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.

Together with the members of the Society of Portrait Photographers of the Philippines, we started our day having breakfast with Gov. Chavit Singson. We gave him a quick lesson in photography and took some portraits of him as well. He really is a nice guy and just hanging out and having a conversation with him was cool. He loves his pets and I even had the opportunity to feed Mari Mar, his favorite miniature horse. See him working on his Nikon! :D

Developing goals and photographs

I'm becoming more and more interested in developing fine art wedding albums, playing with filters and adapting new methods in composition is a passion that keeps me accelerating to a higher level in my wedding photography.

ICANSERVE

"Ating Dibdibin" a National Breast Cancer Screening Program was conducted last August 21, 2008 at the municipality of Marikina, MM. It is a campaign that offered free screening and awareness on Breast Cancer for women. Providing information, consultation and hope to its attendees. For more information on the organization, click here.

Mother bird rescues her baby!

As I was walking at our backyard, I could not help notice several birds flying really low and somewhat in a "panic mode". I saw one bird still on the ground, I came in closer and saw that it was a baby maya that could not fly which caused its parents to fly like crazy when they saw me approaching. I quickly ran inside the house and grabbed my camera with the intention to capture the rescue attempt of the little bird's parents.

I lied flat on the pavement for about 15 minutes as I watched the rescue team fly over me and survey the area. I had to move back from my position to give them a bit of security that I would not be in range to harm them. Then, finally! The moment I've been waiting for! Mother lands beside her baby!



My shutter release goes off, bursting at a rate of 5 frames per second! The sound resembling that of a sub machine gun...Mother bird panics, and soars thru the air! I finally realize that by using my 200mm lens, it would not give me a safe distance to capture the moment in stealth. I give up my position and entered the house, giving the little bird's parents a worry free opportunity to pick up their baby.



I'll probably save up so one day I could buy a 600mm lens and be more effective in capturing wild life photography. I certainly enjoyed the thrill of capturing such moments. :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!

Images from Ryan's Master Class

I'm still overwhelmed with the workshop we had last week with Ryan Schembri, and the models from Brazil were just great! There were a lot of delegates and it really was difficult to capture a good shot! Check this out...







Aahhh!!! Finally, a warm moment after a long week of learning... :D

WPPP Photo Congress 2007

After 2 days of attending the WPPP Photo Congress 2007, on going currently at SM Megamall, indeed I could say I have learned so much from the seminars conducted by the masters of wedding photography in the country such as: Lito Genilo, Dino Lara, Richel Mascarinas and Lito Sy. Much more awaits as Australian master photographer and international award winners Martin and Ryan Schembri conducts the master class this thursday at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. Last night Ryan Schembri (son of Martin) gave his lecture on Photoshop entitled: Schembri's Freakin' Photoshop.

A lot of learning and lots of fun in fellowship with other photographers and suppliers. This is a "must attend event" in Philippine photography. I just had to pose with father and son tandem, Martin and Ryan Schembri. (Photo courtesy of Richel Mascarinas)


I've said it many many times, "I rarely have my photo taken". But the Photo below is really special to me (though I look serious again!). Not only was it a test shot using Sony's latest Alpha 700 DSLR (which is such an amazing camera) but the man behind the lens was no other than the master himself, Martin Schembri!!! (Thanks Martin;D)


I just had to post it here! More coming up, I'll be posting shots from the Schembri's master class lecture soon!

-To be continued...-

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.