To my surprise, a photographer I revered was an arm’s length away. Naturally, I tapped him on the shoulder. “Are you Kenny Kim?”

After introductions, he invited me to have Starbucks on him. Caramel Frappuccino on a hot summer day? More reason to play hooky.

Fast forward a couple of years and lots of sushi lunches, Kenny Kim publishes two books.

When he told me about his second book, I almost couldn’t believe it. Please understand that his first book was already amazing, so outdoing himself was not an easy feat. And as consistent as his amicable character, he did it again.

Digital Wedding Photography | Photo Workshop

While his first book emphasized poses and how a wedding day unfolds, his second book Digital Wedding Photography | Photo Workshop expounds on equipment used, lighting, composition, delivery of goods and etc.

The following is an image from the book coupled with a caption denoting external lighting settings, exposure time, lens used and so forth.

I enjoyed reading his perspective behind every photo illustrated in the book. As photographers, we all think different things during a shoot – lighting, backgrounds, distractions…

As for me, I think about what flavor that evening’s cake will be. Click. Click. Move it, move it, let’s hurry to cake!

All in all, if I had to rate it on a standard 5-star system, I’d give it a 6.

Good job, Kenny!

Lawrence Chan

P.S. My favorite cake is chocolate.

P.P.S. Another book I’m reading is Water For Elephants….so good.

P.P.P.S. New article just posted – 3 Reasons Why Selling is is Making More!

On Saturday, I was at Nordstrom and saw this wickedly cool watch that revealed the cogs inside. I’ve been wanting something like that for a while.

In the video tutorial below, I mentioned that I didn’t want to reveal the brand because I didn’t want others to have the same watch But what the heck… It’s a Kenneth Cole New York Automatic Mesh Bracelet Watch. Go get yourself one!

Pretty.

Makeshift Studio Setup

On Sunday, some college friends graced us with a visit and donuts. They left around 10:30AM for a dog show. Having about one hour before a lunch meeting in Pasadena, I decided to take a photo of myself.

It took about 20 minutes to setup a seamless charcoal backdrop, two lights, a reflector and a chair. I immediately got dressed and took about 10 snap shots. And it took about another minute to edit the final image. The total session was about 30 minutes; leaving just enough time to drive across town.

Since I think Leonardo DiCaprio is super charming on film, I decided to imitate him. Here’s the final juxtaposition.

I’m obviously not as chiseled as him, but it was all for fun. Anyway, I posted this on Facebook and a few people liked the idea of a tutorial. Here it is!

Here are some of my notes.

• Make sure to have a dark place to shoot because ambient light will affect the exposure
• I used a large diffuser for the main light to get a soft shadowy cast
• The two lights are equal in power, but varied in distance (for fill light)
• Shooting a tight focal length requires a higher f-stop

Below is a video tutorial on the editing part.

Okay, that’s all. I know that this post has nothing to do with marketing, but thought it would be fun to share.

Ciao,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Dear Kenneth Cole – Should you read this, I’ll gladly be your photographer. Have your people call…um, my people.

P.P.S. Dear Leonardo DiCaprio – Should you read this, let’s hang out. Like aforementioned, have your people call…um, my people.

P.P.P.S. Today I was at the driving range. Rather than aiming for 300 yards, I was aiming for the cart collecting balls…missed every time. I need more practice.

I attended the Interactive (technology) section. This is where the newest ideas and technologies are shared. It was quite a fascinating experience!

On the trade show days, I perused the convention with curiosity. (This was my first time). Not that I was even trying, people gave me goodies, t-shirts, samples, and mounds of other stuff I probably won’t use.

Anyway, about 30 minutes in, I saw a red booth with a Justin Bieber cardboard cutout sporting a min.us t-shirt. It sure made me do a double take.

They had a pretty catchy tag line, “photo sharing so easy, our moms could do it.”

Well, later learning that the founders of this startup were students from MIT, Harvard or some other prestigious U’s, I’d really hope that their “moms could do it.” A little skeptical at first, I asked them to demonstrate.

Too Easy

And golly gosh, it was easy. A little bit too easy. You don’t even need to register, which is rare nowadays. No special Sliverlight or Flash plugins required; all HTML5. You could drag a photo right onto the website and it’ll start uploading.

Multi-File Gallery

Then they demonstrated uploading a full gallery of images…same easy peasy approach. Full HTML5 upload statuses. Dang!

AND, you could send a .zip file of all of the photos afterward.

They also provide private URLs that you could share. If you want to customize your URL, you need only register for free.

Photo Gallery Slider

After all of the images are uploaded, it automatically creates a beautiful gallery that you can view and share (even individual image URLs). This is such an easy and quick way to share photos – even album design drafts, etc. Sure beats FTP…

Registered Users

If you register, you can have metrics to see number of views and all that jazz.

Additionally, it’s a micro social network where you may follow friends and family members for updates. John Xie could be the first person you follow – he’s one of the cofounders of min.us.

Framework

Aside from photos, you could also share songs and videos! The only limitation is 50MB per file. The goal is to prevent the site being used to pirate movies.

On the bright side, how often are our photographs over 50MB each? Unlikely. The other limitation is the gallery limit is 50 photos. I think the reason for this is for the .zip archiving limit.

Anyway, check out min.us – @mindotus! And watch their intro video on the front page.

Hope you all enjoy this gem,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I tested it on someone’s mom…worked like a charm.

P.P.S. I’m having a 24-hour promotion for my fab psychology of pricing and packaging ebook before a permanent increase. Ends Friday, April 15th, 2011. Take advantage!

The air was filled with romance drawn from scenes of The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and other Greats walking through the same opulent lobby. The Plaza Hotel is the quintessence of elegance, which was the perfect pairing for Wedding Style Magazine’s New York party on October 15, 2010.

Ed Libby tweeted, “The who’s who of what’s what in NYC are here!!”

I couldn’t agree more – I did a lot of gawking, stalking, and paparazzi-style shooting. Overall, I am humbled and honored that I had the opportunity to partake on this memorable event at such a landmark location.

“I have never seen the Palm Court look so sexy,” was Grace’s opening line. And it was welcomed with unanimous laughter.

This beautiful table set was put together by Ed Libby (recently worked on Lala’s wedding) and Roberta Karsch!

The following table was produced by Golf from Tantawan Bloom.

This wonderful centerpiece was also by Ed Libby.

“Say Yes to the Dress” Star Randy Fenoli and publisher Grace Ormonde!

Pablo from Nuage Designs, Roberta Karsh and Ed Libby!

Here is one of my paparazzi shots of Sylvia Weinstock – the queen of cakes!

Mike Colon and Yanni Tzoumas were chatting it up with the Wedding Style Magazine team.

Others who attended included Colin Cowie, Reem Acra, Ines Di Santo… I was a little star-struck to say the least. Unfortunately, I did not get photos of everyone. It was probably because I was eating…yummy!

The evening proceeded with lots of wine and wonderful conversations. The next morning, I decided to do a little pigeon feeding and HDR fun. Since the Apple store was not too far from The Plaza, I couldn’t resist.

Afterward, Yanni, Grace, Tracy, Mike and I went to a few fashion shows for Bridal Market. That was fun!

Next time I need to bring a 70-200mm and not a 24mm. Bums!

Yours truly,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I have been to New York over a dozen times now and I keep FORGETTING to eat a street vendor hot dog!! Until next time…

Alaska was so majestic – pure untapped nature. While there I saw thousands of salmon, a few bears, dozens of eagles, several humpback whales and other wildlife.

After uploading it to facebook, a number of friends asked for a copy as a wallpaper. So here it is!

It’s all set for 1920×1200 resolution (so even for HD monitors) and HDR.

DOWNLOAD ALL WALLPAPERS HERE

Juneau Forest Fog

Ketchikan Boats

Ketchikan Creek Street

Ketchikan Cruise

Margerie Mountains

Margerie Passing

Wilbur and Orville Mountains

Margerie Glaciers

Mendenhall Creek

Mendenhall Glaciers

DOWNLOAD ALL WALLPAPERS HERE

Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dunch, Dinner, Midnight Snack

The only setback about cruising – yes, high class problem – is the surfeit of food. Easy access to buffets, pizza stations, burgers, ice cream…ahh! Julie and I even promised to go to the gym everyday, then every other day… In the end, we worked out once.

Anyway, if you get the chance, do visit Alaska and experience all its glory. It was pretty awesome!

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. We went to Anchorage and saw lots of cute Iditarod dogs! Julie and I even met Ryan Redington – grandson of the founder of Iditarod, Joe Redington Sr.

Below is me and Home. I wish I could have taken him home.

We first met in Rhode Island. I was working at Grace Ormonde’s office and Taryne and Nishan were kind enough to meet me there. We chatted for about two hours and looked through a number of weddings. Still having my Europe pictures in storage, I decided to share those too.

That’s when I got a bit embarrassed…then we all did.

The Europe folder contained lots and lots of pictures of food…probably half the folder. They were of delicious European appetizers, cuisines, pastas, desserts…oh the desserts, beverages and more. I tried with all my might to stifle a low growl from my stomach, but the sound ripped through the chatter like a hot blade through butter.

Seriously, what do you do in those situations?

Tee hee was my response. Maybe they were trying to console me, so they let their stomachs growl too. Laughter ensued and…the wedding day.

Anyway, Taryne and Nishan’s wedding took place at the beautiful Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. They had a traditional church ceremony (First Congregational Church of Los Angeles) followed by a Sri Lankan Buddhist Ceremony.

And the reception was breathtaking! It had black chandeliers, gi-normous black dance floor, wispy drapes, beautiful lights…

I later learned from Taryne that Sri Lankan people liked to dance a lot. My first impression was – dang that is a HUGE dance floor. Conversely, Taryne’s first impression was – oh no, I hope it’s big enough. It barely contained everyone per the end of the video.

While everyone was dancing, Julie, Aaron Dieppa and I were in the back frantically editing photos / video and sampling some out-of-the-world-yummy-miniature-donuts-dipped-in-cinnamon. After licking our fingers clean, we put the photos and video onto an iPad for sharing.

So delicious…

Special thanks:

Beverly Wilshire
Monica Bewak – Associate Director of Catering

International Event Company
Jonathan Reeves, Ross and Mari

Classic Party Rentals
Kyle Hollars – Director of Lighting

Aaron Dieppa Photography – HUGE THANK YOU because doing video and photos by myself was a little crazy, so glad you were with me

Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine
Thanks Grace – Taryne found me through the Platinum List!

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Right behind this sushi bar was a table overlooking the reception; I decided to make it my work area.

While editing, I whispered in Aaron’s ear, “right behind you is heaven.”

“Lawrence, Lawrence. It has been out for a while. And warm sushi isn’t the best,” replied Aaron. “But I think I’ll still eat it if I could.”

“Me too.”

So it comes full circle, let the roars of our stomachs continue.

P.P.S. I did have dinner, but that still looked good.

P.P.P.S. Sorry for the SUPER DELAY in blogging. I have been inundated with projects, but will resume soon. I have very exciting stuff I want to share soon!

Last week, Julie assisted me in shooting a wedding in Jamaica at Couples Negril resort! Couples was nothing like conventional resorts with plush white beds and chairs, but they had a lot more color and culture. It was over a year ago when Helen contacted me about photography services. She’s based in Houston and I in Los Angeles, so we just exchanged emails. I knew that she was going to be a fun bride when she admittedly called herself a dork for packing two weeks in advance. To be frank, so did Julie and I mentally.

Matt – Helen’s fiancé and now husband – is a really tall guy. He even towers over me by quite a lot. He served in the Marine Corps and is now a teacher. Helen and Matt met while working together at a hospital. Their union can be called love at first sight if you believe in that…

One day at work, while Matt was on the phone with his best buddy, he told him, “Hey, got to go. My wife just walked through the door.”

Who knew? Three years later, Julie and I were standing at the altar shooting away. I love stories like these.

Anyway, below I have a “fusion” video where photos and video were combined. As many of you might know, I am a photographer and not a cinematographer. The decision to make video on Helen’s wedding was actually not planned. The commissioned videographer did not show for Helen’s preparation, so I took the liberty of doing it myself.

With the Canon 1D MIV and 5D MII, “easy day” as Matt would put it. To be completely honest, it was not so easy if you’re trying to do both. My brain had to switch back and forth and from looking through the lens and at the LCD. I think Julie and I did a pretty swell job considering that this was our first and had no video gear.

I must admit that the day unfolded rather smoothly, which helped with my new video work flow. Helen’s sleight of hand make-up application allowed me to allocate time to cover Matt’s preparation. During the process, I learned something new! All buttons for a Marine Corps’ uniform must be upright and if anything were to have a single scratch it’s discarded. Strict!

Ocho Rios (Eight Rivers) Dunns River Falls

I particularly enjoyed this last section. The morning after the wedding, we thought it’d be cool to jump into the pool. So right before that, I took out my AlienBee800 strobe and took some photos while the sun was at its zenith. The colors are so dark and lovely.

The following image is of me working at Ocho Rios (Eight Rivers) – Dunns River Falls – with Helen and Matt. Yeah, I got chops.

Helen and Matt – it was such an honor to have had this opportunity to photograph [and video] your wedding. Hope to see you again soon – perhaps in Houston!

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Julie bought a lot of Jamaican spices and we barbecued jerk chicken yesterday. While eating, I had a flash of inspiration and took out two strobes and produced my new profile picture on Twitter.

P.P.S. Special thanks to Grace Ormonde‘s Platinum List exposure otherwise Helen might not have found me!

To this day, I am neither a spectator nor participant in sports. However, being on the court side for basketball games or shooting the Mercedes Cup with Andy Roddick allowed me to look at sports through a different lens (literally).

While I used all zoom lenses back then, I now use all (at least most of the time) prime lenses. An extra stop matters a lot in weddings due to low lighting situations and bokeh (aesthetic blur) for isolation of subjects. Someone asked me what bags and equipment I used, so here it is!

Bodies

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV SLR Digital Camera – truly the flagship with up to ISO 102,400 and 45 focus points (39 cross points) at 10fps // 1080p video

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera – it has beautiful color and is full frame // 1080p video

Lenses

Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM Autofocus Lens – approximately 35mm on 1.3x frame

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Autofocus Lens – quite possibly my favorite lens on the 1D Mark IV

Canon Telephoto EF 135mm f/2.0L USM Autofocus Lens – great for ceremony shots and portraits because of the low aperture. Compared to the 70-200 f/2.8, that extra f/0.8 sometimes matters. Just be sure to shoot at a higher shutter speed because this lens is very sensitive.

Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Autofocus Lens – while it produces beautiful shots, I keep this in my bag and only use during emergencies; my preference is the Canon 135mm f/2.0L – NOTE: I don’t always bring this one.

Accessories

While I own and use Shootsac, the Tamrac Pro System 8 is what I use most often because I can just pop that bag on any carry-on suitcase and I am off!

Canon Speedlite 580EX II – (2x) – super quick recycle time and full manual.

PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver/Relay Radio Slave – (3x) combined transmitter or receiver.

Impact Mini Phono Plug to Female Hot Shoe Cord for Pocket Wizard (12″) – I prefer a female shoe over the plug-in one.

Photoflex LiteDome XTC Extra Small Softbox Kit for Shoe Mount Flashes – if I don’t have my AlienBees, then this will be my next choice (especially for small shoots); it works with my Canon Speedlite 580EX II.

SanDisk 16GB Extreme CompactFlash Memory Card – (4x) UDMA fast speeds for transfer and video recording // I carry these with my loose 8gb / 4gb cards.

A substitute for L-lenses are the regular USMs, which are really good too. I started with those before I upgraded.

Cheers,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Buy insurance, which reminds me I need to do the same. Plus, this is the lineup I use. If you’re starting out, rent and test first. Not everyone fancies primes.

P.P.S. Live in Denver? Meet me next week on May 13th for a SmugMug meet.

After weeks of left-brained marketing work, I decided that it was time for a break. While visiting Jessica Claire today, I was inspired to take my camera out after seeing a bag of used film in her car.

“Dang it! My new camera is literally collecting dust,” I thought to myself.

Plus, I had another one of those “it’s time to change my profile picture” feelings today. How auspicious. So I went home and spent the next 15 minutes setting up two remote AlienBees AB800 strobes with one diffuser disk (didn’t have soft boxes with me).

It was a pretty easy setup for those interested. It was a two point system with one main light and one fill / hair light from rear.

Wouldn’t it be cool to do setups like this at every wedding? I would need at least 4 assistants. Takers?

Stay bright (ha ha pun king! just kidding.),

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Versace – if you like what you see, I would be more than happy to model / take pictures in exchange for sunglasses…call me! xo

• Ray Santana – workflow and presentation
• Kenny Kim – business inspiration
• Kenny Nakai – Chicago helping hands
• Becker – passion, profit and community
• Lawrence (ME) – strategic online marketing

IF YOU ARE A BRIDE, I still encourage you to peruse and check out some of my wedding pictures taken at Biltmore Hotel despite this being a post on a workshop – contact me!

After covering topics on business and marketing, 3 real brides were invited to come to be models. We had the opportunity to photographs all throughout Biltmore Hotel and the chapel across the street.

Historic Biltmore Hotel and Resort Coral Gables (Miami)
http://www.biltmorehotel.com

1200 Anastasia Ave
Miami, FL 33134
(305) 445-8066

This awesome image was taken at the penthouse suite at Bilmore Hotel where Al Capone used to reside. It was also used for the movie Bad Boys I in the opening scene. Isn’t she gorgeous?

What an infectious laugh! I love her positive energy!

There was a 3rd bride, but I did not get a chance to photograph her because I was trying to conserve energy for my presentation that followed the photo shoot. Plus, I just hosted my own workshop the day before!

Here’s me teaching (image courtesy of Kenny Nakai):

Here’s a group photo:

Contact me if you have any questions!

Lawrence Chan

P.S. After visiting the Al Capone suite at Biltmore Hotel, my Ritz Carlton suite looked plain.

P.P.S. Did I win, Ray? Hehe