Pro Peniche 2012 winner: Julian Wilson

Ice hockey meets contemporary art: Making of Karri Rämö's mask

When thinking of an ice hockey goalkeeper’s helmet, colorful team logos with flames and tigers come to mind. They are usually painted with air-brush for cool blending and finer details. Creating a custom-fit mask using rough brushes, spray cans and oil paint would feel a bit out of place? Well, that's exactly what KHL goalie Karri Rämö asked painter Roy Hopiavuori to do. ”My friend has a couple of Hopiavuori’s hanging on his walls and I've always liked them a lot.” says Rämö.

”I think it was February this year when I got a new mask from the factory and had no idea how to illustrate it. When I played in Tampa I had this Nightmare Before Christmas-theme going and my current one has the team colors (Avangard Omsk) on it. I wanted something new and got this silly idea to ask Hopiavuori to paint it! Roy works with this kind-of-a-street-art style, rough stencils and bad-ass details. I thought the result would kick ass in a unique way compared to other guys’ masks.”

With no idea what to expect, Rämö gave Hopiavuori full artistic freedom. ”Yeah, I was a bit nervous but in a good way”, Rämö laughs. After the commision, the painter disappeared and didn’t answer his phone for weeks. Just a few days before the World Championship tournament in Helsinki, Rämö got the call. ”Hey, your mask is ready. Want to meet somewhere?” The artist had come out of his cave to meet that night at a rock bar in the heart of Helsinki.

”The music was loud. They were playing Ministry and other love songs. I couldn’t hear much of what Roy was saying. Taking the mask out of the box I only caught the words ‘hardest’, ‘Ostrobothnia’ and ‘balls’. That was about it. I mean, I am a hockey player. How do you respond to something like that?” Later, Hopiavuori disappeared somewhere into the night. Rämö walked home and went to sleep.

“It was only the next day when I really saw it. First you might think what a bizarre piece of work it is - but once you stare at it a while, the details just start popping out. I think you could take a chainsaw, split the piece in two and there would still be something new you didn’t see the first, or second time.” Rämö analyzes.

”All in all, I’m really happy about the outcome. I haven’t actually decided yet, whether I’m going to wear it on ice or put it up on the wall - maybe wait for the artist’s death in order to gain value to the artwork”, he smiles.

Hopiavuori & Rämö

 

Herrasmies Heinonen

Herrasmies Heinonen and Timi Lexikon shooting a music video for Heinonen's upcoming album at Sound Engine's studio with director Joonas Laaksoharju.

Viru Hotel KGB Museum

KGB Museum in Viru Hotel in Tallinn is a splendid place to visit. Just few rooms to walk around but the stories are unbelieveable. Our tour guide Marie had worked in the hotel herself during the years when KGB was present, meaning right from the beginning when the hotel first opened it's doors for guests in 1972 until 1991 when KGB personnels quietly walked out the front door. Of course, before the grand opening KGB spent two weeks "preparing" the hotel rooms and their own secret wiretapping room in 23. floor which officially didn't even exist.