Santa Maria Ballroom
Radisson Blu Hotel
Dec 11, 2011
Shot with:
Canon 7D + Tamron 17-50 2.8 + Rode VideoMic + cheap tripod (as in shakey-legs-rough-pan-head cheap)
View HD version on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/36468744
Vintage Bash 2011
February 9, 2012 – 6:24 PM
52 In 52: Jeddah
May 27, 2011 – 9:41 PM
Boy have I been gone too long. I haven’t shot for 52 In 52 for weeks. I haven’t posted anything here either. All that (or maybe half), thanks to my busted transceivers. I sent them back to the manufacturer for replacement. And as if things can’t get any worse, they sat on my parcel for 3 weeks and did absolutely nothing! Over 21 days in, they finally got moving and told me they were sending replacement units. Thank God! A couple emails later their rep said I’m getting it in 1-3 weeks via registered mail. Another 3 weeks? You kidding me?
Since I couldn’t stand the itch any longer, I revived (rewired, soldered) my old PT-04 triggers from electronic death and met up with a friend to do this..
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52 In 52: Frances
April 17, 2011 – 5:04 PM
One light. That’s what we, photographers, all started with. Well okay, maybe not all. Maybe some rich just-got-into-this-thing-kid bought three SB-700′s to go with his D7000. Maybe. Who knows?
Anyway, you might say you didn’t have any flash or strobe when you started out. It doesn’t matter, you still had that one light. Available light! So really, that kid with three SB-700′s didn’t start with three lights. He started with four. Unless of course shooting in pitch black environment is his thing. But let’s loosen up a bit here on how we define the number of lights used. For the sake of discussion, let’s leave available (ambient) light off the count.
I have worked with one light (Canon 580EX) for the longest time before I got a second one. And then a third and a fourth came at the same time. A four-light setup is interestingly fun to work with, and can yield great results given that you know what you’re doing. Oh and how about 47 speedlights? Do you know how a picture lit with that many small flashes looks like? Let Joe ‘Numnuts’ McNally show you here. Yes, that aircraft and those US Air Force people were lit with 47 lights!
As much as I marvel at people pulling off things like that, it can be a very daunting task to go with more behind-the-scenes elements (i.e. flashes). Many times, one light is enough, one light is all you need. Because…
one light can do the job.
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52 In 52: Sherry
April 9, 2011 – 11:39 AM
If you have been following my blog or have seen some of my work, you’ll notice that I almost do not shoot with unmodified strobe light. I use umbrellas, snoots, reflectors and grids, among others. My go-to modifier is the shoot-through umbrella. I always have two in the bag. Aside from being easier to pack and faster to set up, compared to a softbox, it is an effective tool to get soft light on my subject.
I’ve come across a softbox-vs-beauty dish discussion in the Strobist group at flickr where one person said that soft light is overrated.
Is it really?
It is on that note that I thought about ditching the usual tools and go bare.. on the flash.
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52 In 52: Franz
April 4, 2011 – 10:09 PM
I am not good at directing my subjects. That is a fact. I guess it is so because I’ve almost always shot without getting in the way of what naturally happens. When shooting weddings, especially, I do not want people’s attention on me or my camera so I never tell them to do this and do that – except when shooting the formals.
I have nothing against posed portraits or photographers and art directors demanding more from their sitters to achieve a certain look. In the end, it’s all about doing what you need to do to come up with what’s expected.
At times, though, less directing and more shooting will yield better results. In between snaps, instead of giving directions you’ll also more likely capture “moment” shots.
One moment inside.
52 In 52: Barney
March 22, 2011 – 7:31 PM
As a portrait shooter, I typically use lenses with focal lengths not shorter than 50mm. I did have a 28-80mm back then which was my bread and butter lens. I never had a nifty fifty (50mm f1.8) when I started and still don’t have one, although I have friends who are generous enough to lend me theirs when I really need it. These days, I almost always go for my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 when shooting portraits. It’s fast, it gives me excellent image quality, and it allows me to keep my distance from the subject.
Elementary photography has it that you should stay away from wide angle lenses for portraits because they can do more bad than good. I do not wholly agree with this. You see, getting into other people’s faces often does wonders and can give you that appealing unnatural look out of your subject.
More after the jump.
52 In 52: Jan Slazenger
March 7, 2011 – 9:14 PM
I think the least photographed people in the world are the photographers. Ninety percent of the time a photographer is in front of the lens, is when he is cleaning it.
Photographers deserve some spotlight time, too. And as if it isn’t obvious, here now is this week’s 52 In 52 shot featuring… a photographer.
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52 In 52: Flash Tossing
February 27, 2011 – 7:54 PM
In the first quarter of 2009, the Wedding and Portrait Photographers of the Philippines (WPPP) announced that Mike Larson is coming for the year’s Photo Congress. My initial thought was that I cannot miss it. I had to go and see Mike, in person, do his signature camera toss! Just that, and everything else will be a bonus.
Mike Larson is a crazy guy. He tosses a Canon 1D Mark II with a 15mm fisheye, has it take pictures mid-air, then catches it. And no, he doesn’t throw it just 2 feet above his head.
Here’s a video of how he does it. And here’s a sample of what this craziness gives him.. Okay another one here.
He might already be using a different setup today but a few years back, the Mark II with 15mm would easily be over US$4,000. Would you ever risk tossing expensive photography equipment in the air just to get a picture? I wouldn’t.
Or would I?
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52 In 52: Long Night
February 20, 2011 – 10:50 PM
Wawi Navarroza. Google her.
Back in 2007 when I saw some of her work, I was really impressed. The self-portraits she produced were some of the best I’ve seen then. She put a lot of thought on them. I could tell.
I’m not really big on self-portraiture. I mean turning my camera on myself. I don’t do arm’s-length pictures for Facebook or whatever. I’ve shot myself maybe 4 times, 5 tops. Sometimes it’s kind of weird attempting to do another one. But I did.
Let’s see how that turned out.
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52 In 52: Lola
February 13, 2011 – 7:55 PM
I have photographed a lot of people already. Engineers, kids, musicians, athletes, models, designers, politicians… the list goes on. A good number of these people are women. Beautiful women.
Today I shot another beautiful woman, and I would like you to see her.
Here she is after the jump.
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