Travel: Los Angeles, California

The sunsets in L.A. really are as amazing as the photos. While it has all the characteristics of a big city (the traffic, food, arts, nightlife), it also has the beach, a nice respite.

Where to Eat

Grand Central Market
317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles

Egg Slut
317 S. Broadway, Stall D-1

Bottega Louie
700 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

A beautiful place for brunch with a bakery attached.

Pink’s Hot Dogs
709 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles

What to do

Hike up Runyon Canyon to see the city
2000 N Fuller Ave, Los Angeles

Visit LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles

What to See

Venice Beach

Downtown LA

Interview with Tahereh Marketing

I was interviewed by Tahereh Marketing about being a freelance photographer and what it’s like to run my own business. These questions come up often and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my experience and hopefully it’ll help you or someone you know. Thank you so much for the feature, Tahereh!

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? When did you start photography? Where is your location? What type of clients do you have?
My name is Janet Kwan and I’m a lifestyle commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. My clients range from small business owners to large companies who need professional lifestyle photos to elevate their marketing and branding.

I started photography as a hobby in 2009, but I usually carried a camera with me even before that. I started my photography business in 2016.

2. Did you have any training or was it self-taught?
I like to say that I’m self/peer/Internet-taught. Without the help of others, it would have taken me much longer to learn completely by myself.

3. When you started did you always know your style or did it change over time?
I didn’t have my own style when I started. I was just learning how to reverse engineer the photos I really liked. Over time, I gravitated towards a more clean, minimal and bright style so I focused on developing that. I don’t limit myself to only shooting in that way, but it is what I intentionally work on.

4. When starting your journey did you have any challenges? Like finding clients? Keeping yourself motivated? Creating your website and online portfolio? How did you overcome those challenges?
Yes, I definitely had some challenges! Like many creatives, the challenge I faced was the imposter syndrome, being able to own the fact that I am now a professional photographer. Another challenge was the fear of not getting work on a semi-consistent basis. Being self-employed, finances are always on my mind, but that motivates me to connect with people and create new work which opened the door for opportunities.

5. How do you connect with your target audience? And how do you find your clients?
Because I had been doing photography on the side before turning it into a full-time business, I had already cultivated relationships with clients and word of mouth played a huge role in getting new clients. This also helped to lay the groundwork and build my portfolio.

Besides word of mouth, social media (especially Instagram) has been a great tool for potential clients to find my work. I also get inquiries through Google. I don’t use paid ads but I write with SEO in mind so that’s helped to boost search results.

6. How much of your daily tasks would you say is creative and how much is business?
That’s a great question. What many don’t realize is that business tasks take up a large portion of your time. If I were to divide my tasks into two, my actual time spent behind the camera takes up about 30-40% and everything else (emails, marketing, shoot prep, bookkeeping, etc) is 60-70%.

7. What is the definition of success in your mind for your business?
Success in my business is using photography for a greater purpose. It’s not just about taking nice photos. It’s the reason behind the photos. If I can help someone, a cause, or a business with my work, I will have succeeded.

8. What is the big next step you see in front of you?
I’ve already been shifting away from wedding photography to focus on lifestyle commercial photography so the next big step is to grow a different client base.

9. How much collaboration do you do with other professionals?
I collaborate with other self-employed creatives every couple of months. Most of us don’t have office coworkers so it’s a great way to meet peers and work together.

10. Do you do any networking? And do you see any benefits in networking with like-minded people?
I rarely ever attend networking events. It’s not how I connect and build relationships, but it works for some people. Creating a community through collaborations and referrals is much more effective for me.

11. Is there anything you’d like to add for those who are interested to start doing what they love but are afraid from the challenges that come their way?

• Before making the leap, set out the reasons and purpose for why you want to pursue your passion. While there will definitely be challenges, focus on that purpose, the reason you started.

• There will be times when you feel like you’re failing or want to quit. Don’t be afraid to take a step back, reassess your methods and ask for help and guidance from someone more experienced.

• Don’t quit too soon. If you’ve done all you can and you no longer feel the same drive, go back to what you originally wanted to achieve and decide if that’s still your goal. If it is, keep going. If not, give yourself permission to find another purpose.

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors

The highly anticipated exhibit, Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kusama has finally arrived at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. I've been looking forward to this since we saw Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013) last summer at the Broad in L.A. 

There are thousands of photos out there so rather than post more of the same, I thought it would be helpful to share a less common perspective and my tips on how to make the most of your visit.

I received a few questions after I posted these tips to my Instagram Stories so I've included those. Keep in mind that depending on the day/time you visit, your experience may vary :)

The AGO has a good visitor's guide so be sure to read their official details.  

Tickets

Tip: Because everyone is randomly placed into the digital queue, I found that it helped to have multiple unique tabs across different browsers/devices open to increase the chance of getting a good spot. 

How did you get tickets?

I purchased them through the AGO website. I wouldn't recommend buying from someone unless you know and trust them. It's too easy to be scammed. 

For me, I was able to get tickets if there were around 3,000 or less people in front of me in line. This also depends on how many tickets are released that day. 

Other notes

The next public sale is March 27 (mark your calendars!) or March 20 for members (tickets are free for members but you still need to order one. 

On Wednesdays after 6 pm, tickets are $15. If you use the Library Pass Program or other special passes, you can get tickets for $15 but will have to line up at 10 AM in person and try your luck.

Tip: You could buy a single ticket for a time slot and your friend(s) could buy a single for the next/similar time slot and meet inside. Since admittance is only in 15min intervals, you wouldn't have to wait long for each other and once inside the AGO, you can enter the rooms together.

What about single tickets?

When tickets were available on sale this past week, I noticed single tickets were available.

Same-day tickets

There are very limited tickets on site and they were gone before we left (around 2pm). People lined up before the gallery opened. 

Dots Obsession - Love Transformed into Dots (2009)

Lines and Wait Times

How long are wait times?

For each of the 6 rooms, lines could be anywhere from 5-10min depending on the time/day.  The AGO staff did a great job of keeping lines flowing with strict timekeeping per room, with stopwatches and 5-second warnings :)

Our timed tickets were for 10:45am (the AGO opens at 10:30) so there were already people in line to enter but that moved along smoothly once doors were open. If possible, buy tickets with the earliest timeslots (10:30 or 10:45am). Generally, there will be less people in the gallery or ahead of you in line. 

Purchasing tickets in 3s is popular, possibly because some rooms are limited to 3 people so there's less chance of splitting up your party. 

Tip: If the line to a room is long and you don't mind splitting from your group, what we did was volunteer as a single and were moved to a shorter queue (usually). I joined another pair ahead which saved some wait time. 

How much time did you spend altogether?

In total about 3-4 hours. We took our time through the entire Kusama exhibit and her other works were on display so be sure to visit those. 

Theres also the rest of the art gallery to see so you could spend a few hours. 

What can you bring inside?

Don’t bring a backpack or even a medium-sized purse if you don’t absolutely need to. The exhibit rooms are small so you can’t bring it in anyway. There are storage bins just outside each room, but it's more of a hassle to remove it each time.  

There is coat check at $1 per item. 

Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009)

Are photos/videos allowed?

Photos and videos are allowed in all but one of the rooms due to an incident a sculpture was broken from a selfie mishap. Respect the art/artist and the rules in place :)

Tip: If you're shooting manual, try to get your camera settings ready while waiting in line. Take a peek into the room when people enter/leave to get a sense of the lighting situation.

What camera and lens did you bring?

I brought a camera with a 35mm lens but if I had a wider lens like a 24mm or maybe even wider, I would've brought that. I also used my phone. 

While it does get dark in some of the rooms, the mirrors and lights can produce a decent amount of light.

Ennui, 1976

Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013).

Parking

Using the “kingpilot” Green P code and other codes (see their Twitter), get 2 hours of free parking through the app per code. Some codes may not work anymore but just try another one.

Closest spots to AGO:

• A few spots on Beverly, south end near Queen
• Queen St. W

Check this map for areas that are within the King St pilot area

The Obliteration Room (2002)

"I have been painting, sculpting, and writing for as long as I an remember. But to tell the truth, to this day I do not feel that I have 'made it' as an artist.

All of my works are steps in my journey, a struggle for truth that I have waged with pen, canvas, and materials."

- Yayoi Kusama, 2002

Narcissus Garden, 1966

Lastly, don't forget to visit Kusama's Narcissus Garden on the second floor. 

For less-commonly-shared scenes from the exhibit, check out my Instagram Stories (if you're viewing from a desktop, click on my Instagram profile picture to view Stories). I hope this helps to maximize your visit:) Feel free to leave your questions in the comments below. 

Christmas Portrait Studio

This year for Christmas, I want to use photography to give back to my community so I decided to build a modern Christmas portrait studio from scratch for groups of friends and families to come and get their photo taken.

Together, we raised close to $3000! The proceeds are going to support our church's building project which will then be used to create a safe, usable space for the community and our neighbours in Victoria Village.

After a month of planning, building, prop sourcing and testing, it’s finally happening. I’m excited to see old friends and meet new ones 😊

A huge thank you to everyone who came by to get a portrait taken and to friends who helped make this happen! 

Digital vs Film

It took a year (maybe even 2) to finish my first roll of film shot on a Nikon FM2, but throughout that roll, I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison between film vs digital images. 

Now I'm not an expert at film emulation but I tried to get them as close as possible. The first 2 were shot on Fuji Superia 400 and the last one was on Kodak Portra 400.

Comment below if you can tell which one was shot on film and which was shot on digital :)

1. Fuji Superia 400

2. Fuji Superia 400

3. Kodak Portra 400

Answers:
1. Digital, Film
2. Film, Digital
3. Digital, Film