Interview With Eetane Yong From Australia

I am self-taught.

Yes, the first shot that changed everything was captured in 2009, which was my daughter Nyah's portraits! She was 6 months old at the time and I had received a Nikon D80 DSLR as a gift from my partner a few months earlier. I had been using the auto function to capture her images, then one random day we were by a big window with beautiful light streaming through the sheer curtain. I took a series of shots but the auto flash didn't fire. I noticed the difference in the lighting from the images and was super intrigued by it. This started my interest in learning the technical aspect of photography and I hadn't looked back since.

I am using Nikon D800 and mostly shoot with Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens when I am outdoor. I also have a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8. I love to keep my gear simple and challenge myself to shoot with one lens so I can get more creative.

I love to create beautiful fine art of children and teen portraiture to showcase their soul connection, beauty and authenticity. My goal is to continue to hone my craft and create legacy images that convey stories so they can become heirloom pieces.

My heart swell whenever I receive feedback from my clients about how my images captured their heart and soul or moved them. It is my ultimate goal to capture the true essence of my subjects and an absolute honor to create images that convey feelings and emotions to tell a story.

Connection from the heart, vision, engagement and communication.

Authentic, Candid, Emotive.

Thank you! I am super honored to have won 10 awards this year, it is a huge encouragement for me to keep honing my craft and hopefully also inspire others to do the same!

This year entries are the combination my personal creative project and some of my client's images. The portraits of characters are my personal project where I followed my subject's interests on who they would like to portray and worked to find the inner connection to shine through the imagery. The entries are selected based on how evocative they are to me personally.

An award has definitely developed my career in the way that the professional recognition validates the skills level of my artistry. It has also provided confidence to my clients when they engage my service.

Sue Bryce, Elena Shumilova, Iwona Podlasiska

Set a goal on what you want to achieve and take a step towards it every day, you will only get better and better.

Start today! Learn and master your craft, then find your style and voice in your imagery.

Understand that there is no failure, every "failure" is a stepping stone to success and an invitation learn and to do things better.

Always be intrigued, curious and opened minded. Everyone has wisdom and there is always something or someone to learn from.

Thank you, MUSE Photography Awards, for providing this wonderful platform for photographers around the world to share our artistry, this is truly a space of co-creation.