By Alex Jones
PHENOMENAL photos captured by this ‘lucky’ photographer are so good he is constantly accused of PHOTOSHOPPING them.
The incredible images include the split-second the world’s tallest building The Burj Khalifa was struck by an immense fork of lightning, a blood red moon looming ominously over Singapore, and a stunning starscape hanging over Mount Fuji in Japan.
Another awesome snap shows Dubai’s skyscrapers erupting through a thick fog, creating an unearthly lightshow.
The remarkable photos were all captured by Finnish photographer Teemu Jarvinen, 24, who refers to them as his ‘Special Day’ photos, the ‘city and landscape shots that most often get accused of being photoshopped’.
“The Burj Khalifa direct lightning strike photo is my favourite of the lot,” explained Teemu, who hails from the small Finnish town of Myllykoski, hence his love for ‘Big City’ photography.
“I always wanted to shoot that photo, and at first it may not seem like that much of a challenge considering that the Burj Khalifa is literally the tallest building and therefore the tallest lightning rod in the world – but actually, Dubai only gets one or two lighting storms per year, and even then, I had to shoot over 5,000 images before I finally got one direct strike.
“It was literally the last lightning strike of the storm.
“I haven’t seen a storm in Dubai since, although I’ve not been here full time.
“I don’t think there’s too many real photos of a direct strike on the Burj Khalifa, period.”
Teemu, who lives as a digital nomad after starting an online marketing company when he left school, says that people tend to have the same reaction to his extraordinary pictures.
“They usually say ‘Holy shit, where’s my camera?!’ when they see them,” Teemu admits.
But capturing these unique photos is much more work than just being in the right place at the right time – although that can certainly help.
“These kinds of shots where special weather is involved come down to careful planning and a bit of luck,” added the 24-year-old, who is now based in Dubai.
“You have to have a location planned in advance or at least know where you can go.
“In cities access to locations can be the biggest challenge.
“Then as a landscape photographer you also have to be a part-time weatherman.
“There’s countless days of shooting when I thought there was potential for fog or a storm where nothing ended up happening, but if you try enough times eventually things will work out.
“And for some of these shots I got really lucky.
“That’s why I love this style of photography, it’s the challenge of making each photo as cool and special as possible.
“The feeling of finally being in the right place at the right time and seeing these events unfold in front of you while standing on top of a skyscraper is just amazing.”
More of Teemu’s shots can be found on his Instagram.
