I’m having the time of life in London. Watched two great football matches at Old Trafford & then the Emirates Stadium. Having a blast teaching with Adam Alex…first, at a sold out seminar with 250 photographers last week, and this week with 18 students in a four-day hands-on workshop. Had my first Greek BBQ. Shot a great e-session at Rome.

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.

In four of the last five years, Jasmine and I have been attending the annual Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention in Las Vegas. It is MASSIVE: 16,000 photographers, over 100 speakers, several hundreds of photography displays and booths. It is an event that has improved my photography, redefined what’s possible in the realm of wedding photography, cultivated meaningful friendships and increased my confidence in teaching. We were back in Vegas this year…and a month after the convention, I wanna share my thoughts and inspiration from WPPI 2011.

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!

When I mention lighting, most people assume big lighting setup or studio environment. Well I’ve been putting lights in all sorts of places, including a church recently. Yes, got a nod from the Father. All I did was ask. As photographers we like to moan. “Oh, the location suck.” “There is too much light.” “There isn’t enough light.” “I don’t have enough gear.” “I have too much to carry to a shoot.” Well, someone told me that there is no boring subject to shoot, just boring ways of looking at a subject. I must agree with that. Light, makes a world a difference.

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.