It should hardly EVER be about the money. Too often we let our thoughts of how much something will cost us, or how much something will earn us dictate our actions and our emotions – which ultimately are part of the main things that dictate our life. I sincerely believe the overwhelming majority of us have forgotten the importance of time – and that time is the absolute most valuable possession we have. We’ve all been guilty of wasting it. For the most part of my adult life, I have been obsessed with productivity, self improvement, and pursuing hunting down your goals. Many of my friends I’m sure can provide testimony to how relentlessly critical I am of others and myself. So much in fact that, there have and continue to be points where it puts a strain on the friendship. Don’t get me wrong, I am very far from being an unflinchingly motivated and productive human, however the important thing is that we acknowledge where we’re at and try to better ourselves.
So what exactly is this event & workshop and why are you doing this? The workshop will be a live event consisting of a 2-hour creative portrait session with a real couple to serve as models. I will guide you through how I photograph my portrait sessions, what I look for in natural light, how I make use of surroundings, tips & tricks, and also help answer any other Q&A.
To answer why, the answer to that is two-fold. First off, I want to empower those we are eager and willing to learn. Whether you’re just starting out but have a serious hunger to improve, or whether you’re more seasoned to photography but also have a hunger to learn and improve – this is for you. As mentioned earlier, time is the MOST valuable thing in our possession. I was beyond lucky to have found the proper guidance that I had and continue to have to educate, critique, and ultimately improve my photography.
Secondly, as there is no monetary fee for this small workshop, there is however a requirement to Pay It Forward. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept it simply means: what I give to you, you give to someone else. There are so many people and things that are in serious need of our time. As I continue to educate myself on matters of life through books, podcasts, lectures and other things, there is a resounding common thread that is absolutely impossible to ignore by the overwhelming amount of data… and that is… being charitable and giving to others, will not only benefit you in NUMEROUS quantitive areas of your life, as well as the lives of you give to, but it will also benefit you in qualitative areas as well – meaning you will be HAPPIER and feel more FULFILLED. This is as close as it gets to a win-win scenario for everyone.
What on earth is a NUMMI? And why is this workshop named that? Podcasts are a brilliant resource I’ve only recently stumbled onto. And amongst the many podcasts that exist, one in particular by This American Life stood out and spoke to me. The story is about two rival car companies, General Motors and Toyota, coming together in partnership for a joint venture manufacturing factory and also where both companies would share ALL their secrets to production to help one another. Sounds like The Avengers coming together or something right? Why these two rivals would come together and openly share trade secrets is already interesting enough, however, the ending is not a fairy tale ending.
It’s a story of how GM was introduced to new beliefs, work culture, and productivity measures BUT because of the company’s lack of leadership and willingness to change, they failed to implement what they learned from Toyota and ended up deepening America’s recession gap and ultimately needed a $17.4 billion dollar bailout from the US government. Insane huh? Plus, NUMMI sounds like new-me lol. The lessons learned from this story and podcast were unreal, and applying it to my life, I would hate to be in the position of GM and be so unwilling to learn and change to the point it costs you and those around you. Especially when the answers are already placed in the palms of your hands. I want both you and I to learn from each other at this workshop. I want neither us to be so bull-headed and caught up in our ways, that we’re unable to see and implement new beliefs, culture, and productivity in our lives.
Now the question that begs to be asked is: why learn through me? Am I the best photographer in Toronto? ABSOLUTELY not. I can instantly rattle off a list of local photographers that put me to shame. Am I an amazing teacher then? I’m probably an even WORSE teacher if we’re being honest. So why me? Because I am passionate about this. I want to share with you and help you improve, because it will in turn help me improve. I want to be able to give back when so many photographers and creatives have given me their time, which will in turn require you to give back your time to others.
How do I sign up? For both dates I will only be accepting a limited amount of participants. If you are interested you only need to do 2 things: 1) shoot me an email at derek@derekhui.com telling me you’re interested and 2) tell me how you are going to pay forward your time at the workshop. What and how you decide to pay forward your time is entirely up to you. Whether it be helping an elderly neighbour with their yard work, or helping a friend out who is struggling to keep up understand concepts learned in school. Whatever it is, it is entirely up to you. As human beings we not only owe it to ourselves and those around us to be generous and give back, but if you partake in this workshop, you now owe it to me.
Apologies on the longwinded post, but this is something that has been brewing in my head for awhile now and I am very excited. Both shoot dates will be at adventurous locations and both will have a real life couple that are genuinely cool people to hang and be around with. You’ll get to keep and use any of the photos you take on the workshop as well. I definitely advise all interested participants to own a DSLR as well as a prime lens. It’ll make for teaching, demonstrating, and learning much much easier.
Interested? Shoot me an email at: derek@derekhui.com.
Cheers!
hi Derek,
I was referred to this workshop from my friend Andrew Ho — he speaks very highly of you and from seeing some of you work, I would have to agree with him. You’re amazing!
I would love the opportunity to learn from you in one of the two workshops as I am just starting out and could really use some guidance.
I am truly passionate about photography in the way that it captures moments to keep for a lifetime. I’ve met so many people along the way who’ve had horrible experiences with the photographer that they hired based on budget, location, availability, etc. I plan on paying it forward by offering pro bono photo shoots to some of these couples so that they can truly be happy with their images.
Your response is greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Belinda