Ask and you shall receive fellow aspiring NBA photographers :). I’m no guru and still learning a ton of new things about this profession, but due to the recent inquiries and questions, I thought putting together a quick “NBA Photography 101″ video might be beneficial to some of you. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy! This was all done in one take earlier today, so apologies if I might’ve goofed somewhere. Please give the video about 5-6 seconds to load, thanks!

Btw, here is the permalink to the “How Do I Become An NBA Photographer?” that I mention a few times in the video. Your comments/critique/feedback is greatly appreciated. Let me know if there’s anything I didn’t answer and you’d like me to touch on in a future video, cheers!

NBA Photography 101 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of celebrating one of my good high school friends’ birthday on a yacht in the Marina Del Rey harbor. I first want to thank Bo and his friend Alex, whose birthday we were also celebrating and the one that organized the whole thing, for inviting me. It was really great seeing some of my friends from Lincoln High (can’t believe the class of 2001 reunion is in a few years guys!). Bo has always been a great friend to me, and is someone that is just well liked by everyone. He’s always watching out for his friends, is very career and family driven, has a wonderful girlfriend in Adrienne, and is one badass basketball player. I always wanted him to be on my team! Bo was Mr. Everything in high school: the brains, the athleticism, and the girls loved him!

Thanks again Bo for inviting me to your super sweet birthday party and allowing me to bring my camera. And thanks for the plug on the whole wedding/NBA photography thing to your couple friends :P. I hope nothing but the very best on your actual birthday tomorrow and starting the next chapter of your life. And to all my old friends, it was so good to see you all again. I’m glad to hear some of you guys are living near me, we should definitely grab lunch or dinner soon!

To photographers: all the photos were taken with a Canon 5D + either a 24/1.4, 35/1.4, or 50/1.2 lens with a 580EX II Speedlite. It was near darkess both inside and outside the boat, so my settings were at the limit for maximum light: 1/60th of a second, 1.2-1.4 aperture, IS0 3200, and mostly manual flash with a power around 1/64th or 1/128th.

Hanging outside the yacht, from left to right: Sandra, Nick (Sandra’s bf), Chi, Alyssa, Qi Wei, myself, the birthday boy Bo, Bo’s gf Adrienne, and one of Bo’s friend. Kudos to the person that grabbed my 5D and took this shot :).

Waiting to board the boat at 10PM:

Some new and old friends were part of the party crew last night:

Goofing off; so who was sober at this point besides me? Adrienne and Sandra: thanks for helping me snap some of the photos. Hmmm, perhaps a career change into wedding photography? :)

A few more with my high school buddies:

I love these guys! Gamie and James are two of the nicest and kindest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with in the past few months. I met them through Trini of Nozza Studio. Gamie is the owner of Peach Mailbox, who is an amazing graphic and print designer and is helping me make a few Christmas goodies for my couples :). It’s always an extra honor and pleasure photographing colleagues and good friends like Gamie, James, and their two little ones Rascal and oooh…I forgot the female dog’s name!

We went to a park in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach earlier this afternoon snapping away a few family portrait photos for their holiay greeting cards; special thanks to Gamie’s mom for lending a helpful hand. I don’t want to be all mushy but seriously, aren’t they a cute family? To Gamie and James: thank you both for being a part of my life, helping me immensely in my business, and for being such wonderful people in this world. I know I’ll be seeing you both again very soon :).

Slideshow of Veronica and Jove’s e-session. Please click on the image below or here to view it. Enjoy!