![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no camera means
Nov. 30th, 2009 10:36 pmno work.
i feel incomplete without my camera.
i feel incomplete without my camera.
a new blog
Sep. 9th, 2009 10:10 pmsinistre lumiere is a photo blog i put up for "light yagami", the nendoroid i bought a few weeks back.
it's sort of in-character, but not the character death note fans would recognize him with. it's a totally new character my office mate and i made up to make the photo blog more interesting.
it's sort of in-character, but not the character death note fans would recognize him with. it's a totally new character my office mate and i made up to make the photo blog more interesting.
the most caring hand cream
Sep. 8th, 2009 11:04 pmit's been a while since i took a photo of something that isn't to build portfolio; in short, it's been a while since i got paid taking photos.
and sadly, my latest photo won't get paid.
the most caring hand cream
we were actually having a mini shoot for our nendoroids at the office when jill asked me to take a product shot for wmn.ph
and because i love to take photos, i was glad to help--even without pay. but i did get paid, i find out a week later.
that's today, by the way.
jill sent the article link to the body shop, the people (or rather, the company) behind the product. they loved the photo.
of course, by loving the photo, they actually mean that they loved what frances (office mate, graphic artist extraordinaire) had done to the simple product shot i have. but i can't help but feel proud that it was my photo underneath all the snow-y/flower-y layers.
and during the times that you're really down, getting paid wit compliments can brighten your day.
of course, getting paid with cash can brighten it up even more.
and sadly, my latest photo won't get paid.
the most caring hand cream
we were actually having a mini shoot for our nendoroids at the office when jill asked me to take a product shot for wmn.ph
and because i love to take photos, i was glad to help--even without pay. but i did get paid, i find out a week later.
that's today, by the way.
jill sent the article link to the body shop, the people (or rather, the company) behind the product. they loved the photo.
of course, by loving the photo, they actually mean that they loved what frances (office mate, graphic artist extraordinaire) had done to the simple product shot i have. but i can't help but feel proud that it was my photo underneath all the snow-y/flower-y layers.
and during the times that you're really down, getting paid wit compliments can brighten your day.
of course, getting paid with cash can brighten it up even more.
they say that once you've learned the rules of your trade, it's time to break it. after all, nothing new can be discovered by just playing by the rules, right?
i'm not a very good graphic designer, and i've always preferred not to edit any of my photos to preserve their original form, the original beauty of the subject. after all, you don't take a photo of something ordinary and then make it extraordinary in post-production. unless that was the point from the beginning.
but now, i've begun my experiments.
last saturday, i had a shoot with some friends where i already had a concept in mind: take good photos and make them better through photoshop. i wouldn't say i actually took good photos, i'm not that much of a narcissist, but i think i did all right.
now i started editing the simple photos. or rather, i started cropping the simple photos. the ones i don't need to edit at all. just to get my bearings with photoshop. get warmed up.
with the first photo, it was more of fitting the photo in a given dimension. it was all about framing, getting enough of the subject in without cropping too much out. and i think i did all right with this one.
and then i followed with simple touch-ups--like extending the background, like so:
because we were trying to get the right "flight" of the scarf, i had to take a wide shot of the model. and when it finally came to cropping, i chose to crop out the a lot of the model's body to give more emphasis to the face--and the scarf. because of this, the top part of the photo came up short and had to be extended.
the trick i employed was something i learned from one of my officemates. get the size of the area you need to fill out, layer by copy from the area you wish to extend, and then invert it. voila! instant extension without the hassles of cloning!
now that i'm all warmed up, i put my focus on the main project:
this was the main concept we were working with last saturday. but because we lacked a big one-toned wall, we made do with the driveway--and had our model slide and run over and over. well, over and over until we had the shots we needed. our model was very game, thank goodness.
this photo has three main layers, which shows our model in three acts of movement. i chose the last "act" to be the main focus and picked two photos that would serve as the imprints he left behind.
initially, the plan was to make all imprints have the same opacity. but the movement would be more noticeable if the imprints were fading one after the other. so i ended up with six layers, all of which are set with different opacity and different filters.
i think i accomplished what i wanted to accomplish.
i'm not a very good graphic designer, and i've always preferred not to edit any of my photos to preserve their original form, the original beauty of the subject. after all, you don't take a photo of something ordinary and then make it extraordinary in post-production. unless that was the point from the beginning.
but now, i've begun my experiments.
last saturday, i had a shoot with some friends where i already had a concept in mind: take good photos and make them better through photoshop. i wouldn't say i actually took good photos, i'm not that much of a narcissist, but i think i did all right.
now i started editing the simple photos. or rather, i started cropping the simple photos. the ones i don't need to edit at all. just to get my bearings with photoshop. get warmed up.
with the first photo, it was more of fitting the photo in a given dimension. it was all about framing, getting enough of the subject in without cropping too much out. and i think i did all right with this one.
and then i followed with simple touch-ups--like extending the background, like so:
because we were trying to get the right "flight" of the scarf, i had to take a wide shot of the model. and when it finally came to cropping, i chose to crop out the a lot of the model's body to give more emphasis to the face--and the scarf. because of this, the top part of the photo came up short and had to be extended.
the trick i employed was something i learned from one of my officemates. get the size of the area you need to fill out, layer by copy from the area you wish to extend, and then invert it. voila! instant extension without the hassles of cloning!
now that i'm all warmed up, i put my focus on the main project:
this was the main concept we were working with last saturday. but because we lacked a big one-toned wall, we made do with the driveway--and had our model slide and run over and over. well, over and over until we had the shots we needed. our model was very game, thank goodness.
this photo has three main layers, which shows our model in three acts of movement. i chose the last "act" to be the main focus and picked two photos that would serve as the imprints he left behind.
initially, the plan was to make all imprints have the same opacity. but the movement would be more noticeable if the imprints were fading one after the other. so i ended up with six layers, all of which are set with different opacity and different filters.
i think i accomplished what i wanted to accomplish.
photography anniversary
Jul. 4th, 2009 10:13 pmjuly 6, 2008 was the date ceres and i decided we were going to do something about our passions--by building our portfolios. ceres was into make-up, and i was into photography, so in a way, ours was a perfect match for portfolio-building.
i have had a lot of practice, taking photos of celebrities. because i get to do that through my job. but in no way was i prepared for shoots that take me out of the celebrity-sanctuary. as i have mentioned in my previous blog entry, celebrities know their angles. you just keep clicking. it's a whole different ball game when you're shooting normal people.
it's not difficult, just different.
the first time, neither ceres and i knew what we were doing. but we were helping each other out, and other people were helping us too. and the helping out is still there, almost one year later.
one year of photos
we've taken photos of office mates, block mates, course mates, former office mates--and we've even had our first clients in our first year! ceres has since taken a course in make-up, while i've gotten more exposure and experience in taking photos.
of course, there's still room to grow for the both of us. i still plan on attending photography seminars, and i'm sure ceres has her plans of leveling up her make-up expertise. but for the next two days, i will just be happy:
happy that it has been a year and i still love taking photos; happy that in one year i was able to learn so much, without being jaded against learning more; happy that i have friends and colleagues who love to help out.
because from a team of two, which was composed of ceres and i, we are now a group of many--with naomi, jihan, tia also taking photos, alula and cams as stylists. jihan and tia are learning make-up too, while ceres and i are now also helping out with the styling. of course, we also have our regular models: miyo, edlyn and bambi who do not complain when we ask them to wear and do weird things.
it's been a good year. i'm hoping the next will only get better.
i have had a lot of practice, taking photos of celebrities. because i get to do that through my job. but in no way was i prepared for shoots that take me out of the celebrity-sanctuary. as i have mentioned in my previous blog entry, celebrities know their angles. you just keep clicking. it's a whole different ball game when you're shooting normal people.
it's not difficult, just different.
the first time, neither ceres and i knew what we were doing. but we were helping each other out, and other people were helping us too. and the helping out is still there, almost one year later.
one year of photos
we've taken photos of office mates, block mates, course mates, former office mates--and we've even had our first clients in our first year! ceres has since taken a course in make-up, while i've gotten more exposure and experience in taking photos.
of course, there's still room to grow for the both of us. i still plan on attending photography seminars, and i'm sure ceres has her plans of leveling up her make-up expertise. but for the next two days, i will just be happy:
happy that it has been a year and i still love taking photos; happy that in one year i was able to learn so much, without being jaded against learning more; happy that i have friends and colleagues who love to help out.
because from a team of two, which was composed of ceres and i, we are now a group of many--with naomi, jihan, tia also taking photos, alula and cams as stylists. jihan and tia are learning make-up too, while ceres and i are now also helping out with the styling. of course, we also have our regular models: miyo, edlyn and bambi who do not complain when we ask them to wear and do weird things.
it's been a good year. i'm hoping the next will only get better.
change of paths
Jun. 12th, 2009 08:45 amthere has been a little change in my office duties. and because of that, i will be taking less photos too. and it's not like i'm taking a lot to begin with.
relaxing with a prince
here's another one of my photos from the impromptu prince stefan photo shoot. i don't know if this will be my last, but hopefully it won't. i like taking photos of people who know what their angles are, who know how to pose. it makes my job easier.
but not always.
i've had an experience before wherein the model knew his good sides. but we don't exactly have the same perspective. so what looks good for him doesn't always look good for me. asking him to pose a certain way was a challenge. he wasn't being difficult, mind you. it was just the fact that he already had preconceived poses for the shoot that made posing him challenging.
no, i'm not talking about prince, in case that's not clear. prince was a dream to work with, and he was really game too.
relaxing with a prince
here's another one of my photos from the impromptu prince stefan photo shoot. i don't know if this will be my last, but hopefully it won't. i like taking photos of people who know what their angles are, who know how to pose. it makes my job easier.
but not always.
i've had an experience before wherein the model knew his good sides. but we don't exactly have the same perspective. so what looks good for him doesn't always look good for me. asking him to pose a certain way was a challenge. he wasn't being difficult, mind you. it was just the fact that he already had preconceived poses for the shoot that made posing him challenging.
no, i'm not talking about prince, in case that's not clear. prince was a dream to work with, and he was really game too.
all subjects
Jun. 2nd, 2009 08:23 pmthe thing with being a starting photographer is this: you don't choose what projects you will handle. after all, how can you know what you can and cannot do if you don't give something a try, right?
so when my friend asked for my help in taking photos for her road test article, i consented. what do i have to lose?
road tested at wmn.ph
shooting the products was a breeze. of course, there was still the question of making sure the product doesn't blend with anything--but that was definitely not a problem during this particular shoot.
the problem came when it was the time to take the before, and then the after shot. there's a month-long difference between the two shots and i had no idea how i was supposed to go about it.
and then someone suggested to just put the camera on automatic. as long as we can recreate the setting, then the whole set-up would be the same before and after. right? well, click on the link above and see for yourself how i did.
so when my friend asked for my help in taking photos for her road test article, i consented. what do i have to lose?
road tested at wmn.ph
shooting the products was a breeze. of course, there was still the question of making sure the product doesn't blend with anything--but that was definitely not a problem during this particular shoot.
the problem came when it was the time to take the before, and then the after shot. there's a month-long difference between the two shots and i had no idea how i was supposed to go about it.
and then someone suggested to just put the camera on automatic. as long as we can recreate the setting, then the whole set-up would be the same before and after. right? well, click on the link above and see for yourself how i did.
sapato manila
May. 31st, 2009 07:19 pmbecause i'm not a very well-known photographer, and because i take any kind of photography work, office mate jill gave me another job after the make-up shoot. this time, my subjects were five pairs of shoes.
the thing about shoes is, they have their own personalities. you can't just shoot shoes. they have to go with everything. so we all brought props--but only jill's props actually complimented the shoes. jill's props and the mmda boxes we have at the studio, all of which were made by shi abella--wonder woman to us in the office.
Food for the Sole, at WMN.ph
we had multiple shots for each pair of shoes. except the first three. for some reason, the first three shoes quickly showed their personalities. we quickly saw how we want to present them. but the last two shoes were a challenge. they were jill's favorite pairs, and as such, we had to make sure they would be seen in a great light.
i guess this is why photographers must never be biased. not that i was. they were women's shoes. had they been shoes for men, this would be a different story.
in the end, we just shot and shot the shoes. afterward, we just let the graphic designer, the great frances tampinco, pick the photos that would best showcase the shoes. the photos, you can find at the link i provided above.
all the shoes were lent by sapato manila, and none of the shoes were harmed during the pictorial. well, we had to make sure the shoes were well-cared for. after all, they were just on loan.
the thing about shoes is, they have their own personalities. you can't just shoot shoes. they have to go with everything. so we all brought props--but only jill's props actually complimented the shoes. jill's props and the mmda boxes we have at the studio, all of which were made by shi abella--wonder woman to us in the office.
Food for the Sole, at WMN.ph
we had multiple shots for each pair of shoes. except the first three. for some reason, the first three shoes quickly showed their personalities. we quickly saw how we want to present them. but the last two shoes were a challenge. they were jill's favorite pairs, and as such, we had to make sure they would be seen in a great light.
i guess this is why photographers must never be biased. not that i was. they were women's shoes. had they been shoes for men, this would be a different story.
in the end, we just shot and shot the shoes. afterward, we just let the graphic designer, the great frances tampinco, pick the photos that would best showcase the shoes. the photos, you can find at the link i provided above.
all the shoes were lent by sapato manila, and none of the shoes were harmed during the pictorial. well, we had to make sure the shoes were well-cared for. after all, they were just on loan.
the thing about bad days is, after that day is over, you learn that it's not completely a bad day. in fact, it can be seen as one very good day. because you survived, and you've learned a lot of new things.
like, for example, you learn that you can actually work under a lot of stress. and learn that you can prepare for a shoot in less than 10 minutes.
just like what happened yesterday.
to catch a prince
this photo is an outtake of a layout i had done for iGMA. i actually work there as a writer/producer, with photography as a sideline. but yesterday was a whole different ball game.
we had three photo shoots scheduled; three guys, two layouts each, and one photographer. i was supposed to be assisting. but our photographer had a migraine, so we had the shoots canceled. all good and well -- until we learned that not all three guys were told that the shoot was canceled.
i'm not belittling myself. i know i can handle shoots now--i've handled quite a handful already. but i'm not exactly the professional they were expecting. good thing our photographer has taught me well. but she still has a lot to teach me. and i still have a lot to learn, not just from her, but from a lot of people.
i learned a lot from the impromptu shoot yesterday. like, number one, i get more tired from shooting if someone else is directing. number two, i can only do up to three layouts without getting extremely tired. number three, natural light is really better than controlled lighting.
unless of course there's not a lot of natural light.
thankfully, for the first three layouts, we had a lot of natural light. by the time we reached the fourth layout though, everyone was tired. everyone just wanted to rest.
it also didn't help that we had a break right before we went into the last layout.
but that's all beside the point now. i learned one very important lesson yesterday: a bad day can turn out to be a great day: for learning, for experiencing, for getting better.
like, for example, you learn that you can actually work under a lot of stress. and learn that you can prepare for a shoot in less than 10 minutes.
just like what happened yesterday.
to catch a prince
this photo is an outtake of a layout i had done for iGMA. i actually work there as a writer/producer, with photography as a sideline. but yesterday was a whole different ball game.
we had three photo shoots scheduled; three guys, two layouts each, and one photographer. i was supposed to be assisting. but our photographer had a migraine, so we had the shoots canceled. all good and well -- until we learned that not all three guys were told that the shoot was canceled.
i'm not belittling myself. i know i can handle shoots now--i've handled quite a handful already. but i'm not exactly the professional they were expecting. good thing our photographer has taught me well. but she still has a lot to teach me. and i still have a lot to learn, not just from her, but from a lot of people.
i learned a lot from the impromptu shoot yesterday. like, number one, i get more tired from shooting if someone else is directing. number two, i can only do up to three layouts without getting extremely tired. number three, natural light is really better than controlled lighting.
unless of course there's not a lot of natural light.
thankfully, for the first three layouts, we had a lot of natural light. by the time we reached the fourth layout though, everyone was tired. everyone just wanted to rest.
it also didn't help that we had a break right before we went into the last layout.
but that's all beside the point now. i learned one very important lesson yesterday: a bad day can turn out to be a great day: for learning, for experiencing, for getting better.
make-up by shu uemura
May. 27th, 2009 08:37 pmmy first paying gig as a photographer took me to the outskirts of makati--to take photos of make-up. i'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. inanimate objects make for the best models!
and i learned a lot from my first gig. number one being "always listen to what your subject is saying." in this case, the subject is make-up artist cathy cantada. she's a great make-up artist, and a great speaker. and listening to her talk about the make-up gave me the ideas of how i want the make-up to be seen.
of course, i cannot discount the huge help of jillian gatcheco. she was the one who hired me, and the one who pointed out that the make-up looked great on the weathered and japanese-inspired table and chairs of the cantada residence.
all in all, this was a great experience of taking photos.
check out more at WMN.ph
and i learned a lot from my first gig. number one being "always listen to what your subject is saying." in this case, the subject is make-up artist cathy cantada. she's a great make-up artist, and a great speaker. and listening to her talk about the make-up gave me the ideas of how i want the make-up to be seen.
of course, i cannot discount the huge help of jillian gatcheco. she was the one who hired me, and the one who pointed out that the make-up looked great on the weathered and japanese-inspired table and chairs of the cantada residence.
all in all, this was a great experience of taking photos.
check out more at WMN.ph
