The Queen of the Bay (Festival)

"Your body's worth more than the expanse of the sea..." -- Urbandub (Gravity)

I've known War Queen (or Waqui) for almost a year now and have seen her mature in many ways. But in the last few months, with the help of Kaye (our very own MUA), she has transformed into a bombshell. She only models for the group usually in a casual setting and she's learned a lot on how to pose and project. And after the last shoot we had with her, I am convinced that she can really pull off those model photoshoots. And by far, this is the only shoot that we were really seriously shooting her; and the output speaks for itself.

I forgot to mention, she's not really a model but rather a photographer. She only does modeling for the group; and she's doing a real fine job at it. I'll be changing my portrait of her in the my project to one of the two photos here.

Stinky Little Bugger

Ever since the Nikon Photo Safari here in Davao, there has been a lot of people who got into macro photography. In the local forums, there is a constant stream of macro shots, especially insect macro. I've been into it for some time now since I love photography and science and macro merges the two fields together. I love to learn and am often curious about the bug that I took shots of. I can't ID most of them because I'm not an entomologist. I only know the common names ones.

Here are another couple of shots of some brownish gold bug that I found in that same patch of greens just across the street from our house. What I can tell you is that its a species of "true bug". It is most probably under the stink bugs family; I'm not sure about this but it does sure look like one. True bugs are common in the area I shoot as there are shield bugs, planthoppers and cottonstainers there. This is the first time that I saw this one bug so I took the chance and I was also looking for an entry to the DPP magazine macro shots.

It's fun when you shoot and learn at the same time. What's not fun about shooting insect macros is that you have to wake up relatively early in the morning and crawl through shrubs and whatnots just to get to your subject. Macro photography is still my first love even if it's hard to get up early in the morning.

PS: if someone knows the identity of this bug or any of the other bugs I shot before, please do leave me a message or comment. 

On the Edge of the Frame and Portrait #11

I've been thinking lately about having a signature style for my portraits. It took me hours to scan my archives and look for that common thing. It was hard since I was looking for something original.

After some time, I finally admitted to something to myself: my shot has something to do with having my subject being at the edge of the frame.

It’s hardly original I know. And I am not making it my own (this is in reference to something Xander Angeles once said in a workshop). But it’s my preferred shot probably because I hate having the AF point at the center. It’s not about the rule of thirds or whatever; I hate rules. It's just a preference to have my AF point somewhere other than the center; my camera allows me to place it in 11 different points on my viewfinder. I find it easier to "compose" shots when I am not placing my subject at the center.

And it probably has something to do with my preferred lens too since I usually shoot with the 35mm these days. If I placed my AF point at the center and focused on the eyes, I would either be too far to capture the eye details or I'd cut some part of the face because I'm too near.

In my recent shoot with Sofia and the Photobombers, I used the style and was trying to refine it. I wanted to play around with having the subject not in the center but at the extreme edges then capturing a bit of the landscape in the process. I realized that my camera doesn't have enough AF points for me to compose properly.

Here are two of my shots from the set.

It’s a good thing that Sofia was very game in modeling for the group. I had a lot of time to practice the output I wanted. And it was the first time I ran out of memory cards for a single model; normally I consume about two-thirds of a 4GB card or around 200 shots per model. I stopped shooting only after I consumed two cards. I promise to post more of her shoot soon.

And of course, I had to add one for my project since it’s my first time to shoot with Sofia.

Portrait #11: Sofia

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!

Full Circle: Portrait #9

About 10 months ago, I was invited to a portraiture shoot. I didn't really have any knowledge of doing portraiture as I was only interested in doing macro and street shoots. Little did I know that the day marked the beginning of a huge shift in my photography hobby.

At the start of the year I decided on doing my 100 portraits project. And, as luck would have it, one of my first models would be a part of it. Jaynie, or Jai-Jai as we call her, was one of the up and coming faces when I started and ever since that first shoot has been a good friend of the group. Though she isn't as active in the modeling industry as she was last year, I still had a chance to include her in my project during the annual summer outing of the Fanatic Photographers Society here in Davao City.

Here is the portrait I took about 10 months ago.

And this was just a few weeks ago. This is Portrait #9 out of 100.

I'm happy that after 10 months of portraiture shoots, I can see some progress in my style. Though I know that I still have a long way to go in this field, seeing my own progress makes me happy. And at the end of this project, I will once again take a look at what has improved and what needs to be improved.

After all, the only thing that is constant in this world is change.

Shooting with a Canon System and Portrait #8

"The best camera, is the one that's with you..." -- Chase Jarvis

Last Saturday, I made my cousins proud because I used a Canon system (EOS 550D to be exact). In my hurry to leave the house, I left my battery still in the charger and found out about it on location. It was a good thing there was an extra camera; but it was a Canon. I've always belonged to the Dark Side (Nikon) because I find it easier to use and the colors are closer to reality. It’s just my own preference as both brands are almost equal in terms of technologies and performance.

And it was one of my favorite shoots for the year. Not because I used a Canon system but because it was challenging. I was not in my element as I could not use my trusty 35mm and to adapt to the controls of the camera. All those buttons are confusing! I was not used to taking my eyes off the viewfinder when changing Auto-Focus points so recomposing was a bit of a pain. I had to make do with the gear that I had; learning how to maximize gear is a very good skill.

But still, I think that I had a great shoot even with the challenges I faced.

We also had a new model and I was happy because I've always wanted to shoot a Japanese looking girl; and we were blessed to have Anri who is actually half Japanese. She was easy and fun to work with. Her simplicity made her stunning; it made my life a whole lot easier. Also, we had a new location to play around in; not the usual haunts in the city. Though we did not really have a concept in mind, the location itself was good enough that we knew what we wanted to do.

Here is the first set of the shoot...

And lastly, I didn't forget about my 100 portraits project so here it is. This was shot with a Nikon D90 and an 85mm 1.8 Nikkor.

Shooting with a new system (whether it be canon or any other brand) is never easy but its either you adapt or miss the shoot. I can't tell you that I could have done better with my Nikon rig but at the end of the day you'll just let the pictures speak. And Anri made things easier; and most of the time, it’s the subject not the gear that determines the outcome of the shoot.

ps: Special thanks to Maggie for the 550D and Ken for the D90. And to the photobombers for another amazing shoot! :D