Keeping it Simple: One Lens, One Focal Length.

Happy New Year everyone! With the new year, its time to simplify, declutter, focus and enjoy the little things. So, I finally parted ways with my last adapted lens from my time with Canon. Since switching to Sony, I’ve used the Sigma 35 1.4 here and there, but never as much as with my Canon kit. Weight, slower autofocus, etc…It started just staring at me from the shelf. Paired with less than ideal alternatives, I kept it around because I love the 35mm focal length. So, when Sony came out with the 35 1.8, it was time to trade it in and go native. Not to worry, the Sigma went to a good home and is already living its best life.

As it turned out, right after picking up the new lens, I had a trip to Hanoi planned. Usually, I travel with a few different lenses because who doesn’t like choice, right? That said, during our workshops, one of the most frequent things we notice as a stumbling block to students pushing their photography to the next level is too much focus on gear and not enough thinking about light, composition and decisive moments. So, I decided to practice what I preach - Keep it Simple, Stupid. Without the option of changing lenses, my feet became more nimble, my mind started seeing compositions quicker, and I generally caught more moments. No faffing about changing lenses, far less sensor dust, and no sore back from all the extra kit! I’ve got a feeling I may start traveling even lighter and more compact in the new year!

I’d love to hear what you guys are looking forward to shooting in the coming months. Leave a comment down below!

Europe Photo Diary, Part 3: Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve

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Part 3 and the final bit of the European jaunt back in May. I spent a couple of weeks meeting up with friends and family in Portugal heading to Lisbon, down to the Algarve and back up to Porto and the Douro Valley. First, I’m a bit smitten by Portugal, so it was challenging to pare the mountain of images down into something a bit more digestible, and even so, I’m not sure I did that. Great food, incredibly picturesque cities, rugged coastlines, wine country, what more can you ask?

Lisbon

Algarve

Porto and The Douro Valley

Saigon Punk Chronicles : We’re Loud Fest: Vietnam

Last weekend Slovenly Records’ We’re Loud Fest descended into Saigon featuring acts from all over the globe. From local hardcore heroes, District 105, to Switzerland’s The Monsters, We’re Loud Fest spanned 4 days and multiple venues in Saigon. Unfortunately, I only got to attend the Saturday matinee, but having an international punk fest come to Saigon is super rad to say the least.

That said, curiously absent from the crowd was the local Vietnamese scene I’ve seen grow over the past couple of years. Yes, a few local bands played, but the faces dominating the crowd weren’t Vietnamese. Saigon definitely has the scene to support this type of event and it would be stellar to see more of the local scene show up and represent. Moreso, a local promoter organizing something like this in the future in addition to supporting touring festivals would be incredible. And before anyone mentions the “fest” few years ago, a Jagermeister sponsored event with PR girls selling energy drinks doesn’t quite cut it. The DIY scene here is more than capable of putting on these types of events without big corporate sponsors.

Anyway, enough of my soapbox and back to regularly scheduled programming. On Saturday afternoon, I showed up around 3pm as Saigon’s District 105 was doing their sound check. Having seen these guys on multiple occasions, it’s always fun times with moshy breakdowns and finger-pointing singalongs. D105’s crowd seemed to be just waking up, and it took a few songs to get people nodding their heads and getting involved. Then again, it was 3pm on a Saturday. The boys still played a solid set and showed everyone what Saigon has to offer in the form of home-grown talent.

Up next was the Saigon-based American/South African duo of Timekiller. Their blend of power-violence and doom was enough to peel the paint off the walls. Sadly, this was their last show in Saigon as their singer, Garrett, is moving back to the States. Boo! They do have a new record coming the early part of next year, so silver linings, right?

Gutara Kyo out of Japan took over after Timekiller and from the very first note, jaws dropped and a chorus of “holy shit” rumbled through the crowd. These guys absolutely destroyed and laid waste to everything in their path. With the urgency of a meth’d up troupe of rodeo clowns, Gutara Kyo’s garage punk on steroids came to get the party started. Overheard was quite possibly the quote of the year - “I heard their singer say if their show is good, he shits his pants.” Thankfully the ghost of GG Allin’s past didn’t make an appearance and the venue remained turd free. If we’re going to talk about ghosts, It felt more like the ghost of Los Crudos in the form of Gutara Kyo's epic set.

Switzerland’s The Monsters took the stage following Gutara Kyo. I’d never listened to The Monsters before Saturday, so as these middle aged red suit-clad gentlemen set up their gear while easy-listening tunes played in the background, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Yeah, the first chords threw any notions of yacht rock out the window. Thrashy garage punk rock ‘n roll blasted through the sound system and everyone finally found their dancing shoes. Such a fun show.

I had to leave right after The Monsters, so I missed Hanoi’s Cut Lon, but I’m sure the Pokemon dressed outfit did justice to rounding out the matinee. If you’re not familiar, go check this post from the last time they played Saigon. All in all, definitely a good time and I can’t wait to see more shows like this. Saigon, stand up!

District 105

Timekiller

Gutara Kyo

The Monsters

Since you made it this far, feel free to share this to social, comment, send good vibes or gifts and I’ll see you at the next show.

Europe Photo Diary, Part 2: Paris and Champagne

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These photos have been sitting on the back burner for a while due to an extremely busy summer of shooting, but alas, here are some snaps from our trip to Paris and Champagne to meet up with my good friend Matt and his new fiancee, Liz. We hadn’t seen each other in years, but felt like it wasn’t more than a day or so since our old shenanigans. Not so much for museums and the sort this time in Paris, we opted for the stroll, eat, drink wine, and repeat course of action.

As far as photography goes, I tried to mix it up with a mixture of old and new. Paris has been photographed ad nauseam, so it was fun trying to shoot something different.

Recent Work: TNT Barbecue Food Photography

Recently, the fine folks over at TNT Barbecue tapped us to update their image library. Being from the southern part of the States, I jumped at this opportunity with a quickness. We decided to lean into the messy fun nature of barbecue and show off the saucy goodness. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot. We’re always looking for fun new projects and this ticked all of my nostalgic and homesick boxes.

For my photographers, this was lit with an octabank using various white and black cards to create depth and little pockets of light and shadow. Zeiss 55mm and Sony 90mm, Sony A7III, Godox AD200

Recent Work: Octo Tapas Food Photography

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I just realized while we’ve been doing lots of food photography lately, there hasn’t been a post here about it. We’ll remedy that moving forward with some more interesting stories including some BTS shots and technical breakdowns for the photographers out there.

I also want this to be a place to say thank you to some of the great people we get to work with on a daily basis. We were recently tapped to shoot some lifestyle and editorial food photography for the fine folks at Octo Tapas here in Saigon. Already one of my favorite places to expand my waistline, I was excited to create some new visuals for their newly launched menu. We truly appreciate the trust to do justice to their food. Here a few of my favorites from our first round of shooting.

For the photographers, I’m sorry I didn’t shoot any BTS for this, but these were all shot with a Godox ad200 through a gridded softbox (sometimes through only the inner diffusion layer) flagged off here and there with a couple of bounce cards for fill.

Europe Photo Diary, Part I: Amsterdam

I headed to Europe in May to meet up with some of my old friends (congratulations on your engagement Matt and Liz!) as well as my parents whom we haven’t seen in a couple years. Before I met up with friends and family, I had a few days in Amsterdam to decompress from jet lag. I chose the “wander around without too many expectations” method, and it was perfect way to get lost, explore the city and ease into an amazing trip.

Making the Monotonous Memorable

I hear it all the time, “I’m bored of shooting the same old stuff.” Most of the time its from my own mouth and I’ve said it more times than I’d like to admit.

As photographers, we want to see new things, shoot new locations, create new art. That’s all well and good, but there is so much beauty in the seemingly mundane that we could shoot the same location for weeks on end and still find something unique and interesting. We just need to shift our perspective. Coming up with something fresh and different is a challenge, but shooting repeatedly in the same location pushes us to dig deeper, look closer, to slow down. It allows us to become intimate with a place and its people. “Seeing old things with new eyes” can add layers into a story that perhaps a first look had missed.

If you’ve been reading here long, you’ll have likely heard me go on and on about the importance of slowing down. It has enabled me to enjoy the sheer act of shooting. It’s a ticket to exploration, to meeting new people, to getting to know my neighborhood better. Half of the images below are within a block or two of my apartment and all of the images are from places I’ve been to many many times before. Taking the initiative to shoot around my immediate surroundings left me immediately annoyed with myself for not recognizing the beauty in what had become monotonous after living on the same block for 5 years. Going to locations I’ve shot over and over again challenged me to look further, to ask more questions and look for subtleties previously overlooked.

Even if the resulting images never see the light of day, merely shooting and being present serves as good practice and while many say quality over quantity, but quantity equals practice and practice leads to quality. If you look at your daily outings as opportunities for practice, the quality will come far quicker than if you just wait until you “have the time” or “have the perfect location” or any of the other myriad of excuses we all tell ourselves.

Leave an image or comment down below showing us how you find beauty in the mundane and push through creative ruts!