About me
My name is Isko Salminen. I'm an entrepreneur, dog owner, BBQ enthusiast, and photographer living and working in sunny (kidding!) Helsinki, Finland.
When not working, I love traveling, seeing new places, hanging out with my dog, and taking photos. I take tons of photos but due to my overly harsh inner critic most of them won't be seen anywhere.
You can also find me online on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
About my dog
As every superhero, I have my trusty old sidekick, my dog called Fire. Fire is a working line red merle Australian Shepherd. He's got blue eyes and a personality to match the breed description of a working Aussie.
Other than his coloring and eyes, Fire's one distinctive feature is his tail. Instead of a bobtail, or a full length tail, he's got an half-a-tail. He, like 4 of his other siblings, were naturally born with half length tails. At least once a week someone comes over to ask what happened to his tail.
For most days we are inseparable as Fire goes everywhere I go (except, sadly, to most restaurants in Finland).
About my setup
As I spend most of my time sitting in front of a computer either working or editing photos, I'm pretty particular about my setup.
Hardware
I have a 13'' 1.7GHZ i7 Macbook Air with 8GB of RAM that I carry between home and office in Billingham Hadley Pro bag. At both ends I connect the MBA to a 27'' Thunderbolt Cinema Display.
For keyboard I use the Wireless Keyboard from Apple, coupled with Magic trackpad. And as a pointing device I use the amazing Cyborg R.A.T. 9 gaming mouse. It looks like a beast but I absolutely love it in use!
As at times I need/like to isolate myself from the world, I use AKG's K495 NC headphones to blast beats to my ears and cancel out all outside noise. I've owned a couple of pairs of headphones and the AKG's are by far my favourite noise cancelling headphones.
Software
Here's a list of software I use daily to get work done:
1Password – where I store all my passwords, accounts and secure notes. I couldn't live a day without this app! If you're not already using a password manager, start today!
Camouflage – keeps my desktop looking clean, and saves me from potentially embarrassing moments with clients.
CrashPlan – there are only two types of computer users: those who backup, and those who wish they had.
CSSEdit – still the best CSS editor out there (sadly discontinued so I can't link to it).
Dropbox – my files in the cloud.
F.lux – saves my eyes from display fatigue.
Evernote – where I store all the notes, things I need to remember and where I write all blog posts.
Integrity – this little tool is awesome for testing sites before going live. It catches broken internal and external links.
ImageAlpha + ImageOptim – for optimising image assets.
Lightroom CC – I used to swear by Aperture but recently switched to Lightroom as I got frustrated by the stagnated development of Aperture by Apple.
Moom – for resizing windows while working and to realigning windows when switching displays/display set-ups. If you're constantly switching between dual and single display set-ups, this app is a godsend!
Quicksilver – I simply can't use a computer without Quicksilver. Allows me to keep my hands on the keyboard.
Sparrow – my favourite email client. Still one of the best out there, but sadly not being developed anymore.
Sublime Text 2 – my text editor of choice, my workhorse. This is where I spend most of my working time (when not writing emails).
TextExpander – saves me from rewriting the same stuff over and over again. Also great for catching and fixing irritating errors I keep making when writing markup/CSS when tired. Truly a lifesaver!
Transmit – by far the best FTP client for Mac.
You Need A Budget – I suck with money. This little app helps me plan and keep my budget, and budget for the rainy day. It also gives me a better view on where my money goes. Golden!
About my cameras
Over the years I have cumulated a hoard of cameras but thanks to my horribly track record with destroying them (seriously, I've only owned one camera that I haven't broken at least once), I only have few left.
My current carry-everywhere camera is the horribly named Olympus OM-D E-M1 coupled with Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm/f2.0, Olympus M.Zuiko 75mm/f1.8, and Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm/2.8 ED Pro lenses.
For shooting film I have Rolleiflex, Canon Ftb and Nikon cameras. I recently bought the Epson V700 scanner with two friends but sadly haven't had the time to scan any of my slides yet.
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