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Nick Ridwan Hadi:
A Blueprint for Success
By Linda L. May
Sydney is the oldest and largest city in Australia, and the capital of the state of
New South Wales. It lies on the southeastern coast of this vast continent and boasts one
of the finest harbors, Port Jackson, in the world, where even the largest ships can easily
anchor. Sydney is an important commercial, financial and trading center with a total
population of over four million, so it's the perfect location to start a new business.
Nick Ridwan Hadi took advantage of this lucrative business climate and started
CANDIDPRO Photography studio in the central business district of Sydney in 2003.
It has proven to be a wise decision because CANDIDPRO continues to grow and expand
every year. Nick specializes in weddings, but also does some portraits. So far, the
number of weddings they shoot has doubled every year, and they expect that trend to continue.
Nick was born in a small village in Central Java, Indonesia. In 1989, he moved to Jakarta,
the capital of Indonesia, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree at the
University of Tarumanagara. In 1998, Nick moved to Sydney, to earn his Master of
Architecture degree at the University of New South Wales. At that time, Nick did not
consider photography a viable career choice. His father was a serious amateur, so Nick
had been exposed to photography growing up, but never took much interest in it. When he
was studying architecture at the University of Tarumanagara in Jakarta, Nick caught the
photography bug. His dad gave him a Nikkormat camera, and he learned to shoot when he
joined his university's camera club. Although he discovered his love for photography,
he worked as an architect for the next eight years, photographing as a side hobby;
however, after getting a great response from shooting a few friends' weddings in
Sydney, he started taking his new-found passion more seriously. Nick took lighting
courses at the Australia Centre for Photography in Sydney, and courses in black-and-white
photography and digital media at TAFE (Technical and Further Education) in New South Wales.
In 2003, he opened CANDIDPRO Photography in his home on a part-time basis while
still working full-time as an architect. After 18 months, his studio grew too large to
handle on a part-time basis, so he quit his day job to focus on photography.
"Working as an architect and dealing with designs, sketching, presentations, perspectives,
3D and visual things has really helped me in photography," Nick says. "Those experiences
trained my eyes to see great scenes and objects to capture with my camera, like unusual
perspectives, backgrounds and details."
Three rooms of Nick's house are devoted to the business--one for presentations, one
for shooting and another for the office and digital work. The studio is designed like a
gallery with large framed prints covering the walls in the entry area. The presentation
room has a big-screen LCD monitor for displaying client's images, a comfortable couch,
and several, large wall prints, including canvas and fine art samples.
CANDIDPRO Photography is comprised of four photographers--three assistants/second
shooters and one who photographs his own weddings and events. Nick's wife, Deborah Michelle
Trifosa, works part time in the business running the administrative and office duties and
also assists him at weddings occasionally.
"I chose to name my business CANDIDPRO Photography because when people hear the
word candid, they think of photography that is natural, un-posed and not made up or phony.
Plus it's easy to remember. I added PRO to the end to make it specific, unusual
and professional sounding. CANDIDPRO is written in all capitals, with PRO
in bold," Nick explains.
Nick uses both Canon EOS 5D and Nikon D3 cameras with a wide variety of focal length
lenses for each brand, ranging from 24mm to 200mm. Nick carries both bodies on weddings,
and mostly uses the versatile 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom on his Nikon D3 and the 70-200mm zoom
on his Canon EOS 5D.
When illuminating his subjects, Nick prefers natural and available light. But when extra
light is necessary, he often uses a Lowel ID video light, the Nikon SB800 or the Canon
580EX flash units. For softening Nick also uses diffusion domes and the Gary Fong
Lightsphere. To power his flash units, he uses Quantum Turbo battery packs. Nick uses
Edge Photo Imaging (www.theedgephoto.com.au)
in Melbourne for all his printing requirements. He gets his albums from Spencer Album
(www.spenceralbum.com) in Sydney.
From the beginning, word-of-mouth has been Nick's primary source of new clients. His website,
which Nick and a close friend designed, is also a good way to reach new people, and it helps
him book destination weddings. Many of these new clients come from other countries, like the
United States, UK and Asia. He also advertises in local wedding magazines, online and attends
bridal shows.
"Wedding and portrait photography is very competitive in Sydney," Nick says. "To always be
leading the market, I continue to maintain and raise the quality of my work. I strive to keep
my work fresh, original, innovative and different from the rest. My style is very artsy and
natural. Customer service is also important and I give my clients the best service possible."
To continue working on his artistry, Nick joined WPPI in 2007 and entered the 16 x 20 print
competition. Much to his surprise, he won second place in the Bride and Groom Category for his
print "Shadow of My Lover."
"I also received six Accolades of Excellence on other prints and an Accolade of Excellence
on my wedding album. From that result in 2007, I received the Accolade of Photographic
Mastery achievement award. In the 2008 WPPI 16 x 20 competition, 11 of my prints won awards
and one scored a 95. Within two years, I have won 27 total awards from WPPI, which challenges
me to continue creating new and different images to enter," Nick says proudly.
As a WPPI member, Nick loves reading Rangefinder as well as the WPPI newsletter.
He hopes to be able to attend the Las Vegas Convention and Trade Show, but says March is
the busiest month in Australia for weddings, so getting away at that time is impossible.
Nick also belongs to AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography). He has also
won numerous awards from this professional organization for his outstanding wedding and
portrait prints and albums. Since joining AIPP in March 2006, Nick received his Associate
in May 2008 and has five points left towards his Master degree.
Nick plans to move to a storefront location soon because his business is growing so fast.
In the future, Nick also plans to open studios in other cities around Australia, which will
require hiring many young, talented photographers to join his operation.
Nick shares, "I believe that God created everyone with different talents and abilities.
I want to use my talents to create art and images that are valuable and important to my
clients. I believe I can always do better than yesterday. With this principle in mind, I
always establish visions and targets for the future, then work hard to accomplish them."
He continues, "As photographers, we are in the unique position of recording history and
telling a story for our clients. I strive to create pictures with texture, pattern, vivid
colors, interesting lighting, unique and interesting composition and simple backgrounds.
I love using reflections and shadows for dramatic appeal. ...I am grateful to be able to work
in the area that I love. Working with passion is very enjoyable and always creates the
best results."
Readers may contact Nick Ridwan Hadi at CANDIDPRO Photography via email at
info@candidpro.com or check out his website at
(www.candidpro.com).
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