on Backlogs, Clothing Ads and Portrait #45

This is long overdue!

I have had the priveledge to do three shoots with Fatima already and I haven't had the chance to publish any of it here in my blog. Truth be told, I always have fun doing a shoot with her because I do not need that much effort during the shoot because she is just simply awesome in front of the camera.

I just want to share with you guys the shoots I have done with her and to officially add her to my portraits project.

This shoot happened about a year ago inside the pedestrian underpass to the airport.

The next shoot was for a makeup competition where she and her makeup artist Paulyn Dy made it to the final cut.

 

The last shoot was taken about a month ago. This one was a quick strobist shoot with my good friend and peer Charisse Ann Bibera. I was inspired by the advertisements from clothing companies and tired a hand at making my own.

 

 

And this will be my entry to my portrait project:

Portrait #45: Fatima

This is probably the most number of photos I have published in one portrait blog. I know there will be more shoots in the coming months when she visits Davao again. She will always be one of my favorite models.

PS: Special thanks to all those who made these shoots possible. To Paulyn Dy of Makeup Magic by Paulyn Dy for the makeup on the first two shoots and for introducing me to Fatima. And to Charisse Bibera for being my co-shooter for the past few months. I hope to collaborate with all of you in the near future.

on Long Breaks, Backlogs and Portraits

It has been awhile since I last wrote something on this blog. I have been meaning to blog about some of my portraits from 2014 but I just haven't had the time or the motivation to do so. So while I am in a lull from shooting events and for clients, I want to write about my personal shoots last year.

People have been asking me if I have finished my 100 portraits project and sadly I haven't. I still have to reach halfway into the project. Since I have this HUGE backlog of portraits to post, I will be publishing these five portraits that I will add to my project. These five ladies are all friends from highschool; they went to the same school as me. And I did all had their "pre-debut" portraits. All the photos were taken last year during "pre-debut" portrait sessions. I like working with them as subjects because the shoots are all light-hearted and fun. I guess photography is the one aspect of my life where I perform best when not under immense pressure.

It was also from their shoots that I got the hang of post-processing with the colors I use now. I got so used to the workflow that I have been applying it to all my shoots with people regardless of it being a portrait or an event. The vintage purplish / yellow / sunset hue is now an identifying trait of my portraits; call it my signature style if you want. I want to continue developing this workflow until I a master it.

Here are the five portraits I am adding to my collection...

Portrait #40: Annalou

Portrait #41: Rin-rin

Portrait #42: Mary

Portrait #43: Ella

Portrait #44: Jill

PS: I will hopefully be shooting a few portrait sessions before the summer ends. If anybody is interested, do send me a message in facebook, twitter or instagram.

PPS: Speaking of instagram, I added a widget on the right for my instagram feed. Follow my mundane not-so-artsy photos of everyday life there.

on Hiatus, Comebacks and Portrait #39

Finally, I'm back after a seven month long hiatus. Well, I took a break from blogging but not from photography. I just did not have the time to update my blog since I was busy with all the other things going on in my life.

Much has changed in the last seven months. I quit my day job, started working professionally as a photo retoucher and I have been shooting for clients more. Now that I found some time in between projects, I want to update my blog with some of the photoshoots that I have done the past few months. And I also want to update my portrait project.

 

Paulyn and Kezia

My first feature will be of my good friend and makeup artist Paulyn. We did several shoots the past few months and this one is with her friend Kezia. We did a shoot for Kezia before, but I am featuring this one because we got it right this time around. And ofcourse there is that mandatory portrait of Paulyn as well.

 

Paulyn and her flower crown 

During the shoot I worked mostly against the light as it was a particularly sunny afternoon. I added a slightly purplish haze during post processing to balance out the yellow and orange cast of the sun. Interestingly, I find adding some sort of haze effect to make portraits appealing. I like the “vintage-ish” look I get.

 

Kezia's angle :) 

And as promised, I am adding this portrait to my project.

Portrait #39: Kezia

 

PS: Thanks to Paulyn, Kezia, Fatima, Junah and Annalou for joining me in this shoot. I'll be posting Fatima's photos next. :D 

on Revisiting Chesca

It has been a long while since I last had a blog entry. I've been busy with so many other things lately that I found it difficult to find time to shoot and write. I am also preparing for a massive career change that is to come at the end of summer. Well, I do hope I can find time to write about the photos I took since my last entry.

For my comeback blog, I revisited the photos of Chesca. I was looking for photos to apply some new things I learned about post processing and I tried it on some of her portraits. I was inspired by the works of Emily Soto and I tried my best to replicate what she was doing. I must say, I am kind of enjoying the vintage and dreamy feel of her portraits. It would be a good addition to my traditional portrait post processing techniques.

 warm tone vintage...

It can be sometimes daunting because of the number of layers I have to create to capture a certain look; this is on top of my usual workflow for portraits. The additional work though is well worth it. Gone are the days of just clicking the "convert to black-and-white" button when I do not like how the colors work. And now, I have more options when I get bored of my "safe" post processing workflow.

 cold tone dreamy look...

I think the new look of the portraits fit my style. The subtle colors, dreamy feel and vintage vibe are more or less what my portraits are about. I will see what other portraits I can apply this style to.

PS:

A few days after finishing the two re-worked portraits, Chesca won the Mutya ng Dabaw pageant. It is probably the biggest and most prestigious pageant in the city. I am really proud to have met her and to have taken her portraits before she became Mutya ng Dabaw. She is the second Mutya I have in my portrait project.

PPS:

Today is also her birthday. Big shout out to the birthday girl! Happy bday Chesca!

on Overcoming the Creative Block, Patience and Portrait #38

It has been awhile...

I am back from almost three months away from blogging. My day job got a lion's share of my time and sapped all the enthusiasm away from me. There were times when I found myself lost and devoid of creativity. Even taking photos became a chore of sorts.

Getting over the creative block meant taking time away and doing other things. I rescued my guitar from the back of the closet, bought a pen and a sketch pad, and did some experimenting in the kitchen. Focusing on other things helped me ease myself back into doing what I love to do. I am sure a lot of the people I know who share this hobby with me have their own stories to tell about how they fell out and back in love with photography.

The first thing I did when I felt I got my mojo back was to finish editing a set done two months ago for my friend's makeup portfolio. Paulyn invited me to shoot Hanna, who was on vacation in the country, for her blog. It was such a blast working with the two of them. Paulyn did a splendid job with the makeup and Hanna was very easy to work with. I'm glad I took this shoot even on short notice since this will probably be my only chance to get to have Hanna as my model.

I would probably avoid using my macro lens the next time I shoot portraits in a studio(ish) environment next time. Post processing is such a pain when using the macro lens; too many unwanted fine detail. It took me hours to finish cleaning things up.

It took a while for me to publish the set but in the end it was worth it. One thing I learned during this shoot is that I should always be patient and not be in a hurry when I am shooting or retouching. Patience is not a part of my vocabulary but I learned that you cannot rush things when you seek aesthetic satisfaction. Creativity will come in waves. Sometimes it consumes you until you run out of energy and other times it dries up even when you desperately need it. What matters is that know when you have it and that you make the most out of it when it's there.

Portrait #38: Johanna

Well, there you have it. Another set published and another portrait to add to my project. I will hopefully write another blog in the next couple of days. 

PS: A big thanks to Paulyn Dy for always trusting me to shoot her portfolio and to Hanna for being an awesome model!

PPS: Hanna's portrait just went popular in 500px.com an hour after I uploaded it. Oh happy day!

on Fashion Photography, First Time, and Portrait #37

Photography... it is a never ending learning process.

I have never been someone who people would think of for a fashion photography shoot. I am not that comfortable shooting whole body portraits compared to shooting head shots. And I know next to nothing about fashion. You wouldn't really expect a guy who wears the simple t-shirt - jeans - sneakers combo to be much of a fashionista right off the bat. But then again, I went to a very hip and trendy college and do browse magazines from time to time so I do have some sort of idea what I am getting myself into; or at least that was what I thought. And believe me, I never expected it to be a workout.

 

 doing my usual head shots...

I took this fashion shoot as a challenge and told Paulyn, who invited me for this shoot, that I have very little experience shooting fashion stuff. Well, she had faith in me so I got the gig. I did my homework and got some inspiration from popular fashion bloggers in the country; and there is always 500px as reference material.

 testing out if the strobes would look nice...

My usual shooting order is find my models angle, place her in the right location, shoot my keepers and do my experiments later. This is how I shoot when doing headshots as I already have that basic formula from experience. I can get from finding angles to shooting keepers in about a few minutes time. The experimental part takes a lot longer. This is my usual workflow because shooting keepers first makes sure that the effort to do the shoot doesn't go to waste. Only after I know that I have some decent output do I even try to play around with what I have.

 I also tried if monochrome would work...

I went about the shoot in reverse of what I usually do. With this shoot, I first had a location in mind, did a few test shots and then worked for my keepers. I first had to experiment to see what worked and what didn't since I still don't have a formula for shooting fashion stuff. I spent more time experimenting than nailing down keepers since this is a first.

trying out composition I figured would look close to what I usually see in blogs...

I am happy I did this shoot. I learned a lot and gained valuable shooting experience which I could apply. There are things I need to learn like shooting details and knowing how to match my subject to my location. And I do have to overcome that mentality that I have to highlight the model's face; I need to learn how to balance my shots so I can show her beauty as well as her outfit. Overall, I did good considering it is a first time. I am still in the process of mastering the popular way of doing this fashion shoots for blogs. Sooner or later, I will find my own way of shooting fashion.

 I still have to learn how to shoot the whole outfit...

And before I forget, my model Paulyn is a fashion blogger, stylist, and makeup artist rolled into one. She is easy to work with and really comes prepared for a shoot. I can't wait to do the next shoot with her. We will start planning it soon.

Portrait #37: Paulyn

 

PS: Uber thanks to Paulyn for being very game model and for the confidence that I could deliver output, to Alfe for recommending me as a photographer and Francis for being the instant support crew for her sister. Until next time! :D

 PPS: do visit Paulyn's blog at http://dypaulyn.blogspot.com

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 Typhoons, Workshops and Portrait #36

Last December, Typhoon Pablo hit the western part of Mindanao and the damage was really significant. A lot of people died and a lot more are left homeless and trying to rebuild what was left of their lives. Some of the people from the Photobombers thought that it would be good to come up with an activity that would help the school kids of Compostella Valley. There was a school that had to be rebuilt from the ground up and they decided to help the kids by providing much needed school supplies. So a workshop was set to benefit of the Corazon S. Aquino High School in Compostella Valley Province.

I was fortunate enough to help during the basic portraits shoot by guiding the attendees on how to shoot portraits. I got off a few clicks while multitasking as I was often holding the reflector as this was an ambient light shoot. And it has also been a long while since I had a proper portrait shoot as I have been focusing on macro photography lately.

The set I am posting is from my takes of L.A. as I was helping out during the portrait shoot. Most of the shots were taken as examples for the attendees to follow and while I was holding the reflector. L.A. was really game in posing for the participants and it was great working with her. The theme was Boho inspired so I did the post processing to look a bit 70's as well. The entire set was done in ambient light with the Tamron 90 f2.5 and the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AFD.

And after a five month hiatus, I finally add another portrait to my 100 portraits project. And I must say, this one has inspired me to shoot portraits again.

Portrait #36: L.A.

I am glad that I found the time to help out the crew in this project even a little bit. I say kudos to the Photobombers Crew and FPS people who made this event possible and to the attendees from the Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA - Davao Chapter). Although my time with the attendees was short, I realized that I miss sharing what I know with those starting out in photography. I hope this will be an annual event for the group.

credits to Bren Ang for the group hug

PS: I find the new flickr upgrade as cool but a bit confusing at first. It is nice that I can view all my photos and download the original resolution images from wherever. I have yet to check out the new android app.

on 2012 Year End Blog and a Simple AVP

A few weeks ago people were bickering about photography; I was included in the melee. There was the side that defended photography as being an art and those who just didn't care as long as they can shoot and call themselves photographers. For me personally, photography is an art and I will not stand by and watch others bring it down to a level that is demeaning for those who worked hard and tried to make it better.

But I had a realization just before Xmas. During the debut celebration of my student, I realized something while covering the event and while I presented the simple AVP I did for her. I realized my photography, especially doing portraits, is not only meant to express creativity; it is meant to bring smiles to people. It is the greatest feeling when strangers come up to you and say how much they admire your work and enjoy looking at your photos. Its good when a friend or a peer acknowledges you, but when a stranger takes time to leave a comment or tells you how much he/she likes your work; that will surely make your day.

The greatest realization I have had this year is that my photography is not only meant to make me happy but to make people who see my work smile.

And probably the greatest joy in my projects this year is when I finished and presented the AVP. It was too bad my PC could not handle the rendering requirements of a flashy AVP done in After Effects. I had to settle for a simple AVP that presented the photos in a straight-forward manner. The funny thing is, I think the simple presentation suit me best since I have this very basic minimalistic approach to shooting portraits. Simplicity is beauty.

I'd like to that Lalai for trusting me with this shoot and avp. And to all those who supported me and gave critique to my work through out the year. To all the models and photographers who were involved in helping me improve my skills. To the Photobomber Crew for all the shoots and learnings I had this year. And also a very big thank you to every one who visited my blog.

Happy New Year to you all! May 2013 bring us all prosperity and happiness!

on Headshots and Niches

In my last blog I promised to feature the last model for our "not-so-recent" studio shoot. I saw a lot of keepers from the other model since I had a lot of shooting time. In this set though, I had to limit my shooting time to give the other guys a chance to shoot.

The set features Myla, who I had the pleasure of shooting before also in a similar studio setup. The only difference is that the last time we had strobes and now we have continuous lights. I am not really a fan of continuous lights and prefer working with strobes. But continuous lighting does have its benefits especially when shooting in a group. As a preference, I like using strobes or shooting outdoors in natural light.

 

 

 

Anyways, I have been watching a lot of Peter Hurley videos in recent days, and I have come to that realization that I like doing headshots. This set in particular is a good example. I had a lot of whole or half body shots but I seem to gravitate towards headshots a lot more. I am starting to think I have found my niche in the field of portraiture. And with this direction, I think my next project will be setting up a garage studio or something of that sort.

Wish me luck...

on Work and Play

The problem with work is that it interferes with your hobby. I still have some photos from my September shoot that I need to post process but I do not have the luxury of time to do so. I had a hell of a week and now I realized I haven't even touched my camera since my last shoot.

Now that I have some breathing room, I am posting two more images from my last shoot.

The first is from the main model Kitty. I don't usually take this kind of upward angle shot that fills the frame. I like a bit of negative space but this one turned out nicely with the rembrant-ish lighting setup.

The second photo is from a light setup test that turned out quite nicely with Kate who was the stylist, makeup artist and talent manager for that shoot. Having the soft box so close to the model really does produce good results. This was done with a two light setup with the soft box to the right of the model and another strobe to light up the background a bit.

There are quite a number of keepers from this shoot that I'd like to publish in the coming weeks granting that I have the time to edit them. I have yet to start on the set with the second model of this shoot. But this weekend, I promise to take my camera out for a walk first because it is that time of year again that photographer from all over the world would be out on the streets for the annual Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk. I hope I get some keepers this weekend for the contest and for content in this blog as well.

Wish me luck.

on Opportunities and Portraits #32 & #33

Always shoot like it's your last day...

I was asked to do a class picture for the graduating accountancy class of a university here. I knew two girls from that class so I decided to go for it. And it has been a tradition of sorts for me to shoot a graduating class each year. Sadly, the shoot didn't go well. The location of choice was cramped so it ended with a not so nice group shot.

But it wasn't a total loss though. I made sure to take portraits of my friends. I've been asking them to model for me for a very long time and I final got the opportunity to do so. It was a quick shoot. I took just about ten frames each since I was seriously low on memory card space. Good thing I got keepers out of those few frames.

I'm sad that I didn't do well with the class photo but at the same time I am still glad that I took the gig so I could shoot the portraits. I learned that making the most out of every opportunity is very important. If you think about it, it's like I broke even on this shoot; failed group shoot but good portrait shoot. It's a learning experience and I hope to do better next time.

Here are the latest additions to my portrait project.

Portrait #32: Alfe

Portrait #33: Chesca