These ticket booths looked great for the photo, but the background was too messy. I ended up replacing it with a foggy lake and a sky image from my archive, giving it what I call a “seascape fine-art treatment.” Model: Patrick Damstén

The Väinölänniemi stadium is old — and that’s what makes it work as a background. Model: Patrick Damstén

I wanted to see whether this character could carry a larger series of photographs. Right now, I feel like making images that are a bit “easier” — ones that don’t need deep meaning or carefully built stories. Just something more fun and relaxed to create. I’m calling this character “Traveller” for now. I’ll have to see where it leads. Model: Patrick Damstén

Why do people say “just be happy” to someone who’s depressed? One of the stupidest things to say — why? This is the fifth and final image from the photoshoot.

Why would anyone want to destroy the welfare state? There’s no limit to stupidity. Just… why? The fourth image in my Why series.

Why teach boys that real men don’t cry — just plain stupid. Why? I think the “jewels” were from my wife’s sandals. When she was throwing them away because they were too much bling, I saved them for my future projects.

Why must desire fit categories, when it never asked to — why? This image was inspired by two works I’ve seen in exhibitions: Tom of Finland (Kiasma, Helsinki 2023) and Robert Mapplethorpe (Kiasma, Helsinki 2015). The artists knew each other personally, and Mapplethorpe drew inspiration from Tom’s images. I checked a few books but couldn’t find the exact works I remember from the exhibitions.

I probably wouldn’t call this an EDC camera the way people usually mean it, but it’s the closest thing I’ve got. I’ve made a few small modifications to give it the look that inspires me. The 50R is already seven years old, yet the image quality still feels solid by today’s standards. Of course, you don’t get things like IBIS or fast autofocus, but for my use that’s not a dealbreaker.

Why does society call tenderness unmanly, when love holds us together — why? I photographed these images in spring and have finally edited the first one. I call this series “Why?” and wanted to give it a lighter feel than my usual darker work, since I felt the themes called for that. It wasn’t without challenges. The white background looked fine during the shoot, but too bland once I began editing.

The theme of the month in our local camera club is black & white. Since all I was seeing were monochrome images, I decided to make one in color instead. I found these old chess pieces in my closet for the shot. The white pieces were light wood and took the spray paint well. For the black piece, I masked it with Blu Tack, since the curves were too deep for tape.

The small metal handles on C-stands were starting to be tough on my old joints. The larger knuckle handles have a rubber cover that feels much more pleasant in the hand, but unfortunately nothing similar exists for the smaller handles. I had never printed with TPU before, but this felt like the perfect time to try. TPU is a flexible, rubber-like filament for 3D printing.

I often use a screwdriver in the studio, so I made a small screwdriver kit from a magnetic drill bit holder. Since I already have a Gridfinity tray (the 3D model includes a spot for a 3/8-16 UNC thread insert) on my studio stand, it’s compatible with that. Mine is hammer-tight, so no glue was needed, but the Fusion 360 file has parameters to adjust the dimensions. Files can be found from printables

After coding the Flash Control, I started designing a rather over-engineered tethering setup. I kind of enjoy 3D design — it’s a bit like solving a puzzle. How do you make the pieces fit in 3D, how do you keep it easily printable? I guess coding and 3D design are my version of sudokus or crosswords. "Everything worth doing is worth overdoing" - Mythbusters

There was a pipe renovation in our house earlier this summer, and I didn’t feel like doing photo editing while being away for two months. Instead, I spent some of the time for coding. I’ve wanted a desktop app to control flashes for a while, but there isn’t one for Godox—only an iPhone app. Bluetooth traffic between the iPhone and the Godox trigger turned out to be surprisingly easy to reverse engineer, thanks to the tools Apple provides by default.

The last image in this boxer series was taken with a wide-angle lens. The idea that you shouldn’t shoot portraits with a wide-angle lens is just rubbish. Model: Jake Mattila

I haven’t done any Photoshop 'makeup' in a while, but luckily I had some old files saved to remind me how I did the black eye and blood scratches last time. Model: Jake Mattila

As a child, I often read Donald Duck comics. The horseshoe-in-the-glove gag was one that seemed to show up regularly. Model: Jake Mattila

This pose shows up often in old drawings of boxers. I had the pipe left over from a previous shoot, so it found its way into the prop list for this one. Model: Jake Mattila

Second image in this series. I usually avoid editing during summer since it's so short in Finland — but this year's been quite cold, so editing works even now. Model: Jake Mattila

Back home after the water pipe renovation. This humorous boxer series was shot beforehand, but since the ergonomics in our temporary apartment weren’t great, I didn’t feel like doing much editing there. Now that we're back, here’s the first image.