I started the fan page over a year ago as a way for people to be able to connect with my wedding, engagement, and lifestyle photography work through Facebook. Did you know my Facebook ID number (before they switched to usernames) was #81? Yep, I joined Facebook the night it opened to Harvard students. I could not have imagined how fun it is to be able to interact with people and make new connections through the page. When I first started I literally was talking to myself most of the time (awkward!), but now I’m totally loving the interaction and love! This is an arbitrary milestone, but 500 fans is a LOT to someone like me, so I want to give back and show appreciation to you all!

To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post by 12PM EST this Friday, March 12 2010 with the following

1. First name (in the “Name” box, to get past the comment filter)
2. Your email (in the “Email” box, also to get past the comment filter and also so I can get in touch with you. Your email will not be public)
3. Which fan you identify with the most in the “Comment” box. You will be placed in the contest for the prizes associated with the fan type!
4. Make sure you are a current fan of Shang Chen Photography

The reason I’m doing this through the blog is because I’ve had trouble emailing fans through Facebook before. I will do a random drawing and announce the winner on Saturday. Assistants and second shooters are also welcome to enter! The following are the available prizes! There will be one winner in each category!

The Every Day Fan - You could be anyone – a friend, a stranger, doesn’t matter, you like my photos, ergo, you rock!
Prize: $25 gift card to store of your choice (must be a store that allows me to buy the gift card online)

The Client Fan – You may have been a past, present, or maybe even future client? There are some awesome goodies here for you!
Prizes:
- $50 production credit – applicable to prints, albums, canvases, and other products! Expires when your last online gallery expires
- $50 session fee credit – give it to yourself for a future shoot, or give it to a friend! Expires in one year and subject to my availability (Boston through summer of 2010, Chicago starting September 2010)
- $10 Finale Desserts gift card. I love this dessert store and want to share with you something sweet!

The Wedding Industry Fan – You’re a fellow photographer or an aspiring one, or you’re a fellow industry professional, I hope I get to meet each and every one of you guys one day!
Prizes:
- Free headshot session on a weekday in July or August 2010 (Boston only) or after September 2010 (Chicago only) with 5 retouched images to keep
- 50 personalized business cards from Moo.com – use your current design or try something new! Moo allows for up to 50 different photos on one side and one design for the back. I get my business cards here and everybody raves about them!
OR if you love your current cards too much… (tell me where you got them!)
- $25 gift card to a supply store of your choice (e.g., Adorama or B&H or paper stores, store must have the availability to purchase gift cards)

Prize for Every Entry!
Even if you don’t win, you’ll be noted to get $5 print credit! These are valid for clients whose galleries are currently still active or who will have shoots with me, and also valid for new bookings!

Announcing Discounted Weekday Lifestyle Photoshoots!

Shang Chen photography is officially booked out for all weekend slots for lifestyle shoots in 2010! Crazy! Lifestyle photoshoots include maternity / newborn photos, family photos, in(SCP)iration sessions, senior photos, and couples sessions. I am now booking for weekdays in July and August 2010 ONLY for those residing in Boston area, there are no weekday availabilities prior to that, and summer weather is way more awesome anyway! The sessions must be held during the daytime prior to sunset. Starting in September 2010, lifestyle shoots will be placed mostly on hiatus while I attend business school.

Lifestyle session creative fees are now also discounted by 20% for weekdays in July and August 2010. Investments will range between $160 to $300 depending on the type of shoot selected, number of subjects, and production needs (such as digital files, prints, canvases, and others). Lifestyle sessions are perfect for commemorating the big milestones in your life, celebrating anniversaries, and are a very personalized way to gift a special person in your life. Please contact me today by clicking the “Contact” link above to get your dibs on a booking before they’re gone!

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I interned at Google in Mountain View, CA for the summer of 2006, and I returned to the Bay Area in the spring of 2009 for a vacation. Both times, I noticed a very different quality to the outdoor photographs I took there compared to the ones I can take in Boston. All I’m saying is, Boston and the New England area, there is a certain character to the weddings here. I’ve been wishing for months that there was a blog that would highlight the loveliness of Boston-area weddings. So imagine my excitement when I found out about Beantown Bride’s launch this week. Beantown Bride is a blog dedicated to the Boston audience! Pay attention to this blog – the talent that is already featured is enormous, and I bet you it will be a go-to resource for trends in the future!

http://www.beantownbride.com

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I added a goofy one in there :D

This photo technically doesn’t qualify as a headshot, but it really shows how the pretty building can become a cool texture

[I am currently out of country until December 2. I will respond to all emails promptly upon my return]

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In reviewing this image I believe I was inspired by a recent shoot by my friend, Anna Wu, check her out for Bay Area photography =)

The first thing that struck me about Lena was her walk. LOVE IT!

Did you know about half of us were pretty much afraid of the height of the bleachers at this point? One of them would be me

We headed across the road to the HBS campus to wrap up the shoot

A great smile!

Hot!

And for your amusement, Emily shot this photo of me in action on the Harvard girls’ photoshoot. As you can see, I have to deal with lots of tourists!

Oh MAN. I’m tired from a weekend of bschool application editing and wedding shooting and lots of inquiry-answering and wedding booking – you 2010 brides are on top of your game! Unfortunately I still cannot book anything past August 2010 due to my next location being up in the air – I cannot wait until I find out where I’m going for bschool (late-December is the anticipated reply time-frame for most schools)

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1) Planning a wedding is stressful - this is less a tip and more of a fact. It’s not that the bride and groom necessarily want all the attention on them when they talk about a wedding 24/7, but it is a difficult undertaking so it’s on the front of their minds. They are trying to organize an event for several hundred people all by themselves, and in most cases, with a limited budget. Please be a friend and be supportive. Also, Why is the Guest List so Stressful? The guest list and the final headcount basically determines a big chunk of the budget of a wedding. Receptions can and often do cost more than $100 per guest, and other vendors may charge more also based on headcount. For example, photographers have to plan on adding assistants. Coordinators and florists might need more hands on deck.

2) Don’t invite yourself to the wedding or assume you are in the wedding party – There are many factors and budget limitations where it’s simply not possible to invite everyone to a wedding. Don’t take it personally if you don’t get invited. When you find out that a couple has gotten engaged, offer them your congratulations, but refrain from asking what date their wedding is (you can ask month or season) or whether you’re invited or worse, inviting yourself! If you are invited or asked to be a groomsman or bridesmaid, you’ll know. Until then, respect their privacy. Also, when you are invited, don’t flaunt it in front of other people who weren’t but who are friends of the bride and groom, they might be sad they weren’t included. So if possible, be discreet.

3) RSVP, RSVP on time, RSVP without bringing uninvited guests – When reading the invitation, check the verbiage! Sometimes the invitation is only addressed to a particular person or might say “____ of 2 guests”. Weddings can be fun, but it is a personal event for the bride and groom and it’s not very good etiquette to bring someone unexpected. Usually, the +1 is designated for a serious boyfriend/girlfriend or a fiance or spouse. If you ever have a question as to if your +1 is invited, ask, don’t assume. If the wedding specified no kids, kindly be respectful to that, but if it is hard for you to leave your child, contact the bride/groom and see what can be arranged. Weddings are not like parties or dances, the +1 is not just anyone you can find. Finally, RSVP on time and properly – use the envelopes or the online link; a verbal or email RSVP can get lost in the shuffle. Many venues and vendors require a final headcount in advance of the wedding, so please give the bride something less to worry about!

4) Gift-giving – Did you know that brides and grooms get a 10 – 15% discount on all items that are not purchased on their registry? Sometimes an item is up there just for that purpose (like a couch). Registries are a guideline for what to get the bride and groom, but I’ve found that many, many people prefer cash in the end, it’s just that Western tradition has made asking for cash seem tacky (Asian cultures on the other hand, warmly accept it). It does not hurt to ask the bride and groom what they prefer, some do prefer one over the other. If you want to buy something similar to a registry item, try to match it in quantity / size / style / color. Also, you can team up with multiple guests to buy one single item. Whenever possible, don’t bring a large gift to the wedding – usually the only gifts that should be brought to a wedding are cards and envelopes w/checks. There’s a general sentiment that you have up to 1 year post-wedding to send them a gift, but I personally think it’s best to give it by the wedding or soon thereafter. The bride & groom often have to leave for their honeymoon right after the wedding and transporting large gifts home from the wedding is a logistical nightmare.

5) It’s their wedding – Whatever a couple decides to do and plan their wedding, it’s their day, they have their own vision that may be different from yours, and so please don’t hurt their feelings by saying some off-color remark about one detail or another. Plenty of people will be giving them advice left and right or offer help, but they will make the final decision in the end. If they do, don’t judge! They’ve put a lot of thought into it, just be happy for what they’ve done, and hey, if it’s your wedding, you’d probably want the same.

6) Don’t get in vendors’ way! They were hired to help =) I have been to numerous weddings – especially Asian ones – where every which way, someone else has also brought a fancy camera and is taking photos. I more than welcome that because I know you care about the bride and groom and hey, I started out doing photography like that myself, BUT, please please don’t step in the photographer’s line of sight, don’t go crazy with a flash, and in most cases, photographers (including myself) ask that you do not take photos during the group portraits because then it slows down the entire process and the wedding party will end up looking in multiple directions. If you ever have questions about taking photographs at a wedding, ask the professional photog, and they should (I hope!) be nice and tell you which angles you can capture and how to move about!

As winter approaches, good luck to all the people out there planning their proposals! Looking forward to working with some of you next year!

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Weddingbee – There are several popular wedding websites out there for planning – I’ve seen theKnot, WeddingWire, Weddingbee, Project Wedding, just to list a couple. The forums at Weddingbee are arranged by topic. Though it also has city-based forums like theKnot, they are not as active. I like Weddingbee the best because it has really easy navigation, the forums make sense, you’re not bombarded with video advertisements, and it allows vendors to post to your questions as well. I think it’s important to get the point of views of both brides and vendors. Also, I like Weddingbee simply because I think brides who like my style would love the galleries, forums, and advice on Weddingbee, my style is very similar to this site! The brides there are nothing but helpful and honest, and answered a question I had on etiquette well!

Hostess with the mostess – This blog doesn’t focus on weddings, but it features tons and tons of creative ideas for bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties, and more. It also frequently has fun giveaways and just feature products that make me want to run out and buy! I was inspired by this blog to do my very own b&w new year’s party. I plan on doing another theme-inspired party for the holidays, stay tuned!

Style Me Pretty – Looking for fresh, modern, romantic inspiration boards that experts have put together using spectacular photography? Brides and photographers alike LOVE Style Me Pretty, and gosh, if I were ever to get published there it’d be amaaazing. Style Me Pretty gets today’s brides, they really do. And they’re not narrowly focused on one category. I think most brides can find something there to relate to

Cake Wrecks – Ready for a laugh? This snarky blog features cake disasters, Monday through Saturday, and cake miracles on Sundays. Now that most of you have been wowed by people on Ace of Cakes and the Cake Boss, it’s time to reverse, and see how bad (and some are reaaaally bad) it could have been.

Get Rich Slowly - No, this has nothing to do with weddings, it’s a blog dedicated completely to personal finance. And a wedding, more than anything, will probably kick even the most Excel-savvy accountant in her butt. This blog offers practical advice on saving, investing, and getting rid of debt. I changed the way I looked at credit cards from this website. I invested all my retirement savings so far in stocks based on their recommendations for people my age. I took a big risk and bought a condo this year (a decision I currently am very positive about, but it was a big decision nonetheless) and this blog helps me evaluate all my other financial behaviors. If you like Suze Orman, but want a blog that your hubby can also read, try GRS. The title says it – few people would ever succeed getting rich overnight, but if you put your money hard at work for you, you can strive to be debt free and smart about your money.

BloomRoom – One night I was wandering on the internet and stumbled upon this blog. I don’t know of many florists who blog, but I think it’s an excellent idea! Florals change throughout the year due to seasonality and availability. This blog offers practical tips on your floral arrangements. I also learned the proper way to hold a bouquet from this blog!

The Big Picture – the Boston Globe puts together a jaw-dropping collection of truly fantastic photojournalistic photos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from photographers around the world. It’s very eye-opening, compelling, and moving, just the way photojournalism should be.

And finally, to read all these blogs without having to bookmark every page…. use Google Reader! It’s easy to set up, it’s my favorite RSS reader, you can search through your blogs for things you’ve read, you can star favorite posts. It’s also social – like Facebook, you can share articles, comment on them, like them, but unlike Facebook it bookmarks things more easily so I can go back and find everyone. It’s as simple as adding the URL blog by clicking the “Add a Subscription” button, and you’re set from there. You can check out my shared items here, although a warning, they tend to be more on the goofy side =)

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Extra props to all who comment – you guys crack me up, give me insight into what photographs appeal to people, and make me feel loved in general! You extra-rock.

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What I usually carry:

2 Nikon D700 cameras
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D lens
Nikon 85mm f/1.8 D lens
Nikon 24mm-70mm f/2.8 lens
Nikon 60mm f/2.8D lens
SB-900 flashes

Wish list:

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens
Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens

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