Lumika.org was so site-sational that we just had to get to know its creator, Tommy Huynh. Here’s what we found out: (Thanks, Tommy for taking those precious moments to answer our 20 Questions.)
Why did you name your site “Lumika.org“?
Tommy Huynh: Every domain name seemed to have been taken so I had to make up a word. I was influenced by Novica.com’s business model of giving back to countries and cultures and took the Latin word for light (lumen) and came up with Lumika.org.
Business questions: do you make money from Lumika.org merchandise?
TH: Not from merchandise per se, my revenue comes from print sales, licensing images, assignments, and ads on my site.
Do you sell books?
TH: Not yet but hopefully soon!
Is Lumika.org a labor of love for you? or a labor of commerce? or both?
TH: Love, I started it without any expectations of making serious money and would still do so if I didn’t make any money from it.
Where do you live? all your life? if not, what is your country of origin?
TH: I was born in Vietnam, came to Texas when I was 2, and lived here most of my life.
How long have you been a photographer?
TH: I’ve been doing photography as a hobby for over 15 years. Professionally, I’ve been doing it sporadically for ~ 3 years (cumulative). Right now I am doing it full time.
Are you a photojournalist? if not, what is your personal title?
TH: Freelance Photographer
Has it always been your full time gig? how did you get started?
TH: I’ve worked as a photographer in college but went on to be an engineer at NASA after graduation. Then I quit my engineering job and spent about 3 years traveling and taking photos. It was not my intention to become a photographer, I just did it because I enjoyed it. Then I created the website just to showcase my work, and then started working as a management consultant. Then people started trafficking my site and buying photos, hiring me for assignments, etc.. and I realized I could actually make a living doing what I loved the most so I quit my consulting job and am now doing photography full time.
Do you show your art in galleries? if so, where?
TH: My main channel is the internet but I did display a few photos at a gallery here in San Antonio, TX and one in San Jose, CA.
Your photographic style is very unique. how did you decide on that particular style? and how long did it take for you to develop it?
TH: I’ve always liked wide angle photos for some reason, that’s probably my trademark. I’m not sure if I can say when I developed my style because it’s always changing. Right now I’m taking a lot of photos with shallow depth of field and like the results.
Why photography?
TH: It’s just a great feeling capturing something beautiful, especially when it’s something that does not appear to be anything special at first glance. The serendipity is the best thing about travel photography.
How long does it take you to compose a particular image?
TH: Most of the travel photos I take are just things that pop up as I’m walking around so just a few seconds to a few minutes. I like to travel without any preconceived ideas so I prefer to wander and capture photos as they come to me. Landscape photos my take a few minutes or hours if you count the time you spend scouting out locations and waiting for the light.
How often do you travel?
TH: Consulting was great in that it allowed me to travel all the time so I went off to a new place nearly every weekend and taking photos. The downside was that I didn’t have much time. Now that I do photography full time, I can spend weeks at home getting things organized or be gone for weeks at a time on an assignment. It’s impossible to say. On average though, I’ll be traveling 150 days out of the year.
Do you travel to make photos or do you make photos to travel?
TH: They’re both interdependent for me.
Do you have other forms of artistic expression?
TH: Not really although I plan on spending more time making sculptures and furniture when I settle down.
How has the Internet helped, hindered or done nothing for your career/artistic expression?
TH: It has been indispensable in being able to reach customers on a wide scale. It’s also been wonderful in being able to learn technical and artistic skills by talking to and evaluating other photographers. Some traditional photographers feel that it is their worst enemy but I think if you adapt to it, it could be your greatest tool. Dan Heller has some great articles on this.
What do you like most about making photographs?
TH: It forces you to see things differently. It preserves your memories and experience.
What do you like least about making photographs?
TH: It’s addicting, you sometimes find you shut out your friends, girlfriends, family, etc. pursuing your photography.
Is this something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life?
TH: Hopefully although I want to be able to apply my engineering and business skills so that I won’t be a typical photographer that lives hand to mouth. By that I mean I am working on a new business model and a new website and I am structuring it in a way so that it will provide a steady stream of passive income as well as active income.
How do you decide what country to visit and how long to stay?
TH: It’s just whatever country interests me at the moment based on what I’ve heard, read, seen.
If you won the lottery and were endlessly wealthy, would you still be a photographer?
TH: Absolutely. In fact, the reason I quit my NASA job was because I got really lucky with stocks and options during the internet boom. My plan then was to take that money
and travel and take photos. Unfortunately, I was equally affected by the crash but still sold all of my belongings and lived out of my car so that I could travel and take photos.
Have you ever visited a country that you just could not bring yourself to photograph?
TH: Some are easier than others to be sure. Cuba was probably the easiest. I have a hard time taking photos in places that aren’t new to me. I live in San Antonio and grew up here. It’s one of the most picturesque towns in the US but I have to force myself to take photos around here.
How about a wedding client? what did/do you do to keep yourself motivated?
TH: I’m selective in the weddings I take but I don’t have trouble motivating myself because there are so many moments during a wedding. It’s filled with emotion which motivates me to try and get great photos.
How many languages do you speak?
TH: 3-ish–English, conversational Vietnamese and Spanish.
Click here to read our .com Dish! web review of Lumika.org!
