Men in tights — can they be made sexy? There’s no doubt female curves always turn eyeballs, but it’s not so easy with men. Luckily, these custom-made wetsuits, which I had to shoot for the maker, were tight, form-fitting, and boasted vibrant colours.

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While the goal was to deliver clean, crisp images with a white background, some problems did pose themselves along the way. Since this was an on-location shoot at the client’s place, my worst fears of space-scarcity indeed surfaced. We had to move furniture around till we had a long enough area to operate my gear.

Because of gear limitations, it was tough to achieve the cleanest white background. That’s the problem when you don’t have your own studio. I used all the lights I had but it was still not enough to light both the subjects and get a nice white background. Digital processing and post-production can always do it (which is what I did here) but it’s always best to get it right on the spot and in the camera, if possible.

In this case, I made the best of the situation and still came out with a high-quality product that pleased the client. Hooray for Photoshop!

N.B. Since that shoot, I’ve garnered one more light strobe, so believe me, I’m slowly making my way to having a fully functional photo studio!

Not exactly mouth-watering, I know, but this marks the entry of Ted Chen Photography into the business world of studio and product shoots.

Studios often have a higher threshold for entry. Expensive lighting, backdrops and rented floor space are the common miscreants that deter a photographer from diving into studio shots. But to be a successful commercial photographer, one should eventually get a studio as it provides an environment of controlled lighting unlike any other. There could be a hurricane outside and you could still be shooting sunny shots under your roof.

And because photojournalism is dying, there’s no sound financial reason to limit myself to events (or weddings). Shooting portraits outdoors is excellent for creativity, but sometimes a formal setting is all that is needed. Magazines and  new businesses will still require product/studio shots for whatever they’re selling, and some say that’s where your money tree will grow from.

Unfortunately a rented studio space is bigger than my check book. However, photos of smaller products can be shot in a controlled environment, as you can see above. All you need are a few light sources (strobes or even desk lamps work), an interesting background, and maybe some props to go with the actual product. Make sure to use a tripod as it’ll infinitely increase your leverage in altering exposure.

One thing I didn’t have and wished I had is a dedicated macro lens. Other lenses work fine but you’ll have to resort to obscene levels of cropping. Using a macro lens means you’ll preserve maximum resolution. All the more attractive to potential clients who like to print big and clear. So, if anything, I’d invest in a good macro lens and perhaps different backdrops to add variety. These days, it’s possible to share studios, so getting my own space is not on the top of my list.

For the past month or two, I’ve been silently (and secretly) building up the tools needed for a rather modest set up to take good portrait photos. This of course, is loosely following the business plan to dive into portraiture. Even though I’ve dipped my fingers into the numerous honey pots (events, news, weddings), I feel portraiture is so universally accepted that I have to offer this service as well.

This inaugurating series is a mixture of both natural and urban shots, stylistically a cross between and fashion and senior photography. My goal has always been to come home with one great shot, and this is probably it. That doesn’t mean all the rest were mediocre. Truthfully, I’m very pleased with most of them.

But the day started horrendously, with me not accounting for the swarm of mosquitoes at the Ann Arbor Arboretum. Half the time was spent whacking or scratching myself rather than hitting the shutter button. Lu, who was equally frizzled, still came up with some great poses, to her credit. We had brought along additional clothing to change, but the biting put a damper to that, and the photos weren’t half bad that we needed to switch out.

As this is my first time with portraiture, I went into experimental mode, despite reading lots about how to shoot and looking through hundreds of photos prior to this day. I brought two lights with me, but we most only shot with one. Without an assistant, all the work is on me, from creative concept to cheap labor to execution. While the both of us tried to come up with new ideas, much of my inspiration stems from Joe McNally’s Hot Shoe Diaries book, which I’m still in the middle of devouring. A review of that book will come soon enough.

In total we spent about 2+ hours shooting, over maybe five locations around the Arboretum. No way did we manage to cover the whole place. That concluded part one (the natural environment) of the photo shoot. Come back soon to look for part two.

PART TWO

The hiatus was longer than expected, but the wait was quite worth it. As said earlier, “urban” and “posh” were two critical words used as the creative force behind this second shoot. This time we had less time (it rained on us unexpectedly) and we stuck to one on-campus location for four of the five photos (the last one was in a residential house).

True blue Michigan Wolverines can probably recognize the urban background, but for everyone else, that’s the new wing of Michigan’s Ross Business School. This glossy extension to the old building of clay and bricks sticks out like a blinding light to the eye. The new building is more glass and concrete than perhaps any other building on campus. In terms of campus aesthetics, maybe not a good idea. But excellent for our choice of shooting that day.

However when we got there, the light was quickly fading. I tried to get the images to play more with the mighty pillars at the school’s front porch. Some worked, but it was also disappointing. Some ideas I’d envisioned in my head were a lot tougher to execute. Gear-wise, I didn’t have enough control over the lights. Sure makes my to-buy list longer by a foot! On my part, I do need to do more planning and preparation, rather than fly by wire and hope some inspirational lightning strikes me while on assignment.

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