Home » Portraits

Movember at TradeMe

November 18, 2016January 7, 2017
by Zhi Lee

A few chaps from TradeMe Auckland are partaking in Movember to raise awareness of Men’s health.

Today we documented the mo-gress (mo progress, get it?)
Movember - Toby H
Movember - Toby D
Movember - Paul
Movember - Zach

Hit up these mo-pages and contribute to their cause:
TradeMe’s mo-page
Zachary Young mo-age
Toby Delamore’s mo-page
Toby Holland’s mo-page

And Cody’s not actually doing Mo-vember, but he’s all mo’ed up anyway.
Movember - Cody

Behind-the-scenes Lighting setup

This is our lighting rig:

Konova portable backdrop, YN-568EXII flash, High Speed Sync, Canon 6D, 50mm, f2 ISO 50, 1/250s

Aperture: ƒ/2
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: yes
Focal length: 50mm
ISO: 50
Shutter speed: 1/250s

Commercial

Trade Me Auckland Office Photos

October 21, 2016
by Zhi Lee

Anthony Au-Yeung and I were asked to create images capturing the vibe of the Trade Me Auckland office.

We set out to capture a mixture of people and environmental shots.

All up, this photo shoot took an hour, thanks to Ant’s keen eye and hand with staging.

Trade Me Auckland Office - Retro Bulbs — These retro bulbs hang from the ceiling, brought to life against a lush green wall.

A close up shot of these hanging retro bulbs against our green wall.

Trade Me Auckland Office - Hanging Basket Chairs — These funky hanging chairs are fun to sit in (for short periods)

We were scratching our heads at how to make this setting look interesting, without capturing all the construction activity outside the glass facade. So Ant thought outside the box, and got me to take the shot from above!

Trade Me Auckland Office - Sun Room — This is the sunniest spot in our office, right by the glass facade. Cosy enough for an afternoon read or getting stuck into some code.

Trade Me Auckland Office - Putting Green — The amazing 3 hole course!

Trade Me Auckland Office - Atrium — Can’t find a meeting room? No worries, bask in the sun in the open plan atrium.

Trade Me Auckland Office - Desks — Light and bright open plan desks

Trade Me is an awesome place to work, and it shows on everyone’s faces!

Trade Me Auckland Office - Staff — The awesome people who make up Trade Me Auckland

Aperture: ƒ/2.8
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Exposure bias: -1EV
Flash fired: yes
Focal length: 200mm
ISO: 400
Shutter speed: 1/640s

Related Images:

Portraits

Setting up a New Photo Studio

April 17, 2016April 18, 2016
by Zhi Lee

If you’re a part time photographer, setting up a dedicated studio space means you don’t need to set up and tear down every time you bring a client through.

This blog post describes my setup to achieve maximum results in a small space.

2 light setup. Key light camera left, kicker camera right.

Studio lighting gives a photographer total control over how light falls on their subject. To ensure that light isn’t bouncing off every wall, a deep grey colour (Dulux Maraetai) was chosen for the walls.

I installed a Meking 2 roller wall mounted backdrop system with 2 Savage seamless paper backdrop rolls, black and white. White backdrops are actually very versatile. With controlled studio lighting, you can make a white backdrop appear darker, most typically grey.

Meking 2 Roller Backdrop System. Nice soft natural light from window if required.

As a carpeted floor is too soft for standing on a paper backdrop (it will crease), I bought 2 pieces of MDF thinboard to line the floor below where the backdrop fell.

My little model Mikayla tugging at the camera straps – as you can see, the option of natural light is an attractive alternative.

The backdrops had to be trimmed to 2.4m down from 2.7m. It’s an easy job with a hacksaw. Here’s how!

Chopped off the end of the backdrops with a hacksaw.

And here’s the hero in the room. I couldn’t afford for light stands to get in the way so up went an Interfit INT309 Wall Mounted Boom Arm.

Interfit INT309 Wall Mounted Boom Arm - large range of motion. — Interfit INT309 Wall Mounted Boom Arm – large range of motion.

Look, no light stands! All that room below the softbox! Perfect for little (and big) models!

Visico 300WS Strobe with 80cm x 100cm softbox overhead. Unedited, straight out of camera.

Single light set up - unedited straight out of camera — Single light set up – unedited straight out of camera

This is how much control you get from a well set up studio. I can’t wait to explore the possibilities! This space will give me the room to polish my understanding of lighting. I am looking forward to bringing people through my new studio. Click here to book a studio session with me.

Digging the versatility of the Interfit boom arm. Anchored at 4 points onto wall studs.

The true hero of the day is my little angel, Mikayla.

Daddy don't forget to put your lens cap away. — Daddy don’t forget to put your lens cap away.

Aperture: ƒ/4
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: no
Focal length: 24mm
ISO: 1000
Shutter speed: 1/40s

Baby

Tips for Mum’s and Dad’s preparing for a Baby…

October 19, 2015October 18, 2019
by Zhi Lee

I’ve been getting asked to do more baby photo shoots lately, and thought it would be a good idea to put a checklist to prepare mum, dad and bub for the session.

Baby’s Milestones

As a new parent, I am lucky to have first hand experience photographing Mikayla over the course of 12 months, from birth to 1 year old. More on that later. It’s been a valuable experience in learning how you need to adapt a shoot to baby’s age and mood. Between 1 and 2 weeks for example, they snooze a lot and like to be tucked in or swaddled – cuddly or blanket wrapped sleepy poses work best. According to BabywearingInternational.org – after 2 weeks, newborns become less comfortable with womb-like poses. At 1 month, they start lifting their head and responding to sound. At 3 months, baby starts holding their head and begins to get more mobile but can’t quite crawl yet. Baby centre UK have written a good article for more on baby’s milestones in their first year.

Which leads me into these questions and tips that form …

The checklist:

How old is bubby?
Is the shoot all about bubby or will mum/dad or a sibling be in it?
Do mum/dad mind using flash? There are mixed opinions on using flash so I won’t go into that debate but I’ve been photographing my kid with flash since birth. There are other options – natural light (e.g. windows), and continuous lighting.
Bring a few props that bubby is familiar with. This will help calm their nerves and get them acclimatized with a new environment.
Ensure baby is well fed just before the session.
Depending on baby’s age, if you’re going for sleeping poses (especially with a newborn), keep them awake 1-2 hours before the session so they can settle into their sleep routine on set. Typically after the newborn stage, ensure baby is well rested just before the session so they can interact with props and the photographer.
Dress baby with loose clothes to avoid lines on their skin. Plain clothes are best, without patterns or printwork, as they detract from baby’s face.
Bring a pacifier. It’s essential!
Depending on baby’s age, a typical shoot can take between 1 and 3 hours.
If the shoot is on location (i.e. at home), ensure that there is a heater in the room

Lastly, relax and enjoy the shoot. It’s an awesome experience that time will never buy back!

If you’re thinking of a baby shoot in Auckland, contact me!

Aperture: ƒ/8
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: no
Focal length: 102mm
ISO: 125
Shutter speed: 1/125s

Creative

Epic Steel Wool Photography with a Graffiti Backdrop

May 10, 2015May 10, 2015
by Zhi Lee

The Images

Canon 6D, 10.0 sec at f /10, 5 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

Idea and Theme

Following from our fiery dark angel shoot that also involved fire, I wanted to build on the experience we already had shooting at Corbans Estate Arts Centre. (For more info on our previous hip hop themed shoot, check out this blog post). And so we set out with a casting call with the keywords “Epic”, “Dark”, “Graffiti” and “Fire”.

Kyran Tashea Makeup Artist responded with these concepts when I asked for a gangster / rock-and-roll look. The final makeup on the day differed slightly as we had to improvise with water resistant makeup that wouldn’t run in the rain.

Makeup Diagram by Kyran Tashea Makeup Artist

Warm-up Profile Shots

To get into the groove, we warmed up with a few profile shots that Kyran and Priya could use in their portfolio. As this was an unpaid collaboration, I feel it’s important for everyone to take something valuable home (apart from the fun we had on-set of course!).

Canon 6D, 1/160 sec at f /7.1, 58 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox, YN 568 EX II model rear right with 30x30cm Softbox (no baffle). Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

Preparation

Having asked for permission from Corbans Estate Arts Centre (Henderson, Auckland), we set out to meet at 8pm on a Friday, despite the rain. Vijay and I pulled up in different cars to a lone car parked in the upper carpark. We knew it had to be our model, Priya Wallabh, or makeup artist, Kyran. It was Kyran.

To add to the challenging conditions, we had to push start Kyran’s car as her battery went flat while waiting with headlights on. Turning up to a shoot early, that’s dedication! Priya arrived shortly after and as it was still pouring, the best course of action was to have makeup done in the car. More trying conditions!

Makeup in trying conditions - What can you do in the rain, right? — Makeup in trying conditions – what can you do in the rain, right? Makeup: The talented Kyran Tashea.

Lighting

Finally, with a bit of patience and luck, the skies cleared up at 9pm. There were 2 walls to choose from – a low colourful wall that turned out to be too overwhemling with the sparks so I made it monochrome …

Canon 6D, 10.0 sec at f /10, 24 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

… and a much taller black and white one. We decided to go for the latter because it gave us good height as a backdrop, and the top of the wall was conveniently the upper deck of the carpark, which allowed us to spin the steel wool from a height.

This was the final lighting setup, a powerful strobe at 3/4 power to the right of the model. Initially, we started out with a 20 second exposure, which was very challenging for Priya, as 20 seconds is a long time to keep absolutely still. We then dropped it to 10 seconds, but that required more fervour from the steel wool swinger, getting as much sparks flying as possible within the shorter amount of time.

Canon 6D, 20.0 sec at f /10, 5 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

The Crew

Thanks to these outstanding people who made it possible:

Model: Priya Wallabh
Makeup: Kyran Tashea
Photographer: Zhi Lee http://localhost:8888/zlphotography
Assistants: Vijay Prema, Sirina

Safety

Precautions were taken with a fire extinguishing can on standby. Vijay and I had practised on a separate set beforehand so we knew what we were doing. Never attempt steel wool photography on dry grass or near flammable items. We had the safety net of wet walls and floors that were the aftermath of the rain.

Equipment

All you need is a bunch of steel wool caged within a whisk. Set it on fire and then swing the whisk around (carefully), with a lanyard clipped into the end of the whisk

For more information on how to do steel wool photography, check out one of these videos on Youtube.

Aperture: ƒ/10
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: no
Focal length: 24mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 10s

Related Images:

Creative

Chinese Martial Arts (Wushu) Photo Shoot

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015
by Zhi Lee

Promoting Chinese Wushu — Model: Zhi Lee
Photographers: Vijay Prema and Zhi Lee

Story Behind the Shoot

Martial arts has been a passion of mine since I started in the local school club back in 1997. Training in the sport since my teenage years has sharpened my motor skills (or so I would like to think) and given me the agility and strength to move on to more adventurous sports like rockclimbing. Really, the qualities that define you as a person get established through the activities you immerse yourself in. For me, that was Wushu.

After migrating to New Zealand in 2001, I felt a part of me missing and finally found the Chinwoo Athletic Association in 2004. At that time, we had a class of about 4 students. It’s now grown to at least a hundred under the coaching of Coach George Guo, and more recently my Wushu brothers who have gone on to take on some of the coaching. Duty called and I was conscripted into the Singapore army, during which I trained with the guys from NUS Wushu for a year. Unfortunately I fractured my right ankle and due to injuries from other sports, have “retired” from Wushu but it’s spirit lives on!

The reason for this shoot is to promote the sport within New Zealand. All athletes who participated did so on a voluntary basis for the same cause. We would like to see the next generation of athletes benefit from the same fun, rigour and discipline that is Wushu training. Thank you to athletes Michael Yip, Siu Yuat Wong and Jeffrey Wang for taking the time out to do this. Thank you to Vijay Prema for helping with the setup, and thanks to the Wongs for lending us the venue.

Wushu Promo Shoot

Behind-the-Scenes

Model: Vijay Prema Photographer: Zhi Lee Single 150cm Octabox to camera left and model top right. Visico 300W Strobe — Model: Vijay Prema
Photographer: Zhi Lee
Single 150cm Octabox to camera left and model top right. Visico 300W Strobe

Model: Vijay Prema Photographer: Zhi Lee — Model: Vijay Prema
Photographer: Zhi Lee
Stroboscopic effect created using Yongnuo 565 EX II flash on Multi mode

Athlete: Michael Yip Photographer: Zhi Lee Single 150cm Octabox to camera right and model front. Powered by Visico 300W Strobe. Single Yongnuo 565 EX II below model set on 1/4 power multi mode. — Athlete: Michael Yip
Photographer: Zhi Lee
Single 150cm Octabox to camera right and model front. Powered by Visico 300W Strobe. Single Yongnuo 565 EX II below model set on 1/4 power multi mode.

Aperture: ƒ/8
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: no
Focal length: 24mm
ISO: 50
Shutter speed: 1/125s

Related Images:

Creative

Behind-the-scenes Video – Photo shoot with Angels and Fire

February 26, 2015January 7, 2017
by Zhi Lee

What do you get when you put some adventurous photographers and models, and a dark firey concept together?

Some blazing photos!

For more images, check out these posts:

Fallen Dark Angel Holding a Branch

Fallen from Heaven

Credits

Venue

Evoke Studio (Thanks Sue for trusting us with your backyard).

Video and Pyrotechnics

Vijay Prema

Assistants

Don Chin & Vincent Chik

Portraits

Photographing Babies and Bubbles Against a Black Backdrop

February 22, 2015
by Zhi Lee

I set out to photograph the growth of my beautiful daughter on a weekly basis over the span of a year.

This is week 15 and I wanted to experiment with my new 150cm Octabox.

An Octabox is an octagonal shaped softbox that produces an even quality of light with little drop off between the centre and the edges of the softbox. You can pick one up for about $100. Natural light will work too; all you need is a plain dark backdrop like a dark wall or wardrobe door.

Behind-The-Scenes Lighting Setup

For this image, a black backdrop was placed against curtains. Notice the white buffet on the right serving as a soft reflector, creating gentle fill behind bubba. Equipment: 300W Visico Strobe, 150CM Visico Octabox at 1/4 power.

Shooting bubbles against a black backdrop. Caon 6D, 1/125s, f4.5, ISO100

Achieving Complete Blackness

If you are using studio lighting, you will want to ensure that the softbox is placed pointing slightly away from the backdrop into the subject. I had the luxury of a big octabox which wrapped around the subject so that some of the area between the subject and backdrop is still light. If you are shooting in natural light, you will want to ensure that there are no bright spots on the backdrop (plain dark wall / door).

Creating Bubbles

To create bubbles, you will need dishwashing liquid and a bubble gun. This is absolutely necessary because you are not going to yield many bubbles blowing into a wand manually. You could always photoshop in more bubbles by compositing but I prefer to get everything straight out of camera. We purchased one from The Warehouse for $10.

The Final Images

I’d highly recommend recording the growth of your baby on camera. I wish I could do this more often!

Aperture: ƒ/4.5
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Flash fired: no
Focal length: 96mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/125s

Creative

Creative Baby Photography As a Parent

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015
by Zhi Lee

Being a photographer dad has its bonuses. You get a cute little model to work with 24 hours a day, and baby gets her life documented with beautiful photographs.

If there’s one thing I’d say to new parents… take as many photos as you can because you can’t turn back time! Mikayla is now 8 weeks and growing at a phenomenal rate. Just looking back, we wish we’d taken more photos in week 1! We make it a point to mark every week with a unique photo, and we make the time for it. Every Sunday is photo day. Here are a couple of images and their lighting setups.

Intro to Parent Photography

Here are a few points to note about photographing as a parent.

1. Be a mobile ninja. With the added responsibility of feeding your model, bathing her and changing nappies, try to be smart about your post-processing workflow. With the power of wireless transfers and mobile apps, my photos are downloaded directly into my iPhone using the Canon 6D’s in built wifi connectivity. I then edit using Google Snapseed on the phone. Even blogging’s done on the phone while bub sleeps in my lap.

2. Think outside the box. After doing a few shoots, I began to realise they were all “stock standard” … You know – plain background, high key lighting, boring plush toy props. Possibilities are endless around the house when it comes to props. Below we used a netbook, headphones and a tri-pillow (great for propping them up while feeding) to tell an interesting story. Some day Mikayla will be as geeky as her dad. She will love her technology toys and love great music.

3. Be patient. While it doesn’t take much to set up a shot, it can be a bit of a wait till bub is calm and settled. Never do a shoot with a grumpy baby. They don’t look good and you risk making them very unhappy.

Home studio lighting setup — Lighting setup for baby headphones image – Visico 300w monolight at 4/5 power with 80x120cm softbox as key light (right diagonal above), blue gelled yongnuo speedlite at 1/4 power on laptop, yongnuo speedlite @ 1/32 in front to create reflections on laptop

Lighting Setup for Baby and Cupcake - Visico strobe with 80x60cm soft box from diagonal above as key light — Lighting Setup for Baby and Cupcake – Visico strobe with 80x60cm soft box from diagonal above as key light

Related Images:

Portraits

5 Day Black and White Photo Challenge – Day…

November 2, 2014November 2, 2014
by Zhi Lee

I was nominated by George Lim Photography to participate in the 5 Day Black and White Challenge. For 5 days I have to post one monochrome image each day while challenging another photographer to do the same. This is Day 1 and I’m nominating Sean Dick of Evoke Studio.

Monochrome photos pose a challenge in themselves. Being devoid of colour, you’re left with only variances in light to convey your message.

Black and White Photography Tips

Here are some tips when applying a black and white treatment.

Use composition to lead the eye

This applies to both colour and monochrome photography. Leading the eye to parts of the image helps capture the attention of the viewer. In black and white photography, you’re unable to use bright colours to lead the viewer. Fall back to using interesting shapes, tones, textures and leading lines to enhance the composition. In the image below, I placed the subject a third in from the right of the image (rule of thirds), and used the metal beams running from the bottom right to the subject to lead the eye into image.

Pay attention to the quality of light

They say that light makes a photograph. This is more so with a black and white image. Dark areas form the black parts of the image, and bright areas conversely form the lighter/whiter parts of the image. Look for interesting variances in light. Soft light adds a calming quality to the image, whereas harsh/strong light creates a more edgy look.

Use contrast to make subjects pop

Contrasting areas in an image can draw the viewer’s attention. On the other hand, less contrasting areas (e.g. a uniform area of grey) are happy to just sit back and blend into the unnoticed. In the image below, the bright spot from the welding gun naturally draws the viewer’s eye towards it. The weld gun is starkly contrasted with the man holding it. The dichotomy between light and dark around the welder makes this a very strong image.

Aperture: ƒ/4
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Focal length: 105mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/400s

Behind-the-scenes Lighting setup

Related Images:

Baby’s Milestones

The checklist:

The Images

Idea and Theme

Warm-up Profile Shots

Preparation

Lighting

The Crew

Safety

Equipment

Related Images:

Story Behind the Shoot

Wushu Promo Shoot

Behind-the-Scenes

Related Images:

Credits

Photographers

Hair and Makeup

Models

Venue

Video and Pyrotechnics

Assistants

Behind-The-Scenes Lighting Setup

Achieving Complete Blackness

Creating Bubbles

The Final Images

Intro to Parent Photography

Related Images:

Black and White Photography Tips

Use composition to lead the eye

Pay attention to the quality of light

Use contrast to make subjects pop

Related Images: