Well, to start from the beginning, my full name is Juha Suokas. I first saw the daylight in 1975 in Lahti, Finland. Lahti was (is) a fine place to grow up. Lot's of pure nature, lakes and forests. I guess that's one of the reasons why I'm still here... I finished my studies for Bachelors Degree in Mechatronics in the local Polytechnic Institute back in 1999. So now I'm a B.Sc. Why? I don't know...

I was originally going to the Turku University to study geology, and I got in but I didn't go. I also tried to get in the Tampere University of Technology to study architecture - I didn't get in. Several universities told me no, when I applied to study english filology. So eventually, I decided to stay in Lahti and took the place that I had in the Lahti Polytechnic. Anyway, now I'm a B.Sc. and my diploma work was titled "The Use Of Reverse Engineering Methods In Product Development".

During student years and after graduation ( during 1998-2001) I worked as a researcher at Helsinki University of Technology Lahti Centre, at "Product Development Methods"-team. My special field was reverse engineering, but my work also included a lot of 3D CAD and rapid prototyping. Working there gave me the skills and knowledge in 3D-modelling and design. After HUT I've worked for Rand Worldwide as a 3D CAD consultant and for a consulting company PI-Group as a mechanics designer. Currently I'm working at Teknoware Oy as a Project Manager.

I'm also a photographer - you can see few of my photos in the gallery. I've been photographing actively over 15 years. The spark to start photography came from my father who used to photograph a lot when I was younger. He was also a member of a camera club in Hollola. That was actually where I learned the basics of darkroom work - I guess I was around ten years old when I made my first prints. During the years I've also done some freelance photography and I do ocassionally dream about becoming a full-time professional, but I'm also realistic: there are not so many people who make their living with photographing. An engineer can become/be a photographer, but it doesn't work the other way around. My photos and freelance articles have been published in various national magazines and papers etc. I also seem to have some international reputation among Nikon-users, thanks to my DIY remote control-instructions that I did to the web some years ago.

Nature is an important thing in my life. I love walking in the woods, just listening to the nature. Sitting on a campfire, hearing nothing but the silence... The beauty of the nature allways surprises me. When I'm not in the woods alone, I'm there with my common law wife Sanna - who also (how lucky for me) loves nature and photography - we even met at a photoclub meeting that I held at the Lahti Polytechnic. Even our first date was actually a walk in the woods...About two kilometers from the place where we now live. We've been living together since 1999 and we're still madly in love. During the weekends we often go parasailing or abseiling from some local cliffs or then we just pack my gas stove and go cooking in the woods. I've also made many trips - near and far - with my good friend Petja, who happens to share my interests both in nature and in photography. In the spring of 2000 I organized the first meeting of Photographic Society Silmä - and Petja was of course with me in the process. I've been elected as the president ever since and Silmä has grown to be by far the most active photographic society in the town. Of course, I can't forget my mom and dad who are propably responsible for my feelings towards nature.. When I was a kid, they were the ones who took me to the forests, near and far, and gave me a burning desire to walk along those soft trails, to see the unspoiled nature, to be one with the nature.

Just to make sure that I don't have too much spare time, I'm also actively involved in parasailing activities all around Finland. I train new parasail operators, I fly people with parasails and I compete in parasailing accuracy. And all this I do with Sanna, who also happens to be a parasailer (she´s actually the one who introduced me to the sport). We have a parasailing accuracy team Vaude ParaTeam and we have a couple of victories from national competitions. In the year 2001 and 2002 we came home with silver medals from the national championships - and after a few years of trying we finally won the national parasailing accuracy Cup in 2002. I'm currently the President of Finnish Ascending Paraschute and Kite Association (FAPKA) and Sanna is also a member of the board.

And, after all that is done, I still try find time to go mountain biking...Currently I'm trying to get more active on that field, my new bike will propably make this goal a little bit easier to reach. I just built a Marin Indian Fire Trail MTB from scratch a year or two ago - it took about four months to get all the pieces together... Parts came from four or five different towns, decals for the frame from the United States and decals for the suspension fork from Italy... Uhm...What else? Well, I try to jog or walk whenever I have a free moment from other activities, I enjoy European cinema, especially french and spanish movies, I'm an ex-basketball player and I make a comeback every now and then - the last time I played in a game was during the winter of 2000-2001 in the 3rd national division...Not exactly NBA...

But hey, that's enough about me. If you want to know more, need a photographer for some odd project, or for some other strange reason feel the need - please send email or call me.