I was given 2 days notification to give a 90 minutes presentation to 100+ photographers at Smugmug HQ in Mt View. Despite this being such a short notice, I think the presentation was a major hit !! Check out all the comments below!!!

I gotto say, I can never get enough of a photograph on a beautiful lightbox. It just enhances the image so beautifully. That’s also why we were so thrilled to have our image showcased in the main entryway to Smugmug‘s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Not only that, it’s enlarged up to a life size of 8 feet tall !!! With me being a super tall guy, standing at 5 feet 5 inches, that monstrous light panel is almost twice as tall! Well, almost.

Chris MacAskill had to use a double lightbox (I seem to be using the terms interchangeably due to how similar they are to each other these days) for the image. Check it out below, with the image on the right being the original image. Whee!!!

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We have recently added two absolutely amazing product lines to our studio that I am personally very happy with. If you know me, I’m extremely selective when it comes to the products we provide. Our employees have been known to roll their eyes when I rejected a beautifully crafted album just because it doesn’t have rounded corners (I refuse to believe that people will want to order sharp metal cornered albums, place them next to children, or adults). Maybe it is because I live in the same town where Steve Jobs work.

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A great deal of kudos go to Queensberry, our supplier in New Zealand. They are the best handcrafted album maker in the world. All the albums are hand-cut, hand-matted and assembled with acid free mats. The attention to detail and classic approach ensures the albums retain their appeal and integrity, as you pass them down from generations to generations. The albums are guaranteed to be free from defects in material or workmanship.

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The beauty of Queensberry albums is the unlimited capacity for customizations. Poetic balance between beauty, craftsmanship and functionality can be achieved to create either a classic or contemporary look to the albums.

Talk about beauty, the other product line that we are introducing is called the Luminae Crystal Panels (image above). Its a phenomenal compliment to our classic Museum Quality Canvas Wrap. Luminae Crystal Panels are the brightest, longest-lasting and most energy-efficient LED-light panels in the world! The lighting is made to be evenly light a photography with no color cast. It is about half an inch in thickness with aluminium studs to hang on the walls, creating a modern look that is captivating. We are installing at least 6-10 of these products along our studio corridor with high-fashion images that we captured.

I could go on and on about these one-of-a-kind products that only we can offer but I would rather you come and see them all up close and personal in our studio. Get an appointment to swing by…NOW!

- Michael Soo

Photographing bathing suit calendars with scantily clad models is exciting, the haute cuisine food photography has ruined take-out food for me for life, and my happiness for the ecstatic brides and grooms and their families I photograph already warms my heart on lonely winter nights into the next century. I do love my work, but when a photographer REALLY wants to have fun…

Gentry Magazine has recently exposed my vice–Trash the Dress–in their February 2009 Annual Wedding Issue. (full issue here)

I know it takes courage for women to sacrifice their treasured, expensive gowns, and my best efforts go into transforming the memories of these perfect wedding dresses into dramatic, whimsical, permanent art, elevating the dresses to importance equal to the lovely brides inside them. There is extreme contrast in style for featuring these wedding dresses between the precisely programmed events of the wedding day and the let-it-all-go, wild-and-crazy freedom of these photo sessions. And the gowns shine in both settings.

The brides tap into their imaginations as they collaborate with me, hatching the plan for these photo shoots. And if you look at my series of pictures, you’ll see the mischievous thrill on the faces of these lovely women. If you could see a behind-the-scenes collection of pictures of me, you would see that I am having spectacular fun, too.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZmYrD5fqL8]

You are invited to share my Trash-the-Dress images to enjoy the happy faces in these out-of-the-box wedding mementos, and remember, on the other side of the lens, my smiles were even broader. Thank you, ladies, for making my day!

- Michael Soo

A good landscape photographer needs to excel in a variety set of skills. He/She needs to be a pre-visualizer and a person who truly understands lighting, composition and skilled in Photoshop. On top of that, knowledge on meteorology, topography and copious amount of patience play a big deal. It is the former set of skills that scored me great shots in landscape but my type-A personality prevented my photographs from rising into the stratosphere work of geniuses (the likes of Ansel Adams).

However, I do understand the basic requirements. I have shot my share of great landscape throughout the world, from the luscious rain forest and great ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia; to the Antelope Canyon in Arizona; to the 3000 year old ancient Bristlecone forest in the White Mountains.

My experience with landscape photography allowed me to utilize some of my skills in that arena to be applied to the arena of modeling photography. Case in point is my recent modeling portfolio shoot with Katie Sue and Madeline of Look Modeling Agency. The shoot was fraught with disasters back in December with two cancellations due to family emergencies with the crew. “Third time is a charm,” I said. And it was. Christal Saville helped with both hair and makeup. She’s quite the multi-talented whiz, helped tremendously with picking the wardrobe as well.

After finishing up with the indoor studio shots, we adjourned to a field of yellow wild flowers, a location I selected specifically for this shoot. It is truly about timing and planning. These fields of golden flowers do not last very long, about a week or two at most each year. So, to catch them on full bloom is quite an amazing sight to behold.

Capturing such a large field of flowers without diverting the attention of the images from the model is a key compositional skill that is needed. The point to remember is that this is a model shoot. The subjects are the model and the beautiful field is only secondary that compliments the subjects.

Using elements such as those that shows the size of the fields (using the horizon line and blue sky), color matching (dress colors to match the flowers), knowing when the sun will set (timing for the best lighting), how to use the shadow of objects in the vicinity, will all help to craft the final art form. Rapport with the models to contribute towards great expressions will pay big dividends as well.

So, as you can see, photography isn’t just a single point of mastering one or two skills but rather about gaining proficiency in a multitude of skills. These skills range from soft (people) to technical, and together create a work of art that elevates a photographer from someone who merely records an event to an artist that can create masterpieces.

- Michael Soo