Petri Koivisto – Professional Nature Photographer
Intuition leads us to something that is impossible to plan in advance. I have found this numerous occasions when I have spent time in nature and lost track of time.
This does not mean that as a nature photographer I do not plan my photography.
My whole career – or, more broadly, my whole life so far – has been about planning the whole. Partly unconsciously, of course.
My work as a graphic designer has strongly guided my visual choices also as a nature photographer: I want to offer the recipient something simple, something graphic, something beautiful, something functional or something surprising. Sometimes all these things together.
I have always wanted to think and see things in a bigger picture than the details. For a nature photographer, the familiar metaphor of seeing the forest from the trees is probably appropriate. When I start something, it often naturally becomes a larger whole: a book, an exhibition, a series of artistic images, a video story or a unique spatial experience. Photography must always have a purpose.
Even in my youth, I loved meaning and wholes. It was then that I was strongly attracted to the world of music. Composing, arranging music with a band and long days at the practice studio were the way of my youth to create wholes.
Through nature photography, music has returned to my life after a long break. In recent years, I have increasingly focused on video on my nature trips, to which my music background adds an extra dimension. Music itself is important, but perhaps an even more important lesson from the world of music is the rhythm.
On the editing table, it is the rhythm of the cut that provides the insights that cannot be scripted. Intuition guides here too – ”That’s the way it should be”.
These days, on my nature walks, I shoot and record footage for the Tilatunnelma (Virtual Nature Experience) product I’ve developed and for narrative videos. I like to use a drone and a variety of equipment, but the gear shouldn’t be too heavy or cumbersome, as I mostly cycle in nature. Another advantage of light gear is the ability to capture the quick moment.
My knowledge of nature, and in particular the species-specific behaviour of birds, has enabled me to take many important shots. I can immediately see what’s worth seeing. A sense of the situation in relation to the story being told is important. If a detail can contribute to the story, it’s worth capturing, even if I don’t know where it will eventually find its place.
I’m partial to artistic works of nature and macro photography that allow me to capture details that seem small in the grandeur they deserve. For these achievements, I have been awarded in the Nature Photo of the Year in Finland and Kuusamo Nature Photo competitions, among others.
For me, a nature photograph is never a glossy glossy photograph. Sometimes a nature photograph is just an image. Sometimes it is a work of art that you are allowed to linger over. Sometimes a nature photograph conveys a harsh reality, but it is not always possible – or worthwhile – to strive for the truth.
I always photograph on nature’s terms because I have such respect for it. Nature has given me a lot in my life. As a thank you, I want to convey my own story, through which nature could also touch those who are distant from it. At best, it could even bring the relationship closer.
Address
Petri Koivisto Design
c/o Dooroom, Rautatienkatu 20
15110 Lahti, Finland
www.petrikoivisto.fi
E-mail: petri.koivisto(at)luontovideo.fi
Tel: +358 40 71 91 626