Toomas Kokovkin's Photography Logbook

Consecration of the Altar

Toomas — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:44:34 +0000

There is a small Kuriste church hidden in the woodlands of Hiiumaa island, which belongs to the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (Eesti Apostlik-Õigeusu Kirik) . The church was built in 1890, but after the Second world war under the Soviet regime it was abandoned. Local congregation restored the church during the last decade, and in October 2011 the old altar was consecrated by the Metropolitian Stefanus.

Old time sailing

Toomas — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:35:02 +0000

Sailing like in old times is a new habit for many Estonian islanders. And not just sailing, but also building wooden ships in accordance with old traditions, as well as revival of the coastal and marine culture. The pictures below are from the Baltic sea trips in 2009 and 2010 on the sailing ships Kajsamoor and Runbjärn, and from a dock where an “old” two-masted schooner is under construction.

Approaching football

Toomas — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:31:12 +0000

The literary critic Vaapo Vaher is a great apologist of football (or should I say soccer). Like a clever missionary, he started converting me, a football pagan, in a very restrained but consistent way. One day I found a pile of football books and magazines on my table. Then I was baptized by the play-off game between Estonia and Ireland. And then he humbly mentioned that football is a big iceberg, where most interesting things happen below the surface, and that this is something to photograph. Now, a few months later, I cannot believe it is me going to competitions and training halls to explore – with my camera – this unknown world. Who knows what will be the outcome of my expedition in a couple of years.

The book: iidlaste moodi Hiiumaa

Toomas — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:18:47 +0000

Our new book was published last June. It completed a two-year work together with the local

Hiiumaa Co-Operation Network, the NGO which takes care about the local development programme partly financed by the EU LEADER funds. The book is about a diverse life of people on the island of Hiiumaa, about their culture and activities. To name just few of them: building a historical wooden ship, revival of old handicraft traditions, concerts and festivals, theatre under an old lighthouse, childrens’ park with wooden sculptures, and many more. You can see the book here: Iidlaste moodi Hiiumaa.

People of Hiiumaa

Toomas — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:43:46 +0000

In June 2011 we published a book about people of Hiiumaa island. It was a 1.5 years project to photograph people and their doings. The book was financed by the Local Action Group of the EU LEADER programme, and can be in previewed here: Book in PDF

Kadri

Viktor and Dan

Katrin and Arno

Avo

Martin

Külli and Volli

Exhibition on Rügen

Toomas — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:04:38 +0000

Rügen is an island in Germany, in the Baltic sea. It is a bit less an island than the island where I live, because one can go there by train over a short dam. The exhibition was opened on the 5th of March 2011 in a wonderful, classic Orangerie Putbus, which is today a gallery of local art foundation. People from the foundation helped me to set up the exhibition, which consisted of two different sets of 21 and 13 photographs. Special thanks to Ms Martina Schwinkendorf from local administration, who arranged everything. The exhibition will be open until April the 10th.

and http://www.kulturstiftung-ruegen.de/aktuell.htm

Lighthouse colours

Toomas — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:24:59 +0000

There is a beautiful Tahkuna lighthouse located at 59.0914°N, 22.586183°E. Its parts were made of cast iron in 1874 in France, and next year the lighthouse was erected in place. It is a very gorgeous lighthouse with its special curvy Art Nouveau interior. I have been there many, many times, and have always photographed it. Inside it is dark, and on windy days the lighthouse would sing with a low bass horn voice. But that particular day the light was surprisingly different. Maybe because a small theatre had its rehearsal at the first level of the tower and this touch of art made the old mariner to shine.

Village butcher

Toomas — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:14:09 +0000

A couple of days ago I had to photograph a rather brutal routine, which is however very immanent in pastoral life — butchering of young sheep in a farm. It was performed in a rustic way, as has been done during thousands of years. For me as a photographer, a bystander and observer, the event provided fruitful moments. Especially since nobody had time to bother about my interference.

A little reportage of the slaughter is here: http://toomas.fotokogu.com/lambatapp/

Jupiter 3

Toomas — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:44:44 +0000

One thing which I love about Leica M system is the ability to use historical lenses, even as old as from 1930-ies. My oldest lens is a Soviet FED 50mm/3.5 from 1936, my grandfather’s one (a copy of Elmar I suppose). Unfortunately this one would not focus properly. No surprise, since the FED cameras and lenses were produced in Stalinist prison camps.

There were more German lens copies in USSR after the WWII. Well-respected are Jupiters and some Industars, out of which I have J-3, J-12 and I-61LD. Some years ago it was possible to get them very cheap in second-hand shops or flea markets in former Soviet territories. Nowadays I have noticed that their prices average to the e-bay figures. Global warming!

To be honest, I use these old lenses very seldom, only when I wish to get an oldish look of images. However, I am not sure, if anybody else would notice this special old look, which I try to achieve. In my everyday work I am used to reliable Summicrons, and I like their focusing tab, too.

Following a habit of photography forums, I put up three pictures by Summicron and Jupiter (doing so is almost senseless taking into account such a small resolution). But you may trust me that Jupiter is a very nice lens next to the Cron.

Summicron 50mm @F/2

Jupiter-3 @F/2

Jupiter-3 @F/1.5

Exhibition in the Galerie Dreiklang

Toomas — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:27:45 +0000

Last Sunday, on November 14th, I had an opening of the exhibition in the Galerie Dreiklang, which is located in a small town of Hann Münden in Germany. Run by two senior artists, this gallery is an unconventional cultural spot, which attracts visitors from nearby towns of Kassel and Göttingen. The owners try to arrange a new exhibition every month, and always combine it with a small concert. I was happy to be together with a wonderful string duet Weizhi Wang (China) and Yuki Nomura (Japan).

A Russian-speaking German TV channel interviewed me at the event, please see their video clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hUGMNCqfBM

Please also see the website of the Gallery http://www.galerie-dreiklang.de/

M9

Toomas — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:54:54 +0000

Now it is one year since I started photographing with Leica M9, and would like to share my thoughts here. It became my main camera, and I am rather happy about it. M9 suits very well my shooting technique, as well as my photographic style. In the film era, I used M6, so I know Leica. But I also use the Nikon/Fuji system.

What about the M9? It is strong, light, and unobtrusive. However, it attracts attention because it looks like an old film camera, and people get surprised sometimes. It has a very good image quality. It is manual, easiest to operate for a self-controlling photographer. Only three parameters to deal with: shutter speed, aperture and focussing. In this sense, M9 is very fast to handle. The RAW files it produces (DNG) are very good to post-process with Lightroom. One opportunity which is very appealing: I can use old Russian LTM lenses, some of which are very good and cheap. Apart from Summicrons, I like my Jupiter 3 and Industar 61LD.

It has been a lot of M9 praise in the forums of connoisseurs, therefore I would just say: it is a good work camera which suits most of my needs. I suppose you might be more interested what the cons of the camera are. At least for me the cons are:

- slow writing speed and a small buffer. M9 is not that instant as the film camera was. Especially in low light, when M9 starts its noise reduction and you have to wait for several seconds (!) before you can shoot again. Imagine how many moments you lose in a quickly changing situation.

- it is a bit noisy. I do not mean the sensor noise (which is OK for me), but sound. The sound of shutter cocking is — maybe not that loud, but quite high in tone — too much “bzzzzt” for silent situations like theatre, concert or a meeting.

- no weather sealing. I have had no problems yet, but I avoid using the camera in wet conditions like rain or sailing. In this case I switch to Fujifilm S5 instead, to be on a safe side. This my concern about Leica getting wet is a considerable limit in my work.

- Grip. It is not THAT important, I admire the classic approach of Leica line. Is is rather my personal issue, because I hold a camera in my hand, not over the neck. A similar camera, Epson RD1, has for instance better grip. That is why I bought an attachable hand grip for my M9.

In this website, pictures from Paris, Back to Russia and Sardegna are taken with Leica M9.

Sardegna

Toomas — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:54:02 +0000

Sardinia. An island in the Mediterranean. But not just an island. A country with its own language, culture, history and pride. I spent the whole September in probably the most controversial part of Sardinia, in the South-West mountain area, which is full of abandoned lead and zinc ore mines. Historically the most industrial and communistic area of the island, today a region which searches for survival solutions.

Exceptional, beautiful mountains and coasts, especially attractive for a flatlander like me. Colourful church festivities, song festivals, huge market days. Friendly, very hospitable people. And, as I was told, many things were unique or simply best in the world here. Like for instance olives from Villacidro. Or were the best ones from Gonnosfanadiga…

Back to Russia

Toomas — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:01:27 +0000

In early July I had a chance to visit once again the countryside of North Russia in the Arkhangelsk region. This time I was there for the festival of arts and handicrafts called KenArt (akin to Kenozero National Park and Art). It was a colourful event with lots of participants and volunteers from a number of countries. The idea of the festival was to create objects of land-art and wooden sculptures to be placed in the landscape. These were nicely made and some of them were true masterpieces, but honestly, they looked very controversial in the calm landscape. Controversial in the sense they did not suite there. While the local people were the real ones. Those who belong to the landscape. Needless to say, most of the time I chased local characters with my camera.

Paris

Toomas — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:39:17 +0000

It is difficult to say anything about Paris which is not said before and which would not sound banal. The same applies to photographing this city. I spent last week in Paris and — fortunately — I was there not for photography, but for some other work. Although I always had the camera in my bag, I hardly had any feel for taking it out. Only one afternoon I happened to be on a touristic track and forced myself to cover the topic of the city crowded with foreign faces.

The book: business and nature

Toomas — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:51:41 +0000

In June 2009 we published the book BUSINESS FROM AND FOR NATURE, which is a result of two-years work and good cooperation of many people, while main contributers were Toomas Kokovkin (photography and editing) and Charlie Avis (text and ideology). The book captures some of the experiences gained through WWF International’s “One Europe More Nature” programme, which has been running since 2003 across the European continent.

Inspired by WWF Netherlands, the programme set out to prove that nature and business can go together, that business can be made from nature whilst at the same time conserving or restoring the special places with which we are blessed. The programme set out to show how different industries, even seemingly quite destructive industries, can profit from our natural environment whilst contributing to – in fact driving – the conservation of our valuable habitats and species.

This book documents, in pictures, those success stories from every corner of the continent (and even Morocco) in particular focussing on the people who made it happen and on the day-to-day activities which built success. The PDF version of the book can be downloaded here (16 MB).

Business From and For Nature

editor Toomas Kokovkin

texts Charlie Avis

design Jaana Ratas

published by Pelagis, Estonia

printed in Estonia by Printon

Publishing of the book is financed by the WWF International

ISBN 978-9985-9583-3-9