Born with the aspiration to be a chemist, Luis Chiong of Cebu City brought his interest into photography and motion picture. He first got a hold of a camera when Dr. Virgilio Gonzales, husband of Chiong’s relative, made him a still cameraman and photo laboratory man in Americo-Filipino, a studio Gonzales organized himself.

From a still cameraman, Chiong transformed into a movie cameraman by coincidence. It started when Jose Aguilar, the original cameraman of the sound film or “talkie” Bertoldo Ug Balodoy, got sick. Chiong tried to work on his first ever movie camera through the learnings he got from observation. He passed the test and filmed the rest of the clips of the “talkie.”

Other films he shot were Mini (Fake), Gumang Talagsaon (Rare Love), and Magsoon Kita. He also worked with different directors as a freelancer or a regular cameraman. It was obvious that love grew in the skill he acquired through experience and self-study. “Age has not deteriorated the sharpness of my camera eyes,” Luis Chiong once said.