Singaporean Amigo Raymond Phang Returns with the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens

After testing the Petzval 85 Art Lens, Singaporean wedding and commercial photographer Raymond Phang returns to try out the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens. In this shoot, Raymond showcases his and his team’s knack for bringing out the special in the mundane.

• Name: Raymond Phang
• Instagram: @raymondphangphotography
• Facebook: /raymondphangphotography
• Website: raymondphang.com
• Country: Singapore
• Lens: Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens
• Camera: Canon 1D-X Mark II and 5D Mark IV

Please tell us about your style as a photographer.

I do mostly weddings. I enjoy telling stories with an added element of humor. This can be seen in my conceptualized Prewedding work. For the wedding day, it’s more of capturing the moments in their most natural state.

What would you count as your greatest achievements or favorite projects?

Photographing the bird’s eye view of Earth from the edge of space at 80,000 ft high up in the air from a Russian fighter jet.

Digital or analogue? Does it matter which?

I’m a digital shooter now, back in the past when digital wasn’t such a huge rave, it was analogue for me. Digital for the controlled convenience, analogue for the charm and flavor, that element of surprise. One actually needs to be very disciplined shooting with analogue, and the technical know how’s are basics necessity.

How would you compare your experience of shooting with the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens with using other Lomography products? How about with other lenses?

Previously I tried the Petzval 85. That and the Daguerreotype Achromat lenses are equally charming and magical in their own unique way, producing its own distinct results.

Can you tell us a little more about your Daguerreotype Achromat experience? Any interesting things you encountered or challenges?

Let’s start with the packaging. Love the whole idea of it – the solid box with booklet and advice which I wholeheartedly agree – just shoot don’t think. The build of the lens was solid, feels old school yet modern at the same time. Almost didn’t want to part ways with it. Haha! Challenges would probably be speed. We are so used to the speed and convenience of digital photography that we had to force ourselves to slow down for this beast – it’s manual focus and you have to change your own aperture plate! One thing that I will love for the future lens you design is that I will prefer it to be a longer focal length like 100mm and a wider aperture like f2 so that my subject don’t have to be so close to the lens to get the nice bokeh effects.

Please choose your favorite photo(s) from the Daguerreotype Achromat shoot and tell us about the images, and why they’re your favorites.

I don’t have a particular favourite photo from the series, really. For me it’s more on the process of achieving the shots, and with the DA lens, it’s been a pretty fun experience so far!

What is your favorite feature or what do you like most about the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens?

I loved the freedom to experiment with a large array of aperture slide shapes. interesting and perfect if you are looking for unexpected results.

For what kind of projects would you recommend the Daguerreotype Achromat?

Street photography, portraits, emotive and experimental shots. In fact, it’s a good lens to explore different genres of photography with.

Any tips for first-time shooters?

Start small! Once you get the hang of it, try the various aperture plates and experiment from there. But of course, the key element is patience because it’s a manual lens.

Any advice on how to fully utilize the Daguerreotype Achromat?

Find a background with lots of shimmering lights which can be LED lights or light bulbs or any light source because it’s those lights that will create the nice bokeh. Live view is almost a prerequisite if you want sharp focused images, shooting on a digital camera body.

Do you have ongoing or upcoming projects that you would like to tell the community about?

In terms of photoshoot, not really — a couple of commercial shoots here and there though. Come January next year, I’ll be sharing at a photography workshop in Hong Kong.

written by crissyrobles on 2016-12-08 #news #lomoamigo #raymond-phang #daguerreotype-achromat