Bird's eye views

Every picture tells a story... often it suggests that the photographer should learn how to use his or her camera. These days everyone with a laptop, a decent camera and a rucksack fancies him- or herself as a travel writer and/or photographer. Which can make it challenging for those of us who have made it our long-term vocation on the assumption that quality and appropriate remuneration still matter. In any case, after more than 20 years of travel writing and photography, I still relish the simple thrill of arriving in a new place with notebook and camera - although not necessarily the stresses of getting there.

I'm a new boy at the BGTW, but I've been based in Finland for 28 years, and although I am a Finland/Baltic specialist I have used my Helsinki home as a base for travels throughout the world. I contribute regularly to the Finnair inflight magazine Blue Wings (www.finnair.com/bluewings) and I've filed text + photo destination feature packages from Australia, Abu Dhabi, China, India, Japan, Thailand, Laos, France, Italy, Russia, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, the Baltic States, the USA, the UK and many other countires.

In recent years I've been exploring Central America, from Costa Rica to Mexico and from Nicaragua to Honduras. Sometimes I take care of the photo material for other writers that I happen to be travelling with, but I prefer to work independently and take care of the whole package. That way, my text is usually more closely related to the images - an asset that editors have specifically appreciated. I've contributed to Finnish language travel media and written several books about Finland and the Baltics, including Living in Finland (Flammarion), published in French, English, Swedish and Finnish editions. Recently I have been producing commissioned photo material for the archives of the city of Turku in Finland, a European Capital of Culture in 2011.

I have covered every aspect of travel, from general destination reports to dining and accommodation reviews, from culture to adventure pursuits, from personality profiles to sustainability topics, from aviation to maritime. I have also contributed occasionally to US and UK travel media, including other UK-based inflights and Wanderlust - and the whole point of this presentation is to expand on that.

And yes, I really CAN take care of text AND photos!

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