Welcome to my website! This page does not contain a full biography, only a few basic facts about me and my photography.
I was born in 1970 in Lahti, Finland. I lived in Lahti until 1990 when I moved to Helsinki to study. I have studied communications, both as technical science in the technical university and as social science in the university.
I started photography 20 years ago, during high school. Nature photography, and especially landscapes, has always been my main interest. During the last years, I have got interested also in event and people photography. One of the special interests, that I have had last years, is photographing various ice formations and icicles during winter and spring time (see e.g. Icy Winter Gallery III or Winter Views Gallery).
On this website I'm displaying photos that I have taken since the beginning of 2002. At that time I bought my first digital camera and switched (very soon exclusively) to digital photography.
I'm currently using Canon Digital SLR cameras with various Canon EF lenses. My favourites lenses for landscapes are Canon EF 17-40 F4 and EF 24-70 F2.8. For the event photography my favourite lens is Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 L IS USM. In landscape photography, I use also actively my Gitzo GT3530LSV tripod and various filters.
My photos are available for purchase. So, if you see something that you like in these pages, please contact me!
I'm member of Kameraseura (Helsinki Camera Club) and Finnish Nature Photographers' Association.
Finnish Nature Photographers' Association arranges annually The Nature Photograph of the Year competition (in Finnish), in 2006 I received honorable mention in landscape category with this photo.
In September 2006 I had Magical Summer Nights and Enchanting Ice exhibition in Helsinki (in Studio Anne). The best photographs of this exhibition were also on display in Finlandia Hall on 22.10.2007 during the The Nature Photograph of the Year event (in Finnish).
In October 2008 I had At the Borders of Sky and Earth (in Finnish: Taivaan ja maan rajoilla) exhibition in Finlandia Hall during The Nature Photograph of the Year event (in Finnish). Most of the photos were taken in Finland, but exhibition included also photos from New Zealand, Scotland, and Norway.
Thank you for visiting my website.
Mikael Rantalainen
