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WEEK FOUR OF ZHOU31 !!!

For this final blog post in the series, I’ll just be looping in the final two days so that we can smoothly wrap up this reflection. So instead of the usual 7 photos, we’ll be looking at 9!

Hope you guys have enjoyed this brief review on my work this year. Stay tuned for my FULL SIZED year end review, coming out TOMORROW, January 01, 2020!

This was just an outtake for some footage John (of Lofton Films) was creating for Pound 2019, a Super Smash Brothers tournament being held at Xanadu Games. The goal was rather simple, but the execution was a bit tricky. Matt and Calvin were supposed to walk towards the door, fist bump (as shown by the signature “Pound” logo), and then walk through the doors into the sunlight.

The idea was simple. The reality if the situation was everything but HAHA. First the smoke machine was throwing a fit. And then they couldn’t get the fist bump right (doing it without looking is harder than you think). Needless to say, it took a little while and a few test runs. In frame is Matt and to the right holding the camera is John. Calvin is nowhere to be found. We DID get the shot!!!! The tournament was a huge success! But yeah, I love this frame. There’s so much passion in esports. I can’t wait to do more next year.

Shot on Sony A7iii, 24-70GM

This is my friend Tyler. He primarily works in art handling and installation, but his eye for editing and selection is almost as valuable to me as his friendship. Not only did he keep me company when I was making my book, Second Generation Plates, I’ve gotten his help in choosing photos for my website revamp as well as photos to be included in this series.
This photo happened on a random afternoon when he had some collodion plates to prepare and I tagged along to keep him company. Cranked the ISO right up to 12800 (this was a darkroom, after all. Lights were all but off) and managed to take this. I don’t think he’ll ever let me take a proper portrait of him but we’ll see, eh?

Shot on Sony A7iii, 24-70GM

Another portrait of a friend. Rayma hit me up a few months ago asking for some actor headshots but we never nailed down a solid date until a few weeks ago HAHA. We initially planned to shoot in a newly constructed building on the USG campus but when we got there, it was locked. So we changed plans and found new spots. The completed set will be up on the blog soon!
But until then, check out our little BASEGRAY inspired shoot: Comp

Shot on Sony A7iii, 85mm

What a dream wedding! This might have been the quickest booking client I’ve ever had. A colleague I had been working with at the Shriver Center told me one of her best friends was getting married and that they needed a photographer. From the day they called me to their wedding couldn’t have been more than a week or two! Buckwild.

These two had a SUPER intimate wedding, with 15ish of their best friends and family. Along with some beautiful Baltimore afternoon light pouring into the room, it was one of my favorite weddings I’ve ever shot. They were so down to explore the wonderful venue and experiment. The entire portrait session consisted of me seeing something cute and asking “hey do you mind just sitting right over here?” and them happily complying while looking SO cute. Anyways I’ll put this wedding on the blog sometime. It’s cute.

Shot on Sony A7iii, 24-70GM and 85mm

Another frame from Pound 2019.
This was a photo that cemented my love for esports. It’s so much more than people staring at screens. It’s so much more than just video games. The passion people have for the players, for the games. It’s unreal. The atmosphere in a room when Grand Finals hits is like some spicy fried chicken, a bowl of ramen on a winter day. I wanna shoot more in 2020.

Shot on Nikon D810, Sigma 70-200

Day 29.
A wonderful wedding I got to shoot in the July heat. Dressed in David’s Bridal , Jimmy Choo and flowers from Park Floral, JiangLing was literally angelic. Also, that dress has POCKETS!

What I had meant to be something else turned into a heavenly shot. A happy accident, if you would.

Shot on Nikon D810, 85mm

Day 30.
This image is special to me. As many of you know, I graduated from UMBC this past May. For part of my senior thesis, we had to pitch, and bring a concept to life. The reason I said “part” instead of saying it was the entire class was that I had the idea that I wanted to flex a little. I usually try to stay pretty quiet about the things I do, only posting final results, and quietly working in the night. But I’d also spent 3 years working at The Retriever, our school news publication, and had gathered a rudimentary understanding (some might say, average+) of inDesign and I wanted to see fi I could put that to use. So I decided on a book!

What began as a simple 10-15 page endeavor quick evolved into a 60 page marathon. Before I knew it I’d had found 5 friends who were willing to cook and let me just photograph them. Making a book had never been a childhood dream of mine, but I’m so so so thankful for everyone that helped me create this book. Thank you Charissa, Nina, Steven, Nitesh, Tyler for design support and feedback.
Thank you Jess, Biobele, Raghav, Gabriel, Morgan for allowing me into your homes and kitchens.
Thank you professor for roasting all the other kids in class except for me LMAO.

Second Generation Plates is still available for puchase, if you forgot to send a gift to someone. Perfect as a coffee table book, or as a recipe book. Purchase a copy HERE. 30% of profits will be donated to RAICES.

Shot on Sony A7iii, 24-70GM

Day 31. My favorite image of the year.
One of the final double exposures made from a relaxed afternoon spent with Meghan and Chris at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, MD. These past few months I’ve been constantly researching, note taking, and observing other photographers I look up to. Looking at things I like and can implement into my own work, looking for things I’m possibly even better at than them, looking for things I’m lacking in and need to improve upon.

For the past few months I’ve felt my work has stagnated. Not that I’ve been working professionally for a long time (only 3 calendar years, with this being my first 7 months working out of school). But I constantly felt like my work was just constantly repeating itself, singing the same songs, cooking the same dishes. But for the first time in a long time the idea of making a double exposure popped into my head. I’d seen them all over the place and knew how to make them….I just never could figure out how to make them look good with my work????? Anyways, I cobbled together this image and it feels like I hopped over a great plateau of growth. It’s not the most technically advanced or complex image, but it’s growth. And it sure tastes great.

Shot on Sony A7iii, 24-70GM




I’ll be coming out with my full 2019 review on new years day! Or maybe the day after. I think a lot of people will be hungover on new years day. Stay tuned for that, or check out any of the previous weeks in my ZHOU31 series! Week One, Week Two, Week Three