Leica M8

It was such a wonderful experience to use a Leica M8 to capture wedding moments. A friend actually asked me if you could really spot the difference in the shots of an M8 compared to the latest DSLRs? My answer was straightforward-YES! Not only is it a breeze to handle, since rangefinders are compact and light weight but I used small fixed lenses as well. The images are crisp and sharp, excellent color right out of the card and it has this solid feel and response of good ol' German technology! I like to thank John Co again for allowing me to test drive the M8, looking forward to the M9. Coming up, the on-site AVP I made using all M8 shots.

A new day, a new assignment...

I was on assignment yesterday to photograph personnel and the major equipments in a facility that fabricates metals for aircraft panels and machinery. The place was cluttered and relatively dark in most areas. I was able to achieve a balanced ambient lighting effect that make the images look natural and gave it a "strobeless" feel on it. I used different types of gels and diffusers and of course I was again working on Nikon CLS technology to do the trick.

My first Lomo portrait session

Here goes the first set of portrait images I took using Lomo. Special thanks to Mark and our lovely model Klaudia. :D

Controlling light even better.

I recieved my new Nikon SU-800 Commander unit today and it got me really excited to test it out! It has been out of stock here in Manila and after checking in about 10 stores in Hong Kong my brother was able to purchase one for me. Finally, a faster way of adjusting the settings for the Advanced Lighting System which would require me to toggle with the D200's menu when using the pop-up flash in commander mode. (saves me a lot of time and batteries!)




What better way to try it out?? I asked my niece, Alyssa to model for me. Using two SB-800's and setting them to TTL mode with a little fine tuning to blend with the ambient light of our living room and in A Mode with the D200.




To really push it to the test (flash and my niece) I asked Alyssa to jump and by bouncing the two flash groups off the white walls I was able to achieve the awesome stopping power of the SB-800 units!

I'm hooked!

As part of improving my skills in photography and imaging I got hooked with Lomography! Using this plastic toy camera, it allows me to percieve the creative concept before taking the shot allowing me to stretch the right side of my brain even further! I was thinking, how about a full wedding lomography package out in the market??! What better way to start Lomo but to have a self-portrait! :D

Another day at the Island Fort

3 days ago I also had a portrait session in Corregidor Island for an upcoming band called "Layag". The structures and sceneries was a good venue to experiment with some lighting techniques, again using Nikon's Creative Lighting System.

A new old toy...

I recently purchased a Nikon F5 for my "hybrid" wedding album package. I just love the excitement and discipline film photography gives, not to mention the high quality images it produces. The F5 was the last film SLR by Nikon before the introduction of the D1 series (digital SLR). Almost two years ago Nikon released the F6 - a fantastic camera!. Hopefully I'll get another F100 soon (for the second time).

Past meets present.

Its been about 4 years since I last shot in film. In my previous wedding, i brought my Nikon F90 and some Kodak B&W Film to just take a few shots and compare it with my digital capture. I am still very much impressed with the results. Here are a few images scanned from the roll I used.



Is film still better than digital??? Try spotting the difference...:D

Achieving Light

Light is the foundation of photography and with utilizing light to its full potential we can achieve amazing results in the images we produce. The sun is the source of light in our daily lives, provided to us by God this makes it the perfect light!

Having different color temperatures throughout the day, we have a wide range of intensities, color and shadow effects to play with. Early morning we have cool blue light, at noon time we have white light (est. 5500K)and towards sundown we get warm yellow orange light. In the studio, strobes simulate the light given to us by the sun. In effect we achieve high quality and razor sharp images with good color rendition.

In my portrait sessions I use strobes (Nikon SB-800) to simulate lighting in areas where I am limited by the light and improve further my subjects. In this photo illustration I used my SB-800 with an articulated arm in my light stand to adjust the fill light I needed to highlight the face of my subject and with another slave unit bouncing the light on the white wall to fill the right side or left cheek of my subject.

And here is the result: a natural look but well lit subject that has depth and overall round and natural feel. It is possible to achieve a good portrait with just the sun's light as a source but in this case I was able to improve it even more.

In this next portrait I chose to place the couple behind the sun or "backlit" to instantly separate them from the background giving a nice warm rim of light distinct on the hair. To counter the under exposure effect on their faces I used again my Sb-800 to highlight at the same time achieving the same warm color temperature given off at around 4:30pm in the afternoon.

Without the sun and shooting in an almost total dark situation I metered my ambient light and set one of my SB-800's in front of my subjects and took a back shot with the horizon to fill the scenery together with the tungsten lights from the nearby restaurant. I attached a Nikon SJ-1 tungsten gel accessory to match the overall color temperature.

The SB-800 functioning as a master and commander together with my pocket wizard allows me to make quick light adjustments on-the-fly with my strobes in a situation where lighting change is rapid, crucial and constant.

Why Nikon?

I've been using Nikon systems for several years starting off during the film era and I found this to be the most reliable tool in my work. Shifting to digital in the early stages has brought a lot of frustration in capturing and post production due to the lack of refinement in technology. But nowadays, the cameras and softwares are capable of producing results even far better of than film. In fact the only limitation is the creativity of the user. I'm currently using my Nikon D2h and D200. Among my arsenal of Nikkor lenses my favorites are the 17-55 mm f2.8, 70-200 mm f2.8 VR and 24-85 mm f2.8-4 macro. With the integration of Nikon's CLS (Creative Lighting System) into my technique, this makes photography a lot more exciting!

The CLS basically allows the photographer to set the small speedlights as he would normally do in a studio, with the portability and wireless capability with remote control in hands-reach which is great flexibility and convenience easily brought on location! (Wheeew!) Joe Mcnally is one of the world's most important photojournalists and is the current endorser of this product. He was able to demonstrate the potential of the Nikon CLS in various applications. I use the CLS in capturing portraits and scenes in weddings as well. Here, I took portraits of Margaux using my SB-800s were we did it inside the house without any softboxes and heavy wiring that causes delay in preparation.