Mini Collage

Ken Phuong  (kenp.pullfolio.com) is a talented automotive photographer.

“Hello everyone, my name is Ken Phuong, and I am a commercial photographer operating out of the Oakland, Ca area. My main interests are in the automotive, and still life categories. I find that still life photography is not only abundant, but extremely hard to shoot well. Anyone can pick up a camera and snap shots. But the challenge of making a statement, or telling a story with what is essentially a stationary object is what allured me towards this discipline.”

Ken can be contacted for inquires at ken@spotninestudio.com

Time attack Evo, Button Willow, CA

I got my start in photography while in high school because I needed an elective to finish out my high school requirements. I definitely did not foresee it becoming a passion, nor a career.  I don’t really know what else to say about this, other than the art of photography requires a lot of sacrifices in order to do it well. It challenges you with every new subject that you encounter because it will require you to think the shot through. It also requires that you have an open mind and is able to adapt well to the constantly changing scene. These attributes of photography appeal to my competitive spirit. It challenges me to do better, and having no real end in sight, gives me the feeling that the journey will go on forever.

Q&A with Pullfolio:

How did you get started?
I destroyed my first camera at age 7, does that count? haha. But it was in high school, that i really pursued photography as more than just a snap shooter. As with everything, knowledge is power, and what i learned really opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective on what photography is really all about.

Collage, Alameda NAS

What work do you want to do, and why?
I am primarily a still life photographer. I started out photographing cars and landscape and eventually moved onto other subjects. However photographing cars has always been something of a passion of mine. The automobile has always been America’s sweetheart in a way. Many men would consider their vehicles to be an extension of their soul. For automotive photographers, the trick is to find and bring out that soul. This can be challenging with “boring cars”.

RS 2.5 front, Treasure Island, CA

What motivates you as a photographer – and do you have any idols in the photography world?
My motivation comes from my desire to always better myself and everything that I do. Some would call it the competitive spirit, I say its because im afraid of failure. I have a lot of photographers whom I look up to. I would routinely run across different shooting styles, and try to incorporate them into my repertoire. In the automotive world, there is no one more famous than Easton Chang from Australia. I recall seeing his work for the first time about 6yrs ago and thought to myself that this has to be the epitomy of automotive photography. But every year, he proves me wrong by upping the bar by which we all measure ourselves. For this, my appreciation goes out to Easton for forcing the rest of us to better ourselves. He is a true pioneer in the modern automotive photography world.

RS 2.5 rear, Treasure Island, CA

So show us your best image, and tell us why it is?
I dont really have a favorite image because I always try to do something different with every shoot. Also you are your own worst critic. But if I had to pick something that I feel very strongly about, it would have to be this one:

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Oakland, CA

I’m really proud of this particular shot because I was working in an adverse lighting condition, the dreaded high noon harsh sunlight, and was still able to pull off the subtle tonal transitions, and not have too many blown highlights. Overall, the composition of the shot, the stance of the car, and the clouds all came together well for me that day.

RS 2.5 interior, Treasure Island, CA

What do you plan to do in future?
I am in the process of putting together a digital studio in the Oakland area. My goal is to provide a creative photographic haven for photographers to come and either learn the art, or take it to the next level. The studio will offer subject specific training workshops, in addition to entry level photography classes, to advanced studio lighting courses. We also offer studio space rental on a hourly, monthly, and yearly basis. Our studios would come with everything you would need to start shooting. All you would need is to bring a camera.

Widebody MR2 Spyder, Alameda CA

For the gearheads: what equipment do you use?

My current stable of gear includes a

- 5D MkII,

- 24-70 f2.8L

- 70-200 f2.8L

- Cybersync trigger and receivers

- Seconic light meter

- Alien Bee strobes and ring flash.

Tire marks, Alameda NAS

What do you think of Pullfolio so far?
I love it! probably one of the greatest applications for the up and coming photographer. I will be pushing my students to sign up and use this for their portfolios.

Thank you. And now, let’s see some images!

Acura NSX @ Ikea Emeryville, CA

Old School Mustang, Emeryville, Ca

Honda S2000, San Francisco, CA

Honda S2000 valve cover, San Francisco, CA

Subaru WRX, Treasure Island, CA

Crawford Performance Engine Bay, Button willow, CA

Crawford Performance STi, Button Willow, CA

Mercedes E55, San Francisco, CA

Lotus Elise Interior, Oakland, CA

Lotus Elise Steering Wheel, Oakland, Ca

Mazda Miata, San Francisco, CA

Nissan 240, Alameda, CA

Ken can be contacted for inquires at ken@spotninestudio.com

Trees on a plain

Pete Saunders’ (ongopt.pullfolio.com) passion is landscapes–not just any landscapes but ones that are created from his inner vision.

Sure, any landscape can be pretty, but is it compelling? Does it lure you in? Does it take your mind to a different plane?”

He currently lives in Stockton in northern California– which is one to two hours drive from the coast and mountains and is surrounded by multiple climate zones.

“This is a city of 250,000 and yet I can be in farm fields and foothills in just five minutes drive. This is the town where Cool Hand Luke was shot in 1967 and, though it has grown much since then, I can still drive to areas that look as if Paul Newman would walk out that prison camp at a moments’ notice.”

Pete can be contacted for inquires about all his landscape works, projects and pricing at ongopt@comcast.net

Predator

Pete was born in London, England but located to very rural Connecticut, USA when he was only three.

I had the run of the back woods, swamps and fields of New Enlgand–which had a profound effect of me. Then abruptly at the end of my elementary school years we relocated to Miami, Florida, which gave me the taste of big city life.

His primary profession is a home health physical therapist, allowing him to drive throughout his work area in the county.

I have the ideal job for landscape photography, because I get to drive in a out of rural areas and scout locations by time of day or time of season.

His combination of rural and city experiences have given him an interesting outlook on landscape photography.

I believe that the purist landscape doesn’t exist in my world. The hand of man is all about. You will find man’s presence in my works. Is this a good thing? Is this a natural evolution of man’s prowess over nature? Does man’s works dwarf or are they dwarfed by nature? Can there be harmony? You decide…

Cloud on a hill

Q&A with Pullfolio:

How did you get started?
My dad gave me my first film camera at the age of eight. I thought this was cool. I now have a camera just like Sean Connery (Aka Bond…James Bond). I photographed everything: cows, fields, trees, hills and especially clouds–which always looked so very cool to me. Unfortunately, I was so excited about what I shot, I opened the camera back to see what was on the film! Today I am very lucky to still have that excitement of instant gratification by looking into the screen of my digital camera right after a fascinating capture.

Tractor under a dark cloud

What work do you want to do, and why?
Landscapes which show the interaction of man and nature for good or bad–especially farming.” Here in San Joaquin county, the individual farmer is still a major force but is a rapidly dying breed unfortunately. Farming does pay well here for now, but costs are increasing daily, the kids have all gone to college and on to different professions, developers are buying up the land and what is left will eventually be run by giant farming conglomerates. Mostly what’s left are old, stout men who would rather be doing nothing else. They are dedicated, not trusitng of government rules but absolutely love the land here. They are indeed fascinating to talk to–once they get to know you and have convinced them you are not from the government.

Reflections

What motivates you as a photographer – and do you have any idols in the photography world?
Serenity–that it still can be found through photography in this hectic and crazy world. The chase–of capturing an unexpected but stunning image. The locales–going someplace special in the quiet of dawn or the introspection of dusk. And having your two children and wife along at times to share in the moments.

I have a photography guru, who shall be nameless but knows who he is, who was kind enough to brutalize me into creativity. Many thanks! And Marty Knapp, one of northern California’s premier landscape photographers, who once told me to go out and shoot, shoot, and then shoot some more. I have!

Mistical orchard

So show us your best image, and tell us why it is?
Mistical orchard because I had waited a couple of years for the right conditions. Usually we get much seasonal winter fog but not for a couple of seasons before this shot was taken. I had tried this type of shot before, but either the trees were not symmetrical enough or the fog was just not right. Then one early New Year’s day morning two years ago it all came together. There was very little post processing done to this photo except some contrast and color adjustments. The sun was beginning to shine through in all the right places, giving the trees a unique color and porcelain texture. The tones of this scene contributed to a three-demensional look. This one hangs framed on one of our walls.

Pastoral surreal

What do you plan to do in future?
I will continue to showcase California’s diverse vistas and highlight man’s harmony and disharmony with its land. There are a few local galleries here which could benefit from my contribution-my artistic style which seems to be different from most. I haven’t seen too many landscapes with an edge showing here. I plan on changing that!

Hyper yellow tree

For the gearheads: what equipment do you use?
Well, if I could just click my eyes, process a photo in my head and then have it printed out …

My camera is the Nikon D700, which seems to be ideal for landscape photography. Full frame sensor, true wide angle, noise free high ISO and a tank-like but compact body allows me to enhance my creativity much more than all my other Nikons before it. Landscapes have many extremes of light which the D700 has the tonal range to handle–plus holding up the physical aspects of the terrain and weather quite well.

My primary use lens is the Nikon 14-24 2.8. This has got to be one of the best wide angle out there. Shoot at any aperture, shoot in poor lighting. Just go for it! Wide angles are so compelling IMO. People complain that you cannot place filters in front of this lens. Why would you want to? The nano coated lens does just fine in most extremes. Besides, I tend not to use filters and use only NDs for extremely slow shutter speeds. My other lenses include the 80-200 2.8, 60 prime 2.8 and the 50 prime 1.4. One day I would love to have the 24-70 2.8.

They are all just tools however. Gotta have the eye man!

Sheep hill

What do you think of Pullfolio so far?
Ease of use. It has a nice scrolling system with options for how you want to organize. Best of all it’s linked to all your photos and groups in Flickr, allowing easy additions of your copyrighted photos.

Thank you. And now, let’s see some images!

Windmill sentinel

One cannot live in northern California without seeing these clean energy giants. Get up close and you will see just how big they are!

Glow tree

Taken on a cold but dreamy winter morning. The light, the low ground fog–all just so right together.

Barn with setting clouds

Just how many old barns in northern California are there? Home builders actually try to buy these here for wood beams in custom homes.

Lone lamp

A lone lamp in Lemoore, Califonia, which means it’s in the middle of nowhere. Can somebody please tell me what it’s doing here? Maybe a lonely beacon in the fog that day.

Bugs-in-a-field.

“Bugs in a field” seems so surreal, so I made it look surreal. Farmers leave their junk all over their fields here. One man’s junk is another’s artwork.

Red train

A red train in the middle of desolate fields…so I kept the train red and the fields a very stark and desolate B&W.

Fence rise

Where does that fence lead to on a cold January morning? I kept expecting spaceships from Close Encounters to buzz me.

Overwhelming clouds

Patterson pass in northern California. It looks as if those windmills are making their last stand.

Ghost rocks

A slow shutter capture using ND filters and the 80-200 2.8

Rain on its parade

Yes, that cloud was really over the old horse trailer. The real just became surreal

Fog poles

Low level winter fog is a common occurance here in northern California. It can make the mundane seem so very sublime.

Delta surreal

Life on the delta taking on very surreal tone ar the end of the day

Cloud shack

A pump house far out in the country and yet has grafitti all over it. Go figure!

Pete Saunders can be contacted directly via ongopt@comcast.net

Rush Hour, Tokyo

Ming Thein (photography.mingthein.com) is a photojournalist whose primary aim is to record the little moments in life that happen around him and hitherto go unnoticed. This includes the macro landscape we live in – and the micro one that plays a surprisingly important part in everyday life: time.

He is based in London and Kuala Lumpur, and is available for assignments via mingthein@gmail.com, and maintains additional work at www.mingthein.com

Yin and Yang, City Hall, London

Though a theoretical physicist by training, Ming picked up a camera at 18 and never looked back – despite having to take various corporate jobs to pay the bills. He started out shooting everything and anything, but eventually combined interests and specialised in wristwatches, then tried the challenge of wildlife. After a while, he found himself drawn to the humanistic: there are only so many photographs you can take of an inanimate object: but of people, the possibilities are infinite. Variations in behaviour, expression, moods – then multiply that by about six billion.

“Watching my little neighbourhood in downtown Kuala Lumpur change around me in barely a few years has driven me to document daily life around me. I feel the need to preserving the moment for posterity – not just so future generations can see how we lived, but also as a reminder for our generation of how far we’ve come.”

Today, he aims to apply his skills to a worthy cause – to give a face and voice to those who need it. To show the world things that are normally unseen – and to do it with the highest integrity and most arresting way possible. This is photojournalism.

After Taraweh prayers, Kelana Jaya, Kuala Lumpur

Q&A with Pullfolio:

How did you get started?
I’d always wanted to try photography, but being a student at the time, had to wait for digital to make it affordable. Then I shot everything and anything; I used to see compositions in my mind but be frustrated that I either didn’t have a camera, or later, couldn’t get it to turn out the way I wanted. The answer is practice, practice, and more practice! I’ve lost count of the number of shutters I busted along the way. Once you understand the basics, it’s much easier to then pick a genre/ topic and start running with it. I’m also a big fan of film: not so much for day to day work, but as a training ground that teaches you how to understand light and how to use it to create an emotion or a particular aesthetic.

Marketplace thespian, Kuala Lumpur

What work do you want to do, and why?
At the moment, I think it’s about time for a resurgence of good photojournalism: the style that’s intimate, emotional, and captures that decisive moment (to overquote HCB). It can be used not just for wire work, but there’s also a lot of potential in advertising and other media, if done correctly. And of course the dream of every photojournalist is to have their work picked up by an NGO and given carte blanche to report a cause as they see fit.

Swine flu protection, Hospital Melaka, Malaysia

What motivates you as a photographer – and do you have any idols in the photography world?
I guess it’s that feeling of satisfaction you get when things just come together for that perfect instant, which you manage to capture for your audience to subsequently appreciate later – in that moment, you managed to get everything right – composition, exposure, focus, tonality, etc. As for heroes – I wouldn’t call them idols – of course. If you look at enough images, there are just some that make you go ‘wow’. For me the number one guy has got to be Sebastio Salgado – his work is moving, powerful, emotional, yet aesthetically awesome. If I can produce a handful of images a year that hit those notes, I’m ecstatic – he’s got half a dozen books out with thousands of images like that. Aside from Salgado, I find there are actually a lot of great photographers on flickr etc which probably don’t get as much exposure as they should – their work is different and inspires you to experiment, which is the only way to grow as a photographer.

The scavenger, Canacona Beach, Goa

So show us your best image, and tell us why it is?
The shot above – I struggled with a name for a while, but decided on ‘The Scavenger’. I think it embodies the traits I mentioned above – it’s raw, aesthetically pleasing, emotional, atmospheric, and technically sound. But it also has a story behind it – I’ve got plenty of images I find aesthetically pleasing, but have no story. The truth behind this one is bittersweet; I shot it during a break at a society wedding on a beach in Goa; on one side you’ve got literally a six figure party going on, and on the other, people like this who are below the poverty line cleaning up behind the scenes and generally doing other things to ensure that everything happens as it should.

Cinematic, Royal Exchange, London

What do you plan to do in future?
I want to take photojournalism mainstream – maybe that’s a bit ambitious – but I think there’s a lot of potential to switch styles and have reportage style advertising, etc. that’s just not been done right now. I feel it’s more real and far less contrived than the super retouched images society aspires to these days. And of course there’s still the dream of being asked to cover a story for a major NGO. I’m also working hard to change the way I interact with the subject – the paradox is so far it’s been difficult for me to get close and have isolation (from a technical standpoint) whilst retaining context – I’m trying to get in closer, get more involved, and still maintain that background context in the shot. I’ll also keep shooting fine art street photojournalism to hone my preparedness skills.

The kiss, London underground

For the gearheads: what equipment do you use?
Can’t we just enjoy images without comparing equipment? LOL. Seriously though, the more you shoot, the realize gear doesn’t matter *provided it doesn’t hinder you*. I think it’s because eventually you understand how everything works at a deeper level, so you can work around weaknesses in equipment and use them as strengths – for example, the huge depth of field on compacts is great for making very compressed telephoto landscapes, which you can’t do with an SLR because you’d have to stop down to far to get everything in focus. I’ve been through quite a number of equipment changes – started with a Fuji superzoom thing, then used a whole slew of Nikons – the F2, D2H and D3 were my favourites – the former two taught me how to shoot, and the last one let me do literally anything. Ultimately I decided portability and stealth were important, especially for photojournalism and capturing natural emotion – big cameras tend to change the way subjects react. I’m now using a Leica M8, which I admit I didn’t like at first, because it didn’t give me the flexibility the D3 did. But now I find it helps me concentrate and see better; I have just two lenses now – 21 and 50mm, with a Canon SD780 IS/ IXUS 100 supercompact for backup. That thing is as stealthy as it gets! I still have a D90 and some speedlights for my watch photography, though.

Sunstar, Southbank, London

What do you think of Pullfolio so far?
I think it’s great for photographers who are serious about their work, because you get more time to get out there and shoot – instead of trying to learn HTML. If I’d had this a couple of months ago, I could have saved myself two weeks of coding and debugging – and still not being 100% happy with the results. It’s also a whole load cheaper than having somebody write the same code for you, but you’ve got the flexibility to easily make it look how you want with the custom layouts. I think the sense of community is great, too – especially when the agencies and image scouts figure out how much good work is here – it’s MUCH easier to see than trawling flickr directly!

Thank you. And now, let’s see some images!

Photojournalism: the art of preserving a meaningful instant in time

Piccadilly brunch, London

Contemplating what comes after, The British Museum, London

Death and the afterlife fascinated the Egyptians – and rightly so. Eternity is a concept that usually goes ignored in today’s busy world, but becomes increasingly important as we get older. It’s the fundamental question of what happens to us after we die, and why we’re here in the first place.

Solat Raya, London

Morning Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan for Muslims at the Malaysian High Commission, London

Urban Decay, Kuala Lumpur

Despite the soaring pinnacles of engineering in the background, not every part of Kuala Lumpur is as shiny: the old kampung village in the foreground, despite appearances, is not decayed and abandoned but has most probably been demolished to make way for another soulless steel edifice

Construction, Kuala Lumpur

In keeping with the rapid expansion of Kuala Lumpur, development at every size is taking place all over the city – and with local labor costs soaring, contractors have resorted to scores of immigrant workers – some legal, most not.

Protester, City Hall, London

A member of the public protesting at BNP leader Richard Barnbrook’s trial outside City Hall, London. The MP had been brought to tribunal over charges of inciting racial hatred in his community

Horology: a view into time itself, taken nearly to the levels of art

Jaeger Le-Coultre Reverso Grande GMT

Glycine Incusore BlackJack

Daniel Roth Classique

IWC Ingenieur AMG Chronograph and Rolex GMT-Master II Ceramic

A. Lange & Sohne Tourbograph Pour La Merite

Oris Chronoris 2005 Edition

A. Lange & Sohne 1815

A. Lange & Sohne 1815

Girard-Perregaux ww.tc Tourbillon Sous Trois Ponts d'Or

Architecture: poetry in geometry

City Hall, London

Spiral, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Occulus, Pudu Plaza, Kuala Lumpur

Omotesando reflections, Tokyo

Torii at Fushima-inarii, Kyoto

Escher built, Kuala Lumpur Convention Center

Ming Thein can be contacted directly via mingthein@gmail.com