my first BILLBOARD!

need i say more? its my very fist billboard!

Im happy = its a first for me! :p

Im excited = did i say its a first for me?

Im nervous = in every shoot, i always try to anticipate the unexpected…

I made sure that my gadgets were prepared for the shoot at hand. I even rented big lights for this project & added 2 extra assistant as well. I already had 2 Pocket Wizards (PW), & 1 PW Max, but I still rented 2 PW just to be safe. I brought about 8pcs of 8GB Sandisk Extreme III & about 6pcs of 8GB Ridata CF cards–just to make sure. I brought every conceivable gadget I could think of that I might need–from large background clips, lightmeter, light stands, tripod etc

The call time was 12 midnight, at around 7pm in the evening, the art director from the consulting firm called up for some last minute details. He casually informed me that he cannot make it there. He asked me to call him if I needed any help or further clarification regarding the shoot. He said I can call him before 10pm, before his bedtime.  He said he needed to be up early for an important meeting  the next day, hence he cannot make it to the shoot.

Every ounce of excitement and happiness simply slipped by me and was replaced by a swarm of butterflies that flew around the meadows in my stomach.

I guess I never prepared for that part….being an art director. LoL.

All this time I thought I was paranoid. LoL

more photos when the billboard gets released

test shot while setting up the lights

RAW Shooter

A lot of people get confused when I say that I shoot RAW. Most of the time they shoot me a blank a stare or sometimes a confused look. That is fine.

First off, what is RAW anyway? According to Understanding Digital RAW Capture

…raw isn’t one single thing. Rather, it’s a general term for a variety of proprietary file formats—such as Canon’s .CRW and .CR2, Minolta’s .MRW, Olympus’ .ORF, and the various flavors of Nikon’s .NEF, for example—that share important common features.

A raw file is a record of the data captured by the sensor. While there are many different ways of encoding this raw sensor data into a raw image file, in each case the file records the unprocessed sensor data.

Basically RAW is a file format just like a jpeg, tiff or gif.

The next question would be why shoot RAW and not just use jpeg?

Since RAW is unprocessed sensor data, I have control over several camera parameters before converting to JPEG–like saturation, white balance, sharpness, digital exposure etc. For me, the biggest factor is my ability to remove most color casts when I shoot RAW via its custom white balance. Then I just apply the same parameter to a set of photos and I am good to go.

Is there any down side of using RAW?

When shooting RAW, you will most likely be using the full resolution of your camera. Say if you have a Canon 5D with a 12MP, your photos will weigh in something like 12MB per photo!! Imagine the amount of CF cards your photos will gobble up in one wedding. Not to mention the hard drive space you need to store them while post processing them photos. Add to that about 3-5hrs of conversion for a batch of 500 photos [depending on your PC's capability]. This does not even include the time of tagging and setting your parameters per photo.

I must say that I am rethinking my post processing workflow. Yes, I do love the features that RAW provides, but I do not like the way that it takes so much of my time.

I did some mix-matching with my shooting style and post processing and found out that I can shave several days off my regular schedule. Sweet.

In fact in a recent event I covered I was able to deliver the photos with full packaging right after their dinner. I am hoping to do the same for my wedding gigs . . . soon!

less Post Processing time = more COLORING time!!

Wedding: Poj & Faith

A long overdue wedding for posting….well, I guess its better late than never.

This couple asked to have a transport themed prenup. During our shoot it is not that hard to deduce their favorite color. Funny, they had this obsession for the same color even before they met. Now that is really one cool serendipitous event.

I never realized how deep their love for the color until their wedding day. See for yourself. Don’t you just love a wedding that is unique? Well, I do. enjoy

Wedding: Gil & Jaycee

Ok, its really hard to back track, so I guess I will just quote Jaycees words this time ;p :

“Kiko has been a close friend since college. Binata pa lang siya e friends na kami. We used to tell each other ang mga love life namin when we make tambay sa CompSoc tambayan, or we go to Gilmore for his PC stuffs, or madalas pag sabay lang kami umuuwi at hinahatid ko siya sa kanila. Hehehe. When he got married, kinuha niyang ninong at ninang ang parents ko. At nung nagka-anak siya eh, kinuha niya naman akong ninang.

Kiko started photography as a hobby and we discovered na may talent pala si mokong. Hehehe. So ngayun, ayan na siya, serious na ang mga rakets niya. I really love his shots kasi more into details siya. He was really the one in mind for back-up photography kasi nga para makuha yung details na di kinukuha ng main photographer. Nung una akong nagtanong about his rates, he didn’t know na it was for me. Hehehe. Pero nung nalaman niya na para sa akin, libre na daw. Yeeyyyy!!! Buti na lang naalala pa ni Kiko na driver niya ako nung college. Hahaha. Joke.

But Kiko started working abroad and we are not sure where he will be by the time of the wedding. So for now, he is still our back-up photographer.”

taken from Gil & Jaycees wedsite

Well, that is her side of the story. Actually I knew she was inquiring about her wedding hehe, but I wanted to be sure that the couple really liked my style & output before offering my services as a gift. I guess it is really difficult to say “NO” to a gift specially if you’re a Filipino. Seriously, I’ve heard a lot of stories from clients who have booked me in the past regarding their “gift photographer”. Honestly, I didn’t want that to happen to Gil & Jaycee.

Here are some of their informal shots. enjoy

for more photos, please visit my Multiply site.

I was shooting the bouquet, when i saw Jaycees dad...i knew i had to capture this image

“]

Clarice: "Flowers from the Groom!" Jaycee: "why is it that I feel like you have a hand in this?! [laughing

Thanking the Groom

Balae talk

Prepping Indra

Its my 2nd day here at my parents place in Marikina. My time was divided between archiving & working on Indra [my car]. We will be leaving on friday, May 8, for Baguio. It is Indra’s longest drive since I got her. I just want to make sure that the trip will be safe & hassle free as possible, at least I’ve done my part in the preventive maintenance side

On my first day I drained the oil for about 2-3hrs,changed the oil filter & filled her up with semi-synthetic oil, cleaned the Idling Speed Control Valve [ISCV],  washed & oiled the air filter, then I installed a new magnetic drain plug to catch [hopefully] all the metal bits in the oil.

Today I changed back to my 15″ rims which has a newer tire set, cleaned the interior & upholstery, & applied rain repellant on all windows.

I forgot my dremel tool in Batangas [nothing new], so i had to ask Donna to bring it over to my sisters work place after work and she would just bring it home. My sister came home around 545pm, quite late so I had to work indoors. I immediately took out my plugs & started cleaning them.

IK20 Plugs

Here is how my little indoor workplace looks like, I still don’t have protective glasses, so i had to improvise

after 30min or so, this is what i got. was trying to create an animation, but couldn’t do it in 10min. so i just settled for this:

Clean Plugs!!

After installing the plugs, I started Indra, listened to the engine & I heard a hissing sound. darn. Last time i heard it my air intake tube wasn’t flush in its mount. oh well, its dark. tomorrow then. can’t wait to check out the difference my hard work made. ;p

Im BACK!!

its been like ages since ive logged in…wow. ive actually forgotten my password already!! Lol

oh well, im archiving 3.4 TB of wedding photos, mp3s, movies, and GIS / RS files again. i just seem to fill up all available space everytime.

since im almost done with all my wedding backlog, i think i will have more time to update this blog from now on. [i hope] ;p

will be in Baguio this weekend to cover my barkadas wedding. its a good excuse to take some time out [again] and to relax!

see you around!

Doubting Thomas

I can hear the rain pounding, feel the cold morning air, its 4:30am, PAGASA announced that there is a tropical storm…yes, its one of those days that you have to pull yourself together to get out of bed & meet up with your assistant whom you just dropped off around 1230am from previous days shoot…you make a mental note to consider increasing your out of town fee to cover a day at the spa for a soothing massage…then you forget all about it…until you decided to blog about that days shoot…

with all these conditions at hand i was beginning to doubt if we could really be able to have a decent prenup / engagement session. i guess we were really just waiting for the couples call informing us that the shoot will be postponed or moved to another date. well, we never received any so we knew it was a go.

when we got to the “main beach” at Tali Beach, i was surprised for it was not the normal beach that i had in mind. it didn’t really stretch out that much and the water was really rough, well, it was high tide after all plus the brewing storm. amidst these conditions there were still a considerable amount of people swimming, they really know how to enjoy the beach

well, since we’ve travelled that far all we had to do was to make the best of our time. we made several test shots then the rain began to pour again, we had no choice but to seek shelter. we then resumed shooting as soon as the rain turned into a drizzle.

here are some of Jon & Chysa’s unguarded moments. did i mention my new set of radio triggers rock? they simply sync with every shot. i guess i just need to find a good weather proof solution for my lights & triggers soon.

do check out their “formal” photos here

The Indian & his Pana [Arrow]

People always said its the indians skill that makes the arrow hit the target. They say the same is true with photography, its the photographer not his equipment that makes the photos. Ive always believed in this saying, but i must admit, that at one point, you will reach the limit of your equipment…and you will feel the need to upgrade.

recently ive hit this area. specifically my radio triggers have been acting up. i would be happy to have my trigger fire 7-9 out of 10. for something that you spend your money on you would want it to be more reliable than that. actually its my second set already. i was trying to “save” a bit so i got these alternative triggers. i got 2 pairs [transmitter & receiver] for almost 3/4 the price of 1 pair of pocket wizards…it was a steal–or so i thought. i was really trying to stay away from the pocket wizards for their price at that time.

after testing these alternative triggers for some time & losing “moments” because the triggers failed made me realize that the savings i got was not really worth it. so its upgrade time once again. i know its time to get the pocket wizards [PW].

true enough, the PW did perform as advertised. unlike my previous radio triggers that i spent more time troubleshooting my setup, now i get to shoot more & end up having more time with the couple. nope, this is not a paid ad for PW. i am just so happy with my new toys performance that im blogging about it. in fact, i am saving up for another pair or Multimax PW. oh, please dont ask how much these cost…coz my pocket is still hurting ;(

indoors, most triggers perform well. since it was raining then, we did not really have that much of a choice as well

we went outside as soon as the rain stopped pouring. the sky didnt clear up that easy, but the clouds sure did add more drama.

did i mention that we had fun? ;p

it was a double shoot that day. Mac & Karen were accompanied by their newly wed friends who did a post nup pictorials.

more high-resolution photos here

Fidel & Jean

i just found out that i have at least 10 -15 shoots that i have not yet posted. fret not people, i have delivered the raw photos already [i think so ]. this gallery is one of them. i think i was swamped with work that time…hmmm

Fidel & Jean arrived in Manila a few days before their wedding. they didn’t really have time for their prenup (engagement) so we just upgraded their album. just like what most clients say, they are not good at “posing”. i understand that part, i am camera shy as well ;p

others say its good to have a prenup so that come wedding day, the couple would be more relaxed in front of the cam.

i agree, but we had enough time during the preps to build a rapport.

check out more of their photos here

Nostalgia [Part3]

what i really like about shooting weddings is capturing moments…and being creative about it.

way back then i was free to experiment, to roam around, look for different unique angles… why? because someone else is shooting the required shots….i was normally shooting as 2nd photographer then

right now i am training my associate photographer to take the lead when covering weddings, so i can be free to roam again ;p

maybe ill accept several apprentice wedding photographers…maybe soon.