Bernskiold Media

Wednesday Artist Interview: Juha M. Kinnunen

This weeks artist interview is with amazing landscape and nature photographer, Juha M. Kinnunen. He’s an all around great guy plus an amazing photographer (as you’ll notice here):

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a photographer from Oulu, Finland. I started as a landscape and nature photographer but slowly I have progressed to other photographic fields as well such as wedding and corporate photography.

Do you have any formal training/what’s your background in art?

My background in art is 2 obligatory drawing classes in upper secondary high school. I actually started to study art more after I started photography already some years ago and currently I am doing art history as a minor subject with my university studies.

What equipment do you use?

I have a Canon EOS 40D, and a bunch of lenses from 12mm to 150mm. Sigma and Tokina mostly. I also have a bag full of filters; a Cokin set for graduated neutral density filtration and polarizers for every lens that I have and also NDx8 and NDx400 for my wide-angle lens. I also carry a Manfrotto tripod everywhere I go.

Who is your biggest influence? Why?

I guess I would have to say my dad. He was a photographer in 70’s and 80’s and our house is filled with old photographs and I grew up browsing old albums, shoeboxes and of course beautiful black and white prints on the walls.

Do you have any advice to aspiring artists?

My advice is to keep your eyes open everywhere, not just when you are carrying a camera but look at photographs in magazines, books and think about them. Think why you like some and why you hate some, then later try to convey these thoughts into your own work without forgetting the technical side as well.

Do you have anything else you want to say?

I wish I could come up with some kind of beautiful aforism myself, but since I can not I will quote an anonymous photographer who once said that "amateurs worry about equipment, pros worry about money and masters worry about light". I would also like to wish everyone a productive autumn season and all the best luck in capturing the beautiful colours of autumn.