The Finnish Nature Photographers' Association

The biggest nature photographers' association in Europe was founded in 1977. We have over 2 800 members, including both professional and amateur nature photographers. Most of our members are from Finland, but we have members also from other european countries. 

The Nature Photograph of the Year competition is the Association's most important and visible event. Winners are published during our annual Finlandia - Nature Photo Festival in October. The Hall itself is packed every year with about two thousand nature photo lovers. The winning entries are published in the Nature Photograph of the Year book (Vuoden Luontokuvat - Suomen luonnon vuodenkierto). This tradition has continued since 1980 and will keep the record of oldest annually published nature photo book serie in the world. Our current publisher is Sanoma WSOY publishing house. The images are also shown on television on channel 4, Nelonen. Next event will be October 11th 2009.

The Association membership fee includes a high quality and full colour Nature Photography magazine, Luontokuva, which appears 6 times a year, with 84 full color pages. Membership brings other benefits such as discounts on equipments and materials. Other main annual events are the Winter and Autumn weekend seminars. The Autumn event is characterized by lots of slide shows, lectures and panel discussions. The Winter days have also many slide shows, but the main focus is in workshops. On the other hand we do have weekend meetings out in the countryside and photograph some interesting subjects. 

The Finnish Nature Photographers' Association is one of the eight members of Finnfoto, the Finnish National Association of Photography Societies. In addition the Association belongs to the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation as well as the International Federation of Wildlife Photography (IFWP). 

Our organization has seven main partners in co-operation: Canon Oy, Color Kolmio Oy, Epson Finland, Nelonen, Nikon Nordic AB, Rajala Camera Oy and Kamera-lehti.

Members' most popular subjects are birds and landscapes. In addition to generalists, there are a number of specialists who concentrate on one or two very narrow areas such as large predators, fish, microphotography or even certain insect species. A typical member is a well educated male, around 40-years-old, living in southern Finland. Even greater attempts than before are being made to persuade more younger people and women to join.

International relationships
Jouni Klinga
jouni@klinga.fi
Korpitie 36, 90650 Oulu
FINLAND

info at luontokuva.org
or by phone: +358 400 191 348 / Jouni Klinga.