Taipei Noir

What do you do when you have access to a fully equipped studio, a large range of modifiers and a variety of seamless backdrops? Why, break out the speedlites of course and find the corner of the room that is used for storage of random bits of furniture and assorted electrical gadgets. It goes somewhat against the grain here in Taiwan where there seems to be a growing trend for people to equip themselves with a large range of studio gear just because they can. In rare instances, such as the studio I used for this shoot which is a working commercial studio, the people with all this gear actually make their livings with it, but more often than not, it’s simply a hobby and they have high paying jobs that allow such luxuries. While there are some incredibly talented photographers here, there are a lot more who think that having all the gear is the recipe to success. They look at the work of someone like Joe McNally and think they need enough lighting gear to light a small city despite the fact that he mostly works with one or at most two lights. As the old saying goes, it’s not what you got but how you use it.

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