Scott Robert Flash Photography Workshop – Student’s Review from Michelle Ng

This blog post is written by Michelle Ng, our student from San Francisco and attended workshop #1 & #2 -

After investing in Workshop #1, I was blown away by the teachings of Scott Robert – I learned and discovered that I could take imagery that I never thought I could produce, and met a great community that Scott cultivates.

I yearned for more and signed up immediately to become a Lifetime Member.  No joke, the second after I saw an e-mail announcing the lifetime membership, I immediately signed up!  I told my friend and they signed up right after.  Ecstatic, I was ready to attend Workshop #2:  Master Lighting Guide of Flash Photography.

The day finally arrived and lecture started at 1:30pm in San Francisco.  After parking, I approached the door entrance, where I saw “Scott Robert Workshop” on the door, rushed in, and had an adrenaline rush because I was excited to see everyone I had met on and after Workshop #1, as well as meet a bunch of new people.

Before the class started, many of the successful Scott Robert Crew was there in support.  I was happy to meet  Tauran Woo, Sou-Wah, Stephen Ng, JD Cooper, Sarah Dawson, and Junshien Lau.  By seeing so many of Scott’s mentees, it showed me that Scott was much more valuable than being a teacher, he was more than a mentor taking these people on successful journeys.

Lecture began, and we discussed Scott’s “Master Guide to Flash Photography”.  In the book, was a guide and a set of beautiful imagery that Scott captured along his journey, which proved to me, once you take your flash off your camera, the opportunities to create fantastic imagery is limitless.  Scott easily explained the concepts and proved that if understood, anyone could do it.  I especially love his shutter speed analogy with the grilled cheese sandwich!  Included in the lecture, Scott demonstrated that using available light and using Off Camera Flash (OCF) creates beautiful imagery.  To prove how easy it was, he asked for volunteers from the class, and explained that with practice and the right lighting set up, capturing image within one shot can be done.

When lecture ended, we broke up into groups, and practiced OCF until we needed to leave for the restaurant at Four Seas in Chinatown for our 8 course meal!

At Four Seas, there were four full tables, 3 filled with photographers, and the fourth filled with our models provided by the designer, Monique Zhang (Owner of CICADA design and styling ).  Monique collaborated with Scott Robert to provide the fashion for this workshop #2.

We went straight to work after dinner.  Monique provided the fashion for 6 models, dressed in something different.   After scarfing down the food, it was time and I was ready to shoot!  We had different stations that were watched over by a group leader, and had a few new rules (which in turn, helps us in the real world):

1.              No shooting the models from the sidelines, we had to wait until it was our turn to shoot each model.  That didn’t quite mean we couldn’t shoot at all, we were able to shoot each other and practice our lighting until it was our turn.  We just couldn’t steal someone else’s shot after they posed the model exactly how they wanted to.

2.              We wrote our names down on a notepad and waited our turn to shoot a model.  If we weren’t there, our names would get crossed off the list.  It’s just like waiting for a perfect moment for something to happen, and if you miss it, it’s gone unless you wait for it again.

3.              We had 3 minutes per person to shoot.  Even though 3 minutes seems like such a short time, in real life, 3 minutes is more than enough time for a professional photographer to get one great shot.  Observed in the past, some of Scott’s mentees can get the shot they want in less than 1 minute!  By practicing timing in our workshop, it forced us to think on our feet, take control of the exposure, lighting, posing, and just have everything ready so that we can succeed by getting the imagery we want.

I waited at the first location at the Bar, and watched everyone on the list apply their OCF techniques we re-learned earlier (It was introduced in our first workshop but for some, it was their first time).  My palms started to get sweaty as I got nervous waiting at the bar to shoot, and the line was long!  So rather than anticipating the wait, I went to the stairway entrance at the Four Seas and shot Victoria.  I thought that was a great warm up and came out with a few good shots.

When I went back to the Bar, it was almost time to shoot Ayumi.  I watched my friend and classmate (whom I met in Workshop #1) work and apply the four elements of WOW.  I thought he did great because he had a vision, and executed it.  After he was done, I tried to do the same thing.  It was tough.  Why?  My vision was different, and rather than focusing on getting one shot, I got greedy by asking the model to do several poses rather than focus on one pose that included the four elements of WOW.

When I came to the realization that less is more, I focused the rest of the night of getting that ONE fantastic shot of each model, and that was the turning point of my night.

We perused the streets of Chinatown and experimented with our OCF setups! I saw Scott, and he checked in with us to see how we were doing.  While he set up his next shot (by the way, it was awesome watching him set up his next shot – he talked us through what his vision was), I told him that I had an “Ah-ha” moment, and then showed him a few shots I took. We then continued shooting the remaining models, Stephanie, Crystal, and Kristina.

Being that we had some practice from our first workshop, we came out with some cool results and had a great time being each other’s light stand.

Towards the end of the evening, we had an additional model named Mei, who dressed up in a traditional Qi Pao dress, and there were some people photographing her as well!

The night ended in front of the Four Seas Restaurant being our silly selves.  We conversed, had some great laughs, and most importantly, had fun and learning at the same time.

After Workshop #2, I understood why we created these new rules, why all of the leaders enforced it, and why they are important not only to the workshop, but to the rest of our journeys working as photographers just like real paid assignments.  I was delighted to see my imagery greatly improve from Workshop #1.  Additionally, the takeaways learned were priceless and I definitely had more confidence knowing I could come out with at least one great shot within such short time! To see my shots and fellow classmates’s shots, click here and join our facebook fan page.

I can’t wait until we have our Workshop #3:  I do, Cherish You – Contemporary Posing Techniques – One day Wedding Workshop In SF Bay Area, and then ecstatic about attending the New York Workshop in September then SR x CM Workshop in China in October.   I’m ready to learn and invest more time with Scott Robert Lim.

Thank you Scott, and thank you JeZa for making this more than fantastic and being a part of my Journey.

Discovery, Innovation, Community.

About the author of today’s blog post:

Exposed to capturing memories at a very young age, I always had a passion for taking snapshots of my dearest friends and family.  I used to love borrowing my Mom’s 35mm film camera in early elementary school until my Dad bought me my first Fuji FinePix Digital Camera back in High School.  I carried that camera everywhere, always capturing that memorable moment, whether it was from Lunch, or dances such as Prom.  Until this day, I still do carry a camera with me at all times, whether it be my mini point and shoot, or my iPhone.

During that time (about six or seven years ago), I created my own Xanga blog and website, which was the popular thing to do to really show off your creative skills. A friend of a friend named Junshien Lau left me a comment on my blog and noticed I loved taking photos.  I checked out his blog and found out that he had a before and after photo, and showed us what he can do with Photoshop!  It was pretty cool what we could do with PS 6 or 7 at the time.  I noticed that Junshien wasn’t learning on his own, and had his own mentor, named Scott Robert Lim.  I was impressed by their work and hoped that one day Scott would shoot my Wedding.  I followed them for several years, and in my last few years of College, lost touch with them.

Re-discovered in early 2010, I ran across both Junshien & Scott’s websites and was shocked.  I was shocked for multiple reasons, 1) their Imagery was even better than I last saw it, 2) Scott was starting a Mentor program in San Francisco, and 3) it had only been 6-7 years since, and they’re incredibly FANTASTIC!  I imagined what could happen in 6-7 years for me.  That’s when I knew I needed to take my photography to the next level, and knew the only way I could get there is to have a mentor.

I then pulled the trigger and wanted to invest in education by signing up for Scott’s Mentor Program and am now a Lifetime Member.

You can find me via  Facebook here and e-mail me for questions and/or comments at michellenicolephoto@gmail.com

Thanks for reading and hope to work with you in the future!

Michelle Ng

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Words from Scott Robert Photography Workshop -

Special thanks the following talents and teams for this collaboration -

With our most sincere appreciation to these wonderful talented people made this June 11 day amazing!!

Cinematography by - Aaron Lee Films, Dominic Colacchio & William Ross.

Creative Fashion Director Monique Zhang
http://www.facebook.com/MoniqueZhang

Monique Zhang, Fashion design
Justine Parish, textile design for pleats
Jana Morgan, cuff design
Naomi King, earring design
Sally Bass, Jewelry design

MODELs:
Ayumi Perry
Faith Garcia
Stephanie Ng
Kristina Owyoung
Crystal Natsuko
Victoria Pham

Makeup & Hair Styling by -

Jessie Weng
Alpha Borriboonratana
Ethel O’yang

Wardrobe Assistants:
Anna Kwan
Sandi Lee
Mei Cheung