on Prom and Portrait #28

Seriously, what are they feeding teens these days?

My friend asked me to do a shoot for her sister about a month ago because it was her highschool prom and she wanted to have a souvenir of sorts for that special occasion. I didn't hesitate to say yes because I have always wanted to take a portrait of Adreane for my project. I saw her on facebook and I knew I wanted to add her to take a portrait of her.

And then I was surprised to see a tall lady instead of a blooming teen.

She is still sixteen and in highschool and I was thinking I would be shooting something that was more on the teen(y) side. And so my plans went out the window when I saw how matured she looked. It was a good thing that I quickly found out her angles and got to the business of doing her photoshoot. It is her first time but she got the hang of posing and how to project in front of the camera. I am glad she was comfortable during the shoot.

While reviewing the shots I took, I realized how different it was from what I originally envisioned. And I am glad I still pulled it off. Like what I always say to my models, I only need one shot to make my day. And after post processing only a handful of shots, I can say I had two (or more) keepers on that day. I will go back for a second look at this shoot when I find some time.

Here is the portrait I will add to my project. I had a hard time choosing between the B&W photo and the one I chose because I think both are good enough to be in my portrait project. I decided to take this closeup as it is a bit more unique. Plus I love the reflection in her eyes.

Portrait #28: Adreane

PS: Special thanks to Amylae for inviting me to do the shoot.

PPS: This is a late post because I have been swamped with projects this past month. I wish I can shoot and post process more often in the coming days.

on Rain Drops and Lens Flares (Portraits #26 and #27)

I will shoot portraits at any given time as long as I have strobes; and in any weather condition as long as my models can stand it.

This particular shoot happened three weeks ago in the middle of a rubber plantation and while it was rainy. One good thing was that the overcast wasn't as bad so we still had lots of ambient light. And I had this idea of using the strobes as rim light so that the rain drops would be illuminated. Thankfully it worked.

Instant bokeh raindrops!

 

Too bad the rain didn't last the entire first set of Aubrey. When the second model, Angela, came out, there wasn't a single drop of rain; and so I settled for lens flares. Having flares is easy when you have large aperture lenses. Just place the strobes in the frame and you get flares.

 

And just to note, this isn't the first time I had a shoot with either Aubrey or Angela. But this is the first time I had output. The other shoots are buried somewhere in my archives. I'll visit those soon. It was a pleasure doing a shoot with them as they were really professional during shoots. I hope to publish some more shots from this shoot because there are other keepers that I need to look at.

Before I forget, I also have their portraits for my project.

Portrait #26: Aubrey

 

Portrait #27: Angela

 

PS: As always, thank you Kaye Garino for the MUA and the Photobombers for the shoot.

on Damsels and Valentines

Since it is Valentine's Day... I'll be blogging about damsels. Well, its not girls but the gentle insect called a Damselfly.

I used to find these creatures in our front yard but they have been really scarce this past few years. These insects are predators and eat smaller insects they pluck out of leaves or in the surface of a pond. We used to pit them against each other to see who would yank off the head head of the other first. But even though they are predators, they are quite fragile. If you hold on to the wings too long, they be crumpled and would leave the damselfly grounded. I miss seeing all the different colors and sizes of these insects which really reminds me a lot about my childhood days playing near swamps.

 

Oh, and I have to mention that damselflies belong to the same family as dragonflies. Like their bigger cousins, they are born as in an aquatic environment and only become terrestrial when in adult form. That is why the are most often found near bodies of water. I wish next time I can find a damselfly couple mating.

Anyhow, I'll blog more next time about this. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

on Comebacks and B&W

It's been awhile since I've done portraits... well, portraits for my portfolio that is. I've been shooting for clients lately. And with clients, you don't really get to do much experimenting; it's always about the tried and tested formula when you are paid.

So, here is my comeback shoot.

I've done a whole lot of black and whites in my portraits. I can't recall the last time I went for the overexposed film look. Well, it fits the concept quite well in my opinion. We were shooting in a plantation and I really hate it when there is too much greens and not a whole lot of other things. I was tempted to do muted (desaturated) or cross processed output but I decided to go overboard and killed all the colors. I experimented with the infrared preset in Lightroom and changed the values a bit on this set. Reminds me of the overexposed shots I had when I was still learning.

Well, I still like how it turned out. Oh, and there’s more to come as I am not yet done with the portrait that I will add to my project. And I'll tell you about the model in my next blog.

PS: thank you to Miss Kaye Garino for the makeup and the photobomber crew for the shoot.

on the Year of the Dragon...fly.

Kiong Hee Huat Chai!!!

In this side of the world, we are celebrating the Chinese New Year. It is a holiday here and I am glad I found some time off from work and my (amazingly) busy photography sideline to write another blog. I do hope that this year bring me good fortunes in photography.

And as it is the Year of the Water Dragon, I have been hunting down water born dragons... errrr... Dragonflies.

I was lucky that I did not have to go far to find a dragonfly. It was about four and a half inches long and green. I got only two snaps of it but I am happy I got close to one. I wish I could shoot more dragonflies but they are such a rarity here in our village these days. Next time I'll go looking for a red or blue dragonfly.

Again Happy Chinese New Year to all!

on Spider Sunday

One reason why I love macro: I can find subjects wherever there are plants.

Last Sunday, after our annual reunion, I decided to go looking for new subjects to shoot. And I was lucky when I found four different arachnids in a hedge in front of our ancestral home. I didn't waste the opportunity to add to my growing collection of Jumping Spiders and Orb Weavers. And it was a good test for my new gear.

I found an orb weaver spinning its web at dusk and I waited until it finished as I could not track its movement as it made the web from the middle outwards. After it finished, the weaver left the web and rested on an orchid root and that's when I got this photo.

I call this Jumping spider a ghost as it has semi transparent legs which blend into the leaves. I was lucky to spot it moving from one leaf to another but it was hard to take a photo as it seemed to be aware of my presence and reacted every time I pointed the camera at it. I took the photo of it on the underside of a leaf.

This next Jumping Spider is quite small and was nicely camouflaged in the tree bark. It is about five millimeters and is quite hard to spot. What I like about this one is that it has blue legs and bronze hair.

For the last photo, I found this on an orchid. Among all the Jumping Spiders I have seen, this is quite unique because it is the only one I have observed to have some sort of a web where it lies and waits. It didn't move a leg when I was shooting as if it wanted to simply hide in plain sight.

I hope someone identifies these arachnids for me. I really wish to learn more about them and I am hoping I would find more of them the next time I visit.