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

Here you go…

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

It’s been five years since we started our studio from the extra bedroom in our home in Tawau. I look back at our humble beginnings with gratitude. We had no clientele, track record, not much skills but plenty of determination. Then some of our clients were ridiculed for hiring me. “Why on earth did you hire a photographer from Tawau? Can’t you get someone from KL or KK?” To those who gave us a shot and trusted us so much especially in the early days, I am eternally grateful.

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

I am a big fan of musicians, guitarist in particular. I would never be as good with a guitar as I am with a camera. Guess life is fair in a way. You can’t have everything right? Just because I can’t have it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it. I have an extensive library of music from CDs and iTunes…but we are not discussing music today. We are talking about light, which in many ways is like music. It’s about flavor and execution.

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.