UPDATES: travels, plans, equipment change etc.
Posted under: Hey all.
It’s been a while since I posted something up to date. The past two posts have been about shoots from back in January or earlier even. But needless to say that doesn’t mean nothing has been happening during that period of time. So i’ll just ramble on a bit.
First thing first, I was out of the country for about a month traveling in China and Nepal visiting family and friends. Fortunately, I was able to get out of DC after the blizzard. My taxi nearly didn’t make it out of my street. Anyways in my weeks of travel, I spent a lot of time resting and clearing my mind and decide the next step for my photography. In Shanghai, I had the pleasure of meeting Todd Anthony Tyler, a renowned fashion photographer out of Shanghai. Todd has shot for Vogue, Bazzar, Puma, and many more advertising campaigns. Todd and I talked a lot about business and and the industry over a cup of coffee. He also advised me on my portfolio and showed me areas of improvements which definitely helps for me to progress and move forward.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
After coming back from the trip, I’ve been working on revamping my site and getting new corresponding business cards. As you can see my website has been updated to be flash free, so it’s iPhone friendly and all the galleries run on javascript. Do check out the new site when you have a chance, there are a few more photos there as well. Also as you can see there is now a slicker logo which will be the same for my business cards, business documents, comp cards. The new cards should be here tomorrow. I’m quite excited for it.
I’ve also got another website launching in a couple weeks to branch off into another area of the business as well. More on that later.
In the time I was gone, a set of my photos got published in an editorial with C-HEADS magazine. Below is a couple of tears to show you the final result.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
As I’ve been shooting a lot in studio, I’ve found that I don’t use many of my lenses, so I decided on a equipment updating and streamlining, specifically in the lens department at least. Below is my current set of tools, with the 50mm 1.8D absent.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
From left to right:
Tamron 70-200 2.8 (LD, Di Macro etc); Nikon 28-70 2.8 AF-S ; Nikon 85 1.8D; Nikon 55 2.8 micro; D2x.
Well gone are the Tokina 11-16 2.8 DX and the Nikon 17-55 2.8 AF-S DX. When I started shooting in studio I rarely used my 17-55, mostly because I don’t really use anything wider than 50mm. Also the primes come out to be sharper. The Tokina 11-16 2.8 is gone as well because I don’t shoot landscape and I don’t need and rarely use the wide angle portion. Coincidentally, both of the lenses I got rid of are DX lenses designed specifically for cropped sensors, and both of them have been replaced by FX (full frame) lenses. So now I will have a much easier progression to D3s or D3x.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
The two new lenses are the Nikkor 28-70 2.8, which is known as the beast. it is about 50% heavier than my 17-55 and the build quality is stellar. It is also wider as well, got more girth to it compared to the 17-55 as you can see in the photo from about a year back. I have yet to use it on a shoot yet, but will do very soon. Also, I’ve included a pic of the 28-70 next to the 50 1.8 just for size comparison sake.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
The Nikkor 55 2.8 micro is an old lens, possibly as old as I am. It is also a very rare lens with superb sharpness. And I’ve got a close up beauty shoot planned in week to test out its true capabilities.
Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro LLC
I am now on the hunt for a 105 nikkor 2.8VR, may be to replace my Tamron as I rarely use the Tamron nowadays too unfortunately.
Anyways, I’ve got a couple more shoots planned, then business/work/workshops will take over the rest of the time. I will do my best to update these blogs with help of my intern. Keep you guys posted. Enjoy