Terry and Eve

I admit that I was a little bit hesitant to do this shoot driven primarily by my awareness of all the hassles while preparing and during the day itself (add the fact that it was held on a holiday, January 1, 2010). I’ve seen how experts do it and at that time I was doing this shoot I was not very confident without their presence. It felt like this time around I am all on my own; no one to ask around what should be the appropriate settings and the dos and don’ts. Here’s some learning that I was able to absorb:

•  Expect that as a photographer, you will want every opportunity for a good shot. You can’t let your energy drop. It is recommended to bring a handy snack and water all the time. Even if the food is served early, you may not want to miss a well-captured moment.
• Arrive earlier than expected. You would need to shoot the preparation and the details. Family emotions are also very evident no matter how busy everyone else is. Plus, it takes a while to build a connection between the wedding clients and the photographer.
• Always shoot with at least 3 buddies around. Some good perspectives are captured by other’s eye and later you may benchmark on their style too. Best if you can tag along another one who would assist you and watch for your stuff when you roam around and shoot.
• Always consider the other shooter/photographer (not the official ones of course), have the decency to “not block” when you’ve seen one already on his core of taking a good shot. And can somebody not borrow your camera when you’re already hyped and in the mood?
• If you can afford a graphic artist that would match your post-processing preferences, do so. The post-wedding must-do’s are the ones that are too tedious to do. At least for me, I hated the after-event. Well, hate it more then you’d scare clients away. I guess that, for me, is also something I need to improve.

Even if I was reluctant at first, I also would like to admit that this was worth trying. Truly, I learned a lot. To the newlyweds, Terry and Eve! Congratulations!

One Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It has really been a while since the last time I posted something here. So today I've decided to take a few random shots just to see if I still have the love for photography innate in me (you, be the judge). It was exactly after taking shots of my aunt's place (as a favor, so my uncle in the US would see how their renovation is progressing, will post soon).

Here's my "welcome back fordy" shots, cheers!

Roofdeck Photoshoot at Netcube

It was one of those days were a photoshoot invite would circulate in the outlook inbox. And I am pretty much the late bloomer active member who is always on top of the list of confirmed attendees (because I joined late and had fun since then) . Looking back, I couldn't help but miss those days with IDPC folks, our out of town trips, long email threads, mini-workshops and Thursday meetings. Perhaps, gone are those days since Intel's site closure announcement. It felt sad to lose big blue, the company that made a huge difference in our lives and one great member, kuya Abet, surely, he will be missed.

Indeed, some good things never really lasts, same thing almost happened in this shoot. I nearly lost my chance to take a decent photograph. We arrived late because of heavy traffic. For safety reasons, the guard had to step up and remind us of our time limit to stay there.

Batad and Banaue Trip

This is how my addiction to photography started.

I only want an out of town trip and IDPC then was bound north, August last year. I was excited when Arpi invited me to join the group. It has been a long time since I've been out on a trip, so I grabbed the opportunity, disregarded the fact that the whole bunch were a total stranger to me.

I carried with me a Canon Powershot SX100 IS. Thankfully IDPC folks were kind enough to help me with the settings. I would recall kuya Ronald would timely review my shots, specific to composition. I also had my first shot with panorama (that i never take time to stitch yet), with Alford as our mentor and his monopad to support my cam. Then, an experience with long shutter that my point and shoot is never capable of, but Chito have managed to give me a few "makeshift" tips of using my shades instead of filters, and then lent me a teeny weeny tripod to support the camera (the one that i intend not to return). He was actually the one who enlightened me on how to manipulate the manual settings of my point and shoot camera and what good it could do with my shots.

I would love to go on and talk about how each one in the group had made this trip so meaningful to me... (special mention kuya bong and kuya ed who made our tummies ache with so much laughter) but it's going to be a pretty long introduction, so to IDPC folks who was there with me during this trip... here's a big hug from me... you truly made a big difference in my life...

being with you guys, is one of the best days of my life...

thank you... thank you...

Camiguin Island Adventure

It was another out of town trip with IDPC, and with the permission with the group I tag along my good friend Eric Silla. We stayed with the Abuzo's and had tons of fun shooting here and there, it felt like we've been to every corner of Camiguin in the span of 3 days.

Katibawasan Falls

Sunken Cemetery

Paras Beach Resort

White Island

Another Sunset Shot near Belle's Grandma's House

Mantigue Island

Last glimpse of Camiguin, at the port.

It was also a great time to learn shooting using natural available lights, how to wait for the sun to go down c/o sir veni and the best hours to shoot and how to compensate if it went beyond already.

Thank you Belle, the people who organized this and the rest of the IDPC folks for this adventure. It was indeed one of the must-see places here in the Philippines.