As I was going though my list of people I really wanted to interview there was a few people that I really wanted to contact first and Hanssie Ho is one of them. For the last few years she has been overseeing SLR Lounge and dabbling in a photo-shoot of her own along the way.
I didn’t really want this article / blog / interview thing, to be an SLR Lounge advert, those guys know how good they are already and I am pretty sure everyone already knows about the blog, news, review, tuition, Lightroom presets, contests, forums, photography resources, projects and … well… you get the idea. Hanssie is a busy lady, so I might start with saying a very big thank you to Hanssie for taking the time to come and hang out on my little blog.
Photograph of Hanssie !
Last year, I did a few articles for SLR Lounge too. Mostly around Fuji and something about new lenses then a few interviews with the likes of Rebecca Lichfield. Hanssie was the editor lady that I had to impress with the blog’s so it is quite fun now that this is my blog !!
As a starter lead in question, something light and easy. How bad really is my grammar?
Do you really want me to answer that?! 🙂 I figured since you’re from a different country and all…
On a proper note, Photographers today, as someone who deals with and must be aware of thousands of photographers what would make someone stand out to the head lady at SLR Lounge? When I look out and about it seems the photographers making all the right moves are the ones who are more socially aware of the internet. Is that a part of being successful these days ? I remember reading your post about models having to have over 10,000+ followers – do you think it will go the same way for us ?
I actually wrote an entire article on this topic: http://www.slrlounge.com/5-tips-getting-work-featured-online-publication-like-slr-lounge/
Aside from the obvious, having incredible imagery, if we don’t know you exist, we cannot feature your work, no matter how great you are. For those photographers that eschew social media, I feel like they are doing themselves quite a disservice. Though I don’t see the 10k requirement trickling to photographers, it doesn’t hurt to know that you have a following esp. if you share with your audience your featured article. That way there is exposure for everyone. That said, if you had 100 followers, but your work was awesome, we love to be there to help get the word out there about how awesome you are. So, really, for us, we just love to show off great work, a great project or a great story.
So to answer your question, yes. It helps a lot to be internet and social media savvy as a photographer.
Over the time you have been at SLR Lounge, what have been the stories & news items that have really stuck with you ?
Gosh, there have been so many. I’ve written almost 800 articles in my time here at SLR Lounge. a few of my most favorite articles though have been:
1. The interview with Jake Olson: http://www.slrlounge.
I’ve actually featured him twice. The first time was when he was just starting to get known. Watching his career take off has been just wonderful to see. Jake is just one of the most authentic, funny, no BS, super talented and nice people.
Photo by Jake Olson – click the link for Hanssie’s post about Jake’s work
2. Another one that has really touched me was a feature I wrote about David Jay’s SCAR project. The series features women who have battled and survived breast cancer and the courage of those women is so raw and honest and just jumps out of the page at you. Incredibly moving. http://www.slrlounge.
3. My most viral article on SLR Lounge has been a feature on Aurum Light’s 40’s Pinup Girls photographed “wearing” milk. It was one of my first articles and not only is it a beautiful project, but it still is the most viral article we’ve had on SLR Lounge. Personally, that is when I first realized that, hey, I could get the hang of this writing thing. http://www.slrlounge.
Images by London based photographer, Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz,
You have been with SLR Lounge for 4.5 years now in some shape or forum, in that time we have seen the raise of CSC cameras, but, from your perspective do you think they will ever remove the need for DSLR’s ?
I think DSLR’s will be around for a while. Personally, I’ve made the switch over to mirrorless but I do find myself missing my Canon 5D II from time to time. But with Sony just pushing the envelope with each new release, it’ll definitely be very interesting to see what happens in the next few years. And, of course, not. More megapixels do help image quality, obviously, but again, the best camera is the one in your hands right? I started my career with a Canon Rebel, and I got some really wonderful images from it. When I switched to the 5DII, there was definitely a noticeable difference in the quality and color of my images and now on the Fuji, I adore the colors that come from that. But my style remains pretty constant. from the images I take using my iPhone to the ones I get from my X-T1, my style is my style and more megapixels won’t change how I make images.
You mentioned CloudSpot earlier – looks quite exciting and interesting. I have been using SmugMug for a while now and the idea of online storage and back up has saved me quite a few times and really has helped my business look more slick online. The ‘front’ end of my site is still WordPress (just like SLR Lounge) with all the heavy lift and images stored in Smug Mug. Just today though, I was asked to write some thoughts about workflow and storage. For the first time I found my self departing for the normal answers I give of, back up online then three physical versions ad stuff and questioned what we are really backing up for. My thought was this, the other day I was at my partners house and she wanted to show me a photo. She opened the cupboard under the stairs and we proceed to spend the next few hours laughing and giggling at all the baby photos and family photos we had found. My question is this… should be helping people to print more to help future generations find our stored memories or is the internet that place ? Are the days of flicking though old badly taken photographs gone ?
I have a gigantic box of scrapbooks and photo albums in storage that never get looked at, but once in a while we stumble on them, and they are rally fun to look at. I feel like we’ve lost something by having all of all images scattered online. I used to love to pull down the old family photo albums as a kid and flip through the old pages, seeing photos of my parents when they were young and me as a baby. My daughter doesn’t really get those opportunities. I have a stack of discs from when she was a baby, and the rest are on hard drives that she never gets to see.
Because so many images are taken these days, it’s rough to figure out which ones to print and frame and I am terrible at making the effort to do it. I would love to have my personal images printed and gathered neatly in a book, but who has the time for that? I certainly hope that in the future, I’ll make it more of a priority to get some sort of tangible album printed but who knows when that might be? I know that Facebook makes a printed book; maybe that’ll be the best I can do, sadly.
You should check out the Pop Book app – sounds like just thing for you also. So… Hanssie the photographer! How has the switch to Fuji been ? Have you really sold up and switched over ?
Right now my bag is pretty empty. I only have the X-T1 and the XF 56mm, which is just a dream of a lens. I’m looking to pick up the XF 16-55mm f2.8 for a more versatile day to day lens soon though. Fuji’s lens system is just beautiful. I’m trying not to be too impressed or my wish list will be enormous.
Other than that, it’s just extra batteries, memory cards, a couple Yongnuo flashes and some straps from Peak Design.
It would be amazing for you to share some images, could you talk a little bit about your photography and where you want to go with it ? It must be amazing to have such a resource like SLR Lounge to dip into for help and advice ?
Actually, my own photography business has been put on hold for a bit. I shoot once or twice a month – usually former clients or friends. SLR Lounge keeps me busy, busy and I’ve been focusing on my other business in the fitness industry and a personal project – which is helping women create a life they love after divorce. But in all those areas, photography comes in so very handy – from social media to marketing to web design, the skills I’ve learned in my years in the photography industry have been invaluable. I use it every day. And of course, since I read every article on SLR Lounge – as per my job – I learn a lot about what’s up and coming, the newest trends, the news, the really cool photographers, the latest techniques. So perhaps one day I can give my focus back to shooting more, but for now, I’m enjoying exploring other areas in my life.
Above three images taken by Hanssie Ho
If you could send an e-mail back in time… what 5 bits of advice would you send to yourself.
- Don’t be a victim. Take life’s challenges, learn from them and use the knowledge to achieve your dreams. Mindset and hard work are the two most important things you need for success.
- Practice gratitude daily. It’s so easy to be negative about stuff, but when you really stop and think about it, there are so many things we take for granted. Negativity just puts you in a bad place and it’s contagious. Spread positivity and gratitude, the world needs more of those things.
- Who cares what other people think of you? I mean really, unless it’s someone you respect and who loves you enough to have your best interest at heart, does their opinion of you matter that much? (Something I still work on constantly).
- Life is damn short. Turn off the computer and play with your kid.
- Be kind to people, even if they don’t deserve it.
As a final thing…. who would you nominate for an interview next !
I would say fellow SLR writer Jay Cassario or Jake Olson.
Looks like Jake Olson might be getting an e-mail then !! I love his work ! Thank you very much for taking the time out for my little blog.
Here are a few links to help you find some of the stuff mentioned in this blog post, also remember to sign up for the newsletter which can be found here.
