Apr 19, 2014

 A simple boring ol' outfit post on a beautiful spring (or according to Estonian standards - more like summer) day.

Apr 14, 2014

Photography post: live shows and events

I haven't done an update on photography for a while, so here's a short overview of my latest shots of live shows and parties. I have never had any special enthusiasm towards event photography, but the practice of photographing live bands and parties has actually gradually planted a seed affection for it. It definitely has something to do with the fact that I'm better at it now thanks to the growing experience of shooting in low light. As a fan of natural light and shooting outside this has been a new thing for me. I do not own a flash, so this has been a challenge. Sometimes I've managed to lend one, but mostly I've just learned to cope without it. My new Nikon D610 is another benchmark as it operates nicely on higher ISO speeds.
The only real contradiction in all this is how to balance between taking photos and searching for angles, and enjoying the music and dancing - this is mainly because so far I have mostly photographed the events I actually enjoy very much. Too much even. So I think the next milestone along the journey in the event photography world is to take pictures of different events and concentrate on photography. So far it has been a fun mixture of both and I would love to keep it that way.


 Live: Stigmatroz

 Backstage craziness with insane Spaniards from Stigmatroz.

Live: Horricane


Apr 7, 2014

Abandoned manors and mortal kombat

So, I visited three manors yesterday (two of them abandoned) with my friends... One of them was Riisipere manor - once a luxurious example of Estonian classicist architecture is now in a dreadful condition and looking for a new owner, who will have to have a lot of willpower and financial resources to help the estate regain its lost glory. We met the man who takes care of the building by chance and he let us in to take a look and snap some photos... A sad and beautiful sight. Also, Estonian pop stars Kerli and Iiris have both shot a video in the manor... our guide mentioned that the local bums always break into the estate after a video shoot is over - hoping to find some valuables left behind. There was also some trash, alcohol bottles etc inside, because young punks often break into the manor to drink and do drugs.


And then there was Leetse manor, which is completely in ruins. By the time we reached it, it had begun raining and the weather was so bleak and grey, we basically decided to cancel our planned photo shoot and take a few simple pictures instead. We had already drank Irish coffees at Padise manor cafĂ© and we were in a jolly mood.
My beautiful friend Krete here:

 Just before leaving we shot a silly Mortal Kombat homage scene with Krete... And no, my theatrical clothes do not reflect my outfit of the day : )