Steven Cheng

Ever since I was little, I seemed to have always had an interest in taking pictures and seeing how they turn out.  It wasn’t until I got my first SLR that it really started opening up the possibilities of what I can potentially do.  I get inspired when I look at the type of pictures that professional photographers take and it drives me to try and search and take the same type of amazing images.  The statement “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings so true to me.  When I take pictures there is usually a story behind it and I love to tell people about those stories or hear about the stories behind pictures that other people take.

Before I became involved with MPA, I only knew how to shoot in automatic mode.  Using any other setting on my camera was a bit foreign and intimidating.  I’ve always wanted to lean how to become a better photographer and when I saw a Groupon to attend introductory photography courses by MPA, I decide to give it a try.  I’m so glad I did.  The way that David and Ally teaches take the intimidation of out learning all the details and they are really good that simplifying the concepts.  Then when I went on one of the MPA photo safaris and put all the concepts to practice, that was when I really started to get into photography as the coaching really opened up the possibilities of the type of photographs that I was striving to achieve.  The entire MPA team is very patient in the way they teach and are very approachable to ask questions on virtually anything to help us become better photographers.

I’ve done a few local trips with MPA such as San Francisco and Point Lobos but my recent trip with MPA to Cuba was absolutely mind-blowing.  Cuba has always been a top destination on my bucket list and to be able to travel to such a destination, getting to meet some fantastic people, and getting photography instruction with MPA along the way was priceless.   They do a great job at organizing the trips.  I had such a great experience on the Cuba trip that it convinced me to book their upcoming Antarctica and Patagonia trip.

Anytime I go out a shoot, I’m always looking for that one or two shots where you can say, yeah, that’s the one.  It’s the inexplainable feeling you get when you absolutely captured the moment in a way that gives you goose bumps.  If I can build up a respectable collection of those shots, then I can say I’ve reached my goal as a photographer.

Traveling is a top priority in my life.  So far I have traveled to 49 countries across 6 continents.  My next upcoming trip with MPA is Antarctica and Patagonia which is by far one of the most exciting destinations I can imagine going to.  What fantastic destinations to get me to my 50th country and my final continent!