Photobook quality comparison

A danish guy has made a comparison of companies that make photobooks. It's an interesting read and could give some sort of hint on the quality of books. I was interested in PhotoCare as the quality seemed good, the price is a hint of quality also. I contacted them and the only drawback really was that I should use their software for designing (limitation) and upload only JPG files. Ordering time was estimated for 14 days.

I'm now doing the layout with InDesign using Blurbs square templates and will probably order the book from Blurb through express shipping so I could have it in three weeks time. Will try and complete the layout ASAP (meaning...mmm...at least until the beginning of next week).

I think the book will be in three sections, Home, Group and Leenankoti. My post processed folder now has 55 images and will probably loose a few during layout and last choices.

Reportage: Helsinki Alzheimer group

More pictures

Reportage: Laura at home

I've finished post processing some of the pictures I took at Lauras home last week, with her normal day routine and grandkids visiting. This visit was the first time I really saw her smile, when the grandkids arrived she was in a really good mood and didn't seem so ill, although during their teaching it was obivious again that she had trouble with words and telling the time.

Frank Sjöman in a nutshell

The long time sports journalist Frank Sjöman has a column about the quality of journalism today ut on Yle Areenan, you can listen to it here: http://arenan.yle.fi/audio/901812 (his column is at0.40.30).

He has good points on what makes good journalism and why professional journalism is still needed alltough there are blogs around the internet substituting the need. A journalist is a teatcher, humorist and narrator, making a subject new, interesting, useful for the public.

I agree on most part about what he says, him beeing a sports journalist, a lot of the wrongs he describes happens there and journalistic quality often suffers from obivious things beeing repeated. In journalism in general there tends to be too little of fresh and new information or deeply investigated and largly and thotally thought trough. A part of this problem is again the internet; It gives the opprotunity to have information fast, the same information that some 5 000 000 other people read and spread. And as a journalist you also have to do things fast, it has to be "out there" as soon as possible - the quality suffers.

When we stuble upon good journalism, we now the feeling; After the picture or article there is a sense of enlightment and awakening of self.

Thoughts on making it all a book

My reportage will probably end up in a book of some sorts. My thoughts are currently to make it into a 3-part wholesome. Home / Group / Nursing home, I've asked Laura and Arvo to make notes on Lauras illness, everything surrounding it, normal life, discussions around the disease and so forth. Arvo also gave his book to me to look for poems which might be of use for my book, I found a few in there, so it might be useful also.

I've currently picked out some 31 pictures from home and 44 from the group meeting today, from the nursing home I have som 10-ish pictures which might be of use, so I'll probably go there to photograph again.

But I should have a good starting point for a book.

I was also approached by the manager of Helsinki Alzheimer group about being the photographic artist who makes prints for the worlds annual memory date which is September. It sounded as an interesting project since my "Nuoruuteni Vanhuus" series is strongly a part of the theme and to continue which such work is a definite "go-for-it". I don't know the details for this yet, but it will probably clear up in the near future.

It's been a while...

Since my last post here, but here's some new info on my project:

Yesterday and today I have shot Laura at her home and during her Alzheimer groub meet. All went nicely, I have pictures of her sleeping, spending time with grandkinds and smiling even. Will spend tomorrow and Friday at work so no time for post processing the pictures, but I'll probably upload some in the weekend.

Someting like this

Than god America brought us the hamburger

Killing journalists in Iraq


Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, Reuter photographer and assistant killed by American forces. Event took place in 2007.

Ben Kaila

Good discussions today with Ben Kaila. I was impressed by his way of seeing the essential in pictures, giving weight to estetics and depht of field and pairing pictures for layout. I could tell he had a lot of nowledge in layout and desinging books. The layout in Siirtosuomalaiset and the little book Valokuvia is simple, pictures on the right and so fort.

He gave good tinps and points on my series. How to improve and what to put weight on.

Alzheimer reportage, first pictures

So I visited Laura at the nursing home she's staying at every other week. I wen't ther with her man, who takes care of her the weeks she's not at the nursing home. Laura is very distant and takes a long time to form her sentences, she can't take care of herself because of her disease, so she doesn't really do that much by herself.

For the afternoon I stayed at the nursing home, I got a clear picture on what her life here is. She didn't seem directly happy with it. Her room is about 12-14m2 with a bathroom, chair, TV, bed and closet. She spends her days there listening to audio books and reading newspapers, she has problems with reading books because she can't remember well enough. She didn't seem to like the shared spaces, no wonder, because when we walked through them, some two or three of the other patients, who were clearly longer into their diseases, did repetitive yelling, screaming, baning and overall noise.

I now have a few times agreed for the next meetups, during our next two week time for this course. I will follow up the family at home and follow Laura to a 'young age demented' meeting.

Pictures:

Keeping busy

So, the three days at Östra Nyland are now done, it's been good. The paper has gone through massive changes since the summer I spent there in 2008. The changes have been mostly positive, although hard on the staff because it has involved a lot of changes in personnel.

I've now been brought in to do layout and photography, maybe even some writing, although I've been clear on stating that visual things are my stronger part. The magazine uses NewsPilot + InDesign for editorial and layout purpose. My knowledge of InDesign got me started good in the first three days, but I'll have to be in the very good or superb class so I can take full responsibility for designing the layout during the summer.

For todays paper I did a layout of a full opening and some single pages, I think we got a good looking paper out alltogehter as myself and superbo Max "The Hairy Beast" Nyberg did a lot of the photography.

A few pics:

Eija Klaucke, a writer.

Sonja Ilvetsalo-Koskinen, from the Green party, critisises

the suggested 6-year reparation time for the finnish school in Lovisa.

Sonja with barracks and mud