Meet Peeradon Ariyanukooltorn

We were lucky to catch up with Peeradon Ariyanukooltorn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Peeradon, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I grew up in an Asian family that believes studying hard is always right. So, since I was very young, my parents have brought me to many extra studies such as learning piano, guitar, drawing, or even intensive academic classes. Since then, I always asked myself what I wanted to be when I grew up. Because I tried so many things, I had a lot of resources on my hands about what I could do. The only problem was what I really liked to do and be good at.

My parents asked me to get into the best science school in my country to have the highest possibilities for my future career. Therefore, when I was in that science high school, I tried as many things as I could to find what I loved to do. The key was to do them deeply enough to let you truly know about those particular things. I went to a scientific laboratory as an internship student for my biology final project. I joined a school music club, stage play, student committee, and even an annual school sports festival. Finally, I found myself being obsessed with aesthetic arts. So, I chose to apply to an architectural school.

However, I didn’t stop only that. I kept finding myself even though I was in an architectural school until I found that I didn’t exactly like to design a space but appreciate it. That was when I thought about shooting architectural photography. Since then, it has been my career for many years. It also reflects my future plan of staying at my own well-designed house and traveling all the epic landscape places around the world.

So, the key is to experiment as much as possible with what you like. It may take years, but once you find it, you will live happily with that purpose.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Peeradon. You can call me Zan. I have worked as a professional photographer for seven years, specializing in architectural and real estate photography. In 2021, I started thinking about how to improve my career significantly. I realized that the trend was shifting from photography to videography. Then, I decided to leave Thailand behind and start my new life on the other side of the world.

I began studying cinematography at UCLA Extension in 2022 in Los Angeles. That school taught me some essential skills for filming. After I graduated, I moved to Seattle and founded a video production company with my friends called ‘Rocket Tofu.’ We focus on a middle-class video production with small crew members but effective and practical. We found our skills to be a perfect combination of my friends’ creative skills and my technical skills. On top of that, my architectural vision and their storytelling skills are integrating in an impressive result. Each of us makes a company stronger, and we can’t wait to shoot more amazing projects with all of you.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, I was so lucky to decide to study in architectural school instead of photography or cinematography at once. It gave me a robust skill in the designer’s eyes. I can see the space as an architect, and it helps me utilize a wide-angle lens effectively, especially when the shot contains a lot of perspective lines.

I am also a tech-savvy. I love updating myself to the latest technology. It lets me apply a very recent innovation to simplify my workflows. No matter how much it consumes my pocket money. Hence, you can see my room as a gadget showroom.

Lastly, I am eager to learn everything based on ‘why we do this and what’s the consequence of doing this’ instead of just remembering ‘what to do.’ This eagerness makes me understand most of the fundamental things, for example, editing adjustments in my everyday software, how the raw file works, or even trying to figure out why the software does this. It is not just making me understand radically what I’m dealing with but also improving how I communicate and solve the problem.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
This year is the most challenging moment of my life. I graduated and started my own company in the country where I have lived for less than two years with limited connections. Previously, I used to be in a society in which I had many relationships, friends, and people who knew me. Additionally, during the Covid-19 pandemic, it cost me a lot from my savings. And now I must maintain everything with a minimal amount of money.

Starting a business in the US is more complicated than I thought. It is challenging to begin growing a connection again and deal with many unfamiliar things in the new country. On top of this, it is less flexible to try and experiment with things due to my limited amount of funds remaining.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
copyright Rocket Tofu

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