March 13, 2015

4 Cambodia workshops in May & June 2015 - featuring lighting and storytelling

March 13, 2015/ Gary Tyson

We are pleased to announce that due to recent demand for more workshops in Cambodia, we are going to run 4 workshops almost back to back, two in Phnom Penh area, followed by two in the South around Kampot, Kep coastal region. We will alternate them so participants can have the opportunity to choose 2 workshops if they wish and combine their learning experience, doing 1 off camera lighting workshop and a visual storytelling workshop.

Further discounts will apply for participants who choose to do 2 workshops and there is an opportunity to take 2 days off in between the workshops to recover.

The dates for each workshop and links to their respective event pages are as follows:

Workshop 1 - Visual Storytelling (Phnom Penh) - 16 - 19 May 2015

Workshop 2 - '1 Light' Portrait Workshop (Phnom Penh) - 21 - 24 May 2015

Workshop 3 - Visual Storytelling (Southern Cambodia) - 28 - 31 May 2015

Workshop 4 - '1 Light' Portrait Workshop (Southern Cambodia) - 4 - 7 June 2015

Whether you want to learn how to use off camera lighting or develop your skills in visual storytelling, we are confident one or two of these workshops will be very useful for you.

Please check out the links and contact us if any of these dates work for you and you fancy exploring a wonderful corner of South East Asia with us and learning something new along the way.

These workshops are very limited in numbers and we expect them to sell out fast.

Look forward to seeing you there!

To contact us directly please email us at info@f8photography.com.hk

Salt Farmer, Cambodia

October 08, 2012

GUEST POST: Terese - Cambodia Workshop

October 08, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Terese Chan (less portraits of Terese) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Terese shot with the Fuji XPro1 throughout the workshop. These are her thoughts.

(the author - Terese, posing for a lighting demo during the workshop in Phnom Penh)

I've been on and off looking for photography courses in Hong Kong for over a year, most of them I found were formal classroom teaching or commercial wedding shooting… Honestly, as a design-trained person I perceived they are boring, stiff and too commercial…and then I found F8 Photograpy (www.f8photography.com.hk). I was stunned by Gary's works, especially the street photos and immediately joined his workshop without hesitation even though I had never met him in Hong Kong.

(A girl playing hide and seek, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.8 1/550s)

We met in Cambodia on the first day, all of us got our gear to click on and go! It seems that we had bad luck with heavy showers on the first day but we were lucky though as Gary took us to a good location and we ran into so many lovely warm faces. I had a tough time to avoid getting my camera wet, and yet I didn't want to miss any captures….it was challenging and great fun!

(Terese (left) and Susan still smiling despite the torrential rain...)

(A praying sweet heart, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F1.4 1/150s)

(Lady under the shelter, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 3200 F2.2 1/110s)

(A girl, Fuji X-pro1 60mm ISO 200 F4 1/45s)

(A boy, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2.4 1/52s)

I really enjoyed the total immersion in the environment, it was effective to learn in such a good and relaxing atmosphere with great people. The learning schedule might be intense, but for me the process was fun with all the happy and kind participants, they really made my trip! All the laughter and sharing made the course fruitful and complete! :)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Terese classed herself as a 'newbie' photographer when she arrived on the workshop. Having heard that I expected to see 'beginner' images at the end of day 1, but this was not the case, Terese absorbed all the information we gave her about using different lenses and viewpoints to improve her composition techniques, she embraced her camera (Fuji XPro1) which can be slow with autfocus at times, and she got on with all the training, always smiling. My view on her work that she produced was that it was outstanding, like the other clients we took on the workshop, they all worked together and pushed each others standards higher throughout, which benefited everyone immensely and raised the self-pressure level. I think working in that style is a good thing, and I know Terese will agree that the images she produced on this workshop were some of, if not her best photographs she has taken to date. I am aware that Terese is very busy working for Cathay Pacific and it is not easy for her to get time off work, so we want to say thanks for making the time to join us, we hope you reaped the benefits of the workshop, your images certainly tell that story. Well done Terese, great work, and look forward to taking you the next travel photography expedition :-)

Here are more of Terese's images from the workshop:

(Terese seemed to be REALLY enjoying the workshop!)

(Gary from F8 helping Terese set up the Fuji XPro1 after installing the new autofocus firmware)

(Sisters, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F1.4 1/680s)

(A boy who peeps, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2.5 1/220s)

(The boys in a temple, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 1000 F2 1/2900s)

(A smiley face, Fuji X-pro1 35mm ISO 200 F2 1/180s)

We have other posts from the workshop attendees as well as behind the scenes shots and video coming soon. Please stay tuned for that, you can now ‘search’ the blog on the left side of this post to find subject posts easily, try typing ‘cambodia’ to find all our posts from there if you wish to read more.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog, if you like our blog and website, please ‘like’ us on our public Facebook page or on the ‘LIKE’ box to the right side of this blog. You can share this story with your friends with the Facebook and twitter links below or on the left side of this blog. You can also subscribe to our blog via the RSS link below or on the right of this post.

F8 Photography provides commercial photography and photography and video training workshops, more details can be found via the ‘courses and workshops’ link and upcoming events via the front page of our website.

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Steve - Cambodia Workshop (Asst Instructor)

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Steve Porte (less portraits of Steve) who travelled to Cambodia with us as assistant instructor. Steve shot with a combination of Canon 1D Mk IV and 5D Mk III throughout. These are his thoughts on the workshop:

(Steve is always having a laugh and a joke, enjoying life - here we were setting up a lesson in 'off camera lighting')

Last week, I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia with F8 Photography owner Gary Tyson and four other photographers. Unlike our casual visit in July (described in a previous post that can be seen here) this trip was to host a formal photography workshop in and around Phnom Penh. The group consisted of four participants, Gary and myself. Here are my thoughts on that trip...

(The motley crew - Andrew, Ian, Susan, Terese, Steve & Gary)

On our last visit, we had great weather and beautiful light. This time, there were daily rain showers - but the rain had little effect on our daily routine. Both during and after the rains, we were bathed in the same soft light we have come to expect in Cambodia, and the rain actually became an interesting element in several of our images. Just like our last visit, the combination of colourful infrastructure, verdant landscape, warm and friendly people, and the soft light, made for a wonderful photographic experience.

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 27mm, f/3.5, ISO 200)

(1D4, 16mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

(1D4, 34mm, f/3.2, ISO 200)

The biggest surprise for me this trip was the quality of work produced by the workshop participants. The four arrived ranging in experience from first-day-with-a-new-point & shoot, to an experienced nature photographer. Although this was billed as a basic-skills workshop, each participant produced some very good images on day one. After four very long days of shooting, group and individual tutoring, and nightly post processing lessons, each participant was putting up some very strong images, with a much-improved keeper rate. Very impressive.

(Steve (top right) tutoring Ian (left) whilst Terese (front) studies her images captured so far)

As always, the real treat shooting in Cambodia was interacting with the local people. We met some well to do folks, and some less fortunate - but regardless of their situation, all were warm, genuine, and displayed the winning Cambodian smile. The warm welcome we received from everyone made the trip wonderful, even without raising a camera.

(Steve engaging some subjects with his infectious smile)

(5D3, 85mm, f/2.2, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 200)

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.2, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/6.3, ISO 200)

This trip, as usual, we delivered portraits taken on the previous trip (and some shot early this visit). Every person to whom we delivered prints beamed at seeing their own images. I’m not sure who was happier - the subjects at receiving the prints, or us at seeing their reaction. A true win-win situation.

(1D4, 22mm, f/5.6, ISO 200)

(1D4, 35mm, f/2.8, ISO 200)

In my last F8 guest post, I mentioned that Cambodia is a wonderful place to visit, to shoot, and to use as an effective teaching venue. The atmosphere is relaxed, there is abundant local and international food cuisine, the light is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. I’m happy to report that nothing has changed. For me, it doesn’t get any better than this - even in the rain....

(5D3, 85mm, f/1.4, ISO 400)

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Just want to say a special thank you to Steve for joining the workshop in this capacity. His assistance, experience, humour and character were a great addition to the workshop, helping everything along smoothly and all the participants have expressed their thanks already. The workshop was a much more fruitful experience for all with his participation. Cheers Steve.

More of Steve's photography can be seen via this weblink.

(Steve quietly ponders which flavour milkshake to try next at the Riverside bar and grill, Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh :-))

September 30, 2012

GUEST POST: Susan - Cambodia Photography Workshop

September 30, 2012/ Gary Tyson

Note: This post is written and all photos by Susan Lim (less portraits of Susan) who travelled to Cambodia with us. Susan shot with the Olympus OMD throughout the workshop. This is her story. (Susan became 'at one' with her OMD shooting sometimes 12 hours a day, practice, practice, practice)

(Susan loved interacting with the kids and shooting in the rain with her new shooting buddy, Terese (far left)

When I first registered for the Cambodia workshop I told Gary that I wanted to explore this part of Cambodia, learn their cultures and practice my basic photography skills using my recently acquired Olympus OMD.

I was given a lot of opportunities to take photos in different locations such as Wat Phnom (Buddhist temple area in the city), the silk weaving villages on Mekong Island, rice fields outside the city, street photography and environmental portraiture inside Pagodas and around other parts of Phnom Penh and the last day we visited an old temple complex about an hour away from Phnom Penh with some old ruins, great for landscape images and portraiture of the elderly temple minders.

(Inside a Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Little girl on Mekong Island, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Monks at the Pagoda, Olympus OMD, 20mm)

(Intense portrait, Olympus 20mm)

In each location, people are willing to have their photographs taken and they were all full of smiles. I did notice a lot of poverty in Cambodia, which sometimes upset me as I am not used to seeing these things having travelled from Hong Kong. The results of my photographs are highly impacted by my emotions.

My thoughts on the the workshop training:

The workshop was very well organised, Gary from F8 Photography is a brilliant photographer. He is knowledgable and well experienced. Without his guidance, I would never have learnt so much about how to see and take images in a way I had never done before.

I also benefited a lot from the other participants who are all highly motivated and engaging, Steve, Andrew, Ian and Terese. Each of our session ended with critiques of photos which includes great suggestions for improving our photographs. I also learned to see results of different camera brands and the photography style of each participants. I would highly recommend F8’s Cambodia workshop to anyone.

Note from Gary from F8 Photography: Susan had a great workshop with outstanding results. She had recently purchased the Olympus OMD and wanted to immerse herself somewhere away from the distractions of Hong Kong life to fast track her learning experience. I think she did this without question, and anyone viewing her images here will agree I am quite sure. For someone who has only been shooting a few months, her results were excellent, I was in fact quite envious of some the shots she 'saw' that I didn't see myself :-). On this type of workshop the instructor always learns just as much from the clients I think, I love to see how others interpret a scene, I can always learn from that. Susan was affected by some of the poverty she saw during the workshop, this is not a bad thing, this is a reality, we all react differently to what we see, and it is reflected in some images in her portfolio. This reminded me of my early visits to Cambodia, it is easy to get overwhelmed by some of the sights, but I also think this makes us stronger photographers as being emotional about our work is a good thing, it means we care about what we are trying to say. Good work Susan, well done.