Blog #133 Cathay Camera Club
Blog #133 Cathay Camera Club
The premier Camera Club in Hong Kong is the Cathay Camera Club [CCC]. Founded in 1982, its roots date back to the glory days of film when having a built in light meter in your camera body was considered “hi-tech”. The club itself is non profit and is run by photographic amateurs, hobbyists, and a few professionals. Regardless of the skill set, all members have a serious passion for the craft in common and share their adventures and work through monthly meetings. There are competitions, workshops, and a few shows that are held throughout the year.
It’s really a good group and folks that tend to be encouraging and check their egos at the door. It’s a mature group of 30-50 somethings all there to share in the love of making pictures. I’ve been to three events to date. Twice I have been invited to judge events and once as a workshop host. All of my experiences there have been terrific and a learning experience for me as well.
The quality of the work is very high. All of the images work, essentially, but some more than others. The purpose of the judging and critique session is to describe the images and identify why they work, or in the rare case, do not work. This is how I approach the role of the judge. It’s not about whether or not I like the image. There’s a 1-10 point system and I think that the annual event culminates with recognition of the member who has accumulated the most points throughout the monthly assignment sessions.
The group has invited me to their end of year holiday party next week to say “Thanks” for judging their last event. I’m bring a small 4”x6” print from my online Prints collection, and a 35mm film cassette key chain for each member to thank them for thanking me (mutual admiration is great).
It’s a pleasure and honour to be a part of a talented and generally nice group of adult artists and I would encourage any of my readers to participate in local clubs near you.
Happy Holidays and May the Light Be With You, Always.
My winter newsletter will be sent later this month. Please e-mail to [email protected] if you would like to be added to my free seasonal mailing list.
The light is always right.
jhg 😎
*Images: © Limelight Limited
Where: Theatre
Subject: CentreStage Studios HK Christmas Concert
Gear: Fujifilm X-T3 + 16-55mm f/ 2.8 XF R WR, Fujifilm X-T2 + 55-140mm f/2.8 XF R WR Lenses
*****
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Blog #132 The Business of Photography
Blog #132 The Business of Photography
So you're thinking of starting a photography company?
First you need to realise that there is a more to owning and operating a photography company than taking great photos. Most of it is pretty boring and requires zero artistic creativity. There is the whole “professionalism” piece that probably takes up 80% of your time. Actual time behind the lens amounts to one of the least time consuming tasks involved.
Although I have only just formally set off on my professional photography company path, the truth is that I’ve been involved in image making on a [part time] professional level for a few years.
I’ll be sharing my journey with you and planning these blog posts from time to time to reflect on that journey.
There is paperwork to be filed, sorted, events to be documented, e-mails to be responded to [promptly], contracts, invoices, receipts saved, and more.
Step #1 is deciding if you really want to go down this road. Is being a business owner really something that you want to spend your time doing? Will the investment be worth it for you? Will you make enough income to be comfortable and to support yourself and your family [or future family]? Have a plan. You will need to decide if this is something that you want to do and why. Maybe just shooting here and there as an amateur or hobbyist is enough?
How does one make these decisions? You might want to have a fall back gig for the steady income while you grapple with trying to find the answers to the questions above.
Here are a few techniques that might aid your decision making below.
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Schedule a one-hour headshot or portrait session with a friend or family member to experience the “feeling” of dedicating yourself to a proper portrait shoot.
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Do a Project 365 and shoot everyday for year. This will help you to eliminate the genres within the medium that you don’t want to shoot. This will be equally as important as decided what you do want to shoot. I've blogged on this topic and shared my own Project 365 experience. Hint: It's INTENSE!
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Agree to shoot a friend’s wedding or birthday party event. Treat the event as a professional “gig” that means you’ve replaced that cocktail for a camera. See how that feels. Can you hack it?
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Volunteer to shoot an event such as a sporting event or dinner party. Edit the photos and return them to the host with one week [I usually return images within 24-48 hours]. Can you get that done?
If these activities are scaring the living daylights out of you then you’re not ready to go pro. Professional photographers are always "ON" and the hustle is part of gig. Only the strong survive. It’s no joke, there is zero room for error. Forgot to charge your battery? SD card fails? Brought the wrong lens? You're fucked and will never be hired by that client again. It's a dog eat world in the professional photography arena. Welcome to THUNDERDOME!
You’ve got to be one time, all of the time, on point, make perfect pictures, edit them, and turn them around all within a narrow window of time.
Perhaps you’re intrigued? Perhaps you LOVE to spend time behind the lens and you love it so much that you’re not sweating the sweaty parts [if you’re not sweating, you’re not doing it right]. Maybe the rush of all of this sounds like you're cup of tea? Better have latte, friend, or three!
I hope that this has provided you with some food for thought.
Are you ready to rumble? Well, regardless of whether this is your year to quit your neurosurgery job or walk away from that eight-figure hedge fund gig to shoot Junior's1st birthday party, keep shooting, share your work, print it, and get it out there. The worst thing that could happen is that you will improve your image making. When the Universe calls for your professional skills behind the camera, will you answer?
The light is always right.
jhg 😎
*Images: © Limelight Limited
Where: Streets of Hong Kong
Subject: Dogs of Hong Kong (2018 is the Year of the Dog)
Gear: Various gear, probably Fujifilm X-Series mirrorless cameras and 24mm-50mm lenses.
*****
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Blog #131 Limelight Limited
Blog #131 Limelight Limited
The time has come to double down, put the metal to the metal, burn the candle at both ends. Limelight Limited is my new project. Although I’ve been doing some professional photography work for some now [part time], I felt that I have needed to truly go pro.
This month, I started a “Limited” company in Hong Kong. As a permanent resident expatriate this is essentially my only option. The benefit of setting up a company as a “Limited” entity is that there is a clear and legal separation between me as person and the company as a company. In other words the liability is limited to the company and just in case the proverbial shit hits the fan, I am untouchable [legally speaking].
Hong Kong makes this process pretty easy. My accountant filed some paperwork, confirmed the name that I wanted to use, I paid a fee to them, and in 2-3 weeks, the company is set up. Company profit “income” tax is 8.25% annually which is actually pretty low. Taxes will need to filed in around 18 months.
Work related expenses [termed itemised deductions] are pretty extensive. Anything that I need to purchase for work related jobs can be deducted from my gross income. These items might include: educational classes, electronics like cameras, lenses, computers, lights, gear, travel expenses, food, even about 30% of my flat rental for office space.
My professional work will go a new direction as a result. Work-wise I’m focusing [pun intended] on a few genres within photography. These include: events, headshots, portraits, food & interiors. At the moment I’m not interested in shooting weddings due to the shear scale of this type of event. It’s ALL DAY LONG like 12+ hours, and sometimes multiple days, resulting in 1000+ images that will take far longer than I’m interested in spending behind a computer. I’m sure there are terrific opportunities available for wedding photographers and the work can be lucrative, but it’s just not for me.
Limelight Limited or simply, Limelight is the name of my photography company. The website address is: www.limelighthk.com. I would appreciate some comments on the site. If you’re reading this and you can carve out 5 minutes to browse the site and leave some comments here, that would be swell.
I tried to keep it focused on the specific genres and services that I am providing. I think that I succeeded. I’ll keep this site live for blogging and personal work as well but all commercial work that I have permission to share may be posted on Limelight.
Everyone at some point in their life needs a professional photographer. When you time comes, call me up for a free estimate! Mention that you heard about our service from my blog and I’ll give you a 20% discount.
Mention this code: JHG852
😎
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images: © Limelight Limited
Where: Central, Victoria Harbour WaterFront, Hong Kong
Subject: Beerfest Event, October, 2018
Gear: Testing the Superwide Fujfilm 16mm XF R WR f/1.4 + Fujfilm X-E3
*****
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Blog #130 Black + White = Travel
Blog #130 Black + White = Travel
Who doesn’t love to travel? The sites! The food! The culture and people! Indeed, travelling is the cure for racism.
Travelling, for the photographer, presents special challenges. While we all need to plan for the days away, occasions, and weather, the photographer must go one big step further.
From family vacations to professional shoots, there are many choices that one faces regarding their choice of gear, lenses, accessories, film, and more. Analysis paralysis is real and can interfere with the right choices for the right occasions and hinder the creative process. Which film? What lens? Do I bring this body and that lens or that lens and this lens? Oy!
Of course bring a backup in case of the total failure of your gear (rare but it happens). Travelling with 20+ year old film cameras [especially those containing electronics] is not without risk after all.
So I went on a recent family holiday in October to Guangzhou, China. I shot a few rolls of color film [Ektachrome!] but played a game with myself by shooting only digital images in black and white most of the time. It’s along the lines of putting restrictions on yourself. The result is forced creativity. Try this next time you’re away. Shoot only colour film, or black and white digital, or with your iPhone, or square format, or with only one focal length. It’s a neat little exercise that results in some pretty cool images.
Bon Voyage!
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images: © Jeremy H. Greenberg
Where: Guangzhou, China
Subject: Animals and street photography
Gear: Fujfilm X-T3 + 18-55mm f/2.8-4 XF R zoom lens XF R + a touch of Lightroom
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign
Blog #129 The Freaks Come Out At Night
Blog #129 The Freaks Come Out At Night
Halloween is a special time of year in North America. The weather changes, and the leaves on the trees turn fiery red, pumpkin orange, Compared to the greens of summer, It’s as if mother nature turns up the volume of the color wheel to 11.
The light changes too as the low angle of the sun skims across the sky. Colors become more contrasty, dense, and sharp. Golden hour lasts about twice as long after the autumnal equinox. The nip in the air is a sign of the harsh winter ahead.
Of course most folks don’t get to experience this transformation of seasons, especially those in the tropics where it’s green all year long and the seasons are either hot or hot and wet. Nevertheless, we expats bring our traditions, no matter how wonky, everywhere we go and dressing up for Halloween is no exception. The “Trick or Treat” that we were accustomed to as children evolves into mixed drinks and potions that walk the link between tricks or treats. It’s a fun time to dress up and feel like a kid again.
It’s a great time to get the camera out and make some portraits to document the occasion and share the images with friends who made the effort dressing in costume. Christine and I have made a bit of a tradition of throwing a Halloween Party and making a photo booth to capture the scary awesomeness that comes with it all.
Check out the photos here for some creative and enjoyable memories of this year’s Halloween…Hong Kong Style.
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images: © Jeremy H. Greenberg
Where: Home studio & around town
Subject: Friends in halloween costumes
Gear: Fujfilm X-T2 + 16-55mm f/2.8 XF R WR Zoom Lens + a touch of Lightroom
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2017 Editor’s Favorite: Galleries: Week 4 Cities & People
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #18 Criticizing Photographs or Beyond the “like”
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited
Blog #93 Photographic Technique
Blog #105 Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign