Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Stephen Lua @omniscientem

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

Born and raised in the +65 since ’94, I’ve doing photography for close to a year now. Everyday, I’m striving to improve myself and to see the world in a different light. My name is Stephen, and I’m currently serving National Service full time. I used to do journalism before taking on photography, as I liked music a lot, and I wanted to document my thoughts and feelings, and share them with the world. My roots of photography actually stemmed from my interest for urban exploration, I really like the gritty side of life, heights and generally street vibes.

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

I do a lot of portraits as well as street photography as I feel that those two are the platforms that I excel the most in. As of late, I’ve dabbling in fashion or rather product shoots to expand my expertise. Being a huge street culture fan, and all the things that surrounds it; be it sneakers, collectible art. screen-printed tees. Anything creative really, drives me going.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

‘Omniscientem’ is actually a latin translation of the word ‘omniscient’, which essentially means all-seeing/knowing. I really liked the idea of ‘seeing things through God’s vision’. Although really, I’m not a religious person by any means, but topics of religion has always intrigued me.

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

Some of my favourite programs or apps that I used are VSCO, Lightroom and Photoshop. This trinity really works the best for me. My workflow usually starts from my camera RAW into lightroom, where I adjust my tones and made all the adjustments accordingly. Photoshop for cleaning up blemishes and removing objects. And occasionally VSCO, for their filters.

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

From a photographer standpoint, I’ve always liked the works of @thendrw, @asteryx and @samalive. I really looked up to them a lot. But as for influencers and whatnot, you got to admit, @blvckmvnivc has some really dope outfits!

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Stepping out of your comfort zone and I cannot stress this enough. It could be anything, trying out new ways to frame photos, watching a horror flick that you swear you would never want to watch, or even picking up a new sport or hobby that you’ve wanting to try. The simplest of things really.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

Being able to represent what I truly feel connected to, meeting new people, and to co-share ideas and concepts.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Recognise the efforts that creatives put out in promoting your brands. It has to be a two-way thing in order to foster a healthy working relationship. Also, appreciate the underrated. There are a lot of talents out there that are under looked, just because they do not have the mass appeal or opportunities given to them. Be more active on social media in reaching out to fans or customers that truly appreciates the content that you are putting out.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

It’s a fine line drawn between being inspired and just flat out copying. In retrospect, we cannot escape the fact that the recycling of ideas is no further than the truth in the current world. It is easy to replicate, but not easy to creative original, and high quality content that can easily stand out amongst the rest.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

Being able to expand my circle of networks, contributing my part as a creative as well as the opportunity to showcase my works with a bigger platform.

Topics:

• Photography

Country:

Singapore