on Workshops, Backlogs and Grain

Having backlogs has always been a part of my photography and blogging life; come to think of it, it is a part of my daily life as well. There is no shortage of things to do and stuff to place in the back burner.

Anyhow, I found some time to publish this long overdue set for my good friend Waqui. She's no stragner to this blog as she's has a number of photos here. One good thing I like about her is that every time I get a chance to shoot her, she gets prettier and prettier; and this shoot is no exception. She always finds ways to level up whether it be her fashion statement or her looks. And it is never boring when she's around.

I took this photos during the Photobombers / FPS workshop with the Philippine Institute of Architects as sample photos for the participants to have some sort of idea how I shoot. I took only a few shots and mostly during times when they stop shooting either to change pose or location. I'm glad I had some good shots even though I only took a fraction of what I usually take during photoshoots.

The post processing is again film inspired since it goes with the retro / boho / vintage theme. I like the old film look. Grain is always good in my book. I edit the matte film look using the S-curve slider in lightroom and I think I'll be doing more filmy looking photos in the near future.

PS: Thank you to the Photobombers crew / FPS people and the PIA for making this workshop for a cause possible. To Waqui and LA for being great models. And also to Iris for the awesome styling and makeup.

on Lenses, Grain and Portrait #31

I got an AF Nikkor 50mm 1.8D recently because I wanted to have a portrait lens with auto focus. Although I still love the Tamron 90mm 2.5SP for portraits, I find the focal length too limiting for my taste. And I had a recent shoot with Dawn to test out how I'd do with the 50mm focal length.

Well, for me it turned out great. I had fun with the group and Dawn was so easy to work with. She knew her angles and didn't need much directing for her poses. I'm glad we had a successful shoot because we have been talking in Facebook for a long time about a shoot. It was also good timing that our schedules were free last Saturday because she will be away for three months. But we do have plans for another shoot once she returns from her vacation.

There is really not much difference when shooting portraits with the Tamron 90mm or the Nikkor 50mm for me. It probably has something to do with my style of shooting but I adjusted quite easily to the new focal length. The main difference in the two lens is in sharpness and bokeh. The Tamron is a better performer in both areas but I really wish that it had AF. I am still happy with my 50mm since it does what it's supposed to and it's cheap too.

And at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what lens I use as long as I get the output that I want. Ordinary people won't really ask me what lens I use as long as they like my photos.

Before I forget, if you've noticed there is a theme for the photos aside from the B&W conversion. I purposely added grain since I really want to shoot a portrait in film in the near future. Grain is good in my book.

Portrait #31: Dawn

 

Remembering B&W and Portrait #10.

Believe it or not, I started shooting with film. If I remember it right, my dad always bought the Kodak ASA 400 black and white film. Back in the day, it was much more expensive to develop black and white but my dad, smart as he is, decided that it was better for me as colored film was much harder to shoot for an 11 year old kid.

15 years after, I still love black and white. And in my recent shoot, I tried to produce output that would be similar to shooting with black and white film. I did some research on how to do it. I learned how to add a bit of grain and noise to create that "B&W film look". Post processing in black and white is also much easier for me as I do not need to consider balancing colors; dodging and burning is complicated enough for me. And I wish that I had a film camera to play around with; my dad's Pentax needs a bit of cleaning before I can use it.

Here is my take on the B&W film look... with Anri as my model.

And I got to shoot with a new model, Dixie.

And I also came back to the location of my first photoshoot, Davao City's Pawikan Sanctuary. Here is where I tested the waters of portraiture. And similar to my last post, I did a bit of reminiscing. Its nostalgic and at the same time uplifting, knowing that I have come back to this place better than when I started.

Lastly, I haven't forgotten about my project. At the request of Dixie, I'm adding her favorite portrait to my 100 portraits album. I decided it would be in color since my last one was B&W. And I wanted it to be in color too because I love the sky background. 90 more portraits to go!

Portrait #10: Dixie

 

PS: I'll be posting again in the coming days with another shoot at the Pawikan Sanctuary and Portrait #11!