I know it’s a little bit late but I’ve been totally busy this month. I haven’t updated my portfolio lately so what a better time to do it, right? And as with updating a portfolio, you need new images…so that’s what I’ve been doing.
As I was looking over my online portfolio, I also decided to give my website a facelift. So along with creating new images, I’ve also been redesigning and programming my new website which will be making its debut fairly soon! Stay tuned for that!
I will also be adjusting the design for this blog to match that of my website.
On the photography end, I’ve recently purchased some new equipment which have served me well so far. I’ll be posting images for that soon as well. I’ve also have a few projects I’ve been working on which I will share once the new website is launched.
So here’s a sneak peak at what the new website will look like:
Yay! I got a chance to participate in Help-Portrait this year again…thought I missed out when I wasn’t available for the Dec. 4th event but another one was setup by Kenneth Wei to do one for the LA Dream Center.
The basic premise of Help-Portrait is finding people in need and taking their picture. Sounds simple and non-eventful right? But you’d be surprised by the positive reactions that people have from having a portrait taken of themselves. There’s something about it that really empowers them and makes them feel special, if only for that day.
Needless to say, I had lots of fun and met some great people. Here’s a little snippet of what happened…
I just bought a used 24-120mm VR Lens from keh.com. Was kind of nervous buying a used lens online (especially when they gave it a condition grade of ‘BARGAIN’ which was 70-79% of original condition) but I’ve been hearing good things about them and the price was only $200. I was extremely surprised at it’s condition when it arrived yesterday…it was practically brand new! Gotta say, I’m going to be buying some more lenses from them in the future.
Eager to try this lens out, I quickly set up a seamless backdrop and some lights in my living room and took a few test shots (note: I exported these images with 72 dpi hence the pixelation).
Noticed a bit of a vignetting going on in this photo which was taken at 120mm:
This next one was shot at 52mm:
Overall, not a bad lens for the price. I will be shooting with it this weekend at the Help-Portrait event at L.A. Dream Center and will post some pics up. It should handle well for portraits and event photography which is what I bought this lens for so it’ll be interesting to see how it holds up!
I was invited by a fellow photographer, Bryan Cole, to tag along and be a second shooter for a photoshoot he was doing this past weekend. By second shooter, I mean a behind-the-scenes photographer and if time permits, I would be able to get a shot or two in for myself.
It was fun as I’m constantly the primary shooter and never really had anyone shoot a behind-the-scenes footage of me. So being able to step back and view everything that’s happening on a photoshoot was a very interesting point of view.
We didn’t have any lights or gobos or reflectors with us…just our cameras and the sun, and the sun was burning bright that day. We were shooting from 1pm to 3pm, where the sun was straight up casting harsh shadows…but it was perfect lighting for shooting in the shade.
I took a bit of a hiatus there to re-evaluate with what I want to do with my photography and where I want to take it (as a business, as a hobby). The answer didn’t hit me until I was a second shooter for a photo shoot this past weekend. I haven’t done a photo shoot in a while and forgotten what it was like to be spontaneously creative and working with the model and lights to make that creative image in my mind a reality.
Although I was a second shooter, I was able to take a few of my own shots. It was invigorating to say the least. The knowledge I have learned from my photography classes and previous photo shoots all started to come back to me and with it came the imagination, the creativity of new shots and different angles, seeing the final image in my mind’s eye sent me on a euphoric high. I was hooked again.
And so, I’m back..with more determination, insights, and clarity in where/how I want to move forward with my photography. I am going to use the rest of this month to put things down on paper, strategize for the upcoming year, and set my lofty goals. I am excited for next year like never been before.
