Putri kept leaping for three hours. When I was ready for a wrap, she chimed in on an idea. Glad she did. We pressed through and came away with four pictures I was pretty please about. What an honor to work with such a talented and professional dancer who carries a wide range of skills and expressions. We called Putri when our first choice model bailed on us 24 hours before the shoot. What a happy accident!

Technically, we used the Elinchrom BXRi500 lights, Deep Throat Octa, standard reflectors and grids for rim rights. Pretty amazing when you have all sorts of light shaping tools. I’ll be sharing a bit more about using these lights and the various light shaping tools.

Just wanna leave you with four pictures from yesterday…can’t wait to get back to the studio and work on another set of pictures.

Deep Throat Octa from the top and a mid size rectangular softbox from the bottom. BXRi 500 on both softboxes.

Deep Throat Octa as the main light from top right. Two 500w on standard reflectors, one of them with a 20 degree grid for the separation light from left.

That’s how we did it

Switched to white backdrop and put red gels through two 500Ws. Deep Throat Octa from the top, without the silk in front for a more contrasty feel. Putri must have jumped at least 50 times for this. Gotta respect her abilities and tenacity.

When I nailed the previous shot, I was happy to wrap up the shoot. Putri convinced me to work on this dance move. This was a tough one. Used a stripbox (130cmx50cm) as mail light and then two 500W on standard reflectors on both sides for separation light. We kept tweaking until we get it right. Again, couldn’t have done this if not for Putri’s determination. It is wonderful when you can get great talents in front of the camera.

Of late, I have turned to Elinchrom for my lighting needs. These powerful Swiss-made strobes allow me to shoot at f/16…something I couldn’t achieve with small speedlights. I am falling in love with the Elinchrom, using the small Quadra for all my wedding shoots. It is not the case of Nikon vs Elinchrom, it is different tools for different kind of work.

Back to Putri…here are some of my favourite pictures from this morning. Four hours just flew by when you are having fun with four different sizes of softboxes, beauty dishes, grids, reflectors. It’s like taking in pure oxygen when I get to play!

So many of our wedding clients have nudged us to photograph their babies, kids, family. Thank you for the push. We finally got our act together and ready to launch our portrait service. Our shoots are high energy, fun, vibrant and unforgettable. Our images are clean, high impact and breathtaking. That’s how we want to tell your stories. We also work hard to make sure we have something for EVERY budget with products ranging RM315 to RM4000.

We have very limited slots in 2011 as we have to juggle with heavy traveling and shooting schedule. We are rolling out as many slots as we can. If we can’t accommodate you, we’ll place you on our priority list so you would be the first to know our next available date. Are you ready to tell your beautiful stories? Please follow these steps:

STEP 1: Book a shooting session (RM300 per session). Call us 088-243030

STEP 2: Have fun during the shoot

STEP 3: Choose the images that you wanna transform into art pieces on your wall

Our phone has been ringing off the hook since we announce this on Facebook this morning. Here is a list of FAQ which should be helpful.

What does RM300 include?

This is a special introductory price. The regular fee is RM500 per hour. It gives you a voucher for a one-hour of professional shoot by Louis Pang at our studio. The voucher is valid for three months from the date of purchase.


What happens after the shoot?

Think of where you should display your portraits at home. A week after the shoot, you will view the pictures at our studio and choose what goes on your wall.


How much does your picture, frames or product cost?

We have product for every budget, ranging from RM315 to RM4000. With over 50 products of different sizes and combination. Too many to be listed here. Just drop by our studio and have a look. 


Can I choose not to buy anything after the portrait session?

You are under absolutely no obligation at all to buy anything. However most of our clients end up buying more than they planned after viewing the images. Don’t be surprised to find your stories captured through our creativity to be irresistible. My challenge is to tell your stories as beautifully as I can; your challenge is find enough wall space to display them.

Who is Louis Pang?

He is a dictator in the office, a romantic guy at home, a goofy chap with kids and a creative genius behind the camera. 

He is ranked amongst Asia’s top 3 wedding and portrait photographer. He is the only Asian on Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) winners list for five consecutive year (2007-2011). 


When do I do the shoot?

Any of our available slots in 2011. If you need dates for 2012, give us a call, we will place you on our priority list. You’ll be the first to know of any available slots. 


Do I get the soft copy?

When you spend over RM2000 in products, you’ll get all the digital files (4”x6” size) of your order. For example, you ordered 5 pieces of canvases for RM2000, you will get the digital files of those images.

I have more questions and they are not covered here.
Give us a call at 088-243030. Jasmine, Mabel and I are happy to help you with your questions!

If you think free portrait shoots is a good deal, what do you think of free portraits and a free 8″x12″ framed picture? The deal just got better right?

Everyday, five lucky winners will get that right on the spot. Special thanks to ProArt who sponsors the printing, and our amazing multiple award-winner artist, Kah Yee…five lucky winners each day will get the framed picture within minutes after the shoot. Just come by our 5th celebration showcase at Golden Screen Cinema Suria, 8th Floor, Suria Sabah. When you queue to have your portraits taken, you will get a shot at winning this by dipping your hands into a glass bowl.

See you there!

Thanks to your support, we are able to create a premium brand. What a blessing to do what you love, and love what you do and being rewarded for it. The downside being premium is that we are out of the reach of many locals. Speaking at a seminar, a gentleman pointed out, “Louis, you came from humble family background. With the fees you charge, how are you helping out the ordinary folks?” That sounded like a rebuke. How can we make a premium brand more accessible without compromising the value of brand?

For two days (20-21 August) we will be providing bridal packages starting from RM3988. That’s 60% off our bestselling packages. This is a once-in-a-five-year offer, available only at our celebration at GSC Suria, Kota Kinabalu. If you are out of town, you can make your bookings online. Mind you, we the online link is only valid 20-21 August. The only catch is the shoot must be done in KOTA KINABALU, my beautiful home town

Available only for two days at our 5th Anniversary Celebration at GSC Suria, 20-21 August! See ya!

Let’s consider the many things I am grateful for:

It is YOU, our clients and fans, who made us successful. To show our appreciation, the entire Louis Pang Studio team will go out to meet and serve you at:

GSC Suria Sabah (foyer), 8th Floor
20-21 August 2011 | Sat (12-8pm), Sun (12-6pm)

We are rolling out five amazing goodies we called “AMAZIES”. Today, I bring you AMAZIES #1…

Bring your loved ones. Tell your friends! Come back here tomorrow from AMAZIES #2

Jonathan Tse is a budding musician who had taken his work around the region. I showed up at his recording studio hoping to shoot a few frames of the artist himself at work. It’s a great little studio but it is tough place to make an interesting picture if we only have available light and f/1.4 lens to fall back on.

Out come the speedlights, softboxes, and gels. Here are some examples of what we created that day. They ain’t masterpieces but I sure walked away with much better pictures because I am willing to direct, craft and color the light. Can you imagine if I insisted on working only with available light here?

Just available light.

Flash with CTO gel via softbox from camera right.

Same as above but I added two flash in red gels and fired it from the floor near the wall.

Just one single light box from camera right. Used the studio’s black sound proofing boarding as the solid background. Voila.

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upcoming photography workshops: Two-Day Guerrilla Lighting Workshop in KK (August 12-13) & KL (September 16-17)

A great printmaker is a fine art photographer’s best friend. They are not easy to find especially in Malaysia. So it is such a joy to meet Chung, a young, hip, passionate and most of all, knowledgeable printmaker in Kota Kinabalu.

I got Chung to make four prints for the Australian Institute of Professional Photography annual print competition two weeks ago. I thought I was the pickiest guy on earth until I worked with Chung. Everything has to be perfect with Chung. I was pulling my hair and biting my nails but Chung was just cool, calm and patient.

Many assume that you just press the print button and prints would just turn out perfect. Yet there is printer driver, paper profile, monitor calibration, spectrometers that cost as much as a high end DSLR, software with more buttons than a 747 cockpit, proper lighting and viewing conditions. All it takes to wreck a print is a speck of dusk or a strain of fiber.

Thanks to Chung’s expertise, all our prints made it to AIPP on time. Hopefully we will better last year’s result of three silvers. Chung is also helping us create a custom paper profile and camera profile. I’m glad we can get such level of professionalism at our doorstep in KK.

Part of Chung’s working studio is a dedicated gallery. Now that’s a real bonus for photographers and anyone who appreciate arts in Kota Kinabalu. He curates and collaborates with artists here and abroad to have their artwork exhibited.

Very happy to photograph Chung in his print studio and gallery. You should check it out!

Ryan Ong, a young photographer from KK, just completed a month of exhibition at ProArt.

Those were some of the turmoils I battled internally. Outwardly, I was poised and confident while my nerves unravelled within. Simon and Marilyn had more confidence in me than I did myself. It must be the courage that comes with parenthood. It certainly helped that I had photographed Simon & Marilyn’s engagement session, wedding and family portraits.

Rule number one in baby photo session. The universe evolves around the baby.

Forget your light, f-stop and aperture. If the baby ain’t happy, you ain’t gonna have a shoot. Nothing makes little William happier than his mother’s cuddle and milk. So we had lots of breaks to keep William happy.

William is such a character! He usually napped after 10am but he refused to sleep once I got to the venue. He knew something was going on with the light stands, softboxes and battery packs being setup.

The first child and apple of the eye of Simon and Marilyn…it was a powerful experience for me to see how much William is loved. I’ve always thought wedding is an emotionally charged event until I photographed William, Simon and Marilyn together. It is so much more with a baby.

I am humbled to be given the opportunity to photograph William. I hope the photographs convey that deep bond between Simon, Marilyn and lil’ Prince William. What a joy to be at the shoot…

Two weeks ago, we won our ninth WPPI awards, 3rd place in Portrait, Individual. We’ve won major honors at WPPI for four years straight. I am proud of the consistency and innovation we’ve demonstrated. Hats off to the our amazing team of Jasmine, Kah Yee, William & Laila. It is never possible to achieve high standards solo. Please raise the glass to the team.

“What is the secret to winning awards?” Honestly, I never entered any competition expecting to win. It’s a matter of benchmarking against my colleagues from around the world. Put my best prints forward and see what happens.

So what is the formula? Is it dark moody prints? Black and white or sepia? Last year, Stephan Maloman won with a colour print. This year an amazing black and white print from Spain. There is really no formula. If there was any formula it would be dedication and innovation. The top images are ones that caused us to skip a heartbeat and slap ourselves wishing that we could shoot that in a million years.

I would like to share with you how the winning print was photographed and processed. Hopefully by sharing the thought process, it opens some doors for everyone.

It was shot at Havana, Cuba. We found this place together with Michael and Vivian, the couple from Hong Kong whom we were shooting. It’s a junk yard for defunct trains.

At 2pm, the sun was slightly behind Michael. I faced several challenges.

Problem 1: To retain details in the sky on a bright day.
Problem 2: If I retain details in the sky, then I may lose details in the shadow areas of the train.
Problem 3: Michael is completely silhouetted.

Solution 1: ISO100, f/11 & 1/250 preserved the image from overblown highlights. F/11 gives me a lot of depth and also keeps the shutter speed at 1/250, away from the realm of high speed sync which weakens the flash output and drains the battery.

Solution 3: Probably the easiest of three problems. Three SB800s with three Radiopopper PX receivers on a Lastolite Triflash work as the fill flash, elevated with a monopod. Thank you to Jasmine for working as my lighting assistant.

All the speedlights are set to Group A. Instead of one, I have three flashes working to give me an exposure. That cuts the recycling time tremendously. It’s our only fighting chance when we have to balance for a sunny sky. They sit on a paint pole. Very light and easy…even for my lovely wife Jasmine. (These pix were snapped from another shoot…just an example how to use the light on a pole)

Why three speedlights? Because a single flash would not be enough to balance against a 2pm sun. Three flashes gives me potentially three times power and also a bigger volume of light. Why three units of Radiopoppers? The Nikon CLS relies on line of sight from the Master flash. There is no way all the sensors on the three remote SB800s could be oriented to face the Master flash with existing design of the Triflash. Without line of sight, I turn to Radiopoppers. Triflash because it holds three speedlights. This is my goto setup when I need a strong fill light outdoors. It came through for me again.

Solution 2: I was tossing between clipping the highlight or losing the shadows. I chose the later because I knew I could bring back details during RAW processing. Using a Hoodman Loupe in the field, I could see from the D700 LCD screen that I had enough details in the shadows which allows further pixel pushing in post production. It’s a judgement call.

From a capture, we move on to processing. This is how we did it step-by-step.

The original capture…

Bring out the shadow area, and contain the highlights. So much of processing and lighting is about working within the confines a five-stop exposure range of DSLRs, and making it as close to the 15-stop range that our eyes can see.

Tonal contrast. It’s a nice feature in Lightroom. Increasing it gives higher contrast and sharpness, which seemingly produces high details.

Then we desaturated the blue sky and added a layer of texture. Closer to the finished but the grass was too green and contrasty which disconnected it from the color palette of the rest of the image. The shadow area on the left was too bright. Here, the image looked too HDR for my taste. The sky behind Michael was too bright and it screamed for attention.

We fixed all the issues we listed above and added some finer touches to the final version. Extended the cigar and introduced some smoke on it. Got rid of a tiny slice of cloud right behind Michael. This is the first time I won an award with an image of a man.

Ok guys…time for you to go out, create images of your own and share your process with me please!

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Upcoming workshops in London, Boston & San Francisco, May 2011

This is the beginning of a personal project I am embarking. Don’t really have a clear direction of where it will end up but I am just intrigued by the historical and cultural significance of the Kadazan Dusun people in Sabah. So much of their older way of life is lost in the midst of shuffling and fitting into modernity.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Said, the Murut warrior.

On a separate note, I am really stoked about the London Fusion Workshop I am teaching together with UK premier wedding shooter, Adam Alex. This guy has swept home a host of awards in the last two years. Passionate teacher and shooter. What an honor it is to teach together with him. We have put together a great syllabus. The early bird registration will end in a few days when it will go up £300 to £1300. I’d be honored by your presence. For details check this out.

We started from here, all available light…

and we ended up here…

Three lights. Group A: key light with half cut CTO & Honl 1/8″ grid. Group B: Over head light on a C-Stand with half cut CTB gel. Group C: 35 feet away with half cut CTO, triggered by Radiopopper. Why this combination of color gels? I want a cool color like moon or starlight coming from the roof and a warm light (possibly a fire) on the face of Said. The third light is to illuminate the background & add depth. Half a cut of CTO is warm enough for Said’s already dark skin tone and the wooden long house.

This picture took a lot of time…perhaps an hour? My first approach didn’t work out so I switched to plan B. Wasted a bunch of time there but kept telling myself, “Keep moving. Keep breathing. It’s ok, Louis.”

A simple no frills portrait shot. SB800 on an Ezybox Hotshoe softbox shot through a translucent triflip.

High speed sync allows me to shoot at f2.8, 1/2000 sec through an Ezybox.

And the final shot…two flashes from rear for the rimming. The key light was on a C-Stand boomed in + a Honl grid to provide a tight light on the face.

1. High key, clean and simple.

2. Looked down from the top of this hotel suite. The sofa, huge window and the mirror reflection present an opportunity that I can’t resist.

3. Had only 15 minutes with Irene & Dylan. Isn’t this familiar? Photographers always groaned about not having enough time. But the couple just said “I do” to each other. Can’t be hard to photograph people who are madly in love. Find the light, location, frame…then shoot quick.

4. Shot this portrait of Michael in Havana, Cuba at 2pm. Use the sun as backlight and filled it with three SB800s with three Radiopopper.

5. The sun was low on the horizon, lighting up only the top part of this chapel. The couple was complete under the shadow. Filled them with a single flash on CTO. I like this picture because the light is seamless. Sometimes flash should not stand out but blend in.

6. Couldn’t have planned this better. Lucky to have a large spot of clean light cutting through the foliage.

7. Again, I didn’t have much time to photograph Kristie & Carlos. Reception would start in 10 minutes. This was the exact spot Carlos proposed to Kristie…meant a great deal to them to get married in the same place they got engaged. “Can we have a picture here?” Sure! Nevermind that the sun was almost gone. Clients want, clients get! Quick wireless lighting solution with Radiopoppers save the day.

8. Probably the shot that’s the most un-Louis in 2010. It was a hallway in the belly of a hotel. Reflective surface of the floor and walls made it possible for the red light to skip. Made it under 10 minutes.

9. All available light. A fair bit of LPS fine art treatment here.

10. 100% available light. There was a huge window just in front of where Lee Ee stood. I like the feel it carries.

11. Just enough light coming from a gap on the top of the couple. Sometimes we don’t need a lot of light to create an image. Often, it is not the quantity of light but its quality that matters.

12. This picture screams MICHAEL, the most stylish & adventurous groom I had ever photographed.

13. All available light again…the wall behind the camera position served as a huge reflector that bounced plenty of light back to Natalie & Shaun.

14. Shot this at ISO 1600 at twilight. Borrowed the boat from a bunch of fishermen on the coast. Amazing things happen when we just open our mouths and ask. D3S with its high ISO capacity is amazing.

15. A great example of how to nail a picture. Find the best light. Put great looking people in that light. Frame the shot. Voila. The afternoon light from right was just perfect.

16. Probably the 2nd most un-Louis picture that I shot last year. Tungsten WB; flash behind Priscilla was gelled with CTB; grid on the flash on Priscilla gelled with CTO. We held the elevator for about 8 minutes. By the time security confronted us, we were ready to wrap up the shoot.

17. Yes, the background makes the image but don’t forget the couple, more specifically Kevin’s expression. It is usually harder to get the guys into the shoot, but when you do, the reward is tremendous.

18. A shot that could potentially cost us U$2500. That was what the resort wanted to charge us when they found us shooting near this amazing chapel. It didn’t matter that Jenny & Kevin are staying in the resort. Very please to have nailed it very quickly.

19. The key is to subdue the background and lit the model with the best light. Accomplished this by moving the model closer the opening of a shaded area. The contrast between the foreground and background is so great that I get an almost blackened background. That’s what I want: full attention on the model and zero distraction from the background.

20. I am please with how the warm artificial back light blends in with the colors of the sky. Too much and it overpowers. Too little and it’ll appear subdued. The key is control.

21. People look better when they are well lit. While a cloudy day gives you great diffused light, I added a SB800 with a 24″ Ezybox Hotshoe to give the girls and their orange gowns an extra pop of light. The sky is my key light, the Ezybox is the secondary light. The background is about 1 stop under versus the subjects. Most importantly, I love the expressions!

22. All available light. Eileen is turned away from the light to ensure her coat is not overexposed. The sun was so strong that it gives lots of bounced light from the floor back to the subjects. Not a typical shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, that’s why I am pretty please with this one.

Before I became a professional photographer, I wanted to be a professional guitarist. I have a thing for acoustic guitars. They are unpretentious, warm, authentic & intimate. One of the guitarists I admire is Roger Wang. We are from the same town and about same age but alas my guitar skills are no way near his level.

Roger’s name is to be revered at home. Yet when I first met him, he is anything but a prima donna. Gotta be careful with meeting people you admire because often they are very different from the public image they carefully craft. Roger, however, is the most down to earth person you can meet. Totally impressed by his passion and humility. The same could not be said Roger’s first impression on me. We were speaking/performing at the same event but being the newbie speaker I was, I over shot my session so badly that Roger had to cut short his performance! I called Roger to make amends. “Roger I am so embarrassed and sorry about this. Let me make it up to you. I will photograph your family portraits for free.” The perfect gentleman was gracious enough to forgive me. PHEW!

In that process, I got to know the two most important people in Roger’s life, Claudina his wife and Sara the ever adorable daughter.

Always enjoyable to catch up with Roger. Since both of us are in the creative industry, we exchange ideas and encourage each other. “You can be a mediocre accountant or engineer and still make a decent living but if you are a mediocre artist you are finished,” Roger cautioned. How true! We also agree that Sabah is the best place in the world to live and that we can build a great career here despite being 1500 km away from Kuala Lumpur & Singapore. Roger has done very well. Recorded six albums and wrote an award-winning song [十二個音] for Hong Kong pop king, Jackie Cheung.

A few months ago, Roger and I talked about his 10th anniversary compilation album, Milestones. It contains Roger’s favorite work and celebrates the milestone of being in the recording industry for a decade. That’s no small feat. “I would love to shoot it,” I offered. It was a tremendous pleasure and honor that Roger trusted me for such an important task.

Roger inspires me so much. His music is distinct, his passion fervent, his artistry authentic & his vision audacious. Don’t under estimate the determination of this soft spoken man. Everyone counted him out with his first album because it didn’t fit into any convenient segmentation of the mass market. That however earned him a nomination for a prestigious award and more important a fan base. The richness of Roger’s work is forged not by conforming but by being true to himself. As an artist, I know being authentic can be the scariest thing. Copying a proven formula always seem safer. Doing something new? What happens if nobody likes it?

Just picked up my own copy of Milestone today. It inspires me to publish a book on my tenth anniversary as a professional photographer, which thankfully is still five years away. My hats off to you, Roger. Wish you an another amazing decade. Your best is still ahead you.

Milestone can be purchased at most CD retail stores by next week. Especially at CDRama, Speedy and Victoria Music. In Kota Kinabalu – RAM Studio (Damai), Kedaiku (Segama). For online orders please email bunyigitar@gmail.com for details.

Here are some of the images Roger used in Milestone…