During quarantine Alex Qian shared with us two of his favorite shots and their story.
Calm Before the Storm
“This shot was taken with a Mavic about three years ago when I was still working at my office job. I love this image not only because it's a really unique perspective of Chicago but because even today it still stands on its own even though my vision has changed greatly and was a glimpse of the journey to come over the next couple years - so to speak. On the bottom left corner is actually my old office building where I took a leap of faith from [so to speak again] to reach for greater heights.
I just remember getting that first drone for fun and imagining what it would be like to see the Sears Tower from that height with some low clouds rolling in. I used to live really close to the city at that time so I remember being out getting groceries or something and seeing the low and fast moving clouds roll in. I immediately jumped in my car and 10 minutes later pulled into some alley and just took off right in time to capture this incredible scene.”
Density
“This was taken as I was in the midst of a couple month long excursion abroad that I took once I left my old work situation. Hong Kong was the last stop before I was to head home and I made it a point to stop at Victoria Peak to check out the cityscape and to do some timelapse. I ended up flying the drone from here and quickly found out just how high we were as the elevation allowed me to fly incredibly high over the city without interference. This was my favorite shot of the ones that I ended up with at golden hour and was a really memorable perspective that reminded me of that crazy adventure that served as the starting point for my journey as a creator that I am on today.”
Alex Qian
is a Chicago based photographer and videographer who loves to explore urban and natural landscapes alike. His story began in the corporate finance world where he caught a bad case of the travel bug and started backpacking around the world solo. This was about the time he discovered photography and quickly realized that he loved capturing memories and documenting his adventures abroad. Fast forward a few years and with numerous adventures under his belt, he left his career behind to pursue photography and started his creative business.