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…

Scored 85, Silver with Distinction

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.

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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

Thanks for the nudging and ‘forceful’ reminders via emails, Facebook & Twitter. The Guerrilla Lighting Workshop 2011 is finally here. I would love to announce this earlier but we are working like mad at the studio plus balancing a lot of traveling. Since there is never a convenient time, it might as well be today.

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!

So much has happened in a whirlwind 18-day trip to Europe that we are still catching our breath. The key was a four-day workshop I taught together with UK’s premier wedding photographer Adam Alex in London. It was down to his hard work this workshop became a reality.

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!