Photographer Spotlight: Ted Kim

I started taking pictures about two years ago when I went into teaching because I saw the unique opportunity to be a creator and artist within the field of education, more specifically science education… where creativity and the arts seem to die. I had recently been introduced to Casey Neistat and Peter McKinnon and fell deep into the wormhole of YouTube. I spent hours watching travel videos, photography and videography tip videos, product reviews, Adobe tutorials, and instantly decided that I wanted to join the community.

The first camera I bought was the Sony A6300 with the hopes of creating amazing content that told a story of my passion for teaching and education, while also showing an artistic side of me that I yearned to find.Needless to say, the more I watched and the more I practiced, the more I fell in love with the concept of capturing a moment and finding unique perspectives in the way I portrayed something.

With that I also noticed that my skills improved and my workflow sped up. It started with product photography, finding things in my everyday teacher life that were essential and finding cool ways to present them to the community. It soon sprouted into wanting to find other people who shared a fire and passion for something. I wanted to exchange stories and share experiences with others while capturing pictures that showed people doing what they love. I hope to inspire others, especially my students, to get out, away from the craziness of everyday life and find something they love doing.I would eventually love to shoot outdoor engagement and wedding photoshoots, in addition to engaging more with the photography community as it has so many passionate and amazing people with all sorts of stories I would love to connect to.

Photographer Breakdown

• FIELD SCOUT SINCE: Dec 2017
• COMPLETED FIELD SCOUT TRIPS TO DATE: 6
• PHOTOS UPLOADED TO DATE:  221
• WHERE HE SHOOTS: San Diego, CA

WHAT’S IN HIS BAG: My pack always has my Sony A7RII with my favorite lens, the Zeiss 55mm. In addition, I always keep a field scout notebook, G-2 pen, baseball cap, 12oz Hydroflask for coffee/water, and some extra dog biscuits of course!

HIS STYLE:  I generally like to capture things in the moment and love to use the environment around me to frame my shots.

PHOTO HACK: Using the things around you to frame your images helps give a sometimes bland shot some flavor.

POST-PROCESSING TIP: Simplify your workflow – Organize your photos from the moment you import to minimize the “hunt”. Create a few presets in Lightroom that fits your style of editing and apply it over multiple similar pictures to speed your editing process.

TED’S INSPIRATION:

• @alenpalander
• @zmelhus
• @mae.frances

Ted’s Field Scout Trip Highlights

Desert Tower Tent Camping, CA

My favorite subject is Ruxpin (AKA Rux), my 4 year old Golden Retriever, named after Teddy Ruxpin (since my name is Ted). He is the perfect combination of awkward, lanky, gentle, and energetic. One reason that I have enjoyed working with Hipcamp has been being able to take him to new environments and let him off leash to run and explore.

Tiny Cabin @ Boulder’s Hideaway Joshua Tree, CA

My favorite memory from field scouting has been spending time away from the craziness of life with my dog and chasing him around the desert, making sure he doesn’t step on random cactus…

Purty Yurty, CA

I love taking photos because it allows me to capture emotions and feelings within a still image. It also lets me capture memories and experiences in a more tangible way.