3em Entertainment Lunar New Year Party: Divas – February 9, 2013

3em Entertainment

Lunar New Year Party: Divas
February 9, 2013 | The Grand Ballroom | Norcross, GA
Featuring: Thanh Ha, Ky Duyen, Ho Le Thu, Tu Quyen, Ky Phuong Uyen, Anh Minh, Diem Suong
and Jacky Tai Fashion Show

Pre Event Photos:

So here was our setup for the model shoot before the show.  Brought the Mola beauty dish just in case, but this time I really wanted to shoot without flashes, relying only on my DIY LED Light Panel!!  I also wanted to use the backdrops I got the other day, to get my money’s worth out of them.  For those wondering, the flower print is Waverly fabric, and the pink is vinyl, I got from Joann’s.  A bit overpriced, but  hey, anything for a learning experience.

Some photographers are secretive with their setups, but in this day and age, everyone has access to the same gear.  For this shoot I just put up two of my two 24×24″ LED light panels and shot what looked good.  No rocket science there, since all the hard work was already put into the hair and makeup, courtesy of Jacky and Nhi.

With continuous lighting setups like this, it’s also fair to allow everyone to take their own pictures, as opposed to just letting the main photographer pop strobes with the radio trigger.  Just because someone is the “lead” photographer doesn’t mean they are going to take the best or most flattering photos of the evening, as has been proven many times by pretty girls and iPhones.  By giving a lighting setup that is wysiwyg, everyone wins!

Set up a friend’s Panasonic DVX100B, which was once the indie film camera king.  It’s definitely aged, and been usurped by the DSLR video revolution, but still has its strongpoints, like autofocus and everything sharp.

Thanks to Thomas for the help and BTS shots.  I still haven’t found a white balance setting in camera that I like when shooting with the LED panels, so all of the images you see here are tweaked RAW files.  Again, no studio strobes at all, meaning no annoying blinding flashes.  Just shooting close to wide open with mostly the D600 and 70-200mm.  By enabling distortion control and vignette control in camera, it saves me a little time.

Of course we did shoot some outside.  There is still no replacement for golden hour lighting.  The glow on Mai’s face is actually from the door behind me.  On opening it, everyone noticed that it shined perfectly.  Serendipity in photography is a cool thing.

Model Photo Shoot
Designer: Jacky Tai | Makeup and Hair: Jacky Tai, NiA
Support: Thomas, Annie, Vi

I left the edges in this frame as a reminder.  That it is an inexpensive piece of the puzzle, when you think about the time, knowhow and effort that goes into a simple model shoot.

I also got to use this lace table cloth I got from the vintage boutique.  Thanks to Annie and Mr. Vo for the support!

When the sunlight is golden it can even make a very industrial corner of Jimmy Carter Blvd picturesque.

Event and Concert Photos:

The spotlight in the background is the illumination from just one of my LED light panels.  Definitely allowed most every concert goer to take their own pictures with no flash needed.

Don’t know why I didn’t wear black and red, so here’s an outfit change through the magic of Photoshop.  I always look tiny next to Amazons! 🙂

Thanks for another great show!  See everyone next time!!

Congrats for scrolling this far! I like showing my images in order, more pix coming soon.
Photos by Boon Vong and Thomas Cannon and Team for 3em Entertainment.  Linkback and credit appreciated, sharing is caring!

My reward for the evening, IHOP fried chicken: ★★★★☆ (Anything tastes good at 4 am!)

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