Gearing up!

David and Anne Night Shoot, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

My backdrop and stand set came from eBay! That was really quick. I've got to now figure out how to straighten out all the creases. Ironing a 3 x 6 meter piece of cloth is going to be fun! :P

The stand is 3.1m X 2.8m. Just realised that my room is not that wide... Now have to figure out where is the best places for it. Anyone of you photographer enthusiasts want to come over for play around with the setup? Any volunteer for models? :P I should be getting my 2 soft boxes continuous light set this week as well, if all goes well. Perhaps a play this Saturday morning. Let me know if you are keen!

Researching on newborn photography

Mikaela using liquid chalk, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

I now have at least 4 jobs to take photos for family with a baby or a newborn. The pressure is on! I thought I'd document some of my "self-reminding-tips" for myself, being forgetful as I am, so that I remember what I've researched on. Most of them are pretty basic knowledge stuff. Stuff that a enthusiastic photographer would know already. But I guess doing it "professionally" takes it to a whole different level.

Disclaimer: these are notes for myself only. Different people need to develop their on styles and believes. So please don't take this as the absolute recipe or anything of that sort :)

So here we go, 7 tips to taking baby photos:

1. Go down low - go to their level and take photos at the same level as them
2. Go natural - Nothing beats natural light on a baby's body. I agree with this statement. I think artificial light, although sometimes needed, cannot mimic the sun's light made by God.
3. Newborns don't pose! - We have to pose them. I have to think about some poses and positions if the parents don't have something they want to try already.
4. Trigger finger - :P in a digital age, we can afford to take lots of photos! You never know when they make that priceless expression. This also means that I need to be solid with technique so I am not fiddling with the camera when the moment arrives.
5. Post process - Lots of people do black and white photos for babies. That's because as a newborn, their skin may have spots and blemishes you might have to take out or "airbrush" off.
6. Go Macro - Close ups are my favourite. I like tight shots and you'll notice that about my photos. I don't do too well when I need to "get everything in the frame". A close up on a feet, ear, hand would look very nice I think.
7. Use Props - Introduce something that can show the contrast or context to the baby. Tell a story with it.

Another interesting distinction I found out through reading on-line is to decide whether to take portraits or documentary shots. Portraits are the ones that needs setup time and posing (duh!). Documentary are taking more candid "spur of the moment" shots.... OK, enough ranting for now.

Notes on featured photo: Mikaela was using this liquid chalk thing. Kat allowed her to draw on the shower's glass in the bathroom. Pretty cool stuff!

Sequence shots

Peter and Melissa, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

I've been starting to do this lately. Finally had to blow off the dust on my Adobe Photoshop skills to do the website anyway, I thought I'd get off my lazy bum and do more of these "sequence" photos in my collection.

I've always wondered about these type of photos. You know, the ones that has a few or at least 2 photos in one, telling a story? I've always wondered how they are done. I think the hard answer more often than not is that it is most likely photoshop-ed... Something that takes longer than an average 3-5mins on post processing a photo. That is why I try to avoid it :P

Another point to note as well is that this is an effect that can be achieved only in the digital age. Although one can argue that we can use mutli-exposures on file to get a story... but I think the feel of the photo is different then.

Yet another thing that has been "floating" in my mind is twittering... Or is it Tweeting? Should I add that to my "things to do" for brokenvasephotos? Will anyone really "follow" my tweets? What should I tweet about? What I had for breakfast... :P Just kidding. I think my lazy bone in me says I won't keep that one up to date. Facebook's wall is good enough micro-blogging for me.

Lots of gear coming from eBay!!

Singapore trip in 35mm film, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

I think it's no secret for people who know us as a family, we buy almost everything on eBay. I just ordered a whole bunch of stuff for my first "official" shoot on the 5th of March. Thanks Peter and Janice for signing up!

Right, gear check from eBay:
- Light stand
- Flash gun mount with umbrella
- Softbox attachment
- 4 bulb adapter
- Lighting stand bag
- Studio background stands
- 2 muslin background cloths
- Business cards! (yes! from eBay...)

Note: a little about this featured photo. I took this of Kat posing after our photo shoot with Desmond and Estella. She was supposed to be my assistant (eating chips!). Taken with the Pentax K1000 on ISO400 35mm film. Still love my dad's old camera!

Photo got featured

Great Brisbane Flood Jan 2011-16, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

I was so excited when Kerry from akemiphotography contacted me and wanted to use one of my photos of the flood as on her appeal page feature. (Link added below) This really came as a timely encouragement!

http://www.akemiphotography.com.au/2011/01/13/announcement-akemi-photography-session-fees-donated-to-flood-relief/

Other encouragements were that we have now 26 "likings" in facebook! This means that I can have my own personalised facebook link instead of the ugly long one. The new one is facebook.com/brokenvasephotos. Who would've known that you need 25 "likes" to get a chance to choose a personalised link?

The website received a really good response and I think I'll fill up my 7 free sessions very soon. This would keep me busy till June I think. It's all FREE though -.-" but that's part of learning. Paying with time to learn the art of the business - well worth it I reckon...

Free Sessions!

Mikaela-2, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

Well, now the word is out. I think... I have "officially" launched brokenVase photos. So what does this mean? Well if I do my math right, I am prepared to run at close to zero cost on the first year. That means I'm in "gain experience" mode. That means I am GIVING SESSIONS FOR FREE!!! At least for the first half year. So...

- If 52/2=26months;
- That is 26 weekends / a further 2 = 13 weekend sessions
- Minus some personal weekend time with family... say 5
- Leaves? 7 FREE SESSIONS (Half-day pass) up for grabs!!

I've got roughly 3-4 sessions allocated already (I think) so that leaves a few more slots! Any one interested in taking family portraits, baby portraits or functions? Let me know... All you pay is the cost to print photos, canvases or frames if you want them (we can negotiate getting the DVD source files).

Check out the "Services" section on the site for more details.

Biting the Bullet

Mikaela-1, originally uploaded by Mervin Chiang.

Let's see... After about 3 years since getting back into SLR and getting into digital my passion for this hobby has finally pushed through above my other hobbies to turn into a somewhat serious thing. My family has been complaining that I've been spending too much time on the computer the past week after work. Why? I've decided to finally do something about recovering my cost to the expensive camera gear. I've decided through great encouragement by my wife Kat to, as they say... "turn pro"

So, I've...

1. Registered a few more domain names.
2. Setup brokenvasephotos.com
3. Got a smug mug power account
4. Hacked away for the past week at a website design
5. Loaded all my portfolio
6. Designed my branding the business card

:) Now there's only marketing left to do... That's next!