I’ve been mostly shooting small objects recently and 9 times out of 10, I’m using my Sony 90mm 2.8 macro. Incredibly sharp, I can get up close and personal to capture all those fantastic little details in product and food photography. When shooting bigger objects, I have a bit more leeway in my choice in focal lengths. Depending on the style I’m going after, I can opt to shoot super wide for a more editorial or advertising feel or I can shoot with a longer lens for catalogue images. It’s not really a matter of what’s right or wrong, but it is rather interesting to see the effects of different focal lengths in these types of shoots. I shot this super slick chair with 4 different lenses in 4 different focal lengths - Zeiss Batis 18mm, Sony 35mm, Sony/Zeiss 55mm and Zeiss Batis 85mm. All amazing lenses, so optics weren’t much of a variable, and I shot them all at f/16 to make sure the chair was sharp from front to back.
Read MoreNatural Light: The Best Option? And Can You Really Tell?
in food
As photographers, we’re always looking at different things to tell a compelling story in a single frame. In food photography, light and composition are massively important in creating mood and feeling so we’re constantly looking at ways to control light to tell different stories. That said, many times client briefs call for “natural light” and sometimes that can be quite ambiguous. In the images above, one is indeed natural light. Care to hazard a guess? Let’s have a look at each of these images and break down the lighting setups.
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Travel Diary: Hanoi 2020
in travel
Since Saigon is going through its 3rd week of “Social Distancing Measures”, I’ve been going through the archives while redoing and updating my site (hint hint, go take a gander!). In the process, I came across these images from the last time I was in Hanoi last November. One of my favorite cities in Asia, Hanoi offers endless photo opportunities. Hopefully we can all get through this wave quickly and hit the road again for more adventures!
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Fishing Villages in Central Vietnam
in travel
Recently, I had the opportunity to hop up to central Vietnam and jump on the tail end of one of our Central Vietnam photo tours. It’s always lovely to get to this part of the country and with Quinn joining too, a stellar day of shooting with friends was guaranteed. As a guest, I got to explore this little area a bit more than when I’m teaching, so it was a chance to see this place with some new eyes and a different approach. Not to mention seeing friends whom I haven’t seen since covid reared its ugly head. Okay, enough prattling, here’s a selection of some of my favorite frames.
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Serenity in Lak Lake, Vietnam
in travel
Over the Lunar New Year this year, my wife and I had the chance to head up to a location I first visited in 2007. Faint memories of the lake and the surrounding hills had me quite excited to see Lak Lake with new eyes and show my wife what I remembered as storybook countryside. Originally, we were going to stay for a few days and then head down to Con Dao, but covid took care of that, so we stayed put and turned 3 days into 10. With not much to do, I initially thought we may get bored, but that turned out to be the polar opposite of what ended up being such an amazing decompression from the city. Hikes, quiet mornings, mists rising over mountains and lakes…it was everything I remember and more. Largely off the radar, (well maybe not anymore), this little bit of paradise is the cure for what ails ya if the city life starts to be too much.
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Saigon Punk Chronicles : Year End Party
in music
With such a bizarro year wrapping and the quickly upcoming lunar new year, this year’s End of the Year Party was bound to be a banger. I caught all but the first band who started early (this may be a punk rock first) so apologies for not having images for them. The bill consisted of Diarsia, Jaigon Orchestra, Đá Số Tới, District 105, Taiyoken, Do it Dad, and Kaali. Musically it ranged from pop punk to metal to hardcore, so a great mix of styles and people showing up at the show.
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Northern Exposure: Ha Giang to Cao Bang. Part 1
in travel
What a ridiculous year this has been. Along with every other travel photographer, a good chunk of my travel assignments evaporated in a hurry with covid’s unwelcome arrival. With Vietnam’s borders, by all intents and purposes still shut, international travel is not an option. But, thankfully, I live in a country with so many incredible destinations, many of which I’ve never been. So, a couple of weeks ago, I hit the road with good friend and fellow photographer, Quinn Mattingly for an epic road trip. After flying into Hanoi, we headed north and grabbed motorbikes in Ha Giang city. Over the following 8 days we headed all the way to the Chinese Border and back down to Cao Bang city during the best time of the year - the rice harvest. This area has been at the top of my list for years and with the lack of tourists, it proved to be an incredibly unique time to explore one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
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The Light at the End of the Tunnel - Quarantine Cuisine: Part 3
As things are starting to reopen here in Vietnam, it looks like we’ll be shooting more and creating some new campaigns in the near future. YES! So for the last chapter (hopefully) in this series, here are some of the things we’ve been enjoying at home the past couple of weeks. Big thanks to the wonderful F&B outlets here in Saigon and high fives to all the restaurants who adapted, refocused and weathered the storm. We’re not out of it yet, but it looks like we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll link down below to all the venues featured in this article.
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