Kevin Wong Photography » Personal

Fun bokeh shapes

Kevin Wong — Thu, 27 May 2010 03:18:07 +0000

Two years ago, before any of this “business” stuff started, my friends and I gathered to take photos of random things. You name it, flowers, clouds, windows, puddles and kittens. On one of those ocassions, Linda showed us how we could have fun with changing the shape of bokeh. Bokeh is a Japanese term that describes the “blurred background” effect you commonly find in SLR cameras. Using a modified hood, you can shape points of light to whatever you want! Flash forward to this past weekend, we all got together to try it out ourselves as part of a reunion.

Well, sort of.

You see, it rained once sunset hit Gasworks, which caused us to retreat to Shultzy’s for a little happy hour. BUT! I did manage to sneak a couple shots for you just because I liked my cut out of….

…butterflies!

Family fun during Easter Sunday

Kevin Wong — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:56:32 +0000

Yesterday was Easter Sunday. It was the first time in a long time that both families, Lailey and Wong, gathered together to enjoy good food and good company. We tackled PJ’s “graduation” breakfast, shared stories and watched the kids bounce off the walls from their sugar high. Mimosas in one hand, and my camera in the other, I was able to capture a few funnier moments as the kids ran around searching for colorful eggs filled with cavity inducing amazingness.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Sunday with loved ones. =)

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From boudoir to fashion and family portraits, a preview of new images to come

Kevin Wong — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:53:35 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any images here. With the Haiti fundraising and the amount of planning to organize the sessions and weddings for the next several months, there has been little time to share. An apology is in order. Sorry =(

It comes with great pleasure that you will soon see some of the work that has been going on lately. It has been a busy couple of months. There has been some explorations with new equipment, different scenarios and artistic treatment. All of which, I have my friends to thank for being wonderful people who let me photograph them. You are my clients, my partners and also my inspiration.

$2,450 and going strong. Special thanks to Haiti supporters!

Kevin Wong — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:58:20 +0000

Just a quick update about the support received the past couple of days for Billy’s Birthday Mission. He is just $520 and 28 people away from reaching his goal of $15,000 and 100 people participating. There is no way to express how amazing this has been for all of us. Thank you, thank you all for being such wonderful people!

I also wanted to thank everyone who has taken up my offer for 2 hour photography sessions, a wedding package and also to my couples who have been asking their friends and family members for donations. You’ve helped me beat my personal goal of $2,000 and I know that there is going to be more coming in before January 31st. Your contributions are deeply appreciated and I am so happy to be able to help you with photography.

Everything that we’ve done together in the past 14 days truly has made a difference. Not only are we helping Doctors Without Borders provide aid to survivors, but we are also creating awareness about issues greater than what we typically hear about day to day. Just telling others what we’re doing and letting them know anyone can help deserves a special thank you too. We hope this spirit will continue on.

I’ll leave you for now with one last message from Billy:

Do you have $18.57 to spare? If 28 people donate $18.57 my birthday mission will have reached my goals of 100 donors and $15,000! I’m sure you or someone you know wants to do some good and make a difference. Please help! 3 days left and we will have achieved two HUGE milestones. http://billysbirthday.tumblr.com

If you’re on Facebook, you can follow my updates here too!

Take Home A Memory of Haiti With You and Raise Money

Kevin Wong — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:38:44 +0000

I just wanted to quickly share the news that a group of photographers, including Lane Harthwell, have designed and published a fundraising magazine titled Haiti: One Respe. It’s an amazing project that was a result of cross collaboration with different groups and a desire to help. Magcloud has agreed to pay for the printing and distribution allowing for all funds to go directly towards the Red Cross International Response Fund.

The magazine costs $12 and are available for shipping now.

Link

Photographs by: Chet Gordon, Kari Hartmann, Mary Ellen Mark, Peter Pereira, Lindsay Stark

Raising Money For Haiti Relief

Kevin Wong — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:44:24 +0000

Let’s make a difference together. A difference bigger than either of us could have done individually. In hopes of providing additional, immediate support for Haiti Relief, I will be trading my time in order help my friend Billy to reach his goal of $5,000 $10,000 towards Doctors Without Borders. If you were looking forward to helping Haiti and were also in need of photographic services, this is your opportunity to do both!

Every little bit helps, so here’s the deal:

Help me reach my goal of $2,000 by January 31st!

I will photograph your wedding for FREE!
Yes! My time is free! If you’re the first person or couple to donate at least $1,000 towards Haiti Relief by January 31st, you can choose my Standard Package* ($2,400 value) for your upcoming wedding! Or if you’re the wedding party, you can pool money together and gift the package for the lovely couple too. More details:

The wedding date must be in 2010
The wedding date doesn’t conflict with a previous booking
The couple receives the Standard package*
I’m open for travel
*Promotion does not include expenses such as any rentals, travel, hotel or prints and printing credit.

I will photograph whatever you want for FREE!
If you’re one of the first 5 people to donate at least $100 towards Haiti Relief, you can have me do any kind of photography you want for up to 2 hours. Valentine’s day is coming up for some couples portrait action, or if you want your engagement photos taken, just let me know and we can plan to make it happen. The ideas are endless! A couple restrictions:

Location is within the Greater Seattle area
Can be done before April 2010
Within reason (which we can discuss)

What do you need to do?
Send me an email with a receipt of your donation to any organization that supports the Haiti Relief fund by email. I trust you that the receipts are for real. It’s as simple as that! Please also share this news with friends and family members. Even if you’re donating $1, please let me know! Email me your receipt and I will send you something pretty just as a thank you for supporting.

But what if you don’t want photos taken?
If photography isn’t your thing, check out Billy Shih’s birthday mission campaign. He’s willing to do ANYTHING within reason to reach his goal of $5,000 by the end of the month. He’a already reached well over $2,000 with a couple weeks in January to spare! Examples include video work, consulting on online marketing or training you to be the ultimate Settler’s of Catan player.

Thanks everyone! I’ll keep you posted on any progress and hope to hear from you soon! If you have other ideas or want to help out in other ways, let me know!

Nourish The Mind, Summer Photography Reading

Kevin Wong — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:58:44 +0000

While I’m a big advocate of digital and the convenience of doing as a means to learn, sometimes it just makes sense to read about it too. When I first started out with photography beyond the shiny green auto button, I did an absurd amount of reading. I felt compelled to read about other’s experiences using their equipment, knowing the ins and outs of the technical details and how changes in the numerous variables (aperture, shutter, metering, ambient light, temperature, etc) would impact the final image. And you know what? It helped a lot! It made the process of doing a lot more understandable because I was able to deduce why I wasn’t able to achieve the images I had envisioned.

There are millions of discussion threads out there that have answered your question a million times over. So what I’d like to do is just share some of those resources with you here in case you wanted to know more or get answers about photography. If you have questions and want my opinion, let me know! I’d be happy to share my thoughts as well. Check out the list after the jump!

Photography

Digital Photography School – Your go to resource for beginners and intermediates highlighting skills and techniques
All Things Photography – A nice introductory resource on starting out

Lighting

Strobist – The de facto resource for strobe techniques without costing an arm or a leg
Strobist on Flickr – The Flickr companion forum where one of the largest groups learn together the skills in lighting

Camera Reviews

DPReview – One of the most thorough photography review sites out there
Fred Miranda – Another great resource with forums full of knowledgeable photographers
DC Resource – Just as useful as DPreview

Inspiration

Photojojo – Awesome blog / newsletter with great tips and tricks to keep photography exciting and playful
Motionographer – Not photography, but damn inspiring video and motion graphics work
File Magazine – Online photo magazine
Flak Photo – Another inspiration photo magazine
JPG Mag – Recently revived (early Summer 09) and full of amazing work from fellow photographers

Photo Communities

Flickr – One of the earliest and more popular photo sharing communities online (and one that desperately needs a redesign / also find me here)
Vi.sualize.us – Wonderful collection of art and photography. I use this for color inspiration for processing (find me here)
Smugmug – Great resource and service if you’re also interested in hosting photos for proofing and prints. They recently partnered with Bay Photo for top of the line printing
Tumblr – Tagged as the online scrap booking site, you’ll be sure to find more aggressive / edgier art work

Photographer Blogs

Rob Haggart
Alexx Henry’s Blog
Ryan Brenizer’s Blog – Be sure to check out the “Brenizer effect”
Zack Arias
Chase Jarvis – Local Seattle lifestyle photographer and social media enthusiast

–

If there are more things to add that you want to share, let me know! I’d love to check out new sites and places to be inspired!

Last, I leave you with a photo I took last week while helping out Billy Shih record footage for Amy & Jason’s Love Story. The photo was take at Volunteer Park, Seattle.

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Julie + Will’s Nantucket Wedding, Friends

Kevin Wong — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:47:57 +0000

If you haven’t already checked out the photos from Zofia Photo, the talented Nantucket photographer who covered Julie and Will’s wedding, please do so after this post. Also, you can check out my rehearsal photos here.

With a wedding full of beautiful friends, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make them look good too! I haven’t seem these guys for some time now, but it was as if we saw each other just yesterday whilst we ran around taking photos throughout the day. My two favorite couples below are BreeAnna and Bobby as well as Lindsey and Scott. I had to keep a close eye on these two because they kept falling into a picture perfect setting. You might even think they did it on purpose

KPMG’s J.Crew Couple of the Year

Reverend Nick Smith walks the walk

Lindsey + Scott (too hottie)

Bobby Clarkson

Maid of Honor, Meredith Worcester with Matt Meyer

Brother and Sister of Groom and Bride

Self portrait

Long day’s rest

Good night, Nantucket

Julie + Will’s Nantucket Wedding, Rehearsal Time!

Kevin Wong — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:23:55 +0000

As a guest, I had the privilege to shoot some fun moments with friends. So today I bring you rehearsal photos from the wedding! Some friends and Will’s dad were kind enough to politely roast Will in front of the whole family and friends. Dad definitely took the cake, but luckily no one got hurt No worries though since the couple are both stellar people who hardly make poor decisions. It was like saying a student studied too much.

More importantly, don’t forget to check out the photos from Zofia, the most amazing wedding photographer coming out of Nantucket. Her and Earl Christie really rocked the island and have incredible photos of everyone during the ceremony. It’s pretty much a J. Crew catalog ad.

The hand off…

The boys…

If you’re a fan of Friends, the TV show, then you know these two are lobsters…

The roast begins…

Time for a refill…

Trademarking a new s’mores term: “dirty diaper”

BreeAnna + Bobby

Lindsey + Scott

J+W

All Things Brand New but with Same Old Love

Kevin Wong — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:37:56 +0000

Hey! I just wanted to make a quick post and say welcome to the new website! There’s still a lot cookin’ in the oven at the moment, but I promise it will be worth it. Aside from the new official website and layout, a lot of changes are going on business wise.

Business cards are currently in development. Some people are voting here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Wong/12645776506?ref=ts Please feel free to give your opinions about what you think would be the most compelling for you.

I’m excited to say that I just returned from an amazing wedding in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Jennifer and Mark welcomed me into their beautiful world. I can’t share those photos with you since I was not the hired photographer, but hopefully my time will come to photograph an amazing location again!

The fun doesn’t stop there! Diana and Chandler’s wedding is just this Sunday at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle! Along with my buddies, Billy, John and Linda (BJLK), we will be shooting video and photos for the happy couple.

Then there’s Nantucket, Mass on the 18th with another beautiful couple, Julie and Will. I won’t be the photographer for that one, but that just means I can have a little more fun whilst taking photos on the dance floor.

A lot to look forward to in July! Check back shortly. There are going to be a lot of updates coming soon!

Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement. Love you all. Kevin