I’ve been working on a few more workshops this year and some speaking engagements here and abroad. It is always an honour to be asked to speak. Folks who have been to my workshop know how much I enjoy teaching and passing on my experience.

Get Real, three-day professional wedding photography workshop
We’ll have Lito Sy, Asia’s most awarded wedding photographer, as our special guest speaker. We have photographers coming in from Hong Kong and Netherlands for this workshop. I am looking forward to having a blast with this group of photographers. This is the final 3-day workshop I am running this year.
(6 seats left | register today)

Shoot Like a Pro, one-day lighting & portraiture workshop
Spending a week with Joe McNally has really pushed lighting skills to another level. You bet I’ll be passing on the latest inspiration and ideas. We are taking this workshop overseas to Singapore & Perth. Big “thank you” to our friends in these cities for their invitation! I’ve decide to cut down class size from 25 to 20 for a cozier learning environment.

Kuala Lumpur – September 22, 2009
Penang – October 17, 2009
Perth – November 14, 2009
Singapore – November 27, 2009

(limited to 20 participants | register today)

Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival, August 15, 2009
I’ll be taking two sessions 4:00-4:30pm & 5:45-6:15pm for Nikon Malaysia. Looking forward to see some of you guys there. I have surprises in store for you

WPPI 2010, March 8-11, 2010 (Las Vegas, USA)
It is a HUGE honour to be speaking at one of the Platform sessions during WPPI’s 30th anniversary. I am aware how rare it is to have an Asia-based photographer speaking at such a prestigious event. It is frightening thinking about standing in front of so many people. I am taking it because I am scare…it will be an opportunity to breakthrough and step out of my comfort zone.

Sorry folks. I meant to blog everyday through out the week-long workshop with Joe McNally at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop but I just couldn’t muster any energy to do so after the third day. The workshop was uplifting & inspiring but also very intense, highly pressurized & tiring. We hauled over U$100,000 worth of gear and lights to a new location each day. Yup, EVERYDAY! Within 30-40 minutes, we had to figure out our light setups & concept. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until the end of the day when I could barely move my legs. The intensity of the workshop squeezed so much creativity out of each of us. Having seen my work on day one, I couldn’t believe the shots I was achieving on last two days of the workshop. This is a testimony of Joe’s teaching skills, the encouraging teammates I’ve got and the fantastic support system the SFPW have in place. We were given a risk-free environment to experiment, soar, crash, burn & pick ourselves up again. This has certainly inspired me to be a better teacher in my coming workshops.

Day 4 brings us to the New Mexico Penitentiary. There are a few blocks of building that had been shut down and turned into movie sets. The jail block. Look familiar? It was used in The Longest Yard.

Bryan, one my teammate, was a willing model while I tried to figure out my setup. Not too shabby for a test shot.

Elinchrom on a grid from left. CTO on a snooted SB800 & diffused with Klennex from right.

Similar setup. This time I use CTO on a SB800 via EzyBox HotShoe for a more controlled and diffused look on Asia, our model.

Strong sunlight streamed through a window to give Brook a nice hair light. SB800 shot through a trigrip diffuser on right.

A single SB800 with CTO on EzyBox HotShoe.

Day 5. Our class had a business breakfast with Joe talking about the state of the photography industry. It was a sobering morning to hear first hand the harsh reality that photographers faced. A visit to Monroe Gallery in the Santa Fe Plaza quickly lifted our spirits. The gallery has an ongoing exhibition “A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism”. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “Drum Major” made me laughed & Ed Clark’s picture of an African American Navy CPO playing “Going Home” to mourn the passing of the late President Roosevelt had me chocking. Then there is Robert Capa’s famous D-Day picture on Omaha Beach, Nick Ut’s picture the napalm girl in Vietnam & Joe Rosenthal’s picture of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima. These were iconic images that I had only seen online and in magazines. Seeing them in silver gelatin prints gave me goosebumps. At the Monroe Gallery, you can get them in limited edition silver gelatin prints and autographed by the photographer. I would love to have some of these pictures in my office.

Joe tried to take a group photo at the gallery. His expression here is priceless!

On Friday afternoon, Joe turned into this NY magazine editor from hell He gave us 3 hours to complete magazine cover shoot for Arts in America. While Joe introduced Jade & Adam and gave us his art direction, I was busy sizing up my lighting solution. This time within the four walls of the workshop studio. I work best under pressure so I was loving the moment. Together with Steven & Bryan, we teamed up for the shoot. We chose a beauty dish to be our main light and 4 SB800s to support the picture.

Team Rolling Stone.

Team Rolling Stone again!

Love this Vanity Fair shoot done by Heinz, James & Jill. It is so retro!

Who lets the dog out?

Evidently, I wasn’t paying attention to Joe’s art direction/brief. They were supposed to an avant garde jewelry designer couple. Well, the jewelry is kinda lost here don’t you think? But I bet this cover wouldn’t hurt the sales figure

Let’s take a step back and see how it was executed. Always build with one light at a time. Here, just a single light on beauty dish.

Well, not quite one light a time. We put in 4 additional lights immediately…well, after 5 days with Joe, we’ve got more strobing mojo Honestly, I was pressed for time so I just winged in 4 additional units of SB800. One on the floor in front of the Jade & Adam bouncing off a golden reflector. Another on camera left. Third one right behind Jade & Adam to give some hair light. The fourth camera right to give some side light on Adam.

We all walked away from this workshop with high confidence. Joe didn’t setup the lights for us. We sweated for it and we made it. When I started on Monday, I had no idea that I could be walking away with this level of portfolio. Thanks, Joe.

Remember the pictures from the Tuesday I regarded as “glorious failures”? The class & Joe thought they were great. So that made my day. I was looking for honest comments. I am here to learn, not to be buttered up. The affirmation from Joe and my classmates means a lot to me. Thank you guys! Love you all!

Day 3 – We spent 3 hours going through images from Tuesday’s shoot and Joe led a very thorough and non-judgmental manner. It motivates us to go further and continue our journey. “The most important thing is that you take this journey (of experimenting with different lights),” Joe reminded us. The critique helped us to take notes of some of the common issues behind lighting and how we could tackle them. That made a huge difference in our shoot today.

We went to a defunct power plant near Albuquerque. Boy, we had a BLAST! Big strobes, small speedlights, gels, long throw reflectors. We mixed them all together.

This is Don. He was the Moses that leads photographers to the Land of Good Lighting in Joe’s latest book, The Hot Shoe Diaries. Main light with full cut of CTO, SB800 via EzyBox Hot Shoe. SB800 with blue gel, flagged, fired from the right to give the meter dials a sheen of blue.

I love Don. He is a very kind man with an amazing face. It’s very difficult to make him look bad in a photograph

In the second shot, I used an Elinchorm, 1100W, blue gel on a long throw reflector, fired from about 60 feet away. I was hoping to create a sheen of blue and bring out clear separation of lines between the rolls of chairs. However, from this angle the picture looks muted even at full power.

So I decided to walk around the scene on a wider lens to explore other opportunities. Swapped the 70-200 with the 24-70. Viola. From this angle, the scene looks very interesting. This is my scene and I will bring in the talent and work here.

In comes Sarah with Don’s hat. Thanks Don! It was very kind of you to loan us your hats! Again SB800 via Ezybox Hot Shoe from left. This time 2 full cut of CTO because I wanna mimic a very warm light. Hey, not too bad for a test shot.

Problem! The strobe creates a flare and the picture loses contrast and luster. What should I do?

Solution: Angle myself so that Sarah is positioned between the strobe and the lens. Viola. Look how that creates a very crisp outline of Sarah’s body.

Another version. Hat on. Done. Check the watch. Hey, I have 2 minutes to spare!

I need to say this. Joe McNally is a GREAT photographer but he is a great person too. He hauls gear with us, just like everyone else. There is not a slightest hint of superiority complex in this guy. His childlike wonder on location energizes everyone. I mean, this is a photographer who has shot all sorts of big productions but when he gets behind a camera, he gets animated. With all the big shoots and assignments, Joe doesn’t need to teach. He teaches because he loves passing on his knowledge and experiences. Like everyone else in our class, we are so honoured to be able to spend a week with him.

A lot of you guys are envious to see me at this workshop. Well, don’t be. I am blogging daily so that you guys can see how much I grow at Joe’s workshop. As I said on Monday, this is a gift that we give ourselves. I have been saving and planning for this for a long time. What are your dreams, folks? Pursue it. Make it happen. Be at Joe’s next workshop at Santa Fe Photographic Workshop.

I signed up this workshop because I want to work outside of my comfort zone and experience breakthroughs. It is easier said than done. Instinctively, I would go for tried and test solutions that I am all too familiar with. Doing something new is dangerous. I might fail and make a bunch of crappy shots. This fear of failure and the constant need to succeed is a dangerous trap for working photographers. As Joe puts it, “Failures are photographers’ staple food.” It is a hard truth that I am slowly learning to accept. So today, I would like to share with you my glorious failures/mistakes.

This is only one of the cars. Massive movement of equipment.

We spent half a day shooting on location. It is a massive operation to move all the strobes, power packs, stands, arms, sand bags, softboxes to the location. I decided to work with strobes, a piece of lighting equipment that I’ve always feared. I am ok with small flashes but the big lights look intimidating.

Patti, my teammate on this shoot, was a willing model for me before the actual models got here. Well, she could be easily passed as a model. Main light from the window. Hair light from the back. The shadow is a bit heavy.

Actual shoot. Main light from the window. Hair light from the back via a snooted SB800. The shadow is a bit heavy for my taste.

Solution. Bounce a SB800 off a gold reflector off the floor on the left to open up the exposure a bit. I’m not sure. It still looks a tad heavy.

Second shot. Main light on a octabank on the right, just behind the doors. Table-top lighting, double diffused, to illuminate the hair and shoulders of Sarah.

Again I’m not entirely happy. Her eyes look a little heavy and could use an extra pop from the floor. Sigh. Things always look clearer at hindsight. I am happy with how softly the hair and shoulders are lit.

It is refreshing to see Joe’s impressive body of work. There is no heavy photoshop work on his pictures, just traditional darkroom adjustment. Every colour, element and lighting effects is done in one single capture. I am pushed to emulate such meticulous control and execution.

A week ago, I would be perfectly happy with the pictures above. After spending 2 days with Joe and seeing his level of work, I am not satisfied with what I’ve done today. There is so much to learn. I will be showing these pictures in the class tomorrow. Looking forward to critiques from the class and Joe. Hey, I am here to grow & experiment, not to be perfect.

I am so grateful for this incredible gift I give myself–a 5.5 day workshop with Joe McNally at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop. Yes, it is a gift because as professional photographers, we are preoccupied in creating work for our clients. When we can take a week off to focus on experimenting and learning new techniques, it is a MASSIVE gift.

In my eyes, Joe McNally is probably the best photographer walking on this planet. He is a great storyteller, lighting master, humble guy and extremely gifted teacher. I cannot think of another photographer that is as versatile and gifted in storytelling & lighting. I have been following his work since 2002 when I picked up photography. To sit in the same room with him, learn from him and dialogue with him is just an incredible experience.

Day One. All 15 participants just shared our work. There are plenty of strong portfolios here. I love the energy of the group. We went through different lighting modifiers and how it affects our photographs. I enjoy how he always setups one light at a time, the same discipline I follow.

The best part was to carry out a giant octagon Elinchrom softbox outside the studio and create a series of amazing portraits with the storm clouds at the background. Man, the light is sooooooo YUMMY. It is pretty hard to replicate the effect with small flashes even though we came pretty close.

For the next 3 days, we’ll be out shooting on locations with big and small lights. I am moving out of my comfort zone to try something really different and daring. I’d rather fail gloriously than merely replicating my existing techniques. Watch out for some really cool stuff heading your way tomorrow!

Tri-Flash holder…hmm, another piece of gear to pick up!

Morning get together in the studio before Joe got in

Joe’s workstation is full of chargers, HDDs & SB900s!

I love these lighting panels but I would need at least two assistants if I wanna work with these stuff

Lots of lighting demo in the studio today

Fashion statement?

Joe is the biggest clown in our class. That relaxes everyone!

Working with the octagon softbox just outside the studio. The light is sooooooo YUMMY!

Then we try to replicate that with the SB900…it was hard but we came close.