Making portraits on location...

Making portraits on location... 

 As ever I have been getting booked for a good variety of photography, and now video work. One day I could be shooting an interview piece, the next a science video and then the next day some environmental portraits for editorial. Variety offers great challenges and keeps me on my toes, just how I like it.

Mr. Brison Chang.

 This week I would like to talk about environmental portraits. These are portraits shot on location, usually in the environment that the subject works in, hence environmental portraits. I have been making portraits of Chief Executive Officers (CEO's) for editorial stories. The subjects are always under time constraints so I have to be as efficient as possible, I make this extra tricky by setting myself the task of trying to set up and shoot in three different sets for each subject, this can vary either way, but three is my target. Doing this creates options for the client (magazine), and also the subject.

Mr. Peter Chiu.

 When it is possible I make an arrangement for a recce of the location so I can get a good idea of how I will make the portraits, and the specific spaces I will use. Preparation is key, the more you can do prior to the shoot day the better. There will always be variables to contend with, so arming yourself with as much knowledge as you can helps minimize the stress that changes can make.

Dr. Pan Wen.

 This preparation extends to understanding the tools you have, your kit. It sounds obvious doesn't it, but how well do you really know your kit. One of the first things I impress on any aspiring photographer is to spend many hours with their camera in hand, you should be absolutely familiar with the dials, menu and functions at hand. Do this and free your mind to be aware of the light, how it is changing and you can adjust naturally and without so much distraction and thought. My main camera for this kind of work is now a Sony A7RIII with a growing selection of lenses. I will do a more specific blog relating to the kit I use soon.

Lotus Pharmaceuticals

Once you have learned your camera, then you need to learn about your lighting options. We have natural light, strobe light (flash), and of course the ambient light produced by interior lighting in the environment you are shooting in, should you be indoors. For almost every environmental portrait I find myself using a combination of available light (natural or ambient) and strobe. My strobes consist of Bowens monoblocks and Cactus RF60X speedlights, I use Cactus speedlights because I use Cactus V6II and V6IIs radio triggers. I have a selection of modifiers, scrims, umbrellas, softboxes and reflecters, learning how best to use these comes as the arsenal grows.

Dr. Pan Wen.

 When starting out it is often the case that you are a one man band, this is ok but as the jobs get bigger and the pressure greater I find it absolutely essential to employ at least one assistant. Doing this and taking the time to work with them to the point they know you well and can anticipate makes working so much smoother. I spent time assisting and learned so much which is still very relevant to my work now. If you are interested in commercial photography or film making then I can't recommend getting assisting experience enough. With an assistant working with me I can concentrate on my subject, I can look at how to light them best and then instruct my assistant to make the adjustments I want to the lights, help make quick lens changes and generally be smoother and cleaner on set.

Lotus Pharmaceuticals

 I work with the available light and then add a key light (Bowens Gemini 500 Pro monoblocs with a large softbox), a kicker (Cactus RF60X speedlight with a softbox and grid), if required I will also light the environment, generally I will use Cactus RF60X speedlights for this with or without modifiers.

Mr. Brison Chang.

 That's it from me this time, I hope that you enjoyed the few minutes reading this and having a little look at the portrait work I make. Looking at my diary, I have some editing to do on an interview video piece, some post as usual and then get into my studio to shoot some jewelry still lifes.

Please feel free to comment on anything I have said or shown and if you feel like it share away.

See more of my work: Website

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Until next time, keep challenging yourselves, keep learning and enjoy your achievements along the way.

Switching to Sony A7 series and shooting portraits...

Rough with the Smooth.

So Last time I was saying how I was all set to start practicing shooting moving images again. As far as I was concerned everything was set and I was ready to invest time and money on the first practice production. I had been in communication with the "talent" for weeks and she was seemingly keen. However as I sat in the location I had hired it began to become apparent that she was going to be a no show. Now this happens from time to time, but on this occasion I was set to pay her for her time so I found it strange. As it turned out later she has a reputation for this, I just wish I had known sooner as I would have booked someone else. This is the down side of this industry sometimes, you just come across unprofessional people, I suppose that is not exclusive to this industry and equally frustrating to everyone afflicted by it. So that is the rough part dealt with.

Positively, I have made a lot more friends in the industry here in Taiwan and found a better model for the reshoot as a result. I will be (hopefully) shooting at the end of April and this time it should be a success, keep your fingers crossed for me.

Continuing the ups, my third commecial shoot of the year went really well and the client is happy with the work, I can't show it as it hasn't been published as yet. I am proud of the shots and will show you as soon as possible.

I think it is ok to show you an image from one of the earlier projects I was booked for at the start of the year though. It was a really fun to be involved with and brought a bunch of new challenges to my table, which I enjoyed very much.

This image combined my studio skills, directing skills, and post production skills all coming together to create a final image to demonstrate infield use of a rugged, tough and great product. Cool right!

Along with my investment timewise toward film making I was investing some money. I had bought the Sony kit as I explained in my last blog.

Now I purchased a Zhiyun Crane 2 gimble.

I like the Crane 2 and it certaily has it's place in my production tool kit. However it is not a magic tool for everything and certainly a Ronin may offer a more stable platform. For me though, and with a bit of practice it is ok and I am begining to produce smooth, clean and dynamic shots using it.

Realising it was not a wonder device for all images I also invested in a Manfrotto MVMXPRO500 Video Monopod and a Manfrotto MVH500AH fluid head for my tripod.

Looking at how each one of these, the Zhiyun, the Monopod and a Tripod with fluid head can be combined, I have gone over my story board. Now all the camera movements and tools to be used are indicated. If there is one thing I have learned it is preperation, preperation, preperation. The more pre-production you can do, the more dialogue with your client you can have, the smoother the shoot will be on the day. If you can shoot smooth and to plan, then often you will have extra time to develop and produce something really amazing.

To continue my practice with my Sony kit, I have been making a portrait series intitaled "Portraits of Girls". The concept is simple, find subjects in Taipei, give them full choice of location (just as long as it is in Taipei), and just take my camera and use what coditions I am given. Hope you enjoys these...

Now I have created 10 with these great girls, I may start to look to shoot a "Portraits of Boys" series in Taipei, perhaps once I have a collection of 20 portraits I could look at an exhibition which could be fun, we will see. I am unsure whether exhibitions are valid anylonger, as I said though, time will tell.

Currently I am lining up fashion editorials, more commercial work and as I said earlier the second attempt at my micro movie.

I am always looking for opportunities and projects so if you have anything please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Hopefully you enjoyed this episode, and got an insight into the work that I do, and effort that we all put into it to produce beautiful images.

If you want to book me for work get in touch so we can discuss your needs and get started making a great project together.

You can also check out my Instagram , Tumblr, Twitter and Linkedin. Remember to LIKE COMMENT, SHARE and FOLLOW.

Thank you and love to all.....

A steep curve to learn.....

A steep curve to learn.....

I was primarily a Nikon shooter for 20 years or so, that is a long time to invest in a comapany and a brand. Over the last few years though I had begun to look elswhere, to stray from my preverbial marraige to Nikon. My first daliance was with Fujifilm, and this has blossomed beyond a romance and into a full fledged relationship, no one makes a sensor like the X-Trans and my X-Pro2 is easily the best street and travel camera I have ever owned or used.

It was the introduction to a mirrorless sytem that got me over the hurdle and open to the possibilities of moving away from the traditional mirrored systems I had been using for so long. There has been a new player to the pro camera market really making splashes over the past 5 years or so. It's a huge company with plenty of history in image making, but never before had I really considered it a true rival to Nikon or Canon until the A7 range landed. Yep, I am talking about Sony. With the release of the A7RII I was convinced and then the A7RIII arrived and I was sold completly on the new system in my arsenal.

It isn't just the cameras but also the GM glass that Sony has begun to produce that totally conviced me that now was the time to invest. So at the end of 2017, I sold all of my Nikon kit bar a couple of nice lenses (which I adapt to my Sony bodies) and invested in a A7RII and an A7RIII. Why get both you may ask, well a couple of reasons. I always want a back up body and as the new model was iminant the RII was at a good price, I also want to start to video my shoots and either camera is capable of doing this. Along with the bodies I splashed out on two GM lenses, a virtical grip for each body (I have big hands so better ergonomics and want longer battery life), and I also bought a Sony speedlight. I don't do things by halves, I went all in.

Wanting to test shoot as soon as possible I organised an editorial and on a rainy day made the first leap toward really learning the Sony system.

As you can see the condidions were somewhat tricky but we pulled together and got some good shots in the bag. All the time I was fumbling about with buttons and the menu, but I had to learn, and to learn you have to know what you need to learn. First thing I did when I got back was customise all the buttons, now both of my A7R's are set up the same and are feeling more familiar and natural everytime I use them. 

I shot in mixed light, including daylight, strobe, flurecents and tungsten all in one day, my A7RII handeled that superbly. 

My concern about using flash and the EVF (Electronic View Finder) where allayed, as soon as I attached my Cactus V6IIS the auto realtime exposure overide kicked in and the viewfider was bright and beautiful to use. Also the EVF is so nice to review images, much easier than squinting at a screen on the back of the camera on a bright day.

I only could find a couple of drawbacks, the first was a shutter lag issue, which was later cured with a firmware update for the RII and never a problem for the RIII. The second was with the 24-70 2.8 GM lens; teamed with the 42mp sensor the images were so detailed it meant I had to do more work in post production to hide that our lovely model had not shaved her legs haha. Even in the shot from above looking down at a distance I could see that much detail, amazing.

And so I picked up the A7RIII the day after it's release and made a more determined editorial, this time for HUF Magazine.

I am so proud of this editorial, and all of my team who worked on it, Zoe Chen, Eddie Shi, Queena Tsai, Anjen Lee and Kazuki Itchinose, great work all of you.

So that was the end of  2017 but the start of a new relationship. The begining of 2018 would see me take the Sonys into battle on the commercial stage. It was a running start to the new year and a very happy one to boot. 

The title to this blog is not just refering to the learning of the new system, but also my return to film making and the world of moving images. I haven't shot moving images since the early 90's but now I have started again and am excited to be doing so. My intention is to show all of my videos via a Youtube channel. I want to help others learn and see that it is ok not to be perfect straight away. It is indeed a steep learning curve, a curve I am embracing by scripting and planning my first micro move to be shot on the 22nd of March, a total commitment as always. I also want to have my shoots filmed and let people see exactly what a crazy day shooting editorial can be, so keep an eye out for that all coming up.

I hope you enjoyed this episode, and got an insight into the work that I do, and effort that we all put into it to produce beautiful images.

If you want to book me for work get in touch so we can discuss your needs and get started making a great project together.

You can also check out my Instagram , Tumblr, Twitter and Linkedin. Remember to LIKE COMMENT, SHARE and FOLLOW.

Thank you and love to all.....

Where does the time goooo.......??

Where does the time gooooo....??

Can it really be so long since I wrote my last blog, please forgive my absence. Things were great last year and levelled up towards the end. The start of this year saw me shooting two commercial projects in the first two weeks, hopefully a good omen for the year ahead. I can't really talk about those as the agencies haven't published yet, however I can talk about last year.

Take a look at my last blog and can see that my team and I risked our lives in the heat on the beach to create a beautiful editorial for Féroce Magazine. As I sit here writing this and looking at the grey overcast and considerably colder day outside I am longing for those hard light, sunny days by the ocean. Currently in Taiwan we have had persistant presipitation, some snow on higher ground and more seriously a series of earthquakes. 

Back to last year though and work. My year was predominantly taken up with shooting content for ASUS, laptops and mobile phones. It was solid and continous, I am not going to complain about being tired from work, the busier the better and I love the challenge. Over the year I made images for the ZenBook Deluxe 3, the ZenFone 3 Zoom, UX430 and UX530 laptops, VivoBook S and Pro, ZenFone Max and Max Pro, ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone Selfie and ZenFone Selfie Pro. So quite a lot of images to produce and original content to create. Here are some examples.....

Along with making the still images for ASUS, they requested Cinemagrams/Cinemagraphs. For those that don't know what these are, they are still images with a moving compnant within them.

These were certainly a challenge and something new for me to learn, improve on and understand. The other thing they did was get me thinking more about creating moving images, and so the seed was sewn.

I had been shooting with Nikon for nearly 20 years, Fujifilm joined my arsenal 5 years ago and I am now a Fujifilm X-Photographer and love the cameras they produce. It was not an easy decision to make but I came to the conclusion it was time for the Nikons to go. The cameras that had been catching my attention for a while were all coming from Sony and their A7R series. I knew the A7RII was a little old and due to be replaced, as a result the price was very good, I also heard that a deal was available for early buyers of the A7RIII. Both cameras offered so much more than the Nikons. The other thing that interested me and possibly even more important was the Sony GM glass (lenses), they are not cheap by any means but now, having used them I see why. The clarity and sharpness are strides ahead of the Nikon glass I owned, and I owned the top of the range from Nikon. So far I have the 16-35mm GM and 24-70 GM for my A7RII and A7RIII. I did keep my Nikon 50 1.4 and 85 1.8 which I use via an adaptor and manual focus. The Manual focus action on the Sony is very similar feeling to the old manual only days, and with focus peaking is a doddle. I have made a few shoots with the Sony's, and am gradually learning the new system. I have also recently bought a Zhiyun Crane 2 gimble, so this is the year I re-learn film making. I'll move onto the Sony Images in my next blog, and talk more about my experience with them, I may even have a bit of film footage shot to show you, but don't hold your breath on that as I want to get it right first.

So that summed up 2017 and now I am looking into 2018, getting Chinese New Year done with a little holiday to Japan (film making practice haha) and then getting busy image making. I am already working on the next couple of commercial projects, one here in Taiwan and another in China. I have started a personal portrait series which is coming along nicely and have the plans of two fashion editorials begun.

2018......BRING IT ON!!

I hope you enjoyed this episode, and got an insight into the work that I do, and effort that we all put into it to produce beautiful images.

If you want to book me for work get in touch so we can discuss your needs and get started making a great project together.

You can also check out my Instagram , Tumblr, Twitter and Linkedin. Remember to LIKE COMMENT, SHARE and FOLLOW.

Thank you and love to all.....