We get a lot of emails asking us for our pricing/packages. It is conveniently posted on our website. At first it may be a little hard to find if you do not look through the website.

Why don’t we just name it, “Pricing”?
1) because we want you to explore our website
2) because we believe it is an investment

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What do you do with your photographs? Do you put them in an album or put them in photo boxes? How often would you look at them?

Since I’m still a singleton, I only have vacation photos to look at. Every time I look at my vacation photos, I remember how much I enjoy my trips. Prior to every booking I always have to fight the frugality in me. The photos give me the opportunity to relive a certain trip or every trip each and every day. At the end I do often tell myself that I made a wise investment in booking the trip because these wonder photos and memories will be with me for a long long time.

The following two photos are from a trip to Italy two years ago. Every now and then I would think about the handmade black and white pasta and seafood stew that I had in Ristorante Belvedere, Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre.

If anyone know of a restaurant here in the city that serves such delicious delicacies, please share the name of the restaurant with me. Thank you!!!

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. For the month of May, I’m going to try to tie every post to the Asian American Heritage theme.

This weekend (May 3 & 4) is the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. If it weren’t for seasonal allergies I would be there documenting the festivities while testing out my newly acquired photography skills. For those of you who are lucky enough to be there, please don’t be shy and share your photographs with us.

In February, Polaroid announced that it would stop making its instant film in early 2009. By the end of 2009, the polaroid cameras will be obsolete. I’ve seen a few people hoarding up the instant films in my local drugstore. Polaroids cameras and photographs may soon become an old relic in a museum, thus making the photographs more priceless and memorable each time we look at it. With that said, here’s the first entry to our photo contest.

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The interesting thing about this photo is that it is a rarity. I mean there are only about 30 actual photographs of me as a child from the age of birth until 10 years old. And more specifically, I have no photographs as an infant and only 1 as a toddler. But rather than use that solitary photo and end the story there, I chose this one.

My mother passed away when I was almost 3 years old. And from even before then, at around the age two, I was in foster care. The first home I stayed in was an awful experience. The days and nights were filled with trauma and abuse and It wasn’t too long before I was transferred to a second home. It was in this home that I had my first conscious and memorable experience of love between a child and a mother. Honestly it was a bit overwhelming at first, after what I had been through, to receive such a loving heart and loving place as this woman’s home.

Her name was Pat and she loved and cherished me as if I were her own. This photograph is one of about 29 (as I mentioned earlier the only other photo is that of me as a toddler) and it was taken on one of those old Polaroid cameras where the picture comes right out and needs to dry. And what I love about it, is the warmth I feel when I see myself, full of joy, in the arms of the only woman I ever really had in my life that held me and loved me as her own child would be held and loved. And the most difficult part of it all was she eventually, after almost 7 years of raising me, had to say goodbye when my biological father was able to take me back.

That experience, and Pat herself still have, to this day been an inspiration for me as an artist (musician ) and new father. In a song I’ve written about that experience and the sorrow I felt on the day I said my last goodbye to her I sing “I separate from your body, a passing smile wave my hand, there’s nothing left but a distance, and nothing more than a glance”.

And in the end what’s most memorable and inspirational to me is that she truly did love me unconditionally. As we recently were able to re-connect, after about 24 years of no contact, when she saw me, she grabbed me and hugged me for about a minute straight and in the midst of all the tears it all came back to me…… and it felt just the same,….. Just the same!

- Greg F.

Learning never ends and knowledge is power, therefore the Storyteller goes to photography seminars and trade shows on a regular basis. He’s kind enough to share with us what he gained from a recent seminar. Sometimes it is not what we expect to gain/learn, but what we make out of what was presented that makes it valuable.

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- Intention & Focus -

Without intention all acts are purely mechanical and robotic.

Without intention a photo can be perfectly exposed and composed, but there will not be a sign of life in it.

The intention of a photographer is not to execute all the mechanics and technicalities perfectly; a robot can do better. The focus should not be on the mechanics and technicalities after one becomes a bona fide photographer. Otherwise, your creativity will always remain on the level of a techie instead of an artist.

To help make my point clear; I would like to quote Bruce Lee from his movie, Enter the Dragon: “It’s like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory”. To be a photographer you must focus all your energy and your intensity on your intention. It does sound repetitive, but it makes sense if you think about it.

Yes, it’s the intensity of your intention that defines who you are as a photographer. Otherwise, a robot can do a better job than you. It’s the only difference. Free yourself from the constraints of the mechanics and technicalities and elevate yourself from the robotic procedures of photo taking.

You should not blindly follow “the teacher”. Find out what his intentions are. There are many proclaimed masters that set up courses and seminars to sell gadgets. The techniques you learn from them are purely set up to sell their gadgets. Do you really need the gadgets to capture beautiful photos? Don’t be a human doing, be a human being and find your intention.

Are there other ways other than their ways? One simple solution is to look at their photos. Do their photos speak to your heart? Is the talk in sync with the walk (the finished photos)?

Intention & Focus, these two words that can change the course of your life and your photography!

While taking a Sunday stroll in the Lower East Side and Chinatown, I see that MillionTreesNYC launched by New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and New York Restoration Project is truly in effect. So far they’ve planted over 54,000 trees, but it is not noticeable until they plant one in your neighborhood where you can see the results. If you want to plant a tree on your street visit www.milliontreesnyc.org

We here at Willi Wong Photography believe in living a greener life. Here are some of the many things that we do to pitch in for a greener earth.

• use recyclable batteries
• use compact fluorescent bulbs
• walk, bike or scoot whenever possible, if not then we use public transit or carpool
• bring our own usable grocery bags. Willi sure does get all the local female vendors’ attention when he says, “NO, bag please”.
• reduce the temperature of our hot water heater to 99 degrees instead of the recommended 120 degrees
• in the winter we keep the temperature at 60 degrees. Don’t worry we turn it up when we have are clients.
• in the summer we only turn on the air conditioner when we have clients
• try our best to remove our name from every mailing list
• do not mail out our price list because it is available online and will email instead of paper copies
• conserve energy by turning off lights, computers and other appliances when out of the office
• drink beverages from a reusable, washable mug
• use double-sided photocopying or printing whenever possible
• have a natural fiber of sisal rug
• buy organic foods whenever possible
• buy & use products made from recycled materials – too bad that no one has invented recycle photo papers yet.
• our motto is “reduce, reuse and recycle”

Please feel free to share your green living tips with us.