Just got back from the most brilliant week in Finland shooting Ville and HIM.  It was cold but the reception was warm in Helsinki.  Ville was such a fantastic host.  The week started with a shoot in the studio doing 2 front covers and a series of band portraits and group shots for Metal Hammer.  The second cover is for the Official Fan pack release of  the new album ‘Tears on Tape’.  Ville and all the members of HIM were so patient all day as we tried various set-ups and poses.  Ville was brilliant as always and made my day much easier than it could have been. The next day we did some location shots around Helsinki, visited various local haunts of the band, standing on the frozen sea and ended the day playing pool and finally getting a cold beer.  I also had exclusive access to the bands rehearsal studio and listened to a few tracks off the new album played live (it all sounded very Black Sabbath).  On the final day the band were filming the promo video for the first single off the album ‘into the night’.  I was surprised how commercial it sounded considering how heavy the previous days rehearsal was.  I shot a load of stills as the band played along to the playback ( I really love the new single).  Thank christ my camera can see in the dark because the shoot was lit by one torch (not kidding!).  The exclusive access myself and Hammer Ed Alex Milas got promises to make an amazing insight into the band.  I think both magazines will be brilliant value for money.  Especially as most bands these days go in for the junket approach to press.  This was a week hanging out and shooting what we needed at our pace with no restrictions and totally exclusive.
