Year-end Review :: 2017

And so, another year comes to an end. I ended last year hopeful. Hopeful for fresh opportunities, unfamiliar experiences and new friends. 

This year I decided that I would pursue photography as a career, not just a hobby that was rapidly taking over my life and all my free time. With this came a shift in mindset and a demand for change within myself. The creative professional field is relentless and cutthroat, but also incredibly caring and empathetic. Maybe it's the nature of our craft; to be more involved with the people behind the stories and pictures than the numbers that make them up.. 

It was thanks to both friends recommending jobs to me and aggressively pursuing clients that I was able to learn so much first-hand on what it takes to run a photography business and what kind of photographer I want to be.

Someone I want to thank in particular is Jose. Thank you for bringing me on shoots and weddings with you, even though you hate shooting weddings. Thank you for being a positive force through Creatives Aga;nst Depression, and thank you for finally getting married after 90000 years and inviting me to shoot that.  Looking back, it's almost hard to imagine that so much could have happened in the span of 365 days, but somehow here we are. 

• I successfully got my first studio internship.

• Upgraded my gear. Took the leap and bought a D810 after saving up for almost 2 years.

• I changed my major. It's official now, I suppose.

• Started interning for L.A. Birdie

• Set myself up with Major League Hacking's photography department

• Got a job at Lifetouch (boy's gotta eat, nawmsayin?)

• I joined M Magazine as a staff photographer.

• Flew to Minneapolis for the Associate Press Conference

• I secured a spot as a Shattuck Intern at UMBC.

• I created an internship working for the Creative Mornings Baltimore team doing video production and editing.

• Successfully shot a Trevor Noah show.

• I (finally) turned 21.

• I flew out to Louisville and got to work with Clay Cook and his team for a few days.

• Traveled to Sweden and Finland.

• I bit the bullet and bought a Mac (why are they so expensive...)

• To wrap the year, I shot my first wedding solo (I'll be blogging this soon!).

I'm nowhere close to where I want to be. Not even close. But this year has been another step in my journey, and a wonderful one at that. So thank you. Thank you all for trusting me, for believing in me and for continuing to pull for me. 

Here is my 2017 in photos. 

Fresh Beginnings

Hey there! You're here!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to check out my new site! Some of you might be wondering why it took me so long to finally make this, or maybe some of you don't even know who I am. I'll get to that, don't worry. 

So who am I?

My name is Winston Zhou and I’m a Maryland native (born and raised) attending the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, where I study photography as well as biology, music, and entrepreneurship. I love cozy spaces, finding new music, eSports, spicy food, and a good runny egg. My photography is similarly varied – I push my limits further every day by challenging myself to tackle new subjects and styles.

To me, the best photographs are ones that are truly candid, when you can tell that someone is fully living in the moment. The style I gravitate toward is candid portraiture, where I capture a fleeting moment and transform it into something eternal. However, I also enjoy shooting more formal portraits, sports, and landscapes.   

Why did this take so long?

Haha honestly, up until about 6 months ago I wasn't even sure I wanted to be a photographer! Even though I've since changed paths from Pre-Dental to just Biology, somewhere in my mind I wasn't confident in my own abilities as a photographer to be able to do this as a profession. But after months of weighing pros and cons, prayer and marinating in my thoughts, I've decided that I only have this one life, one try to do what I love. And so with that decision, I'm putting all my chips into this basket. All this to say: I've made my choice, and now I'm committing to it. 

What's my setup and what do I shoot? 

My current main setup is a Nikon D810 and an 85mm f/1.8. I'm sort of a one-trick pony when it comes to full-frame. I also shoot on a Nikon D7000 and use a 18-105 f/3.5-5.6. Funnily enough, 90% of the work you'll see on this site today will have been shot on the crop-frame D7000. Hence the age old adage: "It's not the camera, it's the photographer."

I'd like to be able to give the "anything and everything" answer but the fact is that's not completely true. My specialty is candid portraiture. Capturing natural, organic moments and preserving those precious memories. I like to say I "proactively wait" for these moments in time. Weddings, landscape, formal portraits, headshots, architecture and sports are also fun things I love shooting! If you need any of that work done, I'd be more than happy to work with you. 

As always, don't hesitate to reach out! You can reach me through the contact page,

Email: winston@wzhouphoto.com
Instagram: @wzhouphoto
Call/text anytime: (240) 401-1288

Best,

Winston