2020padchallenge

Day 12 - Moving /  by Bien Nguyen

Shuffled around a bunch of stuff today since a couple of my friends are moving in with me. Getting to organize things from a fresh start is always really refreshing and way more preferable than to attempt swapping things around with limited space. Setting things up in a new way can be really satisfying and help change your outlook toward things that you believed to have already come to conclusions about. Being open and motivated to trying new things isn’t as bad as you might think.

On a side note, anyone else excited for Oregairu Season 3?

Day 10 - We'll Fix It In Post /  by Bien Nguyen

Today I didn’t get to pick up my camera and shoot much, but while running an errand in the evening I was able to snap this picture real quick from the passenger seat. It wasn’t perfect but I figured I could play with it a bit.

A lot of what photography is comes during the editing process in post. As you become more familiar with the tools and experiment with what you can do to a picture, you’ll start to get an eye for how to pull a good photo out of what might seem like a mediocre one at first.

If before and after images are something you guys find interesting, I’ll consider posting more of these!

Day 9 - Collection /  by Bien Nguyen

When I bought the X100-F that was just the start of me gearing up for my photography endeavors this year. I’ve been getting travel bags and drives and optimizing my workflow in software and a whole lot of other things. Taking and posting a picture everyday has helped give me practice in a lot more areas than just shooting.

After receiving some of my equipment today I realized I’d done one of those “Gear Photos” everyone does. Figured now would be a good time. It’s a modest collection that I’ve compiled over many years, nothing too impressive. Many cameras and lenses have come and gone, but I’m happy with how I’ve narrowed it down to these pieces because I believe they provide me everything I need to capture the pictures that I enjoy, and enjoying your hobbies is what’s important.

Day 7 - Family /  by Bien Nguyen

I’ve always been incredibly grateful and appreciative of all the support my family has offered and everything they’ve done for me, though I may not often show it. I’ll often reflect about how much the person I am now was shaped by the way my parents raised me and the relationship I had with my siblings growing up. I love all of them very much and I strive to be everything they hoped I would.

Day 6 - Lazy /  by Bien Nguyen

The holidays are over now and most people have gone back to work this week. Meanwhile I was in bed til 2pm taking pictures of this dumb boi. I definitely have things I should be doing but sometimes you just laze around and do nothing before you’re mentally prepared to take care of your responsibilities.

This guy’s name is Sokka by the way, and he is 1 of 4 cats that I have.

Day 5 - New Toys /  by Bien Nguyen

Recently I bought a Sigma Art 35mm 1.4 and really enjoyed taking portraits with it. However, because of its size, it was much too unwieldy to take around with me everywhere like I do with my legacy glass. On top of that, asking to take a photo of someone / something while sticking a giant lens in front of them makes people feel uncomfortable and that makes it difficult to get more natural, genuine shots. I like to form connections and create stories with the people I’m photographing and I knew it wasn’t going to happen with that lens unfortunately.

So I returned it and picked up an X-100F which I’ve had my eye on for a while. I wanted a fast, low-profile, high quality, camera to take around with me everywhere that would offer me more opportunities to shoot. I’ve only been using it for a day but it’s completely renewed my love for photography. I don’t feel as intimidating asking to take photos anymore and my motivation to go out and shoot has skyrocketed with how fun it is to use. Excited to see where this camera takes me!