[Interview] Editing Photos in the Forest: Photographer Konsta Punkka Talks About His Creative Process With the Galaxy Book4

Konsta Punkka has devoted his time to capturing intimate portraits of wildlife since he was 17. His work has appeared in dozens of outlets including the BBC and National Geographic. Based in Finland, he travels all over the world to share memorable moments from the lives of wild animals — but he is most at home following bears and wolves in the remote forests near the border between Finland and Russia.

Samsung Electronics recently released two videos that showcase the outstanding performance and connectivity of the Galaxy Book4 series. The videos feature Finnish wildlife photographer Konsta Punkka and Seong-hun Kim, who has directed hits such as “Kingdom” and “Ransomed.” Both artists show how the Galaxy Book4 series frees them to focus on art.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with Konsta Punkka to learn more about his creative process and how the Galaxy Book4 streamlines photo editing.

Q: What attracted you to wildlife photography?
I have always been fascinated with the hidden world of wildlife — how we humans so often go about our busy lives without acknowledging that there are animals among us, other beings living their lives. I wanted to show that world to people. The more you learn about nature and its precious creatures, the more you’ll get out of wildlife photography. My goal is to show the personality and emotions of each animal I capture.

Q: Are there any memorable experiences you can share with us? How have they influenced your work?
There are families of foxes I have known for years. When I stumbled upon my first fox subjects, I was hooked instantly. Their facial expressions just spoke to me, and I managed to capture a few shots in beautiful surroundings. Another time, I was photographing raccoons in New York City and took some stunning portraits with skyscrapers in the background. Even in the biggest cities around the world, you can find wildlife wherever you are.

▲ One of the Galaxy Book4 campaign videos

 
Q: What’s your favorite photograph and why?
This is always a hard question. Right now, I’d have to say it’s a photo of a mother fox hunting vole at sunset. I captured her in midflight while she was jumping around in a field. It took weeks of searching for the best place to observe the fox hunting and many days of lying in the field. Everything lined up perfectly one beautiful evening, and I managed to take that photo. I think it perfectly showcases the world of wild animals that we often forget exists.

When I uploaded these photos onto my laptop, it was incredible to see how the details were retained. A person looking at my photo can feel like they were there. I added my unique style to the photo by making some minor edits to the light and darks, hue and saturation.||

Q: I’d like to hear more about role of technology in your creative process. What features are most important to you in a laptop?
I spend long stretches of time in the wild. It might surprise people to know I bring my laptop with me on my photography expeditions. As such, some of the most important features in a laptop for me are battery life, computing power and display — so that I can edit and publish my work wherever I am in the world.

When I’m editing photos, it’s critical that the display shows true colors and blacks. It’s also important that my laptop screen is extremely high resolution because I zoom in on different parts of my photos to make sure there are no blemishes.
 

▲ Konsta Punka shoots wild animals

 
Q: Which programs do you use the most? How do you use them?
Since I edit while I’m on the road, the programs I use the most are Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for photo editing and Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing.

Q: Can you walk us through your photo editing process?
After a wildlife photo shoot, I upload the images to my laptop. I might take thousands of photos during an average shoot, so it’s important that my laptop has a high GPU¹ to handle large raw files.

Then, I select the best shots — I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for that.

When I’m happy with my choice of photos, I’ll go to the Develop module in Lightroom and adjust the highlights and add some contrast, texture and vibrancy. After that I head to the color grading section, where I fix the colors to match my taste. The correct hue is especially important for oranges and greens.

Lastly, I view the photo in full-screen mode to see if there are any flaws. Inconsistencies are especially clear on the Galaxy Book4 Ultra’s dynamic display. I can then use the touch screen to zoom in on different parts of the image and fix these areas. I might add some gradients and brush to better highlight my subject before exporting the photo and sharing with the world.

Q: What frustrations do you have with your current laptop?
There’s nothing more frustrating than your laptop dying while you’re in the middle of a project. As you may know, the Galaxy Book4 Ultra has great battery life and comes with a compact charger that supports faster charging. Editing during a shoot is difficult because my laptop often doesn’t have enough power to run heavy programs like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Premiere Pro at the same time, or even separately. I love that the Galaxy Book4 is powerful enough to run multiple programs at once.

Q: Can you talk about a few Galaxy Book4 features that you’ve found helpful?
The touch screen really helps my workflow since you can just use your hand as a cursor. It’s easy to zoom in and edit a small portion of a photo, even for fine brushing.
 

▲ One of the Galaxy Book4 campaign videos

 
A powerful processor is crucial because I like to run many programs simultaneously. Editing videos and photos without any lag creates a stress-free environment.

The 3K screen resolution allows me to view my work in a completely new light. Seeing everything in beautiful, crisp detail on screen is essential when I’m reviewing my work before publishing.

Good color calibration is vital too — helping me see true blacks and create better color-graded art with less hassle.

Finally, I’m able to let my creativity flow freely using enhanced AI. I can plan my craziest wildlife shots and then replicate them later in real life.

Q: How does a powerful laptop such as the Galaxy Book4 streamline your creative process?
The Galaxy Book4 makes everything so much faster. I can edit while I’m on the go, and there’s enough power to run multiple programs at once.

▲ Galaxy Book 4 campaign video shooting

 
Q: What was your first impression of the Galaxy Book4’s AI-accelerated performance?
I was very excited to see how AI could improve my workflow. All the shortcuts and improvements that help me work a little bit faster or easier are more than welcome.

Q: How have technological innovations in laptops, like the Galaxy Book4, impacted wildlife photography and the photography industry in general?
Advancements in laptops have made photo and video editing on the go so much better. Now, there’s no need to wait until you get back home to your bigger work setup. It’s easy to touch up photos without any delay while you’re still in the field — simplifying the whole editing process and giving us more time to do the actual work.

Q: Are there any additional features you hope to see in future versions of the Galaxy Book series?
I’m just looking forward to seeing where the Galaxy Book series goes next!

Samsung Newsroom can’t wait to see what adventures Konsta Punkka will embark on next and what new wildlife images he will bring to life.


¹ Graphics processing unit.