May 2011 Strobist Lighting Gang

Congratulations guys! May you show the world on how to light.

Cebu Basic & Advance Photo Workshop

Just a few slots left for my Cebu city Basic/Advance Photo workshop on May 18-19, 2011 at th SM Cebu mall. Please contact Ms. Cheryll referred to in the poster attached for more info. See you all there!

Majestic Mount Mayon Volcano in May

Time and again, the locals of Bicol romanticize their perfect Mt. Mayon as a moody muse when it comes to capturing her image on film. My workshop team and I were said to be very lucky whenever we would pullout our DSLRs to do a group shot with their dutiful muse in plain sight as background. Because we just had minutes in spare time to just snap a shot with her, we all counted our blessings. And she cheerfully obliges-most of the time! After our workshop concludedby 5:45 PM, our super gracious organizer in Caroline Madelar, quicky took us to a spot where the volcano is best seen. With fading twilight I got this best-effort shot at 6:53PM. Specs: Nikon D300 on a ledge (no tripod), 24mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, 25 seconds of exposure and tripped with a self-timer. Locals say that the best time to capture her grandeur is in early morning-after a night of light rain. Nevertheless, thank you Mt. Mayon for this shot! FYI the her crater glows red at night-so be forewarned...

Bicol Basic Photo Workshop

Many thanks to Aines Vibar and family for being such great, great Bicolano hosts to our workshop team! Great food, great fun and fellowship...we all wished we could stay for a solid month in your beautiful place with your beautiful family! Happy birthday to one of our boss, Ms. Aleck Mutuc! For all our workshop participants: may you be the best photographer you can ever become!

Just For FPPF Wedding Photography Grads

It's good to know that my wedding workshop will have been a year old next month. It is now the FPPF Wedding Photography workshop. I hope my legacy with the FPPF stays forever...including the Cruise Ship Photography workshop and the Strobist Lighting workshop. Soon: Basic Videography workshop! May the God of photography (and videography) conspire to bless the fruits of our labor. Kudos FPPF!

Basic Photography Workshop in Makati

Bicol Basic Photography & Lighting Workshop

Watch out Bicol! Joe Galian along with Joey Alvero and Alecks Mutuc will be conducting an exciting photography workshop there! It's called: Basic and One Light Set-Up Workshop Saturday, May 14 at 9:00 am - May 15 at 2:00 pm, at the Amphi Theatre, Bicol University College of Nursing. Cost is P2,500 only. For inquiries please contact Alecks at 0915-671-73-71, or just befriend her in Facebook. See y'all! I also hope to meet my first cruise ship photography student in Custer Cano who is himself a noted Bicolano photographer.

GOOD NEWS:

On May 6, 2011 at the Saisaki-Dad's Restaurant in the Glorietta Mall, Makati city, Akari formally launched their new 3000 mAh rechargeable batteries! With yours truly as image model, we demonstrated to the media how powerful AA batts have become: with model Erika, I shot some poses with her using large studio light mods. Wish I had more 3000 mAh pieces to power four more Nikon Speedlights. Kudos to Akari for venturing into "green" rechargeable batteries! We can be proud as it's Philippine made. Here's a link to the press release. Mwah!

Going Where No Speedlight Dare Tread

Digital photography is such a powerful, "green", tech revolution! Compared to film, digital imaging is slightly more sensitive to light and looks "cleaner" visually-especially in the shadowed areas. Thus, yours truly is in the process of modifying several large and bulky light modifiers that are traditionally territory to heavy, electric studio flash units. Will post sample photo projects using these monster mods soon. Digital photography is getting better and better!

Hot, Hot, Hot Mossimo Fashion Shoot

Let's post some raw, unedited fashion photography I did for Mossimo apparel. Many thanks to fellow-photog Carlo Bajandi for helping out immensely with our fashion workshop logistics. Yes, it was also a modeling workshop (AM session) on educating some of Mossimo's models on how to pose and work with photogs. After lunch it was just shooting their portfolio all the way till sunset. 'Twas exhausting under the blazing summer sun but we all had a blast! Good work, guys! Thanks to Pablo Beltran also for the cool project.

Mounting Your Potato Smasher With Dignity

I luuv my Nikon SB900 so much as to use it as less often as possible. Looking around for other flash units to "wear and tear," I got an old yet powerful Sunpak 544 hammer-type. For those of you strobist with such unit, here's a dignified way to mount your beasty flash: buy the umbrella flash bracket that comes with an extra screw mount (inset photo). Then, attach the hammer's bracket on this extra mount. Tip: bring the bracket closer to the flash head by loosening its bracket screws. Second tip: point the bracket towards the center of the umbrella (photo, above). Now I rest my radio receiver on this plastic bracket with its built-in screw mount. Viola! This way, you can hold the hammer's grip naturally when adjusting the whole umbrella setup! Lookin' good, eh?

Quickie Summer Fruit Juice Poster

Shooting and designing for print has always been in my first love-visually. Here's a 12"x18" summer poster I did for a restaurant inside the Fort Santiago, Intramuros. All aspects of the final layout where pre-approved because of limited budget and a tight time frame. Ey I was even the food stylist. Salud!

Cheap Lee Filters in Hidalgo Street

Lurking in Hidalgo street is a photographer distributing "Strobist Fliters" set to photo stalls there with a Php 350 price tag-which I came to realize was a bargain! The set totaled 16 pieces of sundry filters measuring 14cm x 4cm. Allow moi to itemized them for you in random order:

101 YELLOW
205 12 CTO
246 1/4 PLUS GREEN
206 1/4 CTO
244 PLUS GREEN
182 LIGHT RED
203 1/4 CTB
201 CTB
63 PALE BLUE
209 0.3 ND (1 STOP)
124 DARK GREEN
113 MAGENTA
128 BRIGHT PINK
210 0.6 ND (2 STOPS)
204 CTO
202 1/2 CTB

Because the 14cm length was made to accommodate velcro at both ends (to adhere to the flash head), I found my SB900's filter holder adequate (photo below). For my hammer units, yours truly just clipped the length to 8.3cm-which just slides into the Sunpak's holder. This set is cheaper than buying individual pre-cut sheets. Kudos to that mysterious Pentaxian supplier (whoever he is)! Buy them quickly as stocks seem to be erratic in supply.