Jenny Shung Photography

Scott Robert and CM Leung China Workshop

2011-01-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

My very.long.over.due blog post that I very much couldn't wait to share is finally here!! This past September I went on an amazing journey for 5 days that has left me with a life time of memories. It was definitely a miracle, but no accident that I was able to attend. I honestly don't know what to say or where to begin because there is way too much to say and nothing I say can do it justice. You just have to be there :)

Scott Robert and CM Leung, amazing masters, showed me a whole new side of the art of photography. They opened up my eyes to so many more possibilities and expanded my vision beyond what I would have ever imagined. What I loved most about this workshop was working with other awesome photographers to implement each other's visions. I have to say holding lights has never been so much fun!!!

Special thanks to Scott for all his time, effort, and energy that he puts into mentoring each one of us. I've learned so many things beyond photography. Scott is a living proof of his teaching and I can't think of anyone who can do what he does better.

I can't forget my peers who have helped me through my journey. Without their help, I would not have been able to create these images. JeZa, Michelle Ng, David Lok, Riz Crescini, Darrell Lee, you guys amaze me in so many ways. Your vision, commitment, passion is beyond what I am used to. I received much needed mentoring from these people as well and the experience would not have been the same without them.

The very first day when I felt like I was the worst photographer and knew nothing about what I was doing, David took time out to show me the basics of OCF, tips and tricks that gave me so much more confidence throughout the trip. Thank you Michelle for being such a great Roomie and sharing with me your experiences and giving me the encouragement that I much needed. I look forward to having more crazy times with you. I can't forget Jeremy and Zabrina, who poured their souls into planning this trip. They put their passion on hold to make sure that we were getting the most out of everything.

Even though I miss everyone and is so sad the week is over, I know we will have many more adventures together and I can't wait. Cheers to this crazy journey called photography that never ends!!!

Gianna

2010-12-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Lauren's

2010-12-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

Visit Scott Robert's store to purchase the triggers and strobes I used here.

Mateo and Marco

2010-12-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Scott and Saima

2010-12-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

No longer afraid of the dark

2010-11-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

My living room has always been a feared place for me to photograph. Its dark and the lighting is uneven. I avoided the place at all cost because I could never achieve the results I was looking for. Unfortunately its the one place my son plays the most and photographing him there would definitely make the most sense.

After attending Scott Robert and CM Leung's joint workshop, I can say darkness is no longer my fear. My eyes have been opened to so much more possibilities, finding light where I was blinded from before, shutting off bad light and exposing good light.

I will be posting a full review of the workshop by the amazing Masters of Photography, Scott Robert and CM Leung once I get all caught up with work, hopefully before the end of the year (fingers crossed).

Angelo and Clara

2010-11-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

Angelo + Clara = Amazing couple. They're both super sweet, giving, down to earth, easy going people, and together they make an incredible team. If there is a serving opportunity at church, you'll see one of these faces. I don't photograph people I don't like. That is one rule I have in my book. If you ever get to know them and hear their story, its pretty hilarious!!! All I have to say is Angelo worked really really hard for this one and its all worth it :)

Sasha Lifestyle Round 2

2010-11-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

This is my second time working with Sasha, definitely a real pleasure!! He's such a down to earth and fun person to shoot and extremely talented, check out his art work.

Sarah and Joshua are Married!!!

2010-11-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

How many calories does a photographer burn shooting a wedding? I have no idea, but I do know that for this wedding, I think I burned as much as running a marathon. Literally, there was not even a second of pause in laughter, dancing, tears of joy, hugs, kisses. This couple and their family was indeed a joy to be around and the bride's personality was so uplifting. I really had a great time shooting this wedding along side of the wonderful Ken Pak!!

Kimmie and Woo are married!

2010-10-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

Kimmie and Woo is one stunning couple!!! I was seriously in love with Kimmie's dress, couldn't keep my eyes away, so beautiful and it looked perfect on her.

Thanks again to Ken for this awesome opportunity to document this beautiful couple's day.

First Graduation :)

2010-10-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

My son officially met his goals and graduated from his Physical Therapy sessions today. I am very proud of him :)

So you ask, why does a baby at such a young age need physical therapy?

Well, for starters we were extremely worried about him. He wasn't able to sit up unsupported until 8 months, didn't crawl until 11.5 months and didn't walk until 15.5 months. I know every baby is different and will crawl and walk at their own time, but for a first time parent, it didn't help seeing other babies his age or younger advance so much more in the gross motor department.

Being someone who is some what proactive, I did a little research on the internet and enrolled my son in a program called "Early Intervention" which provided him with physical therapy. His physical therapist, Lorie, comes over to our house each week to "play" and do different exercises with him to help strengthen his muscles. When Isaac started to take a couple steps on his own, we agreed to drop the sessions to every other week, now that he's walking 100% on his own, he no longer needs the service. It was a really awesome experience and Isaac always had a great time!!!

The best thing about this program is that its FREE!! Not many things in life are free especially when its so awesome!! For any parent who is worried about their kid in any way, check out this program. They help kids with all kinds of other stuff including speech and communication. It never hurts to have someone by your side helping you out when your worries take over :)

Shannon (Pittsburgh Fashion Photographer)

2010-10-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Shannon's look... Fierce, Bold, and Beautiful!!! She is such a trooper, it was freezing when we took these photos, but you would never have known.

Adam and Meagan (Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer)

2010-09-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

Weddings are amazing in so many different ways and when the sun happens to come out and hit the right spot, it just makes everything more than perfect! A big thanks to Ken Pak for inviting me to second shoot with him at this beautiful wedding. Ken is truly an awesome person to work with and I'm so glad I had this opportunity!!!

Enjoy as I share with you the wedding day of Adam and Meagan!!

Bouquets By Selena

2010-09-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Selena has the most talented pair of hands. These flowers are so beautiful and are perfect for so many different occasions. In college, she taught me how to make them and no matter how much I tried, I could never perfect it to her skill level (mine would definitely not sell).

You can check out her store on Etsy. She prices these extremely reasonable. Buy them now before the prices go up! She also makes other crafts as well and is constantly updating her store, so keep going back.

Falling

2010-09-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

I stuck my leg out as my son fell forward running towards me today. He cried and cried because my leg hit his face and it hurt. What he didn't know was that if I didn't stick my leg out, his face would have collided into the corner of our TV stand. There would be blood and it would have hurt a million times worse.

How many times in our lives are we screaming and crying "where are you God? I thought you promised you would never give me more than I can handle. Why can't you just cut me a break once in awhile?" But could it be that if he wasn't there holding us up, our troubles would be at a completely different depth? Maybe at a depth that we really couldn't handle.

Miranda (Pittsburgh Fashion Photographer)

2010-09-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

An evening of hanging out and photographing Miranda was a ton of fun. Her personality and looks match so well together. I seriously had such a hard time narrowing down my selections. These are just some of my favorites. Enjoy!!

I am John Smith

2010-09-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

I met a photographer yesterday who as as we were talking told me that he was anti-blogging. "Why would I put my best work up on the internet just so another photographer can copy it?" He further goes on to say that he actually went through his facebook friend's list and de-friended every single photographer.

This is not the first time I've heard someone say something like that (ok maybe the 2nd time). I don't think any one person out there likes their work being plagiarized, but when I hear someone go so far out of their way to make sure that doesn't happen, it makes me cringe just a little bit and ask the question "wasn't it the love of photography and not the fear of plagiarism that brought you to this industry in the first place? Whats the use of photographing if you're not willing to share with others the beauty you captured?"

Honestly no photographer or any other artist in this modern day invented anything new. We're not Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Mozart, Ansel Adams, etc etc. We are John Smith!! Everything we do is a replica of what has already been done (good or bad). Sometimes I come across images where there is a huge "DO NOT COPY" logo across the entire image, so big and strong that I can barely see the picture itself. Now that makes me chuckle (especially when its not even that great of a photograph).

Blogging is a way to connect and give back to your community. Its your very own personal voice and that no one can take away from you. I spend a lot of my time looking at other people's blogs, sites, work and are blown away by so many creative people out there. There are some amazingly talented photographers. Honestly no matter how much I try, I don't think I can come close to copying their vision, perspective, mindset, thought process of when they captured that image at that very moment.

Do you think God made 2 people with the same set of eyes? I don't think he has or ever will. So then what are you afraid of? If someone wants to copy my work, that tells me I'm doing something right =)

Times are changing and I understand its hard for a lot of old time photographers being annoyed at the new wave of young photographers who know nothing about photography, but are in this industry because of the invention of digital SLRs which makes creating "beautiful" images no longer as technical. What do I have to say to that? I think its time to bring photography to a whole new level. As Jimmy Carter puts it "We must adjust to changing times and still hold unchanging principles".

Sneak Peak: Miranda

2010-09-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak of the beautiful, sweet, talented Miranda! This month is a little crazy busy for me, haven't been this busy in awhile, but I'm loving every bit of it.

Me

2010-09-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

I went into WPPI hoping to greatly improve my photography skills, I walked out of the conference barely learning anything about photography, but yet my experience there brought me 10 steps forward.

I've sort of lived my entire life in fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being hurt, fear of exposing the real me. Fear is a strange emotional response. At times it can greatly protect us, but many times it can destroy the person who we are meant to be. I am ready to take a deep breath and throw that fear behind. What do I have to lose? I'd much rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I hate. Success can never be achieved without failure.

Jasmine Star's seminar had tears oozing up in me a few times. Not because of her rags to riches story or her story about her mom battling cancer, but she made me realize that I'm selfish, insincere, and extremely narcissistic. I mask who I really am and reject the person who God himself created. Jasmine challenged us to Keep It Real and to put others before ourselves, Thanks to Jasmine for such genuine advice. I can tell it truly came from the deepest part of her heart.

So here are a couple of accountabilities for myself:
- Keep It Real! Be different, be me.
- Find as many ways to help others. GIVE GIVE GIVE and don't hold back.

As Jasmine puts it, Cheers to many more failures!

Baby Noah

2010-09-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Isn't this little sweetie the cutest? You know he's a special one when his birthday was on 8.9.10 =)

Girls Think Pink, Boys Think Blue

2010-09-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

I never considered gifts as my love language, but recently I decided that thoughtful gifts is indeed a love language for me. I think that should be another category in the 5 love languages book. That being said, for the past 2 years I've been scouting out Tory Burch flats. I look at them every time we're in the mall, I talk about buying a pair, but don't because they're $200. I almost bought a pair at the woodburry commons outlet because they're $20 cheaper than retail, but decided not to because for just $20 cheaper, I have to settle for a color that I'm not crazy about. I hint at my husband saying that "oh I'm not crazy about gifts, but I definitely love being surprised with "thoughtful gifts" because it shows me that you've been attentive to what I talk about and want".

So for every occasion that has rolled around I'm thinking in my head "Oh this time he's going to get me those Tory Burch flats". Of course, I don't end up getting them. The topic of thoughtful gifts came up again a few weeks ago and he was like "yeah yeah I know you like thoughtful gifts, you've said it many times". So in my mind I'm like "YES! For our anniversary I'm fiiinally... getting... those... Tory Burch flats". He leads me on by telling me "Oh I have this perfect gift for you, but I don't know what color to pick and you're going to end up returning it".

Then he finally revealed what he was going to get me......A CAMERA BAG FROM ETSY!!!! Oh the disappointment.

So here is my thought process "uhm, when did I ever want a camera bag from Etsy???? Etsy sells crafts, what do these people know about the functionality of a camera bag??? I've told you many times the camera bag I will eventually get is a Shootsac. Geeze, you never hear what I'm saying or notice what I really want".

So here is hubby's thought process "Oh She talks about Tory Burch flats all the time, she must be saving up for it and since I don't know the color she wants, I'll just leave it up to her to buy them. I've been noticing that she doesn't really have a functional bag for her lenses and camera body, she shops on Etsy sometimes so I know a camera bag from Etsy would be a really thoughtful gift".

As you can see, Girls Think Pink, Boys Think Blue. We both have good intensions, but because we're created so differently, there is no way we will always be on the same wave length or be able to think for the other person. This is from the book Love and Respect. A book worth reading for everyone, not just for those who are in a relationship.

Today we celebrate our 6 years of marriage. Do we still love each other? Yes. Do we at times want to kill each other? Too many times. Do we miscommunicate? Almost everyday. Do we get so frustrated that we scream and slam some doors? You bet! Are we still committed to each other? Absolutely! Will we be there for each other when times are rough? You can put your money on it!

I'm not here to blast my marriage nor am I here to sugar coat anything. I'm only telling this story to encourage hopefully at least 1 person out there. God has given me the perfect match in every way and I'm so thankful I have a husband who is extremely attentive to my needs and who won't give up on me even when I'm ready to give up. He cooks for me, cleans up after me, gives me massages (I had to train him really hard to do that), takes care of our son, brings home the dough, listens to my not very funny jokes. He's my biggest support and cheers me on in everything I do.

Maybe a good compromise for all of us is to think light purple?

Sasha (Pittsburgh Fashion Photographer)

2010-09-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sasha is an extremely down to earth, talented Artist and as you can see a great model as well! I had a great time working with him even though the hot August day wore both of us out.

Ashley (Pittsburgh Fashion Photographer)

2010-08-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ashley is beautiful and sweet. Look at those eyes, they are killing me!

Phipps Conservatory

2010-08-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Gargoyles were the theme at Phipps yesterday, but I thought the flowers were still much prettier.

Nina's Application Photo (Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer)

2010-08-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

An impromptu 5 minutes photo session right before WG yesterday for Nina's residency application. We threw in a little fun by showcasing her Harry Winston ring since she recently got engaged!!