OUR GUIDES

Our guides

 

The guides are three nature photography professionals, all of them share a passion and respect for Finnish nature. We work, photograph and spend lots of time in nature at all times of the year and day and night. We want to provide authentic nature experiences for our customers and give them the opportunity to get to know the life and animals of the wilderness.

Our guides

Eerik Lehto

Entrepreneur, guide, nature photographer

I am a nature photographer, entrepreneur and IT professional from Kuusamo. I’m originally from southern Finland, but the northern nature, great fishing waters and landscapes made such an impression that we moved to Kuusamo with my family a few years ago.

I started nature photography already many years ago as a hobbyist, photographing mainly birds and landscapes. During the years my cameras has taken me to many different parts of the world, from the Far East to Africa and from the Persian Gulf to the Barents Sea.

In 2022, I was selected to study the professional skills of a nature photographer at Kuusamo-opisto. Intensive studies also gave me the skills and ideas to become an entrepreneur and be part of network with other professionals. Soon, dreams came true. We found a great opportunity to set up own wildlife and animal watching and photographing company together with an excellent team.

I have participated in a few photography competitions and I won the Wiki Loves Monuments Finland competition in 2019 and was in the top 10 in 2018.

At Taiga Bear Kuusamo Oy, I work as a guide and maintain our website and take care of administrative tasks.

I’m currently shooting with Nikon equipment, with lenses ranging from wide angle to supertele.

Jarmo Manninen

Entrepreneur, guide, nature photographer

I am a nature photography professional from Kuusamo. I have lived in Kuusamo for fifteen years and I am orginally from southern Finland.

Nature and nature photography have been with me since my youth. Landscape and wildlife photography are my favourite subjects. My passion is to record the most natural and untouched areas of the nature of northern Scandinavia.

I teach nature photographers and have nature photography courses throughout the year. I occasionally participate in nature photography competitions, resulting in 17 award-winning images in the Finnish Nature Photography of the Year competition.

At Taiga Bear Kuusamo Oy I work as a guide and trainer, and I am also responsible for the planning of photographing and building facilities.

 

Tapio Seppälä

Entrepreneur, guide, nature photographer

I am a nature photographer from Kuusamo and I have been inspired by photography since I was young. I have worked for a long time in a local nature photography company and have assisted many of Finland’s leading nature photographers.

In the early days, I shot with a film camera, but I’ve moved on to modern digital cameras, which allow me to shoot a wide range style of video and still images. Especially spring has been always a busy time for me as a photographer, with the arrival of migratory birds and big show of nature as the mating display period of the grouses and capercaillies.

I have studied video and photography at the Sámi Education Instutute, and at Kuusamo College’s Photograper programme and Nature Photographer’s Professional Skills programme. During the training, the opportunity to become a nature entrepreneur came up and we founded together Taiga Bear Kuusamo Oy.

At Taiga Bear Kuusamo Oy, I am responsible for the design and maintenance of photographing facilities and buildings, and of course I also act as a guide

I shoot mainly with Canon equipment, and over the years I have purchased a number of different cameras, lenses and photographing equimpent.