Lunar Review: 2023 (Year-In-Review part TWO)

Hej hello friend!

Welcome back to a year-end review….again! If you missed the first one, you can find it just below this post on my blog. This second post will be focused on food photography, and still-life photography (product photography? I’m not sure what people are calling it, honestly).

In a couple months I’ll have been in my current studio space for a year now!!! Studio photography was always a bit of an Moby Dick to me before now, both in terms of the financial aspect of paying for it, as well as the nitty gritty of having enough stuff to shoot to warrant a space to begin with! Admittedly, the first few months of having access to it were a bit wibbly wobbly. It was super exciting to get in there and try things out. Every single session was teaching me something new. But at the same time, I’d been so used to shooting in these crazy little cramped spaces that it felt like a waste to drive all the way to the studio sometimes.

Back when I first started experimenting with food, the very first “set” I created was literally a piece of foam core from Michaels on top of a Krispy Kreme box just haphazardly placed in the center of my bedroom floor. The shooting situation after that didn’t really improve much though. It went from shooting on a floor, to using a discarded white IKEA shelf on top of cardboard crates (still in my bedroom), to somehow having not enough floor space and shooting within the the square of real estate created by my L-shaped desk….HAHA. That last setup was probably one of the tightest I’ve ever had to shoot in, being a room that was about 2-3 steps wall to wall. We’re gonna omit what happened when I moved into an apartment and basically used all of it as glorified studio space though. That was really some peak bachelor living that I’d rather not share online haha…

And now we’re here! In 2024! With access to a studio! When the year was starting, there was this sense of decision paralysis for what to do. Obviously you can do almost whatever you want, given the space to do so. There’s almost this preemptive fear that I wouldn’t be able to create anything good? That there were too many things to photograph? But as time went on, (and the monthly rent continued to leave my wallet) I realized that there’s not only nothing to fear, but that there are so many things out there isn’t just one way to bring an idea to fruition. In the previous review, I mentioned my love of shooting on alternative cameras for the love of photography, and for the purpose of keeping my vision honed. Using curiosity to try new gear helped make the prospect of creating in a studio environment a bit less daunting, and a bit more exciting.


The photos in this review are going to be from January 2023 to December 2023. My hope is that this is a fun little start to the new year, but without all of the hubbub that comes with the Gregorian new year! As fun as it would be to include photos shot in January 2024, we’re going to save them for the next year-end review just for consistency’s sake :) This year I was really fortunate to have been able to work with some really incredible people. I’m grateful for the projects that came to fruition, and the ones that got put on the back burner. I really am.

If you’d like to make something awesome with me, call me beep me if you wanna reach me. Shoot me a message via instagram, email at winstonqzhou@gmail.com, or through my contact page.

As always, thank you to everyone who’s supported me, worked with me, or been a part of this year. I’m grateful. I’m grateful to be able to continue this journey. Please enjoy this selection of photos from this year.

-Winston

 
 

Shown above is a small collection of images from my very first time shooting inside Prop Up Shop by Limonata Creative! I’ve gathered some experience art directing and prop styling over the past few years, but being given the opportunity to create my own project from scratch in a prop wonderland was something next level. I’m incredibly grateful for Giulietta and Nate for giving me this opportunity! And I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention NIM/Liam for the camera assist on this project.

For this project I knew that I wanted to use something I’d be able to handle with relative logistical ease (since I didn’t have a food stylist friend at the time. Honestly, if you’re seeing this as a food stylist and you’re looking to do some test shoots….please hit me up!), and something that wouldn’t be found anywhere else in the city. The natural choice was Henry from Hyde Handmade Knives.

While the majority of my work is shot on my normal A7iii kit — the set of 12 above were all shot on the Ricoh GRiii.

So much of my time is spent tweaking the lighting, and styling in the studio, that I didn’t want to lose the instinct to create images on the fly too. For almost all of these images, with the exception of the pizza images where I used a pocket flashlight, were shot with natural/environmental light. Nonexistent lighting equipment, minimal styling beyond light poking and prodding.

There’s so much beauty to be seen just out and about in the world - I’m glad I bought this EDC staple camera. Let’s keep going.

 

This final set was a really fun series I did with a few different rings I’ve found over the years. Exploring different lighting setups, color palettes, and figuring out how those things play into the physical form of the ring. In my mind, they taste like the juiciest Starburst, don’t you think?
From left to right: Square ring and pair of stainless steel rings from Chaz / @Object History, glass ring by Echo / @zaoglass, Sirius ring by Tyrak Moore / @39superorange

 

Thank you for taking the time to explore my 2023 with me. I’m grateful for your presence! There’s so much talent in Baltimore, I’d love nothing more than to be able to bring it forward in a new and exciting light.

I’d love to work with you in 2024 — shoot me a message via my contact page / winstonqzhou@gmail.com.

Drink some water, and peace out.
Thank you

Year In Review: 2023 (part ONE)

Hej hello friend!

Welcome back to another year-end review. Thank you for sticking with me for another wild ride. To me, 2023 was a really juicy year. Juicy in the same way that those oat clusters in Honey Bunches of Oats sometimes take in some of the delicious cereal milk and become a crunchy berry of sorts. Yknow? Ok, maybe not.

Every single year I try to do something slightly different from the previous years, both in an effort to improve but also to just keep things fresh. The function of doing an annual review serves as a celebration as well as a reflective tool for me. I’m a strong believer that while the practice should remain consistent, the methodologies needn’t remain stagnant. There should always be time made for experimentation! Anyways the little twist this go around is that I’m doing this review as a TWO-PART review!!!! That’s right boys, girls, and non-binary pals. You get to read my blatherings not just one, but twice! (Alexa, play “Feel Special” by TWICE). We’re gonna get into the first one today. The second will come later on.

This first part will be focused on personal and fun work. Not that the work I normally do isn’t fun. It’s that it doesn’t always quite fit into the food/still life portfolio I’m building, y’know? :) These photos are shot on all sorts of cameras, not just my normal kit. I’m a strong advocate for the premise that “gear doesn’t matter”, and that you should be able to create images you love on any camera. It’s something that I try as hard as I can to embrace; shooting on anything and everything I can get my hands on. Point and shoot cameras. Beginner cameras. Different camera brands. I think it’s important to get experience working with all of it.

For the NERDS that want the technical stuff, here’s a breakdown of the photos I shot and the different cameras I used to make this final selection. Something to note is that I omitted photos I took on my phone….because I don’t have time to sort through all of that haha.

Sony A7iii - The current workhorse camera in my kit. I use two of them! No complaints.


Fujifilm X-M1 - My first foray into the Fuji family! Not my last, for sure. In 2021 ish I got burnt out on taking photos and I wanted something fun and fresh to take around as an EDC camera outside of my phone. It because a bit burdensome to bring around with me everywhere, despite its already fairly compact form factor. So i sold it. But I’m eyeing the GFX100, X100V, or X-T5 though.

Nikon Coolpix S230S - This thing is so small, it’s perfect. The love of my life…sorta. The files are adequate, and the shooting experience is nice. :) The only downside to this cameras is that it only shoots JPG files, so the files go from “so shitty, they’re good” all the way back around to plain shitty really quickly. That being said, I still love her. I don’t use this camera that much these days but it’s great.

Ricoh GRiii - This is my new girl!! My everyday carry camera. My dream of having a high powered EDC kit is essentially contained within this body. It’s small, shoots RAW files (or JPG if you’re nasty), and has the simple point and shoot features while still giving me the option of full manual control if I want it. I’ve been using this thing a LOT.

Nintendo 3DS - What started as a bit has since turned into something moderately serious???? Ok, not serious. I’m never that serious. But it’s certainly something that’s become much more fun than I initially expected! Actually shooting with this camera is a bit of a pain in the ass, but it IS very fun. It also forces me to be more stark with my compositions due to the sensor being so so so so small. But that’s a pretty good tradeoff, wouldn’t you say?

This year was a bit of a bop. Took on my biggest client to date, got my new portfolio reviewed for the first time. Revamped my website. In total I took on 24 projects throughout the year, and shot about 30,000 photos (this part I’m unsure about). But all of that seems strangely….secondary? Because I guess my goal was to avoid burnout, and get into the practice of taking personal photos on a (near) weekly basis! Getting client work is always much appreciated but I think the importance of producing art just for yourself should come first. In my mind, that’s the key to longevity, or survival at the very least, as a creative professional. These photos aren’t going to end up in MoMA, or a show. But they kept my heart warm, and creative cup filled. And for the purpose of this first part in my annual review series: that’s more than enough.

If you’d like to make something awesome with me, call me beep me if you wanna reach me. Shoot me a message via instagram, email at winstonqzhou@gmail.com, or through my contact page.
As always, thank you to everyone who’s supported me, worked with me, or been a part of this year. I’m grateful. I’m grateful to be able to continue this journey. Please enjoy this selection of photos from this year.

-Winston

 

Thank you for taking the time to explore my 2023 with me. I’m grateful for your presence!
I’d love to work with you in 2024 — shoot me a message via my contact page.

Year In Review: 2022

Hej hej hello! Welcome back for another year.

2022 wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned for it. It was my first year as a full corporate drone, which meant there was relatively limited opportunity for juicy work outside of that. There was a point in the year around August where I really….didn’t want to do this review because for most of the year I felt super drained and unmotivated. But I think even on the drought years it’s important to still follow through! In my mind, doing this review is one of the most invaluable things I can be doing for my growth as an artist. It was the year of personal work, and trying to lean into the weird abstract photos that I love making. I’m choosing to view this annual task as a release of sorts as opposed to some Ourobourian ritual. A sexy little treat for myself, regardless of my accomplishments or lack thereof. So here we are!

I guess I should really quickly add that while I say this was a “drought” year, I really only mean that in the sense of drive for creative personal work. On paper I did take fewer clients this year but I’m still extremely grateful for the people who I was able to have in front of my camera and the projects I was able to participate in! The idea that you’re lazy if you’re not working on things constantly has been something that’s been a consistent soggy crust in my pie. But with this year being the first time my calendar wasn’t already pre-filled with contracts, I decided to make a bit of a conscious effort towards keeping it that way? This year really felt like a year of introspective growth as opposed to strictly being focused on technical knowledge/money. And looking back, I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

This first section of photos encapsulates my favorite work that happened when I was able to be alone. One of my favorite things is to go for walks with my camera on a quiet day and just watch. Sometimes I get to make photos. Sometimes I come back with nothing. These photos are my favorite little “somethings.”

As always, if you’d like to work with me to make a little something, call me beep me if you wanna reach me.

 

Some things to note in the photos above:
- A revisiting to my Alma Mater on a blistering afternoon to celebrate the PhD of a dear friend.
- Discovering the neighborhood cats that live by my new apartment
- Scenes from my first vacation in many many years
- A beautiful slicer from the incredibly talented Baltimore knifemaker, Henry Hyde (see what’s available on his storefront here).

This next section of photos are an ultra condensed snapshot into the people I was able to photograph this year. Some of these projects were work. Others as “work”. A rolling stone gathers no bridge birds, or whatever. All of these people do incredible things, so I’ll be sure to be highlighting them in the future with more dedicated posts :)

This past year has been restful, draining, mind-numbing, inspiring, and juicy in completely backwards unexpected ways. Making attempts to be more public with my work seems to be an annual declaration (so I see no reason to stop saying it now, haha!) I’ll do my best to share more.

As always, thank you to all the people who continue to grace me with their presence and support. Thank you to my friends who keep me anchored when storms brew. Thank you to my bidet for giving me relief when my stomach brews storms. And thank you (yes, you!) for taking the time to read this! I’m sure this year will bring boundless challenges, but I’m quite optimistic that there will be an equal share of joyous experiences just waiting to be unearthed.

Thanks for sticking around. Let’s make something awesome this year.

Cheers,
WZ

Year-end Review: 2021

 

Hi! Hej! Hello! Are you well? What’s your flavor today?

This year was honestly a whirlwind in almost every possible aspect. I got a job! I was able to commission my friend Charissa to create a logo for me! I launched a print shop! People bought prints! (Thank you 10Q Thank you so much!) I moved 3 times! I turned 25! Truly the most. By the time December was rolling around, my motivation was so fickle, it felt like a coin flip on whether or not I even wanted to complete this review. But after a few days of mulling, I was reminded that the entire purpose of this annual review is so that I have something to act as an anchoring point of reset and reflection. It's nice to be able to share this with you guys, but the primary purpose is in the name. A year end review. What’s the point to make this review, and rush it out if it doesn’t fulfill that base purpose, y’know?

This year was quite different from previous years in that it was also my very first year of stepping away from full time freelance work! For the longest time I thought that if stopped trying to make a living as a full time photographer (/videographer/designer/email monkey) that it'd be the same as giving up on my ambitions. But this year I realized that it’s really…not that simple? And so I’m leaning into the mess, and pivoting! Also I want health insurance. (Maybe I’ll talk on quitting when I have more life under my belt.)

It feels quite ironic, really. To have the year I step away from full time freelance work be the most creatively fulfilling year to date. But I guess that's the way the pajeon flips sometimes ! I really enjoyed the format I used last year, so I'm going to return to that one more time. I love being able to tell stories, and I love being able to give context to what might otherwise be assumed to be a simple recipe. But this time I'll start by sharing some of my personal work and then move into professional work afterwards. As a fun twist from previous years, some of these photos will also be available for purchase as prints via my shop!

ALSO! Click on the actual pictures to tab through so you can see them in their entirety.

As always, if you'd like to work with me on a project, feel free to reach out to me via my contact page.

Let's ride.

This first set of photos is fun! (well, I think all of them are fun)
So something I had the leeway to explore this year was what it'd be like to really put the idea of "gear doesn't matter" to the test by becoming an inverse gear-head. Instead of vying for the newest gear, I'd just use what was available and convenient. (Obviously only for my personal work). And what a ride that's been!

I bought some cheap point and shoot cameras just so that I could have something with me wherever I am. Slowing down, making time to take walks, trying to see the beauty in all the spaces I’m in. Scenes taken on walks, scenes taken around the neighborhood, scenes taken at home. There’s something picturesque wherever you are. A few of these are actually available for purchase as prints! You can find em at my shop over at winston.darkroom.tech.

The photos in this set were taken on a few different cameras.
- Nikon Coolpix S230
- Canon Powershot 180
- Fuji X-M1

It’s incredible what these old cameras can do. It’s not that they’re professionally viable, but it’s inspiring to shoot on these cameras and realize how powerful the cameras on our phones are in comparison. It’s been fun to see the different limits of these cameras and figuring out what quirks on these cameras help me create when I’m not shooting on professional grade gear. Let’s keep going.

ALRIGHT this one is cool. The first two are just scenes from Adorn Vintage Furniture in Baltimore! I love watching how light trickles in to different spaces and how it interacts.
That next one is an image I shot on a Nintendo 3DS! Did you know that those old things have cameras too? Surprisingly they do, and they’re not bad (Also read as: they’re bad cameras, but the novelty of using one for photography just seemed too cool to pass up).
The next 2 abstracts are scenes that I found while sharpening knives. The material left behind on the whetstone looks like sand. Sharpening knives can be such a meditative process, seeing the different patterns go through cycles like waves is really something to behold.
And the last 2 are just spec product images of the new beater camera I bought this year. Getting into photography doesn’t always require having expensive gear, and this camera was a fun manifestation of that. The body and lens were $300 in total. I brought it with me on all the work trips I had to make. It is absolutely not an understatement to say that purchasing this camera helped me reignite my love for taking photos for fun.

Now THESE photos. The first set was when my friend and I took a jaunt down to see JP Brammer talk about his new book, Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in DC. Here he’s being interviewed by Jack Harrison-Quintana from Grindr 4 Equality. A lovely night, with some lovely people.

The next set is unironically some of my favorite photos from the entire year. Taken at the Institute of Contemporary Art at VCU. I’ve always had a love for architectural photography, but especially when I’m able to create abstractions from the preexisting forms. When I went there, I realized that the museum staff were just side eyeing this strange man hobbling around, looking at everything except for the actual art on display. (I DID look at the actual work being shown…but I truly wasn’t as entranced with the work as I was the form of the building)

Finally we have some beach! Anyone that knows me well knows that I don’t really enjoy the holidays. I loathe them, in fact. So this year for Thanksgiving I went out to a beach alone, with a little whiskey, some char siu bao, and camera in hand. I spent the day just roaming and walking on the shore. The perfect holiday.

Now then….let’s see some professional work!

 

We’re starting the set off with a bang. The first few images are from a little project I was commissioned to do for a new facility by Kaiser Permanente. Initially I’d thought about just sitting on this until the building was finally opened and official but this feels like as good a time as any. I’ve never shot purely on commission like this before, so it was a fresh experience!

In between is my favorite image from some straggler real estate contracts from last year. Love the work. Could do without the lowball budgets. The other photos in the set are BTS photos from when my friend John of Lofton Films was participating in the 100 Hour Film Racing competition. The competition is exactly as it sounds. Teams are given prompts and have 100 hours to script, cast, plan, film, and edit an entire film. I’d never shot BTS on a film set before, so this was a completely fresh experience for me.

Both of these were super fun experiences, with plenty of room for growth. I’m grateful for these opportunities.
Next up we have some love and stuff.

Ironically, there isn’t much for me to say about these. It’s been really cool to connect with these people after an incredibly lonely previous year. Weddings and stuff are still fun, but I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t a little more cautious to accept them with Miss Covid running rampant. I took on a lot less work than I would in previous years due to Covid + work schedule and I’m really glad I did. If I hadn’t, I don’t think that I’d have had the emotional bandwidth to work on these. That’s growth, baby!

Onto the next.

Whew, I love these portraits. And I love these people. The first set is of NIM / Liam for some general promotional material. I was lucky enough to cross paths with him when we were in college, and it’s been incredible seeing him grow as a person and a musician. Also we totally got yelled at by some Karen while taking these photos, so that adds to the spice too.

The next set of portraits are grad photos for Charissa! She was actually who I commissioned to create this branding I’ve been using! The way that we’ve been cheerleadering for each other from the across the fence for years and then finally had the chance to work together! I drove down to Richmond, VA to shoot these portraits for her because not only is she working full time, she also graduated from GRAD SCHOOL! Insane.

Aaaaand this set is sort of cheating but also there are no rules so who cares. These portraits of Nathan from Crawl Across the Sky were for an upcoming album he was releasing. We actually shot these late 2020 but I didn’t have a chance to edit them until 2021 so :) Like most of my clients, he just said “do whatever you want”, and I did! It’s always so great when clients let me run loose like a rabid fox.

Finally, Rayma. Who needs no introduction at all! We’d been planning this shoot around the concept of “RED” for almost 2 years now. This thing was so funny, I’ll ALWAYS laugh about it because we planned, made inspo boards, booked Sonne Studios in Baltimore, and got the stuff together…but when we actually walked into the studio and took some test photos we IMMEDIATELY scrapped everything.
Honestly, saying “test photos” isn’t even accurate because we took 1 test, realized that it was Not going to work with the stuff we had there, and pivoted away faster than the hairline of a middle aged man rocking the worlds most pallid comb-over.

Anyways, let this be a reminder that no matter how intricate your plans are….sometimes the plans make you. Following these photos is what I’m really trying to do more of: FOOD

A direction I’m trying to move in for 2022 is doing more food work! I don’t know if it’s taboo to admit but these are all actually part of extended studies, so keep those eyeballs peeled to see the completed sets later on. My friends are always giving me shade about saying “I have fun things coming. Can’t wait to share!” and then FORGETTING to share and leaving the work to rot like the last instant ramen noodle you’re too lazy to fish out before throwing the pot in the sink…..and they’re 100% right. Oops! So this year I’ll try to be better about that.
This year I’ve been trying to pay attention to the different textures in foods that we’re eating. Part of that has been investigating what specific aspect of those foods encapsulate their personality the most. I’m not quite sure myself what that means, but it’s been really interesting to explore the way to accent the visual elements of a specific flavor.



This year has been simultaneously one of the most challenging, fulfilling, and refreshing years of work to date. I’m infinitely grateful to the people I’ve been able to meet, and even more grateful for the friends that anchored me through it all.
As always, thank you for continuing to read all the insane things I spew from these fingers of mine. Thank you for supporting my work. Thank you for the encouraging words, loud and quiet. And thank you for continuing to break bread with me. (And thank you for buying my prints!) The days continue to twist and furl, but there isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not grateful for this tailwind.

Thanks for sticking around.

Cheers,
-WZ


 

How To Take The Best Product Photos

 

Most of the time, I’m shooting in spaces with either ample natural light (weddings) or in spaces where there’s absolutely no light (esports). These days, I’m primarily a Maryland/Baltimore wedding photographer, but that wasn’t always the case! There was a period in time when I worked as the in-house photographer for a jewelry/fashion “company.” If you’re curious about that, I wrote a bit more about it in my Top 31 - Week 1 post!

Working in the studio is obviously very different from shooting in natural light. The newfound control of being able to manipulate light to your exact taste, texture, strength can be rather daunting but like all things, practice makes…..something good-ish.

The easiest thing about working with products and jewelry in this kind of style is that the pieces themselves don’t need to take any breaks. You stand them up with a bit of wax and they’ll just sit there until you’re done! The hardest thing about working with jewelry is that they won’t help you work. Getting a necklace to fall in the perfect way, or getting stubborn earrings to stand up can be one of the most frustrating things in the world.

The two best things I’ve learned are as follows:
A) Perish the thought of “I’ll fix it in post.”
Because 1. you’ll come across the problem area in your selects 2. you won’t want to fix it in post but you’ll have to 3. you might have 15 different photos all with the same problem, which may or may not even be easily fixable in Photoshop.
B) Sometimes, less is more.
Jewelry is shiny sometimes. And sometimes, shiny things will catch light in awkward ways. For all my planning and efforts to optimize a shooting space to catch, bounce, and retain as much light as possible, sometimes the best lighting setups I’ve created for pieces were simple 1 light + 1 reflector setups. Using flags to block off certain angles have saved me hours of reflection removal in photoshop. All light can be good light, but sometimes less light is better than more light.

The majority of these photos were taken on a Canon 6D Mark ii, paired with either the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro or the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L. Lighting was a mix of a Profoto B1X + 51” umbrella or twin Canon speedlites, all within a custom white 40” v-flat setup I made to bounce light.

There’s an entire world of product photography that I would love to get more involved in but just for now, this is what I’ve got.

I can’t tell you where to find these pieces but I can tell you how* to reach out to me if you’re interested in working together :)

*Hint: send me a message through my contact page!

 

ZHOU31: #8 - 14

Hey hey hey

We’re back for week 2! As I was posting this week I was thinking about how strange it was that this might be the first time I have posted SO MANY days in a row! Maybe I should post more in 2020? Do you think it’s important that I squeeze content out every day? Let me know.

Anyways let’s get right into the content.

 
Day 8, Ellicott City, MD

Day 8, Ellicott City, MD

 

Day 8 was a surprise proposal into an engagement session in Historic Ellicott City. I initially had this saturday morning off after 3 straight months of weddings but this seemed so cute, I couldn’t resist. We were able to squeeze it into the one saturday I had free.

Courtney was under the impression that she was getting brunch with her girls and then going shopping….but what she didn’t know was that Phil was waiting right outside the restaurant where she was eating! We took a little walk into the forest and once we were a bit away from the trail path he popped the question, and it was all history from there.

Shot on Sony A7III, 24-70GM

 
 
Shot for the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership

Shot for the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership

 

This was part of a marketing series I was shooting for the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership, “Waterfront Wellness”. The series is part of an effort to get city residents to get out and exercise with local fitness professionals.

This was shot during a MidTown Yoga class from on a nice sunday morning at 8am. Everyone else was pretty into it….except for this kid. Me too, dude.

Shot on Nikon D810, Sigma 70-200

 
 
Shot for the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership

Shot for the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership

 

Another image from the Waterfront Wellness series!

Taken near the end of a Hiit Cardio class. Don’t let this posture fool you, this lady was crushing the workout in 90º heat the entire time.

Shot on Nikon D810, Sigma 70-200

 
 
baltimore wedding photographer
 

Ah!

This was a frame from bridal prep at Christina and Johns beautiful Elkridge wedding. At our pre-wedding consult I asked them if there was anything special that they wanted to do before the ceremony, like a first look, or anything like that, and they told me they wanted to pray together!
They were getting ready in houses literally across the street from each other, so as soon as Christina was all dressed and ready, we got John to come over, hide himself around the corner of their kitchen. She would come down, they’d hold hands around that corner, and they prayed.

It took EVERYTHING for them to not have a peek at each other, but this was one of the final frames from that beautiful moment. Christina giggling her way up the stairs. John wiping his eyes with tissues from Christina’s father. One of my favorite images of all time.

Shot on Sony A7III, 24-70GM

 
 
Madison, WI

Madison, WI

 

This was an image taken on my trip to Madison, Wisconsin! After I graduated I pulled together a few of my friends and we decided to road trip it up to Wisconsin! Eating the finest local foods, like Taco Bell, Hot Cheetos and custom olive oils and vinegars from Galena Garlic.
It just so happened that one of the biggest fighting game tournaments of the year, Combo Breaker was also happening that weekend so we also dropped in there for a few hours. If you grew up in the arcades or have any sort of love for fighting games like Tekken/Street Fighter, I’d HIGHLY recommend you check this midwest regional out. Rick and co put on an incredible time every single year.
The next day we decided to just chill out and take a walk through downtown Madison. I thought it’d be fun to toss the drone up and was able to catch a local family taking their boat out for a spin.

Shot on DJI Mavic Pro

 
 
Taken at Genesis 6, Oakland CA

Taken at Genesis 6, Oakland CA

 

An insane experience. To kick the year off I was invited to help work on the live-stream team with VG BootCamp at Genesis 6 in Oakland, CA. While I wasn’t contracted to work on photo coverage, I was put in charge of managing the Smash Ultimate stream on stage, which gave me prime real estate for photographing during the off-moments.

The days were insanely long, running nonstop from 9am-2am, but it was an experience I’d absolutely fight to experience again. If you play Smash Ultimate and have an itch to compete, Genesis is coming back this year for G7. Register on their Smash.gg page: Genesis 7.

Shot on Nikon D810, Sigma 70-200

 
 
Taken at Genesis 6, Oakland CA

Taken at Genesis 6, Oakland CA

 

The final day. Genesis, much like most tournaments, run brackets that span Friday to Sunday. Massive crowds of contestants are eliminated in single/double elimination setups and before you know it, 2000+ contestants have been narrowed down to the top 128, top 64, top 32…and before you know it: the top 8 have been selected at the end of Saturday night. While the bulk of the event happened in the Oakland convention center in downtown Oakland, the top 8 grand finals changed venues to the Paramount Theater.

The room wass dark. With no lights anywhere except for two spotlights highlighting competitors that fought their way up over thousands of others in various games, such as Super Smash Brothers 64, Melee, and Ultimate as well as Rivals of Aether. The atmosphere was absolutely unrivaled, and unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! You can find the other weeks right here:
Week One
Week Three
Week Four