Exclusive Interview with Joni Niemelä and 45 of his Best Photography Shots

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Joni Niemelä is a young talented photographer from Finland. He started very young in this field, from a hobby which now turned into even more than that, an actual business and passion.

He was also kind enough to answer some questions for us, reveal some photography secrets and give advice. The showcase presents that, along with 45 beautiful artworks of his.

Q: Hello and welcome to the Pxleyes community. Please tell us who Joni Niemelä is.
A: Hello Giulia and thanks for the interest in my work.
I come from western Finland and I’ll be 23 next month. Photography has been a serious hobby of mine since I was about 16 and it’s still the most important thing to me.
I have a firm called Poreo which specializes in webdesign. I also sell and take photographs through it.

“World Inside Drops”

Q: Your photographic artwork is extremely beautiful and professional. How do you manage to achieve this?
A: To me enjoying the nature is equally important as photographing it. I’m happy if I manage to capture those moments even partially into my photos.
If you have a good photo (exposed and composed correctly) there is much more room to make it even better in post-processing. Because of this it is important to photograph in best available light. As many photographers know the best light is usually in the morning and in the evening when the sun rises or sets.
Of course one can sometimes take a photo which doesn’t even need to be processed that much. Naturally motif matters also.

I take all of my photos in RAW-format. At home I transfer them to Photoshop Lightroom and do the basic stuff like fix the temperature, exposure etc. After I’m done with this, I export my photos in Prophoto RGB colorspace to Photoshop, where the final magic happens. Postprocessing in Photoshop can vary really much depending on the mood I have and what kind of photo it is.
I haven’t really never read any tutorials or books. I have always just experimented with colors and lighting until the photo looks nice for me. Removing or adding important elements in the photo goes too far in my opinion. That’s not photography anymore.

“Three”

Q: Do you have a favourite photographer or an artist who inspires you?
A: I really enjoy the landscape photographs of Marc Adamus and Ian Plant. Their photos give me lots of inspiration.
Macro photography is also a very interesting field for me and I guess Igor Siwanowicz has a really intriguing style to photograph macro life. He has a lot of photos which are great source of inspiration.

“Pine Needles in the Snowfall”

Q: Do you have a favourite shooting subject or place?
A: Well I guess the forests and large fields with old barns are my most photographed subjects. Partly because of the area I live in. I also love to photograph in winter at morning or evening light when the scenery is sometimes really magical. I also find really interesting to photograph small details in the nature.

“Magic of the Forest”

Q: How important do you think the “rule of thirds” is in photography? Do you follow it?
A: I try to keep it in my mind when taking photos. And usually photos work best with that kind of composition. But sometimes you have to break those rules in order to create something new and interesting.

“Behind the Trees”

Q: What photo gears do you currently use? Any special lenses?
A: I started out with Minolta Dimage 7Hi which was a great camera. Since then I have been shooting with Pentax DSLR. Pentax has really affordable gear and I find their weather sealing important to me. Currently I have a Pentax K-7. My camera bag contains also long tele, macro and wideangle lens. Of course I have also a tripod and some other stuff.

I’m really interested in making my own gear like diffusers and such. Last summer I did bunch of a diffusers and used them in my macro shots. I also found out that when you reverse screw medium focal prime onto your macro lens or straight to your camera, it takes you really close to the subject. And the best part is that it’s really cheap way to take macro photos.
You can find reverse mount adapters for just a couple of dollars on Ebay.

“Behind the Clouds”

Q: What advice would you give to a photographer just starting out?
A: Well, the most important thing is to keep in mind that it takes time to evolve in photography. Most of the time you find yourself deleting failed photos. But that’s the great part of photography (or pretty much of everything in your life) – you learn from your mistakes. And when you succeed to take a good photo, it’s really rewarding.
Very often people don’t pay enough attention to what’s around them. So stop and take a good look – you might see something interesting.
Also you don’t need to have the most expensive photo gear on the market to take good photos. Start with something small and try with that. Main thing is to have fun and discover new things.