Life & Photography
What shapes my photography?
It is a privilege and a passion to able to pick up a camera and make life’s work from images we produced. Great photography can only be achieved from a combination of passion, hard work, determination, and a commitment to excellence. We all started somewhere, and remembering our own unique journey as a photographer can inspire us when such need is needed.
Fundamental Movements of Our Life
Photography was not my first career choice, although now certainly the best and last. I hated to photograph and never like to be photographed. When the workload of running a studio, raising a family, finding time for my wife, Ning and son, Clement becomes overwhelming, I remind myself that I started at a completely different work place and work pace, it gives me the motivation and perspective I need to continue striving for success.
I began my career as an international food chain trainer in United Kingdom. Those who know me well, would say that it is just difficult to imagine me behind the desk and it is also very difficult for me to remember myself working there. Repetitive tasks, soul crushing, as anyone who has work in an industry with no passion, I was languishing in my former position.
Inspired by the works of great photographers and the secondhand camera bought during my time running around in Europe for my full-time work, I began to learn the craft using this secondhand analog camera. Before long, I started shooting landscape work with my BronicaSQAi and Hasselblad cameras. The sales of those landscape images through agency provided the basic motivation to further my love of photography. The money really motivated me, and my photography. Before long, I was photographing weddings on weekends for friends – and friends of friends. My portrait and wedding photographic skills got sharpen under the tuition and inspiration of Warren Sheaffer, FBIPP, three times European wedding and Portrait Photographers of the year, sharing his knowledge and skills and introduced to me the importance of qualification and awards throughprint competitions.
I did not waste time and learnt as much as I can under his sincere guidance. I also found great support, seminars, professional directions, and later, incredible friendships. I began regularly photographing the weddings and portraits of friends of friends on weekend, and my studio is born.
A fundamental moment that led to my people photography from landscape was an incident happened to my friend’s wedding, where Ning and I were invited as guests. The bride was thrown into the water after the ceremony and the groom and the rest (bridesmaids and Groomsmen) all jumped into the water as well, which led to no bridal party group shots. The official photographer got so angry and left the scene. I started photographing while everyone having fun and posed for the group shots with water splashing everywhere. When I delivered the prints to my friends, they loved the images and told me that these are the best photographs they ever wanted. This incident inspired me about being there with the right tool at the right moment and to provide better experience for the couple and their guests. It also transformed my love of photography into a burgeoning career.
It is important to take time to remember how I arrived at doing what I am doing now. Those fundamental moments and people in our lives make us feel and think. My camera was never far at important moment. The birth of my son, Clement only further resonated me the importance of capturing important relationships in our lives and treasuring them while we can. Having a family has also helped me to better understand the emotions a parent feels at his or her child’s wedding. I see lives striving when a newborn came to us for a baby portraits session.
Our experiences make us see what is important to us, and what is important in life. As a Photographer, I want to share that to other people. My experience helped me to see these special elements, things that many people would have missed them if I did not capture them.
I felt it’s amazing that our job is to capture these moments for someone else. Images that captured by me will be in the family for hundreds of years, handed down from generation to generation. My legacy will live on, may be in the life of those families, but perhaps on a much grander scale. But it is important to me that every photograph I take is treasurable.
