Response to Dom Bower's "Can you be a Successful Photographer?"

I just watched a video on Dom Bower’s Photography channel, and he discusses the question that does get asked a lot, which is “Can I be a successful photographer?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mix4_93bEJw&feature=g-u-u

The measurement of “success” is like “measuring a piece of string”. It depends how far you want to take the Photography. I personally feel that a person’s success it determined by themselves, and you set yourself a goal, and if you achieve that goal, you’re a success!

There are world famous Photographers who probably did never doubt themselves or their ability and have become great successes, however there are Photographers who definitely have doubted themselves and made a name for themselves in a big way.

Zack Arias is a Photographer that springs to mind who falls under this category. I watched a video of him on YouTube having a chat with Chase Jarvis, and he discusses some of the thought patterns he had as a Photographer.

Zack Arias had doubts about his ability as a Photographer, doubted his own creative direction, and he even openly discusses the fact that he attempted to become a Photographer, gave up and did something, but then came back to Photography later.

Jasmine Star is also another Photographer who openly discusses her own self-doubt, her mistakes, but nevertheless she persisted and now she is one of the world’s most famous Wedding Photographers.

My answer to the question about “Can I be a successful Photographer?” would be another question back to whoever asked me… and my question to them is “Do you have the determination to succeed?”

As I feel the one trait that resides in all successful people, not even just Photographers, is determination. If you do find yourself asking the question “Can I be successful?” either to yourself or to a respected professional, then Dom does have a point and you potentially won’t as there is a lack of confidence, but it would be down to the individual whether they would allow this lack of confidence to stop them, or would they persist and develop the confidence they need.  

That’s my thoughts on the topic at least… Let me know your thoughts…

www.leophoto.co.uk

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@LeoHoangPhoto

Tuan & Judith - Engagement Shoot

Judith and Tuan asked me to shoot their Wedding on the 20/21st July 2012. They have two parts to their ceremony and one the parts is an Oriental Ceremony. I am very much looking forward to this as there are expected to be many little Oriental details, and very traditional. I haven't yet covered this portion of the event yet, nor have I ever participated, so I'm quite keen to see what it's all like.

Judith and Tuan also wanted to have some portraits done to commemorate their engagement. They wanted something a bit different, a bit quirky, a bit fun... Rather than the usual couples being intimate photos...

They came along with props, and great open minds!

Armed with silly glasses and moustaches, we had a little play around...

Nikon D800 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, ISO100, 1/1000sec

I saw a line of trees and a clear spot, and I asked Tuan and Judith to walk towards with me, wearing their funny glasses, and just basically have some interaction with one another as they walked. Tuan took it to the next level and was doing a manacle martial arts master style laugh, which egg'd Judith to join in. If anyone else saw them, they would've thought they were literally nuts! Wearing funky glasses and laughing like crazy people... lol... But regardless of looking crazy at the time, looking back at this photo, I love how happy they look...

Nikon D800 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/4.5, ISO100, 1/640sec

I came across this Tram Track near South Wimbledon, and just envisioned the leading lines from the track, leading towards a couple as they walked down the track. I wanted this shot to be a bit more serious, so this time, no joking around and no props lol... I put them in the bottom third of the image, just to have more headroom and to show more of their surrounding as I feel this isn't your typical shot and it adds a bit of unusualness and character... Edited with a classic vintage feel to it, hopefully this will be an image for them to treasure for a life time...

Nikon D800 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, ISO100, 1/125sec

I first heard of the Brenizer Method through a post in the Dom Bower Photography Group on facebook, and was immediately intrigued as the shot looked very different to anything I had ever done before...

(I wrote an article regarding this method at SLR Lounge: http://www.slrlounge.com/the-brenizer-method-ryan-brenizer-photography-tutorial)

The amount of Bokeh (out of focus regions) on a shot like this gives it the miniature effect. A similar look can be attain on two toy models and shot with a macro lens or close up. But to get this effect of real life sized human beings, I would've been very limited to the amount of Bokeh achieved. The background would've only been blurred out just as much as the first shot in this Blog, and where you can tell it's visible, it's not a dramatic amount of Bokeh.

So to keep with their quirky playful feel for the shoot, I got them to pose in a silly position, as they were going to be looking miniature with it too. 69 shots were taken at 200mm f/2.8, and they were stitched up originally with CS5.1 on a PC with images exported to 700px as my computer isn't that powerful.

I then took it to an iMac, and restitched it using 3000px files on CS3 and I found that the stitching was far more accurate. I'm assuming it's because I used larger source files for the stitching to align things up more correctly, or it would be the CS3 algorithm for stitching is more accurate, OR it could be that the iMac had more computer power than my computer and managed to put it together better.

On my home computer it took 1hr to stitched 700px files, and on this iMac I had access too, it took 3hrs to stitch 3000px files. I attempted to stitch 3000px at home before, and it just crashed and failed to stitch...

I might downgrade to CS3 and try that at home instead.

The final result for the Brenizer Method, I managed to create a 113.1mp file, that is a 47.1Mb JPG, and a 815.4mb TIFF file. My computer can barely manage to render it!

Regardless! I the Brenizer Method I feel was a successful shot, and both Tuan and Judith are happy with it... and that's what is important...

For more shots, please visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.358703834179629.72043.204420089608005&type=1

www.leophoto.co.uk
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@LeoHoangPhoto

Thai Temple

I went with my uncle to the Thai Temple in Wimbledon last Sunday (22/04/12)...

My uncle was the man who basically got me into Photography as it was his D300 that inspired me to go shoot, and he was also the one who lent me his Nikon D90...

We decided a while back that once a month, we'd meet up to go shooting... Just to make more use of this incredibly expensive gear, and try keep it fun!

I watched this YouTube clip with Zack Arias from who was teaching at CreativeLive, and he defined the difference between an Amateur and a Professional as being that the Amateur enjoys Photography. Whereas the Professional is really stressed out and worrying about the perfect shot all the time.

But the point of this Blog was that I needed to just go out and shoot for me.

Whereas I do genuinely enjoy my work, and capturing images for people, I did start off by capturing images for myself, which I haven't done for a while (excluding Holiday lol).

So me and my uncle went to go look at the Thai Temple in Wimbledon, and see what we could capture.

Thankfully the sky was blue, and it did have some clouds to give it that slightly more interesting look rather than a plain blue sky...

Nikon D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4, ISO200, 1/1600sec



The above shot, I just saw a random statue under a tree. It didn't seem like a spot where I would expect to see such a thing, so I thought I'd take a picture of it. I wanted to put focus on one part of the image and blur out the rest... I just love the Bokeh from the 50mm f/1.4... It makes me wonder what the 85mm f/1.4 would be like............. I want! lol

Nikon D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4, ISO100, 1/3200sec

Nikon D800 + 14-24mm f/2.8 @ f/5.6, ISO200, 1/800sec

Not much to say about the above shots... I just saw, I liked, I clicked! lol...

www.leophoto.co.uk

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@LeoHoangPhoto





F-Stoppers - "Can't afford it? Rent it."

I just read an article on the F-Stoppers website which was titled "If you don't own it, why not rent it?"

http://fstoppers.com/if-you-dont-own-it-why-not-rent-it

Buying vs. Renting is something that I have considered a few times in my Photography life; however I ended up always opting to buy it anyway.

I am not, by any means, a financial advisor, and this may not work out to be the best way to go for everyone, but I personally have found that if I buy the gear I want to use, I'll save in the long-run, regardless of it costing £1000+.

I began shooting Weddings in June 2011, and I quickly realised the limitations of my gear as I only owned a Nikon D7000 and 50mm f/1.4.

I said to myself that I needed a flash gun, a wide angle, mid-range zoom, telephoto, and macro lens. To literally cover all bases, and various perspectives, I needed these lenses. (Forgot to add, I aimed to have back-ups of certain things too)

The whole "Zoom with your feet" saying in Photography does not work in all scenarios as Focal Length does not only determine how much you can magnify an image, but it determines its perspective.

So, as far as I was concerned, I needed all these lenses to cover all perspectives.

Granted, I do not need to use all the lenses, all the time. For instance I'm not really into Macro Photography. However I needed a Macro lens for some shots at the Wedding such as Rings, and other details. I’m not really the type who would feel comfortable including a ring shot which was not done with the correct tools for the job. So I had been advised in the past to just rent the Macro when I needed it for a Wedding.

I called up FixationUK (www.fixationuk.com) and got a quote from them that the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Micro would cost me £18 a day. Then to factor in the cost of collecting the lens, returning it, and the time it would take for me to collect and return the lens, I figured it would set me back roughly £32 and 2hrs.

£18 - Lens
£7 - One Day Travelcard (to collect)
£7 - One Day Travelcard (to return)
2hrs = 1hr collect, 1hr return

FixationUK may have a delivery collection service, however I am not the type who likes sitting at home waiting around for couriers to collect or deliver, as my time waiting at home is time I could spend being more productive elsewhere.

In addition, they wanted a deposit for the value of the lens anyway. So for me to rent the lens, I would have to have a lump of money available to use anyway.

I then looked at the cost of the lens in Jessops (www.Jessops.com), at the time the price was £624.95, and first impressions was "Whoa! that's a lot of money...". So I checked eBay for used versions of the lens, and discovered that even used, the lens was going for roughly £600 with no warranty. With used equipment there are risks of dust inside, sticky focus rings, damaged front or read elements, and generally just looking scruffy.

But I realised that the value difference between new and used gear was basically the same as it would cost me to rent, and that if I did own the lens, there's no rush to return the lens, no worries of late fees etc.

So instead I opted to just buy the Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Micro and I have used it for various Wedding shoots, and not needed to worry about returning it on time or late fees etc. In the past year, I have now done a total of 9 Weddings, and assume that I had rented the lens for each Wedding, the cost of lens rental alone would amount to £162. That is not including the travel costs and time to collect/deliver. Hypothetically speaking, even if FixationUK were to have delivered and collected, then it's my time that I'm losing whilst waiting around to not miss that door knock.

So I decided to look at my lenses as investments rather than general purchases seeing as even though I lose out on holding £624.95 worth of cash, I still possess something of worth. As opposed to if I rented, that money I'm never seeing again and will have to give back the lens.

In addition to that, the current value of my Nikon 105mm f/2.8 is now at £649.95 in Jessops. So I am confident I can get most of my money back, if not all, if I were to sell privately as the RRP for the lens new, has gone up.

I’ll accept that not everyone has the means to just go out and drop that lump of cash on a lens, and there may be other rental company’s out there who don’t require a deposit for the amount of the lens you are renting. However, for those of you that could actually buy it right now, but choose to rent to save money, you’re probably losing out in the long-run.

There is a boundary where I do not cross between buying and renting of course, and I am not necessarily saying that we should all fork out the cash and buy everything we want. I mean as much as I would like to shoot with a Nikon 400mm f/2.8G, which costs £6646.95 from Jessops, I would not opt to buy this as I think it would be too difficult to resell, and I really do not think I will get much use out of it, although I do really want to see first-hand what the compression is like on a 400mm lens!

But for other lenses like the very popular Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, and other popular lenses like that which are in demand and will probably sell fairly quickly, you may want to consider buying it as opposed to renting it as you could save in the long run if you bought, used, then sold.

Memorable Day...

I started Blogging as I wanted to share some thoughts about anything and everything Photography related...

I found myself talking constantly about Photography, to the point that I felt that friends of mine who weren't as passionate about Photography as I am, got bored of listening to a broken record player discussing apertures, ISO's, and various lenses that I want to buy lol...

Therefore this Blog I'm not if its relevant to the theme... but I suppose it's also a Photography diary somewhat...

It's a memorable day for me, well, yesterday was (24/04/12)... I officially handed in my notice to quit one of my day jobs :S

If you're reading this and wasn't aware... I've had two jobs for the past 3 and a bit years...

Finished University and still held onto my Part-Time job at HMV, taking care of their banking. Then I attained a job at a school as an ICT Technician. So for the past 3yrs I have worked 8am-4pm, and then an evening shift at HMV which could vary from 6pm-8pm depending on workload. Admittedly 6pm finishes were more common than the 8pm finishes, but they did happen! lol

Recently I've found HMV to be a bit draining, and really cut into day.

Since I started freelancing Photography, I technically now have 3 jobs.

I saying I heard from Will Smith really hit home...

"There is no reason for Plan B, as it only distracts for Plan A"...

I'm not quite ready to take the plunge and my Photography my sole income, but HMV was definitely a distraction in regards to time and energy.

So yesterday I officially handed in my notice and from May 28th, which is the last day, I will no longer be working the two jobs Mon-Fri, and I hope that the extra time will allow me to develop myself further as a Photographer.

Photo Stitching

Photo stitching has been a method that has been around for years, it simply is a series of photos taken, and then pieced together like a puzzle to compile a final image.

It's used for various reasons, one is to increase the mega pixel count, another is to get a wide Panoramic shot which is otherwise impossible to do with a modern DSLR.

Some cameras do have this feature built into the camera, I have never owned one that does, although I hear rumours of the new iOS Software will have this feature for the camera.

About a month ago I paid a visit to Brighton Pier, and funnily enough, I had my backpack on with ALL my lenses, that was the 14-24, 24-70, 70-200, 50mm, and 105mm Micro. I mounted my Nifty Fifty as I just love this lens. For some reason I keep going back to this lens to shoot with. It's actually the cheapest lens I own, and the ones that's most used. I love it due to it's perspective and speed at f/1.4. But I'll save the details for another BLOG.

So I mounted the 50mm f/1.4 on my D7000 and treated it as a 'walk around' lens. It's actually quite difficult to shoot with this lens on a DX Body (APS-C Sensor), as I was shooting with the D7000.

I saw so many photo opportunities but with the 50mm mounted on the D7000, my field of view was restricted to an equivalent 75mm on a FX Body. So It was very difficult.

I saw the view from the Pier of Brighton, and I wanted that shot, although I was pretty lazy to stop, find a spot where it's quiet, and switch over my lenses to the 14-24mm, and then snap the shot, and once completed, switch back to the 50mm as I still mainly wanted to use that.

So instead, I just set my camera to Continuous High, and Fired away from Left to Right. First time doing this, and I made the mistake of slightly going downward as I was going to the right, and to get a completely squared off level image, I had to trim the top part of the image on the left side which cuts into the Wheel. But! That's a lesson learned!

D7000 + 50mm f/1.45 @ ISO100, f/2.5, 1/8000sec

Don't ask why I was at f/2.5, I clearly just forgot to change it up. Nonetheless, it was a good exposure with not much done in lightroom other than warming up the image and a touch on contrast added.

I stitched them up with Photoshop and this is what I came out with

I definitely intend on doing more Photo Stitching, but I mainly decided to try stitching now as I'm very keen on trying the Brenizer Method.

New BLOG and Photos will be coming soon for that!

www.leophoto.co.uk

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@LeoHoangPhoto

Michelle & Jeff - 2012-04-18

I shot a Wedding for Michelle & Jeff last week Wednesday, 28/04/11, and it had been a while since I shot a full day Wedding.

Michelle & Jeff had already arranged their Photography with another Photographer, Dan Catley, however I was put in touch with Michelle and we made an arrangement where I was a secondary shooter.

I arrived at the Venue around 12:30pm, after getting lost for 15min as the venue seemed to be in the middle of no-where. I was scheduled to get there for 1pm, however I wanted to arrive a bit earlier to scope the setting as I have never shot at this venue before.

The TomTom directed me to a road and said to me "You have arrived at your Destination", I immediately screamed back at it saying "No I haven't!" as I looked around and I saw nothing but residential housing, and I KNEW this could not be where the Wedding was being held lol...

Thankfully, with the beauty of modern technology, I whipped out my iPhone and opened up Google Maps, which then directed me to follow the road I was on, for another mile, and as I said, I was driving in the middle of no-where. I saw nothing but bushes, trees, and grass. Then much to my surprise, I saw a sign saying "Cooling Castle Barn" and I turned left into a building which had people in it! I was so relieved I found it...

Unfortunately the day began with dreadful weather, and the clouds were grey and rained quite badly on the way in. I got my stuff together from the car and texted Michelle to let her know I had arrived.

I thought it was best to get some venue shots before too many people came in.

D800 + 14-24mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, ISO500, 1/20

I try my best to attain every little detail, that even the Bride or Groom would even think they would like to remember. With Dan Catley being present as the main shooter, it did allow me more time to think more freely and creatively about what to look for.

So much so that I even thought it would be nice for the Bride to remember the door of her Bridal Suite...

 Nikon D7000 + 24-70mm @ f/2.8, ISO1000, 1/60sec

I thought this image could also make for a nice background image. If the Bride had decided to put together a Wedding Photobook, this image could be the background with other Wedding Photos from her Preparation around the "1". With the lack of "Likes" on facebook, I don't think many people saw where I was going with this lol... But nonetheless, the shot has been taken, and I like it at least lol...

The Preparation itself was a bit hectic, as there were 7 bodies total in a small-ish room, loads of bags, clothes and weirdly enough, a Baseball Cap? 

I was trying my best to stay out of the way. I try to allow things to roll as if I was not there, although I'm fairly certain I failed in that regard during the Preparations with my 6ft+ self and big camera lol...

The Preparation went smoothly, excluding the panick attack where no-one could locate the Veil. I can safely say this was probably the most awkward moment in my Photography life as the thought that ran through my head was this "They're upset, so I shouldn't snap a picture of them being unhappy" but then I did also think "It was a memory of the day... so maybe???" lol... I think after they had found the Veil, and that everything went well afterwards, Michelle would've probably liked a few shots from that moment to look back and laugh... But nonetheless, I don't think that's a memory she'll forget very quickly lol...

It didn't rain as much as I thought it was going too, as it did rain quite heavily in the morning, however throughout the day it seemed to have cleared up, and casually spitting.

The rain forced the group Wedding Photos inside, which was still ok as the venue itself was lovely.

The rain stopped just long enough for us to snatch a few shots of the Bride and Groom outside. Jeff was a gentleman and held Michelle's dress for her as she walked around the outside. Seeing as the grounds were wet, it would've made her dress very dirty... But I just love this shot! I wish I caught it a split second earlier so I could've gotten Michelle in the shot also, but the main focus of this shot was Jeff anyway and still conveys the same memory of the day lol... Hopefully Jeff will treasure this memory lol...

D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.8, ISO100, 1/1250sec

After the dinner they moved onto the speeches, and I have heard some funny speeches in my time, but my god did the Best Man make it hard for me to aim the camera lol... He definitely did a great job at his speech as there was plenty of laughter and smiles.

D800 + 70-200mm @ f/2.8, ISO2000, 1/50sec

This is what I love about Wedding Photography, is capturing real emotions. The smiles on both Michelle & Jeff speak a thousand words, and hopefully the Best Man sent them a copy of the speech also so they can actually remember those words which made them smile so much...

The first dance surprised me... It began with the couple dancing together, then the DJ Scratched the track and Jeff's Daughter came out lookin' all hip hop with a New Era LA Lakers Hat!

I was standing where the guests were standing at first, capturing it from their perspective, however I moved around behind the couple to get the shot where you can see the couple dancing, and all the guests watching, however it was at this point where the music switched and now there's a second part to the performance where it was very energetic! Unfortunately I wasn't aware of this part of the performance, as I'm sure the Bride and Groom wanted it to be a surprise for everyone...

D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.6, ISO3200, 1/60sec

I had to sneak from the back to the front...

D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.6, ISO3200, 1/60sec

Jeff's daughter was a super star! Throughout the day she had a warm welcoming smile on her face, and then she rocked the show on their first dance!

All-in-all, it was a great day...

Sincerely wishing both Michelle & Jeff all the happiness, and have a great Honeymoon...

www.leophoto.co.uk
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@LeoHoangPhoto