T-minus 4 hours before Nancy and I take a flight out to Washington, Baltimore, and Richmond for some engagement and portrait sessions fun. I’m really excited to meet a few new couples and see some old friends from last year’s trip out to the East Coast around this time :). We (or rather I :P) will be out of the office from Monday 10/25 to Friday 10/29.

However, I’ll do my best to post a sneak peek of Saturday and Sunday’s weddings over the next few days (no guarantees though!). If you need to reach me, please feel free to e-mail or call me anytime, but it might take a bit longer than usual to respond. Thanks in advance for your patience. Now it’s time to pack and pray the weather over there cooperates with us *crossing fingers*!

With the purchase of a studio and doing wedding photography full-time last year, 2010 has allowed me to spend even more time doing what I love and more importantly, giving that extra attention to each of my wonderful couples. But there’s only so many days in a year, and cloning oneself seems a bit difficult at the moment ;)…so it’s once again time to grow my business and expand a bit more.

Heading into 2011 and hopefully many years afterward, my studio will soon include additional photographers, aka associates, that will step in and help me photograph weddings on days that I’m already booked (with another wedding) or just not available. Now brides and grooms will have the option of either still hiring me for their big day (on dates I’m still available), or choose one of my associate photographers.

The associates will all be professional wedding photographers, with some having their own company, but have been shooting with me at several weddings, have a similar style as my photography, and will provide first-class service/quality at a more cost effective price. Brides and grooms will get a chance to see their work, meet the associate of their choice at my studio (in Long Beach, CA), and all transactions/communication/retouching/album designing/printing will still be conducted by yours truly (Henry Chen).

A new website and “look” for the associate photography part of my company will be unveiled in the coming weeks, and we already have one amazing photographer on board. At this time, I’d like to see if there’s other photographers (either ones I’ve worked with or not) interested in this opportunity. If so, please contact me or just send a direct e-mail to henry[at]henrychenphotography[dot]com with “Associate Photographer” in the subject line.

I’ll respond with some additional info like requirements/logistics/legal matters/pricing. I’ll also be holding interviews early next month at my studio followed by some mentoring/training. The plan is to have 2-3 associates all ready to go by early 2011. Now let the good times roll!

Time to learn from the very best!

Hey guys, I’ll be out of the studio starting today until roughly 9/14 and heading on over to Beijing, China for Vivian and Chris‘ engagement session and wedding later this week. This will be my first going back to Asia since I came to the US from Burma in 1987 with my parents. Amazing how 23 years have quickly flown by!

I’ll be stopping by Hong Kong afterward and hopefully Tokyo as well before making my way back to the US. Earlier today, I made a video showing what photography-related items I bring for a destination e-session and wedding shoot. Below are parts one and two of my “What’s In My Cameara Bag?” videos. Sorry if they’re a bit long. You know me, I just love to ramble and ramble on ;).

What’s In My Bag? Destination Wedding Version Part 1 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

What’s In My Bag? Destination Wedding Version Part 2 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful :). Please don’t hesitate to let me know via the comment section below or e-mail if you have any questions on what I talked about in the videos. Also, if you need to reach me while I’m out of the office, please e-mail or call me anytime as AT&T has been very kind to iPhone users and offer a great international data and cellular plan. However, I might be a bit slower than usual on getting back to you :).

And lastly, here’s a sneak peek of Patsy and Benjamin’s super intimate and radtastic wedding from this past Saturday :). They were so awesome for giving me nearly three hours to take portraits and being patient with me. I’ll be editing their images on the plane ride later tonight and hopefully have a blog post soon. Okay, time to split to LAX. See everyone on the other side :).