Fifteen photographers huddled for 2 days, doing nothing but light. That’s dedication. Some drove 4 hours to get there, some flew for 3 hours…honored by the presence of these hungry photographers. Is two days enough? I’ve been shooting for almost ten years and still find light an adventure. There is always something to be discovered about it. I took a one-week lighting workshop with Joe McNally, and then worked with him for a month on this teaching tours. Still it was not enough to cover every facet of light. I encouraged photographers to think of learning light as a learning how to swim. It felt downright weird to be in waters. You can’t breathe. Coordinating my strokes and breathing pattern was a constant battle. After 15 minutes I was gasping for air. “This ain’t right for me!” I protested.

I kept hitting the pools. By the third week, the strokes & breathing have become easier, more intuitive & enjoyable. I suspect, learning to light is the same. You set your ambient light exposure; you set the power of your lights; you set up one group of lights at a time. How can something creative be so regimental? It seemed almost counter creative. Yet, if we embrace it, we will find the beauty of the discipline; joy and intuition will begin to flow. The discipline is the foundation upon which our creativity and expressiveness is built.

Here are some highlights from the workshop. Cheers!

Deployed the Octa Bank…

Some regarded the annual Australian Professional Photography Awards the toughest print competition in the world. You don’t have it easy with the Aussies, and I respect them for that. For a country of 25 million people, Australia probably has the highest talented photographer per capita. Think about Rocco Accoro, Marcus Bell, Christian Fletcher, Peter Eastway, Jerry Ghionis, Yervant, Pippin Walton, Peter Coulson, Martin Schembri…the list goes on.

Again, this year, we processed our photographs, printed and re-printed, mounted and finally ship four entries via DHL to Australia. You can only submit four, no more; and you can’t have more than one submission from a single shoot, event or scene.

It took a lot of time, effort and money but that’s what it means to push ourselves. Print competitions have done me a world of good. It is so easy to say, “As long as my clients love my work, I am ok.” It IS important that our clients love our work and working with us, but our clients are not editors or fellow professionals who can be our harshest critics.

So each year, I pushed myself to submit prints to WPPI and AIPP. Sometimes my work was flogged and praised. Either way, I walk away a better photographer because I submitted myself to honest and anonymous critique.

I’m applying the same discipline to my business as well. Seeking honest feedback from mentors, clients and colleagues. Amazing how much I can learn when I just listen.

With the print competitions at the back of my mind, I have this extra motivation to work hard and be creative in every shoot. “Perhaps today, I can top myself,” I thought. It is not a race to impress others, but a benchmark to see where I stand with my international colleague.

FYI, we scored 1 silver and 2 silver with distinction. Was told that 28% of submissions were awarded silver and 7.4 % silver with distinction. I am chasing my first gold award, and the four points that I need to be awarded Master of Photography by AIPP.

What about fame and fortune that comes with winning a competition? Well, that’s a nice bonus. The main prize is becoming a better photographer.

—-

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

Scored 83, Silver Award.

Scored 85, Silver with Distinction

Socred 79.

Adam Alex and I are happy to announce that we will bring the Fusion Workshop to Kuala Lumpur, 22-24 August. We had a sold out London Fusion Workshop where everyone raved about how much they’ve learned and enjoyed themselves. The letters, emails, and FB messages Adam and I got were huge encouragement to us. We’ve received a lot of requests to bring the fusion workshop to South East Asia. So after finally sorting our crazy schedules, we are please to announce the KL Fusion Workshop. It is the ultimate workshop for wedding photographers or anyone aspiring to be a wedding photographer.

Adam and I are as different as we are similar. That’s the basis for this unique workshop. We come together to bring two approaches and perspectives into a single workshop. We have taken two distinct paths that had brought us success & accolades. Participants of the London Fusion Workshop loved the different angles and strengths Adam and I brought to the class.

I want to tell you more about Adam. Averaging £9,000 per booking, Adam is one of UK’s premier wedding shooter. He is as sharp & creative as a photographer as he is a business owner. He won first place in MPA’s Open Category which attracted entries from UK’s top wedding shooters and then first place at WPPI’s Fashion category. It’s a rare achievement to win at both side of the pond. He is as articulate and passionate talking about Photoshop’s blending modes as he is with search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing.

It will be a real treat to have Adam in South East Asia. I am honor to be able to teach alongside such an esteemed colleague and friend. It’s incredible that Adam finds the time to head to the Far East.

For full details, please download the brochure of the workshop.

August 22-24 | Kuala Lumpur RM3900 (super early bird before 6 July RM3300) REGISTER NOW

Guerrilla Lighting will make stops in KK and KL. Scheduling and timing permitting in several other countries as well. Thanks for invitation to your country…I really want to say yes to all the invitations but time is finite. Between shoots, family & church, there isn’t much time left in 2011. I’ll do my best. That’s a promise.

Everything about small flashes for two days. The Guerrilla Lighting Workshop replaces the popular the one-day “Shoot Like A Pro” workshop. After teaching for several years, I felt that a one-day workshop is just too short to have a meaningful learning experience. As a teacher it is far more enjoyable to have the time and space to forge theories into solid understanding. Sign up during the early bird period to save RM300 (U$100)!

August 12-13 | Kota Kinabalu RM1500 (early bird before 6 July RM1200) REGISTER NOW
September 16-17 | Kuala Lumpur RM1800 (early bird before 20 July RM1500) REGISTER NOW

Download the workshop brochure, and if you have more questions, write to us at info (at) louispang.com

Cheers!

Four day was a big commitment to be away from family and work. Adam and I were blessed to have 18 totally nuts shooters who just wanna be a better photographer and business owner. Oh boy we had a blast!

The idea of a fusion workshop was to synergize the different strengths and approaches of Adam and I into a unique learning experience. Adam is a fantastic available light shooter; I love my TTL strobes. Adam makes everything glamourous and sexy; my shoot, on the other hand, is lively and candid. Adam is also fabulous with Photoshop; I am just good in shopping.

We did a night shoot to demonstrate using video lights and flashes at night. Our workshop dinner was hilarious. Big thanks to the guys who taught me Indian dance moves. Every move was simplified to simple catch phrases. “Open the door knob”, “Wipe the table”, “Change the lightbulb”, “Pat the dog”. Had never laughed so hard for so many days. Just thinking about it cramps up my tummy.

Hats off the the 18 brave souls who had their work ripped, I mean critiqued. Always a very brave thing to do. What drastic improvement you guys made in four days. I am so proud of your courage in embracing new techniques, approaches and equipment. Your humility to learn and hunger to improve inspires me.

Thank you for the letters, emails, messages that you sent. Appreciate the kindness and encouragement. This is one workshop I’ll remember for a very long time!

I would like to share some of the images I created during the workshop…and do I hear Kuala Lumpur Fusion Workshop with Adam Alex and I? Stay tune!

The gorgeous Anna. Fabulous talent to work with. The only picture in this series that was shot without flash

Hey Lewis Hamilton is in the house…actually, it was his body double Plabo. I am serious. This hunk body-doubled for the F1 driver in a commercial. Mixing the lovely table lamp with flash via 24″ Ezybox on a strip, well not quite a strip. You’ll see…

Left the strip surface in the conference room. It was too much hassle to head down and get it. So I improvised with my wife’s scarf. Hey, it is guerrilla lighting right?

Turning a flash to produce the warmth and character of a video light.

Two SB800 on red gels inside the bathroom; triggered with Radiopoppers.

I am falling in love with the strip on Ezybox. Most people thought this was done by available. Nope, it was flash man!

Same thing here. It was flash photography.

Two lights. Main light a SB800 with full cut of CTO gel on Ezybox with strip. Background light on the container was bare flash. The blue accent light on Rahul was a genius touch happy accident. Incidentally Rahul was a former DJ; his mates thought the scene just fit his personality.

Form teams of 3-4 photographers for location shoot. Each team was assigned with a model and some light shaping tools. Lotsa hands-on time for the class.

Daniella, Jasmine and Ammy…but we are missing Silvia and Natalie. Great to have the ladies in the class. Appreciate how they see the world through the lenses.

Great fun at the class dinner. I can still remember the jokes and hear the laughs. “Wappening, wappening!”

Here’s the London Fusion Workshop, class of 2011. Gosh, I miss you guys. It was really good fun!

The main objective being in London is to teach the four-day Fusion Workshop with Adam. We are different yet similar in so many ways. Adam is a very finesse shooter. He makes people look drop dead gorgeous. Love his passion, business ethics and personal conviction in photography. Learning lots teaching with him. Just grateful for this opportunity to teach together with him.

Today we just wrapped up day Day One. Loving the energy I’m seeing in the class. Here are some shots from my teaching session on Guerrilla Lighting today. More to blog post to come when I can steal thoughts to compose my thoughts & experiences in this historical city. Cheers!

A class of 18. Great bunch of shooters.

Just direct sunlight…Anna is outstanding in this pink dress. I can’t resist taking a shot here.

Ezybox Hotshoe 24″ fill flash from the left. Flash does not have to be IN YOUR FACE. It can be gentle and subtle.

Three units of SB800 on a Tri-Flash from camera right. ISO 100, 1/1600, f/3.5. High speed sync. Amar look a wee bit like Rio Ferdinand doesn’t he?

Direct sunlight from behind and a gold reflector from front/below…just a simple way of managing harsh light and making it work very quickly.

A quick self-portrait before I started teaching a class on Guerrilla Lighting.

Start Small
It is alright to feel lost with 16,000 people around you. The first WPPI we attended, we felt like grasshoppers in the midst of giants. Everyone seemed to know so much more because nobody wanted to look foolish. The truth is, nobody knows everything and everyone has something to learn. How to make meaningful connections in this massive convention?

I signed for a WPPI Plus class. Limited to 25 participants, it is the smallest class at WPPI. It is hands-on and intimate. Met some of great people at Plus Classes. We had lunch, dinners and beers together. We hang out, exchange ideas, party together. Sometimes, I learn more over a dinner table than sitting in a class. WPPI 2011 was the most enjoyable for me. Reconnected with my old friends whom I meet only once a year & met a lot of new friends. Had a tweetup with Stephan Maloman. He is one amazing photographer. I love his work.

Threading dangerous ground when you passed a Nikon flash to a CPS member during a live lighting demo!

My Inspiration
Jennifer Hudson is my number one inspiration this year. We cannot be more different as photographers. She is not your typical wedding and portrait photographer. Well, Jennifer Hudson is anything but typical. Still I love her presentation because she creates art that’s totally her. If you missed her class, you should be there next year.

Jennifer did a project based on a friend who died of cancer titled “Medic”. That series of fine art pictures was powerful. I could feel the pain and agony from the imagery. Just as powerful was the planning, determination, focus and time required to bring the project from concept to reality. Jennifer is a top notch visual communicator. She inspires me to home in on a message, an emotion and communicate that via photography.

A big chunk of my lighting class is done via live demo. Every shot is tethered to my laptop and screened immediately to the screen. It’s a scary teaching method inspired by Joe McNally

My Favorites
What do I love most about WPPI? The print judging and teaching. I started as a quiet observer of the two-day print judging. It is the best photography education I’ve ever received. And it is FREE…it’s part of your registration.

In the last two years, I have the privilege of being asked to judge and teach as well. It was scary when you were sandwiched between Yervant and Rocco Ancora on the judging panel. It was scarier when you have to teach in a foreign country, 200-300 people whom you have never met! I remembered losing sleep and freaking out. Thanks to WPPI, I push myself harder than ever before.

Guess what? It was all worth it!

Katie stopped me outside the exhibition hall and thanked me. Apparently she took my platform class last year and decided to implement some of the business ideas and lighting techniques that I shared. Fast forward 2011. Katie hugged and thanked me. Business had taken off for Katie…in the midst of a recession no less! She even came out with her own Guerrilla Lighting Guide when mine is still at prototype stage. Man, I am so inspired and encouraged by her tenacity.

Where did all these people come from? It was 8am, Vegas. These were the hardest of hardcore photographers. Love their energy!

Who knew that by talking about our failures and triumphs for two hours that I could make a difference for others? I knew Marcus Bell, Joe Buissink, Yervant, Jerry Ghionis could do that…but me?

Teaching however can be dangerous. Do we practice what we teach? How about stretching a truth/fact so we look even better? These are temptations and possible pitfalls every teacher face with. Have I mentioned “fame”? To have a crowd cheering you, giving you a standing ovation…wow that can be a powerful drug.

It is real and unreal.

The love & cheers from the adoring crowd is nice. But I would be delusional to think that I will get the same adoration everyday. It is a surreal mountaintop experience. We don’t live on the peak of of Mount Everest no matter how breathtaking the vista is. We live on level ground where we toil to improve our photography, struggle with the mundane, crack our heads to improve our business, and strive to create fresh work…just like everyone else. This is also called HARD WORK.

At WPPI we are taught to work smart, establish efficient workflow, outsource and collaborate. All these are great, but still there is no substitute for HARD WORK. Bob Taylor, the successful founder of Taylor guitars has another name for hard work: sweat equity. How do we acquire skills, wisdom, experience? By sweating.

Don’t learn the trick of the trade. Learn the trade.

Someone said that at WPPI and it’s my favorite quote this year. It is a fallacy that if we bought the latest action set, paid for the most expensive workshop or listen to the most famous speaker, our photography will just supernaturally improve. We would love to believe that because the alternative is HARD WORK. Think sweat, bruises, struggles, failures, hitting the dirt. Not attractive at all. That’s exactly what we should be doing especially after WPPI. Practice what we’ve learned, and for the instructors, practice what we’ve taught.

I’ve done 6 shoots in the last two and a half weeks. It’s punishing but I’ve learned so much about Guerrilla Lighting from some of my experiments. Stay tune for my upcoming posts

A quick self-portrait before I started teaching a class on Guerrilla Lighting.

My final night at WPPI was amazing. Always a thrill to attend the awards night. Wasn’t expecting anything, in fact I never did in any awards night. So if by an freakish luck that I won, it would be a HUGE bonus. It’s inspiring to see the award-winning work. Just breathtaking. A few of togs from Asia did amazing. Lito Sy & Kenneth Tan won first place in Wedding Details & Engagement respectively. CM Leung swooped 2nd place. Michael Greenberg won 1st place in Photojournalism…and then “third place to Louis Pang, Malaysia” the MC announced. I was replying tweets on who-won-what when that came through. Joe Cogliandro & Stephan Maloman was just a couple of seats away. Unsurprisingly, they also collected some crystal trophies.

We said our goodbyes. Had a couple of drinks at Rouge, our favorite bar at MGM. Even a great party has to come to an end. See you next year at MGM, Vegas February 16-23, 2012. Block your calendar!

Special thanks to my sponsors Asukabook & Radiopopper who supported my teaching efforts at WPPI.

pictures courtesy of Darrell Lee & Michelle Ng

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

I’m heading West, visiting London, Boston and San Francisco. Along with me will be fresh materials on Guerrilla Lighting, experience of building a studio & brand from a tiny town on the Borneo Island, 10 years of shooting, and the priceless experience of teaching and judging at WPPI. What an honor to be able to share my photographic passion and ideas with people from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, I will be shooting a few bridal sessions & catch a Manchester United game. I am excited about this trip.

First stop, London, 2-5 May.

I will be co-teaching with Adam Alex, UK’s rising star who recently swooped first place in MPA & WPPI print competitions. That was a gigantic accomplishment. The only thing bigger than that is his heart and humility. He is a dynamic teacher, shooter and real person. I am truly HONORED that he invited me to teach together. It’ll be four full days of lecture, demonstration, location shoot, critique. Everything is on the table: lighting, posing, business, marketing, post processing, workflow, pricing. This is TOTAL immersion and the COMPLETE education for someone wanting to learn the A to Z of wedding photography. This 20-person four-day workshop has 4-5 seats left. Fee: £1000. Sign up here.

Second stop, Boston, 9-10 May.

Well, it’s actually Chicopee, near the border of Massachusetts & Connecticut, two hours from Boston. It will be held at Seth Kaye’s studio which is located in a rustic industrial area. This is a photographer’s DREAM location as it provides limitless photographic possibilities. Hats off to Seth and his buddy Seshu coming up with this idea. Without their persistent nudging, I wouldn’t have followed through.

It’s all about TTL speedlights and how to get BIG results from these tiny lights. I’ll talk about using off-camera flash, constructing a shot from one flash to multi flashes. Balancing flash with ambient light, using gels, high-speed sync, using an array of light modifiers. Most of all, it is Guerrilla style where we get impressive results with small and mobile tools.

Sign up before 15 April and you will get a complimentary copy of “World Tour” DVD (retails for U$100), a 135-minute production where you see me shooting LIVE in five culturally diverse weddings in four continents. Workshop fee: approx. U$700 or RM2140 exact. Sign up here.

Final stop, San Francisco, 16-17 May.

Ah, the gorgeous Bay Area. Scott Robert and I team up for a two-day “Discovery of Light” workshop. Scott is a firm believer of manual flash, while I advocate the TTL way of life. You’ll learn two different approaches of lighting from two gurus. Scott and I will also spend half a day to cover the business side of wedding photography from branding, closing a sales to packaging and pricing. I won’t be surprised if we overshot the teaching time…there is so much ground to cover here. Workshop fee: U$695. Sign up here.

If you are near one of these three cities, I’d be honored to meet you and have you in the class. It’ll a great adventure of meeting new friends, seeing new places, learning, sharing and shooting.

This trip turns out to be a round-the-world trip for me. Keep going West until I get home. Have always wanted to do something like this.

Very happy to announce the London Fusion Workshop to be held 2-5 May 2011. I am honored to join forces with UK’s Adam Alex, the MPA Open Wedding winner 2010, for three days of education, inspiration and lots of fun.

Day 1
We’ll start the day with breakfast and introduction of the speakers and participants. Then we’ll go through 3 of your favourite images taken in the last 6-12 months. This is a fantastic opportunity to witness your work being critiqued (positively) within an open environment. Please bring your images on a CD, DVD OR Memory stick as jpg.
 
The second half of day 1 Adam and Louis will be shooting live with a couple of models demonstrating how they work in low light. Adam will pose brides, grooms and couples in various locations, using available light, video light and off camera flash. The focus is on posing and the principles of wedding photography. This is your opportunity to ask questions, take notes and experience how Adam sees the beauty in all locations.
 
At approximately 4pm, we will make our way back to the lecture room for Q&A’s and a summary of the day. Then dinner time. YAY!
 
Day 2
TTL flash have had a lot of bad press, but it is mostly down to lack of understanding. Louis will guide you through the pitfalls and show the tremendous capabilities of these small lights. From there Louis will dive into Guerrilla Lighting. See how small tools like gels, clamps, softboxes & reflectors can yield huge results. With Guerrilla Lighting, you’ll never be held hostage by bad light. Louis will demonstrate light management for large formal groups and shooting with the harshest light at 12 noon.

After lunch, it is all about you. This will be your opportunity to take charge and demonstrate what you have learned and overcome. Each student will have the opportunity to shoot with models at various locations. Adam and Louis will affirm your strengths and suggest areas for improvement. At approximately 4pm, we will make our way back to the lecture room for more Q&A’s and a summary of the day. We will then all go for dinner.
 
Day 3
The first half of day 3 will continue with the students shooting on location. We want you to keep practicing and taking risks with new techniques you’ve learned. After lunch, Adam will teach ‘Don’t overshop it, Photoshop it’. He will be demonstrating his award winning post processing techniques and fine art retouching. The program will cover workflow, layers, blending modes, masking, toning and more. Then it’ll be dinner time again. YAY!
  
Day 4
The morning will start with a critique of the student’s images taken from day 2 and 3.

Adam and Louis will then lecture on the importance of positive business practices, a healthy attitude, bright branding, sales and marketing. Louis will talk about “7 Winning Strategies” on how to win over people with genuine relationships & great service. You’ll see how Louis connects with his clients: from the first email, phone call, consultation, wedding day coverage, delivering the album to celebrating the clients’ first anniversary. We’ll discuss successful selling without manipulation or pressure. Stay true to your art, business and yourself. No question is too sacred. Everything is on the table for discussion. 


WIll have a great group photo, lots of hugs and kisses before we say goodbye!

FEE: £1,000.00 (early bird)
The Hoxton Hotel
2-5 May 2011

REGISTER TODAY!

The amount of gear I check in at the airport has increased considerably. It will increase again as I incorporate the Elinchrom Quadra to my wedding shoot. These are super light strobes that gives me 400 watt-second power (about four times that of a SB900). Isn’t that too much gear, Louis? I hope by using a wider set of equipment it will broaden my scope of work.

I hate flat light. While available light can be amazing, there are times it just ain’t good enough. As we can see at Judy & Jagjeet’s wedding at a chapel. There isn’t enough light and it is too flat. Direct flash on the hotshoe is just too boring.

So I clamp a single SB800 with a Manfrotto clamp on the side wall of the church. By bouncing the light off the wall, I get a broad directional light. It’s triggered with a master SB900. Radiopoppers on both flash units. Switch the flash to silent mode so that the remote flash does not chime every time it goes off. Respect the sanctity of the ceremony.

The next three images show you the kind of mood and impact this directional light introduce to the scene. A lot of people tell me that lighting makes pictures look less natural. I think poor use of light does that, while great use of light enriches the story. What do you think?

Then photographed some family portraits for Judy & Jagjeet, at ahem, 2pm because it was the only time everyone was free. Nice challenge as the sun was almost above our heads here in the tropics. Here’s what we come away with, straight from the camera. Studio lights? Big softbox? Nada!

This was our simple setup:
The Lastolite 6′3″ square panel was supported by two C-Stands. My God, I love these stands! Gonna get two more for my upcoming workshops. The panel came with two kinds of reflective materials. Placed the white one on the ground as a reflector, and put my camera bags on it so it wouldn’t fly away.

The panel achieves two things. First, it diffuses the strong sunlight and transform it to a quality similar to that of a huge softbox. Secondly, it gets rid of the patchy light that we all get shooting under trees. See, we rarely get perfect shade under trees. Light cuts through the foliage and creates patchy hotspots on faces which cannot be fixed with fill light. The hotspots just gets hotter!

I am introducing my first two-day lighting workshop, Guerrilla Lighting: Fast & Furious. You will master the use of small TTL flash. It will be the best equipped TTL lighting workshop in this region. We’ll have C-Stands, backdrops, lightstands, tons of reflectors, lighting panels, flash units, gels, snoots, grids, softboxes of various sizes. You name it, we’ll have it…we want you to play, experiment and take risk. The workshop has only one goal: mastery of TTL flash. You’ll learn how to manage light from morning to night, indoor and outdoor. Here is the program of the workshop:

Day 1: We’ll start in an Introduction so we all get to know one another followed by photo critique where I bring my international judging experience to give you an idea how your work can be improved. Then we’ll jump right into the workings of TTL flash with a series of live demonstrations. I’ll lead you through a series of shoot. After lunch, we’ll head out for location shoots. Be prepared for a massive hauling of equipment. You will be assigned to a small group of photographers, a model and the equipment of your choice. Here’s your chance to take risk, try out equipment you’ve never touched.

Day 2: We will go through the images we shot yesterday and discuss their strengths and areas for improvement. More demonstrations will follow. Again, you’ll be shooting in small groups after lunch. You’ll be given a surprise assignment. I’ll pressure you to break away from your comfort zone. We’ll wrap up the day with a final round of photo review. If you can still stand after the workshop, we can head out for some great food and perhaps a cold beer

Date: December 4 & 5
Class size: 15 participants only
Venue: Shriro Malaysia Studio
Normal Fee: RM1500
Now: RM1195 (save RM305)
REGISTER NOW
Model fees & tea breaks included

Some of examples of guerrilla lighting:

from here…

to this. Grey rainy sky as the perfect clean background. Model lit with a Lastolite triflash, through a Skylite panel

Inside a elevator, flash behind Priscilla with half cut CTB gel (color temperature blue), and full cut CTO gel on key light with HONL honeycomb. Nailed this under 10 minutes

From here…

To here…Two SB800 with red gels at 1/2 power about 70 feet away. The gloss paint and floor surface is wonderful for light to skip over. Key light a SB800 at 24mm, TTL.

Just wanna share with you a few frames from workshops in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. These are shots created with techniques and equipment I hadn’t tried before. The coolest part was to do it in live audience. I feel alive to come up something new. If you are reading this, please go out with your camera and create something fresh in the coming week.

Next up…Inspire+ Seminar in Penang tomorrow and speaking at Intel next Monday. Take care everyone!

This is how we created the first shot. Triflash through with a Skylite Panel & a silver reflector for bounce. Used the grey-ish sky as my background. The ability to light just opens up so much possibility in our shoots.

Shot during a 20-minute shoot challenge. Inside a elevator, flash behind Priscilla with half cut CTB gel (color temperature blue), and full cut CTO gel on key light with HONL honeycomb. Nailed this under 10 minutes

Thanks to Nikon, Lastolite, Elinchorm and Epson, we brought in plenty of toys for the workshop participants.

Strip light by Elinchorm via Quadra, and white vinyl backdrop by Lastolite…I love these small studio strobes!

70-200mm at f/2.8 for shallow depth of field + 30″ Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe & Triflector MKII to fill from under the chin.

Inside the “secret” hallways of the hotel where kitchen staff bring out the food, I saw a possibility.

There you go, a Cat Woman & Pulp Fiction inspired frame. Two SB800 with red gels at 1/2 power about 70 feet away. The gloss paint and floor surface is wonderful for light to skip over. Key light a SB800 at 24mm, TTL.

Photography has never been about charts and formulas. It is an expression accomplished with the use of light, posing, composition, & depth. Sure, we can get technical about these three things and get downright serious about them, but techniques serve the sole purpose of sharpening our communication–expressing ourselves via photography. We sometimes mistaken technical knowledge as the secret to photographic excellence.

Well, if there was any secret at all in photography, it is to simply shoot from the heart. What does that mean? To see things with our heart. We channel our feelings and imagination into a photograph & hopefully it communicates our hearts’ content when an audience see it. That’s my idea of visual communication.

I am really excited to be teaching the Get Real Workshop in Kuala Lumpur this week. Ninety percent of our participants are out of town photographers. What an honor! They are one dedicated bunch! Each time I teach, I become a better photographer. Excited to shoot these three frames yesterday during the workshop. It is something fresh to me. Take care!

I had such a blast teaching the Inspire+ Workshop and Seminar in KL on July 23 & 24. The workshop was a one-day hands-on teaching with tons of lighting gear & five models. We covered so much ground in one day. Shooting with available light; mixing available light with artificial light; using pure artificial light and knocking out the ambient light. Phew! Here are some pictures from the two-day event.

While we had 100 photographers during the seminar, many said it felt like a intimate classroom. It was great that the participants asked LOTS of questions. Great bunch of people. I am honored by the presence of so many out-of-town photographers with a big group from Malacca & Singapore. It was nerve wrecking to shoot before a live audience. There is no place to hide any mistakes. That made the shoot fun and challenging. Just throwing myself to the deep end and try to swim home safely. Then we had Hafiz Ismail, who took my workshop last year, sharing about how he overcame his fears and started to shoot from his heart. Man, his slideshow was so moving.

Had a great time sharing about business strategies and management.

I was exhausted by the end of the day but the response and the enthusiasm of the crowd just energized me. Still the questions kept coming after the event was over. I was just happy to stick around and help out as much as I can.

A BIG thank you to our anchor sponsors: Epson, Lastolite & Nikon. Also special thanks to Pretty in White for providing the gowns for the shoots, and the celebrity appearance of Wedding Guide Asia boss, Stephanie Chai, acting as a “soon-to-be bride” looking for a photographer. That was quite a mock consultation session. Thank you Simmon for the great photos you took of the event. Not forgetting the make-up team from Bridal Glam, who did a fabulous job.

Next up: Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Miri & Brunei. http://inspireplus.tv

Low key lighting: strip light via an Ezybox Hotshoe 24″

Another low key shot…with available light this time.

Strong sunlight via windows at the back to create a strong backlight & high key effect. Ezybox 30″ to fill up Ong Tou.

Priscilla was a brilliant model. Two softboxes. One over the head and one below it.

Shot this at 2pm using the 400ws Elinchorm Quadra. Will be using these babies a lot more often from now on!

Stephanie pretended to be a bride looking for a photographer. Showed everyone how we handle consultation in our studio.

That wish came true on 30 June 2010.

NTV7’s Breakfast Show invited me to talk about winning the International Portrait Print of the Year at WPPI, Las Vegas. I was very honored by the invitation. Being the only guest that morning, the hosts, Aisha and Joanne, spent nearly 19 minutes chatting with me on air. If you had missed that, I’ve got it on YouTube. Big thank you to NTV7 for the opportunity. What an honor that you find wedding photography newsworthy.

“Hey mum, I was on TV!”

Oh man! I am so stoked to receive this package from AIPP yesterday. Took part in the recent Australia Professional Photography Awards (APPA) and I was anxious to find out the results. Slit the envelop and out came three silver corners and a letter. I was awarded two Silver Awards and a Silver Distinction. According to my Aussie pal & Master Photographer II, David Williams that’s a “damn fine effort, great score and great recognition.” What an amazing year it has been for us at Louis Pang Studio! We were so excited about it than we put our upcoming Inspire+ seminar on sale for RM99 for 3 hours! Hope you didn’t miss it!

I love this print. Thought I would do well but it scored 75. I am really curious to find out how I can improve here.

“Peace” scored 80 here, Silver Award. View it on APPA gallery.

“Vineyard” scored 80 here as well, Silver Award. It scored 85 in WPPI. View it on APPA gallery.

“Gorgeous” scored 85 and earned a Silver Distinction which according to AIPP means “Superior Execution. Very high standard of professional practice with superior visual communication, interpretation or emotion.” View it on APPA gallery.

The APPA is slightly different from the WPPI print competition. Each member is allowed to submit up to four prints. We sent in four. This is how AIPP rank the prints:

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about print competitions lately. I am by no means an expert in this field…just sharing my experience judging at WPPI Accolades of Excellence Print Competition & talking to several reputable judges. Print competitions motivate me to excel as an artist and craftsman. I compete regularly at WPPI and recently at AIPP for several reasons.

#1 It’s not about my clients/fans
It’s solely for my artistry and development. I could stop at “As long as my clients love my work, I don’t care what other people say.” It’s not about how many “Very Cool!” or “AWESOME” shout outs we get on flickr or Facebook. That is not enough for me. A great print competition sets us up against our industry harshest critics and trying to impress them. I want to know what my fellow professional colleagues around the world think about my work. If it sucked, tell me how I can improve. If it was good, I want to be better.

#2 It’s about benchmarking
Yes, art is subjective. One man’s poison is another man’s food. I had same prints scored 10 points apart by different set of judges. It is easy to discount the judging process just because it is subjective. Remember, the same judging process have recognized masters like Jerry Ghionis, Yervant, Marcus Bell, Jennifer Hudson, Bambi Cantrell. When we submit ourselves to the same process, we are benchmarking ourselves against these masters.

#3 It’s about who you wanna emulate
Why WPPI & AIPP only, Louis? There are several other professional bodies out there. I have limited amount of time and resources for print competitions so I have to pick and choose. That makes my decision easy. I want to compete with the best. I admire the work of Australian and American photographers (probably with slight bias for the Aussies). If you are a football player, you want to play in the biggest tournaments like World Cup or Champions League because the best players play there! So it’s WPPI and AIPP for me.

Your path & preference can be different. Regardless, don’t shy away from a good challenge. It can only make us better. I am going to work hard to earn AIPP’s Master of Photography accreditation.