Would you like to take better people and portrait photographs? RMIT have introduced a new 4 day intensive course that starts 11 Dec. Mon to Thurs, 9 - 4. 
Join me as I guide you through equipment, lighting, location selection and technical considerations for formal and environmental portraits, studio and street photography.  Clck HERE for more info. 

 

Peggy Chow

The following images were taken by Peggy as part of her final folio in the 8 week People and Portrait Photography Short Course. Read more about Peggy below.

What camera are you shooting with?
I am shooting with Fujifilm XT10

What's your favourite lens?

Fujifilm XF35mm f2 is my go to lens. 

Is there a lens you wish you had?
Yes, Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f2.8 R LM WR

What's the hardest part about portraiture for you?

Capturing the soul of my subject. 

What did you enjoy or learn or like the best about the People and Portrait class?
What I enjoyed best about attending People and Portrait class is that I get to push myself and test my own boundaries after every class in order to finish the task given. 

How old are you?
29.

How/why/when did you get interested in photography?
I was always into photography but I never took it seriously and didn't pay enough attention to really learn. I only really started going back to photography seriously after a bad break up, so it has been almost close to a year now. 

I like how I can convey my feelings into photographs and looking at a good photograph that I took gives me a feeling nothing else can.

Why did you choose to do the people and portrait class at rmit?

I trust RMIT to be a good place for education, big or small. 

What's your next photographic project?

I'd like to gather my grandmother, my mom and all her sisters to take a ladies family portrait.
I'd also like to work on a series that show the way our generation live our lives, mainly attached to technology. 

Would you like to go pro one day or is your photography strictly for fun?

Photography to me is mainly just a hobby or my creative outlet but if one fine day I could go pro, I'd be really glad to be able to finally make it. 

What do you like to do when you're not taking photos?

When I'm not taking photos, I like to go on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration, read up some quotes or watch some videos and listen to music. 

Working or studying? (More info?)
I'm working as a barista so I make coffee all day everyday. 

Where did you grow up? (How long have you been in Melbourne?)
I grow up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I've been in Melbourne for 3 years. 

Will you continue with portraiture or venture into other genres?

I'd like to continue with portraiture, especially on street portraiture but I would also like to try other genre's to open myself up. 

Do you have any portrait tips to share?

A good brief with your subject before shooting and chat em up to release some tension. 
 

You used a digital camera for the course but I know you shoot film also. How did you get into shooting film?

I used to own a Diana F but never got around to using it because film to me was too much hassle. 

But when I started taking photography seriously, I wanted to improve in a different way so I decided to try film.
Fell in love ever since then.

What camera do you use for that?
I have quite a number of different analogue cameras but my favourite one is definitely Nikon F3. 

What's the biggest challenge with shooting film?

The biggest challenge with shooting film is that I need to have a lot of patience and the fact that there's no screen for me to look at. 

Is it very different from shooting digital?

Definitely! The limited frames that I get from shooting film makes me shoot a lot slower, to really stop and think before shooting. Besides, the result of the pictures won't be available until (at least) a few hours later.

Anything else film related that might be of interest to share?

Film in my opinion is making a comeback and if you're interested to giving it a try, Filmneverdie is a good place to start as they have a film walk almost every month.