Monday, March 21, 2011

PERSPECTIVE: Fighting Chance Productions' "The Awesome 80s Prom"

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(Girls love cozying up to exchange student Feng Schwey. © 2011 Benjamin Luk.)

Fighting Chance Productions has always been a great supporter of Benjamin Luk Photography and vice versa. You may remember them donating an entire season's worth of tickets to BLP Christmas 2010. Their production of The Awesome 80s Prom was a chance to finally collaborate and create some art together. In the previous two months this has been going on, myself and assistant Colten Warne have been running their photo booth.

The Awesome 80s Prom is an interactive theatre event much like Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding. However, instead of an Italian-American wedding reception, guests are treated to Prom Night 1989 at Wanaget High. Prom characters like spaz Kerrie Kowalski or Asian exchange student Feng Schwey wander amongst the audience, interacting with improvisational gusto. If you haven't been yet, it's quite the experience. Dates left include Friday, April 1st, Saturday, April 2nd, Friday, May 13th and Saturday, May 14th.

All our photo booth shots are photographed on a 21.1 MP Canon EOS 5D Mark II. A disc of all your images can be purchased for $20 CAD and will be sent to you by mail within one to two weeks. I look forward to seeing you at the prom.

Benjamin Luk Photography is available for assignment at BenjaminLuk.com.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

PERSPECTIVE: "Talk to the Pro" at Van Tech

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(Guest lecturing for a bunch of high school students at Van Tech. © 2011 Benjamin Luk Photography.)

Kids have mad talent. In fact, both pictures you see here were shot on my camera by students at Vancouver Technical Secondary School during my guest lecture two Thursdays ago on March 3rd, 2011. Assistant Colten Warne and I showed up with our gear, gave a short presentation, then answered questions from the small but enthusiastic after-school group. Some were keen on me teaching them the basics of composition and settings. Others were interested in internship. It didn't take much to get the students excited about photography as a legitimate career option. All I had to do was mention the possibility of world travel, getting paid thousands at a time to create art, and how fulfilling a life of creativity really is.

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(Assistant Colten Warne examining a student's black-and-white negatives. © 2011 Benjamin Luk Photography.)

From what I saw of them during my brief presentation, it wouldn't surprise me if there were at least one future professional photographer in the group I lectured. If any of them are reading right now, I offer mentorship programs for youth and, in the future, hope to establish a charity foundation to develop photography programs in elementary and secondary schools. I look forward to making that dream a reality.

Benjamin Luk Photography is available for assignment at BenjaminLuk.com.