IFF Podcast Episode 4: Patrick Le
Education Interview Opinion Podcasts Workshops
In Episode 4 of the InFullFrame podcast, we hear from Patrick Le. Patrick is a wedding photographer based in Southern California and is very well known for his Apollo Workshop Series. In this episode, we cover a number of topics starting with Patrick’s journey into wedding photography and his pre-wedding career in trading.
Patrick goes into detail regarding his approach to photography, what it means to find your voice, and how to use your voice as a photographer. We also delve into the methods of the Apollo Workshop which include pushing back on any sort of formulaic approach to photography. We step outside of the photography world to hear about Patrick’s stance and feelings on the current topics of social injustice. Le shares how he has been able to set his ego aside in recent years and let empathy be a larger part of his daily life.
Patrick Le on Why He Shoots Film:
Over the last three years, I’ve ventured on a curious journey that had me dedicating countless hours researching and back-testing the less conventional methods of film photography in today’s age of digital convenience. I first went down a rabbit hole of asking, “why bother shooting film at all, especially when having immediate feedback barely satiates those hungry for more content?” My short answer: ‘It just looks better.” The long-winded version ends with, “It’s a part of my process that fulfills me.”
I started deconstructing nostalgic feelings, contemplating on what ‘timeless’ exactly meant. What did it feel like to be under the incandescent lights at the Sands with the Rat Pack crooning to the audience? Or the atmosphere at the Copacabana with all the wind instruments glistening from the house lights? These scenes of entertainment and production only further heightened the intimacy and celebration of togetherness where we would honor the center stage. And so where people gather among family and friends at dinner tables to celebrate that togetherness, to honor a bride and groom at the center stage, I felt an urge to connect the emotive evening imagery of familial union, to the glamour and romance of mid-century aesthetics and celebrity culture. Considering that there was no other period in history where humans romanticized love so grandly as they did under the old Hollywood lights and on the silver screen, a light bulb went off in my head (pun intended).
The Apollo Workshop
This workshop was designed to not only help you understand how to shoot without natural light but to also help creative photography minds tap into the why of the diversity of film, even though the answer may sometimes result in the unorthodox road less traveled, but bringing you closer to the fulfillment of your personal process. My hope is that your experience with the Apollo Workshops exceeds your expectations and opens new doors for you no matter the direction of photography you take.
The Apollo Workshop is a three-day intensive intermediate film photography seminar that covers everything you need learn to shoot film in low light and night time scenarios. This workshop was designed to accommodate all types of photographers including wedding, editorial, portrait, and even architectural and landscape photographers. It’s not required that you are a film photographer. However, all film lighting concepts can be applied to digital photography as well, so hybrid and digital photographers are happily welcome.
