Awesome Album: Juliana Wiklund

 

An album that really caught everyones attention here at Folio Albums HQ was by Sweden based photographer Juliana Wiklund of JW Weddings. It doesn’t take long to see why we chose to feature this as an awesome album. Not only is the location truly breath taking but the images captured tell a lovely story. Juliana is a destination photographer with a documentary and very personal style that creates amazing and unique shots. We caught up with Juliana to find out more about this stunning Norwegian adventure and what challenges she faced when shooting in such a beautiful but demanding landscape.

 

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Juliana Wiklund

 

Could you give us a little background about the album?

During the 2014 summer I got this amazing mail from a couple living in London. Their mail caught not only my attention but also my heart as it said things like this: “My fiancé and I are hoping to take some pre-wed shots with an artistic flair…..Our relationship has withstood adversity and years of long distance much like my favourite phrase ‘ad astra per aspera’ ‘through adversity the stars’. Being avid constellation enthusiasts with a dream to see the northern lights, I am writing to enquire if you would be interested in ‘freezing’ our time in Norway in hope to catch one of life’s wonders, the Aurora Borealis. I chanced upon a little cathedral in Tromso which stole my heart a little. It will be dark, it will be cold and I can understand if this is not your cup of tea.”

Little did they know that that was EXACTLY my cup of tea!

 

What did you enjoy most about this shoot?

Going on adventures together is what my photography is all about. Going on an adventure together with a delightful super friendly couple who clicked with me 100% right away, was the best thing about this shoot. We had four days together, chasing the Northern Lights, and having unforgettable conversations in our little car! Just a dream!

 

The location is absolutely beautiful, but did it cause any challenges shooting in that particular environment?

Shooting in extreme negative temperatures is a challenge in itself, but due to the advance of technology of our modern cameras nowadays, there was nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little planning. Like a battery driven vest that could keep our batteries charged or a big thermos with hot tea and coffee to keep our spirits warm!

;-)

One problem we had not foreseen though, was that in January, there is almost NO LIGHT AT ALL in the north of Norway. We had a back-up plan of taking some beautiful winter shots in Tromsö’s beautiful nature just in case the Northern Lights wouldn’t be visible while we were there. We took some precautions, as staying longer than we would usually stay, to give the “weather-gods” the chance of bringing us some beautiful aurora, but we had to chase the little light we had during the day to be able to take our outdoor shots. We were lucky to be able to see the sun for about 10 minutes in one of our last days, but most of the time the shots were taken in the couple of hours of twilight during lunch. Photographing the Northern Lights is already a challenge in itself and was even bigger as we wanted to shoot it with a couple in love in the picture!

 

What is your usual approach to using natural light?

I prefer and use natural light whenever possible. I only use flashes, video lights or any other extern light source brought to my environment if it is extremely necessary. For our night shots, we photographed mostly with long shutter exposures but we also experimented with fast flashes and with video lamps.

 

If you could sum up this album in three words, what would they be?

Magical, inspiring, a  truelove-adventure in the Arctic! Wow, that was more than three words, but this album was much more than an ordinary album anyways!

 

What specifications did you choose for this album e.g cover options, text etc?

We chose a 12×12 Fine Art Book with a Vintage Leather Chocolate cover and Art White paper.

 

The couple look comfortable and like they really enjoyed the shoot, do you have any tips on how to put your clients at ease?

I work with a technique called MOMENT DESIGN ( http://www.anythingis.com) which is made to put anyone we photograph at ease in front of the camera. If you work with this technique you learn to both improve yourself as a person so you can learn how to reach out and get the best and truest expressions from anybody in the world. It’s really an amazing technique!

 

Is there anyone or anything you would love to photograph?

As you guys are based in England, I have to say that it would be a dream to photograph Jamie Oliver! ;-)

 

 How long have you been interested in photography?

My interest in photography started with my dad, who was crazy about movies and every chance he had, we would either go to the movies together or watch classics home. I got my first camera when I lived in the US in 1990-1991 and since then, it has never left me!

 

What inspires/influences your photography?

I’m inspired by people and people who do things they love. People who love people, People who love food, people who love their job, people who love themselves. If you have love in your heart and you want it to show in your photos, I’ll be there for you!

 

 

 Click play, turn on HD and go full screen to enjoy this awesome album

Title slide - opening

 

Many thanks to Juliana for allowing me to interview her and for sharing her great images. You can see more of her amazing work at www.julianawiklundweddings.com