There are two things I hate most in my photography philosophy, unable to shoot the pre-visualized images and copying myself. In other words, I desired to be more and more creative and get more and more idealized frames. That's why I am always looking for chances to do my own private projects. In any live wedding or other events, I can't be offered enough time to think, to guide and to shoot. Tens of times I saw wonderful moments and ideas passing right in front of my eyes and I couldn't catch them. I hate that, seriously!!! Now for my own private projects, I can tell my models and couples that I will take my time to think carefully, compose wisely and probably repeat this again and again until perfection. Through these test shots I learnt so much by heart and practice, knowing what can be done and what can't be done, what is the best and what is the worst. Like before, I always think my images suck, seriously! After each shooting, I need to list all of the "defects" and "suck points" of each image and write them down on my leather journal book. If I made same mistake again, I will feel guilty and painful as I didn't get it in my mind.
I believe the reason I love photography so much is that it is filled with myriads of inspirations and possibilities, and if one could be continuously inspired and never satisfied, a bigger world will be discovered and explored. The true happiness always come from yourself, not from clients, not from friends, not from any external media. I never really cared how others evaluate my photography works, as I clearly know I still have a long long way to go and quite far away from excellence. My final goal might be quite high, but to be an A player in this world to achieve my dream, I will never give up ~~~
Special thanks to Siyao and Jian for collaborating with me to do this engagement test shot in the amazing Saratoga National Historical Park ~~~
