One of Alphadslr, Brand

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One of Alphadslr, Brand; Glamour Photography
Topic Started: Dec 19 2008, 10:48 PM (1,036 Views)
Invision	Dec 19 2008, 10:48 PM Post #1
Administrator aka ettl Posts: 651 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 18, 2007	He is one of us. Alphadslr Nick: Brand Real name (optional): Brandon Year in photography: 2 Camera: A700 Lenses: CZ 16-80, Sony 50 f1.4, Minolta 85 f1.4, Minolta 80-200 f2.8, Minolta 24 f2.8, Minolta 24-85 Favorite lens: Minolta 80-200 f2.8 Moto for photography: Understanding light is essential. Understanding shadows makes the difference. Personal website: www.brandon-chang.com Gallery: www.brandon.zenfolio.com Photo-Album Theme: Glamour Photography First of all, I would like to thank alphadslr for this opportunity to share with fellow members here and secondly, I apologise for taking so long to get this done due to work and shoot assignments. Not being a very technical person, I cant share much about the technicalities of photography. What I think I will share here would be my short journey in my photography walk so far..... My interest in fashion photography was aroused when I was still only about 14 years old. I remember collecting tearsheets from women and entertainment magazines that featured beautiful fashion shoots and at that time, GUESS (with Nicole Anna Smith as its leading face) was the top label in terms of branding imagery. Going through the tearshoots, I had always wondered if I would ever one day be able to do something similar. Though it may never become a reality, it is with a hope that I would at least get an opportunity to experience what it is like to be able to churn out images that inspires and encourages that lesson of taking the next step forward.. just like what happened to me 19 years old when i was a little boy going through the magazines gawking at every single eye popping masterpiece... My first real model shoot took place in July 2007 with Leanna as the model. I was getting bored with landscape shots and toyed with the idea of portrait shoots - something that I had always wanted to try but wasnt sure if I could pull it off neither did I know how a shoot was supposed to be done. At that time, I was still a stranger to the sony/minolta fellowship and was not even aware such a band of brothers existed. When Leanna asked for my portfolio, I gave her a link to all my landscape shoots. Not sure if it was out of kindness, or pitiness or simply laughing till she fell off her chair, she accepted my TFCD request. This was one of the photos that we achieved on my 1st shoot: see? my photoshop skill left alot to be desired... Some time after my virgin shoot, I got to know the bros from here.. johnston, zack, richard etc who introduced me to the forum and the friendships just grew. We started to go out together on shoots, for coffee, chit chat sessions, even once for movie with willis (ya, just the 2 of us :p). We shared aspirations, ideas, concerns, worries and knowledge and if there were ever more meaningful friendships, this was it. tissue tissue.. Back to photography, I decided to join Modelinn's shoots to expose myself to how a shoot is conducted and through the sessions, I learnt about the use of reflectors and the fan machine and with Ivan on site, I also get feedback on how I should be framing the shot etc.. here's a shot from my first modelinn session: still equipped with the same CMI photoshop skills After a while, I started to grow bored of doing shoots with little / no concepts/theme behind them. I started to toy with the idea of injecting more creative elements into my shoots and spent hours doing research and scutinizing the works of international photographers. In Nov 2007, with only a handful of shoots under my belt and zero studio experience, I posted my first casting call for a model and MUA for a creative shoot. I was nervous but yet determined to get it done and done well. In Dec 2007, after meeting up with almost 10 models who answered my casting call, I decided to go with Kit (model) and Candy (MUA), for my first creative shoot: An image that took weeks to conceptualise and minutes to shoot An image that was showcased as a Featured Photo on popular photo hosting site, Zenfolio.com, in May 2008 During this period of time, I also received alot of requests for wedding shoots and have turned them all down because I've never done any before until this one couple berated me "do u have a habit of knocking on doors and then slamming them shut when they open?". I shot for their wedding and I'm grateful to them. To date, these words still ring in my mind. My very first wedding shoot: Thank you, Victor and Adele.... Moving forward, I started to bring together a team that I know I can rely on and this is where our dear bro Soulexpress (aka Peter Ching) comes into the picture. Together with MUA Candy Low, the 3 of us have embarked on an amazing journey of fashion & creative photography in the last 12 months. While the ride has been rough at times, we have, as a team, managed to pull through each and every challenge that has come our way. In order to add variety to the shoots, I decided to expand my portfolio to include: FASHION: Definitely the mainstay of my photography, fashion has introduced me to alot of people, from designers to agencies, stylists, MUAs etc. The biggest challenge is finding unique outfits / combinations and sponsors who trust you enough to sponsor you with their creations. A lot of work is done backstage and the hours spent in putting together one good shoot can amount to days if you add them up. This image is also reflected on my namecard and as a surprise, the outfit is actually a piece of cloth lying in the boot of my car. NUDES: I try to do it with a more artistic approach than nude for nude sake actually. It's actually the most challenging genre to do. The model can no longer hide behind clothes, and other than the model knowing how to pose herself for the most flattering angles, I also have to use lighting in a way so that it shapes her and enhances her form. Forms and shapes are the fundamentals in photography (so too is pattern, angles etc) and in nudes, it can so raw that there's no hiding from it. LINGERIE: Similar to nude, it's about shapes, forms & feel. I experimented with lingerie shoots after I was approached to submit my portfolio to be the photographer for a lingerie brand and the problem I had faced was that I don't have any. This incident made me realised that I had to build more diversity in my works. MALE MODELS: One word - FUN!! Really easy to work with. No questions about it! lol.. CONCEPTUALS: Another fun one! But to put everything together for a good conceptual shoot is a killer. Not only are the props / outfits gonna be hard to source for, it's also very important to get the lighting and feel right. Unless you do it the easy way by using single light side lighting.. hahaha CREATIVE MAKEUP: Other than Nudes, this has gotta be the 2nd toughest one. Not every model can carry creative makeups and even if you have a very good model, not any creative makeup will work on her. You need to spot the attitude and the features and work that to the strengths of the makeup. I shoot most creative makeup in high key as it brings out the contrast in the makeup and that is what I'm shooting, not the model. I just like doing things differently, I guess... As you can see, my style is fairly simple - clean, bold, contrasty (some), mostly black and white elements and I try to incorporate shadows where possible. To me, I feel shadows add a sense of depth and creates/enhances feel/mood. For outdoors, I rely alot on natural light and the deployment of reflectors. Also, I tend to use buildings alot for location shoots as I love the lines of both modern and old architecture. For studio, mostly 2 or up to 4 lights though I would like to try out newer experimental lighting techniques I'm glad that in just under a year of alot of hard work, I've been invited to shoot for 2 agencies - 1 of which is a local talent agency and the other an international modeling agency - and currently in discussion with another international modeling agency. Agency work currently takes up alot of my time and a single day shoot session can last anywhere from 10 - 14 hours straight. It's mentally exhausting having to conceptualise and execute the shoots and you go through 3 models each time with 3-4 looks per model. Work out the timing and you'll see how pressurizing it is to deliver the goods. This shot alone took slightly over an hour to get it right. Posing 3 [playful & mischevious] models together is no easy task - there's so much details to watch out for, right down to even how their fingers spread out etc. Out of 11 takes, this was the one that was selected for submission. You would probably have seen my first international interview feature in Philippine's fashion photography magazine, P3 (www.project-three.net) as their first non-filipino fashion photographer. It was a real surprise when their editor contacted me about this feature and it's even more surprising that my works have been noticed beyond the shores of Singapore. To be featured alongside renowned filipino fashion photographers such as Stan Ong and Filbert Kung is really an honour especially when my works pales in comparison and it's really humbling to know. It only goes to show how much more there is for improvement.:) Sometimes, when I look back to the days when I was collecting tearsheets and laying them out on the bed just to admire them, everything now seems so unreal. I'm really grateful to the bros here (esp to willis who has been my biggest encouragement to date, and peter for seemingly to always believe in me even though I can be nonsense at times) who have been a huge source of inspiration and advice. I know I probably wont be walking down this path if I had not known them. There's always alot of new things to learn about in photography but, to me, the one thing that remains crucial and central to everything is the understanding of light. Your entire camera design and attributes are designed to grasp and exploit this understanding and even to date, there is no one perfect system. You, as the photographer, is the finishing touch - your ideas and your perception of what defines shot-worthiness. No piece of mechanical gadgets can achieve this. Good luck!
	admin: Invision Welcome to Alphadslr.com forum. We are into our 2nd year and looking forward for many good years ahead with all the members. Happy shooting.


jusri	Dec 19 2008, 10:57 PM Post #2
Just a Member Posts: 199 Group: Members Member #91 Joined: October 15, 2007	Salute Fantastic photographs bro! Truly inspirational
	KM7D


Shadow	Dec 19 2008, 11:09 PM Post #3
Global Moderator Posts: 5,868 Group: Moderator Member #4 Joined: August 23, 2007	You have been an inspiration to me and others.
	My iP4S Street Photography Blog Just a Shadow


Ming	Dec 19 2008, 11:28 PM Post #4
90609866 Posts: 15,788 Group: Members Member #30 Joined: August 24, 2007	Bro Brand , tell you here , i always wanted to copy a few of your Creative Pose but just CMI ... Maybe they are all meant for you only . Salute to most of your shots shared with us !
	Ask ... Absorb ... Equip ... Execute N E X with M I N G HERE ! A P - Ming HERE ! Macro-Ming HERE ! Pano-Ming HERE ! Food ! Food ! Foods ! HERE


tankm	Dec 20 2008, 12:49 AM Post #5
Always Newbie Posts: 5,146 Group: Members Member #18 Joined: August 24, 2007	Thanks for sharing your journey and experience. At the end is all worth it seeing the result.
	TKM Photo Album Try Email trigger on Alphadslr. To setup ... - In preference, select "Email & Subscription Settings" and set Topic/Forum subscription alert type as "Alerts by email". - For tracking individual thread, click on "Track Topic" at bottom page when viewing the thread.


Mr.Oink	Dec 20 2008, 07:08 AM Post #6
Expired Member Posts: 4,088 Group: Members Member #182 Joined: December 21, 2007	Very "NEAT" work!
	Something I do when I'm online....FreeRice [ SGP Birds ]


francisdcx	Dec 20 2008, 07:31 AM Post #7
Alpha Elite Member Posts: 786 Group: Members Member #262 Joined: February 21, 2008	Great work! Just got a dose of inspiration running through my veins!
	A900/A700/180 Macro/100 Macro/135 STF/85 CZ/24-70 CZ/70-200 G/16 Fisheye Photography Blog http://www.darrenf.com http://www.darren-francis.com Facebook Profile


Willis	Dec 21 2008, 01:24 AM Post #8
Alphadslr Photo Critique member Posts: 2,188 Group: Members Member #23 Joined: August 24, 2007	Wah Wah u are the man! In any case i do wan to stress that sometimes people dont know how much effort and dedication is required to put up just one good photo..... THat you have, my bro! the drive for it! Jia YOU!!



Stvc	Dec 21 2008, 01:43 AM Post #9
Newbie Posts: 2,072 Group: Members Member #312 Joined: March 30, 2008	WOW WOW WOW!!.
	My Flickr


P.3	Dec 21 2008, 01:09 PM Post #10
Anti-Social Member Posts: 1,650 Group: Members Member #87 Joined: October 13, 2007	Inspirating photo & words
	WWW.TERRYCHUA.COM


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