In a few hours, our studio will be closed for 10 days for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. Just want to thank all our clients for trusting us with the important moments of your lives & our fans for your following & support. We have never more excited about entering a new year.

At home, we start the new year with thanksgiving and forgiveness. Perhaps also good to do the same for the studio.

While we can plough the ground as hard as we can, unless God sends rain and sunshine at the right time, you don’t get a harvest. I learn that growing up around oil palm and cocoa plantations. Nobody succeeds alone and we owe ours to many. We won 3 more international awards in 2011: 1st & 3rd place at WPPI and winner of MPA’s open category. Proud to win major international awards five years in a roll…and being the only wedding shooter to achieve this makes it all the more sweeter. It is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the team.

While we always try our best, sometimes even our best isn’t enough. We want to say sorry on the occasions that we fall short. If you were in our studio, you would know how much every mistake stings us. We are a bunch of people that takes pride in getting things right and overachieving.

Rolling out a few major initiatives in 2012. We are implementing a tighter system and workflow that’s completely computerized. We have an on-time delivery of nearly 90%, in 2012, we are aiming for a perfect score! Louis Pang Studio will have a new home: both online and brick-and-mortar. We have outgrown our current outfits. It’s time to expand. You’ll definitely hear more of this very soon.

In 2012, we will engage with you even more. You’ll find out what a great thing it is to be our clients. Be prepared to be pampered, rewarded, inspired and wowed. We want to know more about serving you right, and you will know how serious we take that. You will see how we work, prepare your images, control quality, train the team. The album you hold in your hands and the prints you hang on your walls will mean so much more when you realize how each of them is painstakingly & professionally handcrafted for you.

Won’t be able to teach as much as I had in the last 3 years. The studio expansion & training of the expanded LPS team demand my full attention. I have two speaking engagements at Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai and in Creative Asia which I will honor. Despite the crazy schedules, I’m still in the forefront of bringing great education to Asia. More of that will be announced in coming months.

Never in a million years would I dream about being in the position we are in today, certainly not when we first started in 2006. Thank you for your support, love and encouragement. The best is yet to come.

Have a blessed, prosperous, fulfilling, loving, healthy & happy new year.

Thank you so much for all the well wishes via Facebook, text messages, emails, Twitter. Social media has a way of overwhelming us which push the big 39 to the forefront of my thoughts this week. I can see age as just another number but I would prefer to see it as a marker of my life’s journey. What does the “39″ marker tell me? I’ve been asking myself.

Well, I am at the half way point of my life, if you take the average life expectancy of a Malaysian man. I reflect on what I had done in the first half and more importantly what I should do in the second half.

“Today’s shit, tomorrow’s fertilizer.” Read a note from a friend some years back when I mired in the the lowest point of my life. When I was drowning in a pool of shit, the note did little to lift my spirit. Yet years on, I realize how true this is. Definitely learn more from my failures than my successes. I am such a late boomer. My grades soared in the last two years of university. I got into photography in my mid 30s…and it took me a few years to figure out what I want to focus on. A wise friend encouraged me with Bob Bufford’s book Half Time, “Louis, whatever the score is, the game is decided in the second half.”

There are three things I want to do better in my second half.

FOCUS. That means I will be saying no more than I say yes. Devote my time, energy and resources to what truly matters. Can’t chase 10 rabbits at the same time! As a creative, the abundance of ideas is both a blessing and curse. God, I need wisdom to reign in the creative juices. The focus of my early career was building my personal success. Now, I want to build a great & successful team so the ideals of Louis Pang Studio can live on after I am gone. It’s gonna be a lot harder than the first half.

FORGIVE. This is a tough one. Patience is never my strong suit. The people that truly matter are the ones who love me and want the best for me well after I cease being a photographer. Gotta rebuild the broken bridges and strengthen the ties with them. I should live and be the best I can be for people that truly matter, not getting easily offended & distracted by those who don’t.

FAMILY. When I started shooting weddings five years ago, all I wanted were going places. What better way to announce how “successful” you are than being busy and on the road all the time. Why should I be obsessed with impressing people? Today, I crave for more time at home & in the office. I love working with our team of fabulous people. We inspire each other to go further. You have to be in my office to see how amazing this bunch of people are. Work has brought me to many beautiful and luxurious places, yet after a long day of shoot when I lied in bed staring at the four walls, I long to be home, on my bed with my wife.

The clock is ticking and the second half has just started. Not sure how well I’ll do, so help me God!

Didn’t expect to get the kind of responses and reactions with my previous blog post. There are passionate debates from different angles. I am glad we kept the arguments civil for the most part.

Is it a bad thing that some of our dreams died? Must we hang on to all of them at all cost? I had many dreams dashed too.

Dream #1
I aced my Form Three government exams. Entering into form four and five, the school would stream students to arts or science stream. “Smart kids go to science stream” was the general perception then. A panel of teachers would decide whether you ascend to the coolest and smartest class a.k.a the only science class in school or be cast to the one of the four lowly arts classes.

I wanted to be seen as smart so off to science class I went though I had no idea what it was all about.

For the next two years, I struggled to pass Additional Maths (or advanced maths) and Physics. I went from a top student to a mediocre one in weeks. Worked extra hard to keep up with my classmates. Despite hiring a tutor and spending 3-4 hours on these two subjects everyday, I barely passed them. Grades for other subjects dropped as well as just didn’t have the energy and time for them after grinding on Maths and Physics. I had never done worse or been more depressed in school. I passed form five, but just barely.

I wasn’t wired to be a science student but that didn’t mean I was dumb, just that I was smart in other areas like languages and history. Yet the obsession to be seen as a smart science class student just blinded me. Yes, BLIND. How often we cannot see what is real because we see only what we want to see. Desperately believing the lie we tell ourselves. I wished someone had the courage to yank me aside, straighten me out and save me from two years of misery.

Dream #2
Smarting from my secondary school disaster, I’ve learned to steer clear of the sciences. When I entered the University of Toronto, I wanted to do a double major in English and History. My idea of English is writing some essays & read some books. U of T’s English is about Chaucer, Shakespeare, literature and sonnets which sound like alien talk to a boy from Borneo.

To say I did badly in year one was an understatement. An English professor told me that he couldn’t see how I could do well in English literature given my lack of training and exposure to it when I was younger. I was bitter and angry. “How dare this old white man say that to me? He is racist and judgmental.” That meeting was a turning point.

The following year, I dropped out of English literature and enrolled in a Minor in Professional Writing. Met Dr. Guy Allen, a passionate teacher and brilliant writer who had a background in teaching English as a second language. From getting Ds, I was getting As in Professional Writing. My short stories were aired in a literary radio station. Even read a short piece at a writers’ festival. My overall grades went up. Guy Allen was my John Keating (Robin William’s character in Dead Poet Society). Just as instrumental was the old professor who told me to quit wasting time in English Lit.

The death of one dream makes way for a the birth of a new one. “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” Steve Jobs couldn’t have said it better.

My previous post wasn’t meant to put down anyone who couldn’t make it in photography. It is to put a point that excelling in photography is a big price to pay. Not everyone could pay that price; not everyone should pay that price.

For those of us who couldn’t and shouldn’t, I hope you will find happiness in doing something else more fulfilling yet continue to enjoy photography however, wherever, whenever you can. For those of us who are full time in photography, the challenge to sustain this passion. As Steve Jobs put it, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”

This is a recent conversation with a young aspiring photographer who wanted a job as an apprentice.

“Louis, I want to work for you. This is the best studio Sabah and I want to be part of it. I don’t want to be anywhere else. I love photography and I want to put my life into it.”

“Good! Let me see your work.”

“This is not bad. I’ve seen a lot of work of the similar quality. Please tell me why I should hire you over another person.”

“My friends say I am really good in photography. I will work hard for you.”

“Your friends…who are they? Are they full time photographers?”

“No, just people I know.”

“This pictures you showed me here, how many of them were shot during a commissioned shoot? I mean people actually paid you to shoot them.”

“None.”

“Hey, I think it is cool you want to learn to be a full time photographer. Let me tell you my life as a photographer. I shoot from 6am to 12 midnight. I shoot anyone who walks in: tall, short, small, big, light and dark skin tone and everything else in between. I shoot whether I feel like it or otherwise. I have to deliver everyday to every client. Do you think you can do that?”

Silence.

“Do you know how to use flash or strobes?”

Shook his head in silence.

“Do you know how to pose people or direct them so they look good in photos?”

He shook his head in silence.

“Have you got your work accredited by professional body like WPPI or AIPP?”

Again, he shook his head in silence.

“So what makes you think you are very good in photography?”

Long pause followed.

“It will take a lot of training and sacrifices to get to a top level. I can teach you however are you willing to work hard for 3 years with low pay so that you can learn the craft?”

Another long pause.

“Listen. You come to see me and I give you my honest assessment. You have potential but there is a lot that you need to learn. I will you give you an answer next week, is that ok with you?”

“Ok.” He replied and left my office.

Eight hours later he texted me and said he wasn’t keen on the job anymore. It is probably a good decision. There are many prospects besides photography.

You may not agree with my shock and awe interview approach, but I have seen photographers with much greater talent who struggle to put food on the table. The chap needs a reality check. If you want to build a house, you must count the cost. It is not impossible to rise from obscurity but there is a big price to pay. You don’t get to the top by singing “kumbaya” around a camp fire. You work your socks off. You bleed, sweat and cry. You get knocked down and got up again.

With Facebook, Flickr and blogs, every other picture is “COOL”, “You rock!”, “AWESOME!”, “Masterpiece!” Everyone is entitled an opinion. Does every opinion carry the same weight? If you need a heart surgery, should you listen to my opinion or that of a cardiologist who has been practicing for 20 years?

It takes more than just little surges of passion to stay in photography. It is a marathon. Guess that is true if we want to accomplish anything significant in life.

Just fired up myself this morning by re-reading Nick Nichols’ article on how “To be a National Geographic Photographer”. Do you think you have what it takes? Read on…

Got the good news on Tuesday via an email. This picture just won first place in WPPI’s first half competition, the 10th time we’ve won 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. In case you wonder what the hoopla is all about. WPPI is the world’s largest organization representing wedding and portrait photographers. Over 14,000 photographers attend WPPI’s annual convention in Las Vegas. I am part of this as a participant, speaker and judge. It holds 3 competitions every year all of which I take part to sharpen myself as a photographer. Always believe that competition can only improve us.

This is the 10th WPPI award. Honestly, it was a surprise because it is getting harder and harder with higher level of entries from around the world. I am also surprised this entry won because it was not my favourite entry.

This one here, was and still is my favourite entry. I love its beauty and simplicity. Corsages on a silver platter, a bunch of bold ties…and the clincher, a tiny camera at a corner. I moved the table to be flushed against a glass door, the only light source in the room, so I could get as much light as possible. Climbed on top of a smaller table so I could shoot it over the top. Here you go, an “aerial shot”. Different perspective when the camera is moved to a different place. I have a strong bias for this photo because I worked extra hard to nail this picture, all the moving, climbing. Shot at f/6.3, 1/100.

My next favourite is this one. I enjoy the exquisiteness of the jewelry, dress and a woman’s body–all in one frame lit with yummy window light. Just a hint of ambient light to separate Julia from the background. Shot at f/5, 1/60.

The winning shot was done on the 125th floor of Ritz Charlton Hong Kong. I saw the interplay of the rings, necklace, veil, lips and wedding gown. Tried to put the lips, and both rings in the same focusing plane. That’s where I want to call attention to. Chose to exclude the rest the face to bring a sense of mystery. Again, like the previous photo, I want to show exquisiteness, luxury, taste and a hint of sexiness.

All three pictures share a connection: a visit to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in May.

The Rijksmuseum is one of the TOP museums in the world. It showcases some of the best works of Dutch portrait paint masters from the Golden Age like Vermeer, Rembrandt. That’s what I wanted to see right away. However the museum is curated to wet my viewing appetite. First I walked through rooms after rooms of still life paintings. Never a big fan of still objects. Painters like Willem Claesz however proved me wrong. How Willem and his peers could make a table full of bread, food, wine, silverware look so lively, vivid, and engaging was beyond me. I was drawn to how detailed the paintings were. I felt like I was in the scene, that I could almost reach out and touch the objects in the painting.

There were a lot of depth in them, very unlike the shallow depth of field shots common amongst wedding photographers. We are so used to shooting at shallow depth of field that we instinctively reach out for f/1.4 when there is a ring, shoe, wedding favors to be shot. Tight shots with yummy bokeh became rule of thumb or cliche. Remember, all cliches were once an original idea.

As I moved along to in the Rijksmuseum, I see similar techniques applied to portraits. Often people were painted in great details, along with their garments, uniforms, jewelry (for women), settings (an office, working desk, stationeries). These details give us insight into who the person is. Had they been painted with a f/1.4 kinda depth, all these details would have been lost. Vermeer’s Kitchen Maid is a perfect example.

It was an epiphany for me. I have been guilty of stripping away personality, and details by reaching for f/1.4 all the time!

That’s the most important lesson I learned spending an afternoon at the Rijksmuseum. Since I have been steadily cranking up my aperture where it deems fit.

You can visit the Rijksmusem and other top museums around the world virtually via Google’s Art Project.