Featured Photographer - John Zhang

Featured Photographer

Hi, I’m John Zhang, a photographer from Los Angeles, California. I run all my photographic ventures under the alias “1013MM”. I’ve been into photography for around six years now. I never leave home without a camera, whether it is my Nikon D700 or my iPhone, I always have something that can take photos just in case a good moment comes up. Although born and raised in California, I spent almost a year traveling in Asia while I was headquartered in Hong Kong. It was during that time that my photographic exploits started to develop into a fulltime hobby. Landscapes were my subjects of choice and when I returned back to the states I began to shoot cars because I am very passionate about cars. I used to draw cars and when I was younger was heavily influenced by the JDM import scene. Funny thing is I ended up driving a European car. I was in the market for a used 2005 Lexus IS300 or Nissan 370Zmaybe a Mitsibishi Evo X but ended up with a 2009 BMW 135i that turned out to be everything I wanted it to be! Philosophy Whether it be shooting or editing, I only have one philosophy that I follow: the final photo has to be posterworthy not only to the viewer but more importantly to myself. I have very high standards and am extremely critical of my work, that way I know the client is getting the best product I can provide! What the heck is “1013MM”? A lot of people have asked me to explain why I branded myself as 1013MM well to be honest, when I was trying to come up with a domain name I did not want something typical like “John Zhang Photography” or “Photography By John Zhang”. The fact that there are probably several billion people named John in this world didn’t really help so I chose something unique and a name that should be easier to remember. I also wanted an URL that was short to type. So anyway the “1013″ is my birthday month and day while the “MM” stands for the focal length measurement of camera lenses in photography terms. And there you have it, something simple, yet unique. 1013MM. Break into photography My first big break into photography was when a very wellknown after market wheel manufacturer, VMR Wheels, got in touch with me to shoot their wheels and cars, which I still do today. And soon after that more of my work was exposed and everything just exploded from there. Half a year later my work started to show up in magazines and even BMW themselves featured my shots. My most recent work was featured by Falken Tires. As of now, I shoot exclusively for a few online blogs and magazines. But I never forget my grassroots, I still shoot for fun and plan to host my own workshops in 2011.

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Left - When the owners first approached me to shoot their cars, I was taken back a little since the F10 5-Ser are still new and I didn’t even know that aftermarket parts were even available for the cars already. After all the BMW performance division still didn’t even have OE performance parts out for these cars yet. They look go don’t they!

78 - MotorWerks Magazine - Online at www.motorwerksmag.com

Some of my photos might look or seem familiar since they are cross-posted across many different sites or publications. Here are just some of the clients/companies/ sites I have worked with or have featured my work in the past in no particular order: Nike, BMW, Falken Tires, Eurotuner Magazine, Performance BMW Magazine UK, Bimmer Magazine, VMR Wheels, DPE Wheels, Iforged Wheels, HRE Wheels, AutoTecknic, BimmerPost, Canibeat, Hellaflush, MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crews, Power 106FM’s DJ E-Man, Far East Movement.

Gear List:

Nikon D700, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF-D, Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D AF ED, Nikon Speedlight SB-800, Nikon Speedlight SB-600, AlienBee CyberSyncs.

Feature Shot:

A few months back the people at Autotecknic got in touch with me to shoot their company BMW M5 and M3 together for some promotional work that would eventually get printed. We were on a time limit and the lighting wasn’t great, but I think I was able to pull it off given the restrictions. Check out the original at the lower right. Good Photoshop work can sometimes rescue a badly lit shot.

Exif:

Autotecknic M5 and M3 Rooftop Camera Nikon D700 Exposure 10 secs Aperture f/8.0 Focal Length 28 mm ISO Speed 200

Widebody 335i Sedan and Coupe Streetscape

Camera Nikon D700

Exposure

0.001 sec (1/1000)

Aperture

f/6.3

Focal Length

62 mm

ISO Speed

200

ies, M od

Lower Gallery previous page:

Left - Here’s something a little different from the cars I usually shoot. I shot this for my friend Long who runs a BMW shop. He does great work and anyone with a BMW in Southern California should check out his place. The weather was being a little schizophrenic being that it was winter and not gloomy like it usually is. So the shooting conditions were not perfect with the sun out in full blast at 9am in the morning. Actually, it was a pretty bad shooting time. I should have scheduled the shoot to be at 7am at least. I blame daylight savings.

Middle - The funny thing about this shoot was that the owner of this car has the same exact first and last name as me and to make it even more crazy is that we live down the street from one another. We had no clue each other existed until he contacted me just to tell me we had the same names.

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