Kicking off the interview series, is KC Wong of tinydot photography as he shares with us not just how he got into wedding photography but also how he likes the colour pink.
Let’s start by telling us a bit about yourself. For privacy reasons, age is not required.
I grew up in Malaysia and on a diet of Hongkong comics depicting the pugilistic world, and thought one day I would be a comics artist (is there such a phrase? Cartoonist is for animation right?). Then as I stepped into adolescence, I aspired to be a lawyer because of Andy Lau’s character in one of his breakout movies. I was led to believe that studying Humanities in junior college can really boost my English standard and give me a leg-up in entering Law school. Amidst the cynical confusion of my late teenage years and early adulthood, I became fascinated by the intuitiveness and empirical application of econoimics. Before I go any further, I wish to remind you that I am now a wedding photographer. It has been a dream ride, and I am no where near the destination yet, wherever it may be.
What got you started with wedding photography?
The story didn’t start with another hand-me-down old camera (I’ve heard that story plenty of times), even though I DID have an old Nikon FM passed down to me by my father (because he didn’t know how to use it) but unfortunately I sold it years later because I didn’t know how to use it. The truthful answer is money. I started taking wedding photographs because I thought that was the fastest and easiest way to earn some pocket money while working as a photojournalist with a local newspaper. ‘Fastest’ because it “cash on delivery”. ‘Easiest’ because telling stories with cameras is already what I do best in my day job.
What’s the brand of that fuel that you use to keep the passion burning?
Humans: I love a handful of them, I like many, and I dislike some. I think it’s important I care about human beings, about my relationships with them, and my communication with them. You don’t become a good photographer because you are good. You become a good photographer because you love the subjects you are photographing.
If it was not photography as a profession, what would it have been?
A writer. I think it’s the same thing. Instead of using images, I use words.
What was the first wedding image you shot that made you decide you were born a wedding photographer?
Is there such a thing? Someone who thinks he/she is natural-born wedding photographer? God help his/her clients.
Do you prefer to talk about yourself or your pictures?
When I want to be a good photographer, I talk about my pictures. When I want to be a photographer who can sell, I talk about myself.
What’s the love/hate relationship like with the wedding photography business? What’s to love, and what’s to hate?
Love the fact that clients respect my freedom to create but hate the fact I have to expend my energy looking for these clients.
What’s a typical day like shooting a wedding?
Exhilarating and knackered. I try not to shoot back-to-back weddings nowadays. The reason is a wedding is one of my clients’ most special days in their lives. At the end of the day when I’m back home facing the computer, it’s a privilege to be able to savour the past 10 hours I have shared with them and that moment of reflection really puts meaning to what I am doing, as opposed to them relegating to another invoice number. It is emotionally very draining, but in a positive way.
Have you ever created a scene before – tripping over, cracking glasses, breaking a lens in the middle of a ceremony etc? What was THAT like?
Thankfully, no. The worst moment was when I tore my pants as I squat down to snap a picture. Luckily the ballroom was noisy and chaotic, and nobody noticed, I think.
In 5 words, what’s the most surprising reaction you’ve ever had from a client who’s seen their wedding day pictures – i mean – memories?
(Looking at pictures)This girl is my wife?
Name 3 subjects you would photograph at a wedding if you had no choice.
The bride, the bride and the bride.
Now name 3 subjects you would photograph if you had totally free rein.
If I have free rein, I wouldn’t be approaching the wedding with an agenda.
Do you see the world in Black or white, or colour?
Colour. I wish I could see it in black and white. I thought only dogs can do that?
When you hear the words “Wedding Cake”, what’s your first reaction – foam or cream?
Foam.
Do you ever run out of photography ideas at a wedding?
I don’t think it really applies in my case. I am a documentary photographer. I don’t create things in a wedding. I see and feel what’s happening, and I document it in the best possible way with the help of my patience, anticipation, my equipment, the light, and luck. My emphasis is on real moments, so it’ll be weird if I go up to the bride and say:”Hey! I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t you dab some tears on your cheeks and I’ll go get the groom to do the same and have the both of you stand here, in this perfect light?”
If the bride tells you that they’ll have another friend photographing their wedding, what’s the first words that come out of your mouth?
Guy or girl?
Finish this sentence. My photography style is…
Documentary and understated.
Who would you say best influences you when you look through the viewfinder?
James Nachtwey. No, I don’t mean to visualize my clients as angry Palestinian protesters, but my sense of timing and composition are very much influenced by photojournalists like him, Raghu Rai and Sebastian Salgado.
What’s the one thing that you cannot stop thinking about when you’re shooting a wedding?
Magic light please, magic light please, magic light please!
What’s your dream wedding destination?
Abu Dhabi? I heard the sheikhs can have seven wives. It’s an oilfield out there! On a more serious note, destination is never a prime motivation for me. I’d love to shoot a couple in some difficult regions where there’s nothing else but them and people who love them and whom they love. No pretense, no charades and what I see is what I get and is what I capture.
Are you a photoshop extremist?
Yes. I’m declaring jihad on Photoshop.
If you were a colour, would it be Shocking pink or luminous green?
Shocking pink. I’m already pink as a human.
5 words of advice for aspiring wedding photographers.
Are you very very sure?
