Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Pan.
Hi Kevin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began my aviation photography hobby around the summer of 2021. I was a pretty big aviation enthusiast at the time and I had some friends who were also enthusiasts, we wanted to hang out some time together when places started opening up again after Covid. We first wanted to hang out at the airport, Salt Lake City Int’l Airport to watch planes depart and land for a day. One of my friends, named Presly, brought a camera with him. I was curious why he brought that with him and he replied saying “Oh I photograph planes as a hobby, it’s called plane spotting”. The idea of photographing planes piqued my interest and I also wanted to try it out. That same day, I just started off using my phone to photograph planes. I then used my mom’s little point-and-shoot to photograph for a little bit while I was saving up for a DSLR camera. While I was saving up, I was attending a photography class at my school, and during that, I was hyper-focused and learned as much as I could when it came to using cameras. When I finally got as able to afford a camera and a telephoto lens, I drove to the airport as soon as possible to test my new gear and get the hang of everything. At this point, I was already fairly familiar with SLC and all the different spots to catch planes, so I started becoming really comfortable and confident when it came to spotting. My next obstacle I had to tackle was editing. Everyone starts somewhere, and when it came to editing, I was not the best. I tried playing with different settings, experimenting, and watching tutorials videos on how I could improve. The biggest takeaway I learned when it comes to editing is to never compare your work to others. Once I grasp that concept, I focused only on my photos and kept trying to improve every day. I am very confident and happy with photos today, and I feel very accomplished from where I first started.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Editing was the biggest obstacle to tackle as mentioned before. I really wanted my photos to sparkle and stand out from others, so I worked really hard to try and make them look good.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m still a senior in high school at the moment, so I don’t have any specialties I work as photography is just a hobby, but I currently work in the food industry.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
For most of the people I look up to are on social media, and it’s also the biggest place to share photos and reach out to people. I found people who had such beautiful photos, and if they had any tips and advice posted up, I would take notes and apply them to my own work. I would suggest finding someone whose work you find most inspiring and try to find what keeps them motivated and hard-working.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @slcspotter.kevin
Image Credits
Aydyn Bailey
Soren Kunic
