Jari Peltomaki OM magazine

INTERVIEW
OM | ISSUE 001 | JAN-MAR 2021

put its head out for a moment and
opened its beak, and I saw the picture
I wanted to take. Due to the lighting
conditions, I exposed the image
manually and because the action was
fast, I used Pro Capture H to catch this
slightly demonic image of the shag (2).
Autumn is a great time to photograph
eagles because of the rich colours
in nature, and I took this image in
October last year, from Finnature’s
eagle hide in Utajärvi, Finland (3). A
shutter speed that is too slow is the
main reason why bird in flight images
are not sharp. Personally, I try to use
at least 1/1600s of a shutter speed to
freeze big birds in flight.
Has your photography changed with
the travel restrictions?
Since last spring I have mainly
photographed in Finland and without
overseas clients I have had more
time to focus on my own photography
projects. I have photographed more

3

7

What’s in Jari’s Kit bag?

OM-D E-M1
Mark III

OM-D E-M1X
5
(3) OM-D E-M1X |
M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0
IS PRO
1/2000s | F5.6 |
ISO 1600
(4) OM-D E-M1 Mark
II | M.Zuiko 300mm
F4.0 IS PRO
1/640s | F4.5 |
ISO 3200
4
(5) OM-D E-M1X |
M.Zuiko 150-400mm
F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO
1/50s | F6.3 |
ISO 1600

(6) OM-D E-M1X |
M.Zuiko 100-400mm
F5.0-6.3 IS
1/2500s | F8 |
ISO 800
in my backyard where I feed birds
and red squirrels. I have also spent
a lot more time in my own hides
to photograph eagle owls, golden
eagles and ruffs. I’m lucky because my
home region has a lot to photograph
and I do not necessarily have to
travel far to get some great images
of wildlife. This year I have tried a few
new things such as focus stacking in
macro mode, and I have made some
timelapse videos too, for example
of the Northern Lights. It has further
opened my eyes to the great features
of my cameras.
What is the first thing you would like
to photograph or a place you’d visit
when moving around gets easier?
In March I would like to travel again
to northern Norway to photograph
the King Eiders, Steller’s Eiders
and Atlantic Puffins on the snow.
Varangerfjord is one of my favourite
destinations around the world and I
have been photographing there for
four decades!
Before the pandemic, I had planned
to visit South Africa and so I hope that
6
38

M.Zuiko
40-150mm F2.8 PRO
8
9

M.Zuiko
300mm F4.0 IS PRO
If you’re interested in
wildlife photography, then I
can highly recommend the
OM-D E-M1 Mark III camera
(7) OM-D E-M1X | M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0 IS PRO
1/400s | F6.3 | ISO 3200
(8) OM-D E-M1 Mark II | M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0
IS PRO
1/1600s | F5 | ISO 3200
(9) OM-D E-M1X | M.Zuiko 300mm F4.0 IS PRO
1/400s | F6.3 | ISO 3200
(10) OM-D E-M1X | M.Zuiko 100-400mm
F5.0-6.3 IS
1/750s | F10 | ISO 200
(11) OM-D E-M1 Mark II | M.Zuiko 300mm
F4.0 IS PRO
1/15s | F11 | ISO 200
10
11
by 2022 I’ll be able to take a great
photography tour there to the land
of lions, elephants and rhinos! I have
been to South Africa before, so if I
could choose a new dream destination
to travel to, it would be Costa Rica
to capture images of the colourful
hummingbirds.
What advice would you give to
someone starting out in your field?
If you’re interested in wildlife
photography, then for kit I can highly
recommend the E-M1 Mark III with
M.Zuiko 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS and
39
M.Zuiko 12-100mm F4.0 IS PRO to get
you started. For professionals, I would
recommend the E-M1X with 150-400mm
F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO and 40-150mm F2.8
PRO: the latter kit package I think is
really the best a wildlife photographer
can dream of at the moment.

Paperturn flipbook