Can’t wait to photograph this beautiful couple’s wedding day!

I am looking forward to photographing their wedding in July!

One of the concerts I saw was the Edmond Leung 梁漢文 2012 Big Man Concert. Edmond Leung is a huge pop star in Hong Kong. He put on two concerts in January to celebrate his 20th anniversary in the Music Industry. Here are a few photos from his concert!

Edmond’s first guests of the concert was none other than Hong Kong Pop Star Eason Chan (陳奕迅) and Singer/Actor Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒)! I had a chance to photograph Eason’s Toronto concert in 2008 and am a huge fan of his music.

Edmond’s piano/spaceship! Very cool!

Spiderman!

Next up were Pop Stars  Andy Hui (許志安) and Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文)!

After the first encore, screaming fans refused to leave the coliseum and Edmond’s manager invited all the celebrities in the audience to go on stage for one last song! Eason, Nicholas, Sammi, along with William So (蘇永康), Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍) and a few others all jumped on stage for a spectacular encore performance!

I really enjoyed my experience at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Due to the large population in Hong Kong, popular super stars often have multiple concerts back to back at the Coliseum, allowing them to set up elaborate stage, lighting and special effects. Overseas concerts in Toronto have much less budget for amazing visual effects and complex stages. Stay tuned for more photos from my trip to Hong Kong!

In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims.

Please share this amazing documentary and support the cause! Learn more at www.kony2012.com. Let’s make a difference!

Leo De Kryger, a member of the ORBIS Volunteer Medical Faculty is a retired biomedical engineer from Ottawa. I had the pleasure of working with Leo on both of the ORBIS programs I photographed – Kenya in 2009 and Vietnam in 2010.

Dr. Noor Al-Gallas, Staff Ophthalmologist onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital demonstrates how ORBIS educates doctors and students on the aircraft

Dr. Brian Leonard, President of ORBIS Canada and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Ottawa Eye Institute shares his experience working onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital. Dr. Leonard has been on over seventy programs!

Perry Athanason, Communications Manager onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital introduces ORBIS to Canada Border Services Officers

We had a lot of journalists and media coverage throughout the day

I got a chance to try out my new Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet 35 Optic. This lens allows for selective focus, creating a very unique image with a cool effect right in the camera! What do you all think of the effect? Would love to hear your comments! Please leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of this page.

I got a chance to sneak a quick photo of myself sitting in the cockpit of the DC-10

In the evening, ORBIS hosted sponsors, donors and the general public at the Hilton Garden Inn for the Ottawa Grand Reception

One of my photos from Vietnam was on display at the event. The photo below is of Dr. Peter Kertes from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto

We started off the evening with a dance performance

Afterwards, guests were invited onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital to learn more about the work they do in the developing world. Ottawa was the last stop of the Canada Goodwill Tour. It was great to see some old friends and meet many new faces in Toronto and Ottawa. I hope to work onboard the Flying Eye Hospital again soon!

Volunteer medical professionals from all over the world work with ORBIS to exchange knowledge and skills with doctors and students in developing countries. Since its first program in 1982, the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital has traveled to more than 85 countries and saved the sight of millions of people. By training local doctors and eye care workers, who in turn teach their colleagues, ORBIS — an international nonprofit humanitarian organization — is strengthening the capabilities of local health care communities in blindness prevention and treatment.

My first experience flying on a private jet was very different than the usual procedures of flying on a commercial aircraft. The Flying Eye Hospital was parked on the FedEx cargo area at Pearson International Airport the morning we took off. Instead of going to the airport, we gathered at the FedEd facilities in Mississauga, Canada to board the aircraft. Once we all signed in and secured our airside passes, we were escorted to the plane. Since it is a private jet, the cockpit door is to remain open during landing and take off. As you all know, after 9/11, all commercial aircrafts must have the cockpit door closed and locked from the moment the plane takes off to the moment it lands. TSA laws do not apply to private jets. I got a chance to sit in one of the two jump seats inside the cockpit of the DC-10 during our flight to Ottawa.

Volunteer FedEx and United pilots fly the aircraft. I witnessed some of the best pilots in the world in action. For our Toronto to Ottawa flight, we had two FedEx and a United pilot in the cockpit.

Getting on the aircraft required no security or customs clearance. We had less than 20 people flying onboard the DC-10 so everyone just picked one of the 48 seats inside the classroom of the plane. Two of the staff nurses onboard the Flying Eye Hospital served as flight attendants and played the safety video for all the passengers.

What you see below is the flight engineer and his controls inside the cockpit. The DC-10 is an older aircraft that require a three person team to operate. A newer MD-10 aircraft has recently been donated to ORBIS by FedEx to serve as the new Flying Eye Hospital. The MD-10 will have an upgraded cockpit with digital controls. The flight engineer position will be unnecessary since all the controls will be digital. The MD-10 cockpit will be much more spacious and have wrap around windows. The new Flying Eye Hospital is expected to be ready by the beginning of 2013.

Somewhere between Toronto & Ottawa

We landed onto the FedEx facilities at the Ottawa International Airport. Leaving the plane required no security of customs clearance. We did not have to wait for our luggage to come out either, since it was stowed safely inside the cargo area of the DC-10.

Flying onboard the Flying Eye Hospital was an amazing experience for me. Not only was it my first time inside the cockpit of an aircraft, but the feeling of flying onboard an aircraft that is a part of aviation history is very special. It will be sad to see the DC-10 finally retiring after all the impact it has made to this world. I do look forward to seeing the new MD-10 once it’s ready! Here’s a quick high definition video I put together of the take off and landing during my flight onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital.

To learn more about ORBIS and the Flying Eye Hospital, please visit www.orbiscanada.ca.

Give the gift of sight this holiday season. Support ORBIS and their flight against preventable blindness by clicking here.

The Grand Reception took place inside Cargo 2 at the Cargo West Facilities at Pearson International Airport. We kicked off the evening with a dance performance

Dr. Brian Leonard, Chairman of the ORBIS Canada Board of Directors welcomes everyone to the event

Phil Gillin, Senior Managing Director, Head Canadian Real Estate at Sun Life Financial presents a cheque to ORBIS Canada

Peter McQuillan, Vice President of Finance – Canada for FedEx Express presents a cheque to ORBIS Canada

Toronto based Canadian Volunteer Medical Professionals group photo

I was invited up on stage to be recognized for my volunteer work with ORBIS

Event sponsor group photo

ORBIS Canada Chinese Advisory Council group photo

Hilary Tam – reigning Miss Chinese Toronto 2010 talks about the affiliation between the Miss Chinese Pageant Gala and ORBIS

After the program, guests were invited onboard the DC-10 to tour the Flying Eye Hospital

There were games and sponsor booths at the reception to help raise funds for sight saving programs in the developing world

Saturday was the busiest of all three days. We ran public tours all day and had over 400 people come out to see the Flying Eye Hospital!

I had a rare opportunity to fly onboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital this morning! I came with the ORBIS team to Ottawa for the last stop in the Canada Tour. Check back later this week for photos from the Ottawa Goodwill Tour! If you are in the Ottawa area, sign up NOW for a tour of the Flying Eye Hospital tomorrow! You can learn more at www.orbiscanada.ca/Default.aspx?cid=9468&lang=1

Two of my photographs were used on the displays at the sign in area!

ORBIS held a press conference this morning for local media in the Greater Toronto Area to learn more about ORBIS International and their sight saving work. Many members of the press and VIPs attended the press conference, including the Mayor of Mississauga Hazel McCallion.

After the press conference, journalists were invited onboard the Flying Eye Hospital for a tour of the aircraft

In the afternoon, we officially opened the event to the public and many people came out to see the magnificent aircraft

I had a photo booth set up in the cockpit of the DC-10 where visitors can come in and get a professional photograph sitting in the pilot seats!

For all you photo geeks out there, here is how I took the cockpit photos. The cockpit is fairly small and cannot accommodate any large set ups. I used a simple, single light setup with a Nikon SB-800 triggered by a Pocketwizard TT5 transceiver. The flash was bounced into a Westcott 43 in. Soft Silver Collapsible Umbrella. I recently picked up these collapsible umbrellas while I was in NYC and LOVE how they are so compact and easy to transport.

The Flying Eye Hospital will be open to the public for tours tomorrow (November 18th) and Saturday (November 19th). I will then be travelling with the Flying Eye Hospital crew to Ottawa for the Ottawa stop of the Canadian Goodwill Tour next week! Learn more about the Toronto Goodwill Tour at http://www.orbiscanada.ca/Default.aspx?cid=9467&lang=1. It’s not too late to sign up now! If you are in Ottawa, please join us next week for the Ottawa Goodwill Tour! You can learn more about the tour at http://www.orbiscanada.ca/Default.aspx?cid=9468&lang=1. Please do come say hi if you see me in Toronto or Ottawa!

Here’s a photo of me from this morning in the Recovery Room onboard the Flying Eye Hospital. Photo by Rob Allen.

Here’s the entrance to the biggest photography expo on the East Coast!

Nikon USA had a huge booth on one side of the entrance to the show floor

The most popular destination at the Nikon booth was the Nikon 1 display. Nikon’s first mirrorless camera system came out the week of the show and many attendees were interested in the Nikon J1 and V1. I personally had an opportunity to play with the V1 and the image quality is great for a camera of that size. High ISO performance is acceptable and the autofocus is incredible. I especially like the ability to take full resolution still images DURING a high definition video recording

Nikon had some prototypes and concepts for the Nikon 1 System on display

I had the opportunity to meet with the team at Nikon Professional Services USA in their VIP Suite. They even gave my Nikon D3S complimentary sensor cleaning!

Think Tank Photo had a busy booth at Photo Plus. I had the honour of meeting Simon Pollock, Social Media Manager at Think Tank as well as Kurt Rogers, co-founder of Think Tank. They make the absolute BEST camera bags in the world so check them out when you are shopping for a new bag

Westcott also had a nice booth at the expo. Every time I flip through their catalogues, I seem to find something new that I want to add to my studio kit!

Canon USA had a very popular booth at the show. The highlight of the weekend was their newly announced Canon 1DX flagship professional camera.

I had a few minutes with a preproduction model of the 1DX and like the overall feel of the camera body. Previous generation 1D series cameras were not very comfortable to hold but the 1DX feels nice and solid in my hands – similar to how D3 series Nikon cameras feel. High ISO performance is suppose to be spectacular so many of my Canon friends drool over the 1DX. I can’t wait to see what Nikon comes up with for their next generation D4 series! The 1DX is scheduled to hit stores in March 2012 for a retail price of $6800.00 USD

Here’s my D3S beside the 1DX

I also got to meet the guys and lady behind 500px, a new photography sharing online community. Their head office is in Toronto so it was great to meet some fellow Canadians! I just signed up with 500px this week and love sharing my work and viewing all the amazing talent on 500px. Check out my profile at www.500px.com/kyphoto! Here’s Jen working hard showing all the curious people how amazing 500px is!

Photoflex had their new Triton Flash system at the show. I’ve heard about their ultra portable studio lighting system but this is the first time seeing it in person. The unit was surprisingly portable and feels solid. I was surprised to see a digital control on the back, considering the relatively affordable price tag. A great kit to consider if I ever decide to get a more portable system than my current Profoto lights.

Lensbaby had a busy booth at the back of the show floor. I picked up their new Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet 35 Optic at the show. Looking forward to using it at my next photo shoot!

The Sandisk booth was always jam packed at 2pm for their daily giveaways. Unfortunately, my ticket number was not drawn out.. but I went over to B&H Photo Superstore a few blocks away and picked up two Sandisk 16GB Extreme CF cards and a USB 3.0 card reader! I only trust Sandisk for my memory cards because of their reputation and quality products

Photo Plus 2012 is happening October 25-27, 2012. I sure hope i’ll have time to go back down to NYC to check out the show again!

Once you check it, you are greeted by a gallery of work produced by some of the winners of the Hasselblad Masters Award

They had virtually every type of studio solution and lighting modifiers on display

Guest photographers who use Hasselblad were invited to the event to talk about why they chose the system

One of the sets was for fashion and they had two models pose during the demonstration

Hasselblad had their H4D Ferrari Edition on display!

I dropped into a few workshops and learnt a thing or two about the business of photography. Most of it didn’t really pertain to me since it was based on the market in the United States. Check back soon for my post on PhotoPlus Expo 2011!

This year, the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) is also hosting their first ever WPPI@NYC Show alongside PhotoPlus! WPPI runs a massive Wedding and Portrait Photography Show in Las Vegas each year. I was planning to go down to Vegas for WPPI 2012, but when I saw that WPPI was coming to the East Coast, I jumped onto the opportunity to check out the show.

I took the Megabus from Toronto to New York City on Tuesday. As always, I packed my photography equipment, laptop and accessories in my trusty Think Tank Photo Shapeshifter Backpack.

What I really like about the Shapeshifter is that it doesn’t look like a camera bag. That is essential when travelling because it allows you to be low key and not attract attention and unwanted trouble. I’ve travelled with this bag to Kenya and Vietnam and can’t be happier with the quality of the materials and how much equipment I can fit in this bag! It’s a great bag for carry on and an essential part of my camera bag collection (all Think Tank bags).

I arrived in NYC late Tuesday evening and spent all day yesterday (Wednesday) at WPPI Seminars. In the morning, I learnt about Moving from Stills to Motion from Canon Explorer of Light Ken Sklute and got inspiration to advance my wedding photography from Jerry Ghionis, one of the top five wedding photographers of the world. Then I learnt about adding a fashion flair to my work from Lindsey Adler and how to better manage my business and personal life from Tamara Lackey in the afternoon.

After the seminars, they hosted a Test Drive Rally, where vendors from the PhotoPlus Expo came over to show off their newest equipment. The room was packed with energy and excitement as I got to see some cool new products, equipment and accessories. I got a chance to meet Simon Pollock, Social Media Manager at Think Tank Photo. He upgraded me from the ugly PhotoPlus Expo badge holder to the new Think Tank Credential Holder!

I also met Kurt Rogers, co-founder of Think Tank Photo. They had their brand new Modular V2.0 at the event last night! Very nice to see an upgrade to their popular Modular bags. I use their Modular system at all major concerts and theatre events I photograph. The new upgrade looks amazing! Here’s a photo of me (before upgrading to the Think Tank credential holder) holding one of the new Modulars bags. Photo by Simon Pollock.

After the show, I went out with my elementary school friend Gamy, who now lives in New York City. He showed me a few parts of the city. Here are some of the photos I took on my iPhone 4 last night.

Bumble Bee in NYC

Times Square, New York City

UNIQLO Flagship Store in NYC

5th Avenue Apple Store – under construction

PhotoPlus Expo opens at the Javits Convention Center today! I will be stopping by the show floor later this week. This morning, I am planning to check out Shoot-NYC, hosted by Hasselblad and Broncolor, industry leaders in commercial cameras and lighting. Check back often for updates on everything happening in NYC this week!

Fairchild Television hosts and OCCAC members Dr. Wai-Ching Lam, Dr. Ying Lu, Ms. Loretta Lam and Ms. Theresa Lee

Mr. Peter McQuillan presents Daniella Bianchi with a $35,000 cheque from FedEx Express Canada

OCCAC members Dr. Ying Lu and Ms. Theresa Lee accept a $15,000 anonymous donation

I have been volunteering with ORBIS International for the past four years, photographing their local and overseas projects. Learn more about ORBIS at www.orbiscanada.ca. The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital will be hosting a Goodwill Tour in Toronto from November 16th to 19th! Be sure to check out the only airborne hospital in the world by signing up for a tour. For more details, click here.

It’s that time of year again! Every Spring and Fall, Henry’s Photo & Video host a Photographic and Digital Imaging Show. This fall, they have renamed the show as Exposure Expo. I went to check out the Expo at the International Center in Mississauga on Friday and got to meet and speak with some of the biggest manufacturers and suppliers in the photographic industry. This year especially, I feel that there were a lot of new, innovative, quality equipment on the show floor and it was very hard to resist buying everything!

There were a lot of educational seminars and workshops throughout the show

My friends at Nikon Canada/Nikon Professional Services had a huge booth on the centre of the show floor.

They had the all new Nikon 1 mirrorless camera system with them! I was unimpressed by the initial online reviews of this new camera system but Jeffrey from Nikon showed me how wonderful these little cameras really are!

The Nikon 1 consists of two bodies – the Nikon J1 and Nikon V1. The J1 comes in five colours and has a cool built in flash. The V1 is for more advanced users, and have an optional hotshoe flash unit and GPS unit.

I am particularly interested in the Nikon V1 because of its compact design and versatility. My D3S and even D7000 feels big sometimes when I just want to go out with family and friends to take some photos. The V1 had surprisingly blazing fast auto focus system, and I like the compact and fast 10mm f/2.8 lens. The cameras have a 2.7x crop factor (Most consumer Nikon DX dSLR cameras have a 1.5x crop) so the 10mm f/2.8 lens has the same view as a 27mm lens on full frame FX format.

One SUPER cool feature I really like is the ability to shoot full resolution photos AND a high definition video at the SAME TIME! Once you are in video mode, if you see a photo you like, just hit the shutter button and the photo is captured.. but the video is not interrupted! I think this is a really innovative feature and allows the user so much flexibility. You can now shoot a video of your child cutting their birthday cake, and still have stills to print out without interrupting the video! I can’t wait to test out the V1 in the field. I hope the high ISO performance is good. The Nikon 1 system will hit stores later this month.

Think Tank Photo, my favourite camera bag manufacturer (and the only brand I use) had a nice booth at the Exposure Expo. Doug Murdoch, founder and president of Think Tank was in town again so I got a chance to catch up with an old friend. Doug and his team have been extremely generous in the past and have sponsored me on two occasions, when I worked with ORBIS International in Kenya & Vietnam to document the work their volunteer medical faculty were doing in the developing world. Good to see you again Doug!

And of course, The FJ Westcott Company had an awesome booth right at the entrance of the show. This American lighting and light modifier company ventured into Canada a few years ago and have been doing exceptionally well! I love their products! My first Westcott product is the 28in Apollo softbox. This softbox is built on an umbrella frame and does not require a speedring to mount! Very fast, light weight and efficient. I was particularly interested in their 7ft parabolic umbrellas. Amber from Westcott showed me the gigantic umbrella in person and I was amazed by the high quality material, professional looking sturdy carrying case and exceptional value. The parabolic umbrella was on sale at the show for $99! Most parabolic umbrellas from the main lighting manufacturers are upwards $3000+! I purchased one Silver and one White/Black parabolic umbrella and can’t wait to use them on my next shoot!

It’s not too late to check out the show! The Exposure Expo is open today until 5pm at the International Center, Hall 5 located at 6900 Airport Road in Mississauga. You can download your free ticket to the show by clicking here! Go check it out!