Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Ang.
Hi Patrick, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story began when I was in high school. I made skate videos with my friends and always was the one documenting “life”. I begged my mom for a camcorder and filmed anything and everything. I had no idea what I was doing and recorded songs off of the radio, tv and played them over my videos. I didn’t think I could make a career out of it but kept it as a hobby throughout college. After college I jumped around from different professions but never a passion for what I was doing. It was not until I got married myself that I started to consider turning my passion into my profession. Our wedding photographer inspired me to pursue this new venture. My wife bought me my first camera as a wedding present and encouraged me to follow my dream. I looked up every YouTube tutorial I could find and reached out to every local photographer that I could assist and learn from. Only one person responded to me and gave me a chance. She taught me more than I could learn from any YouTube video and helped me build my portfolio. Every wedding I met more vendors and became part of the wedding industry. I shot a bunch of styled shoots and volunteered my services to anyone needing it to get my name out. Meeting more photographers made me realize that we learn best from each other. So I ran a photography group that met once a month and grew everything month. I noticed friendships form and careers being built. I realized that I loved collaborating with others and getting people together just as much as I loved shooting. I started creating more and more networking events that got vendors together and strengthened our community. One event that I’ve created is the wedding games where all vendors get together, form teams and compete in games that resemble real wedding events. We just had our ninth year and events like the wedding games have made our community so close. Today I’m in my 19th year shooting. I’ve had a very successful career and made a good name for myself in my community. I’m still learning. I’m mentoring others and anyone that reaches out to me because I wouldn’t be where I am without that one person that responded to me. I love what I do and I’ll do it as long as I can.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not. I moved halfway through my career after making a good name for myself. When I moved 2 hours away I traveled a lot until I started making a name for myself in my new area. Every year is unpredictable. Every year there are more and more photographers. But instead of thinking of them as my competition I helped them a lot and shared everything I knew with them. I did lose a lot of work to them but there was still plenty of work to go around. It doesn’t seem beneficial to help your competition but to be honest it’s probably the best thing that I could have done for my career. Not everyone I’ve helped returned the favor or did I ever expect them to. But many did and have helped me throughout my career.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer and cinematographer. I primarily document weddings but also document family sessions, seniors, graduations, events, real estate and commercial/product work. I am known for my turn around time. I usually turn around shoots within the same day if not the next couple days following.
How do you think about luck?
I don’t believe in luck. I believe in faith. I believe God has a plan for all of us. I’ve trusted him the whole time and he has blessed me with a very successful career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.patrickangphotography.com
- Instagram: patmanang
- Facebook: Patrick Ang Photography
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/patrick-ang-photography-san-luis-obispo?osq=patrick+ang+photography&override_cta=Request+quote+%26+availability
