Four Wedding & Some R&D

Just finished a tiring 3-day wedding coverage: two weddings - two british
grooms in Tagaytay last Fri and Sat, then a Sunday wedding w/ my friend
John Mateos Ong as main. The Sunday before that was an adventist wedding
w/ Robert Lester.

You'll see some of the results of my r&d where I did the main, that's the
Tagaytay imported British-Pinoy weddings...all in due time. My clients
already know me, all good things come to those who wait as I try to give
more time in making each presentation more personalized and above the
standard cut.

Shoots are done, next phase is 'developing' the pictures...

Less Blogging, More Shooting

My spare time must now be spent w/ the right priorities in mind:
1) more r&d shooting
2) a little photoshopping
3) and a lot less blogging
and not the other way around, in other words, my priorities during my spare time must be
a) a photographer trying to hone his craft
b) a graphic artist trying to 'develop' the digital negatives
and c) a blog writer trying to entertain the public on a regular basis.
So expect less blog updates for now. I need to get back to basics.
Less computer work, more photography. :)

A Photographer's Photographer - Dar Ramos, Part 2

Dar & Thei should've made their prenup in Rainforest,
but it rained so to they settled for a studio shoot.

Dar & Thei should've made their wedding in Rainforest,
but because of typhoon Milenyo, they transferred to Fernwood.

This is one blessing in disguise that Milenyo gave to the couple.

Take a sneak peek of their wedding.

The Mail Order Bride - A Tribute

There's this film in the Toronto ReelWorld Film Festival done by a Filipina.
The review can be found in Asian American Film Reviews.

Excerpt are as follows:
"The standout effort by an Asian Canadian was Arlene Ami's "Say I Do,"
a revealing look at the mail order bride industry. The film profiles three
Filipino women who married Caucasian men in the remote B.C. interior.
The marriages were arranged through mail order websites, a booming trade
Ami attacks. Filipinos are preferred brides, because they are Catholic,
docile wives. These women marry foreigners to escape a life of poverty,
and their marriages amount to little more than business arrangements.
"Say I Do"'s sympathies clearly lie with the women, portraying them as
prisoners isolated in a strange land..."

I came to this site when I was trying to find an appropriate description
for this photo I took.

I plan to submit this photo in an upcoming art gallery photo exhibit.

[Note: Ysabelle is not a real bride but a model. I dare not put a real bride
w/ such a caption. Just another creative break feature from yours truly.]

Podcast - Listening while you work

I also discovered that one can listen to some good tutorials in photography
while I work on my laptop.

For photo hobbyists, try to visit Tips From The Top Floor

There is also a good wedding site where you can listen to some good advice,
it's the Wedding Podcast Network



You get all kinds of advice for brides and grooms, whether or not it's related
to photography.

There is one podcast, however that explains to you the two basic kinds of
photographers: the traditional portrait photographers who take 80% portraits,
20% candids & the wedding photojournalists, they take 80% candids, 20% portraits.

Wedding Podcast w/ Photographer Phil Cantor

Visit my gallery to find out what I kind of photographer I am.

Spiritual - Pictures of my home

I have a beautiful spiral staircase at home and felt that it was a
good place for me to practice on some B&W images using the Zone System.
The Zone System is a way for one to properly make good exposures.
For those of you who are hobbyists, you may want to visit the ff. sites:

- A simplified Zone system for make good exposures
- The Zone System - A Basic Explanation

For those of you who would rather let me do the thinking and tinkering
w/ the camera, just see some of the photos that I took.



Of course, what home will be complete without some saints? St. George
(riding on the horse) and St. Nicolas (giving a blessing) are there to
welcome guests near the frontdoor. Aaahh one can tell that I used to
be a seminarian.




I hope I will have time to show Part II, The Sensual - Pictures of an aspiring model. Spiritual and sensual, body and soul, so on and so forth....

I wanted to fine-tune these photos in photoshop but no longer have the time (since I have to submit this article as part of my weekly 'status' report).

Weekly Update

I've worked for ABS-CBN Interactive for four years and my last professional job was a manager in the New Products Division of Globe Telecoms. During my employee years we always do a weekly status report of our projects at hand. I feel somewhat obligated to post a weekly blog just to keep regular readers know what I am up to.

Lately I have been doing some creative breaks and some R&D in preparation for my October weddings (I still have 4 upcoming this month). This is supposed to be a private research but now it's not so top secret anymore hehe.

More of this on the next article...

Photo Congress 2006

I will be busy the next few days helping out and documenting WPPP's
Photo Congress event in SM Megamall. If you want to see me for some
chit-chat just call or text 0917-841-7590.

I already went there last night during the ingress of exhibitors.


A lot of things already happened to me since the last congress:
I am now a new member of WPPP as well as the international
WPJA - Wedding Photojournalist Association.

Your photographer will always continue to climb new heights this season.

A Photographer's Photographer - Dar Ramos, Part 1

Dar Ramos handles photo shoots of celebrities and tv shows for ABS-CBN,
has some big school accounts under his belt, and also does wedding
photography.

Last Monday (Sep. 25), we were supposed to do his prenup in Rainforest,
Pasig but settled in his studio because of heavy rains.

There were 4 of us who took turns taking their photos:
- his friend Jay Tablante, a fashion and glamour photographer who shoots
regularly for Summit Publishing (FHM, etc.). He only stayed awhile to
do a cross-lighting setup and took some shots before going back to
Summit for another shoot.
- Anthony Magana of East Digital, part of our WPPP barkada, who also directed
some shots
- my new junior photographer, Carlo Baviera, who I also invited in order for
him to learn from this kind of photo sessions (who else wants to be my VA?)
- and of course yours truly, as we took turns in triggering the studio
lights for each pose, I also contributed some poses and also tried to
capture some candid moments whenever possible.

Overall, though, it was Dar himself who setup the lights,
directed the shots & looked at his reference sheets for poses. We all
had fun doing this high-energy type of pictorials w/ Thei, his bride to be.

The jumping shoot below was one of our ending activities...


and we had Anthony's assistant use his fish-eye lens as Dar & Thei
made their jump onto my stomach as a finale (ouch). :)



Dar & Thei just got married last Sunday, Oct 1 (that's part 2 of
the story - coming soon).

Btw, I am also trying out another software for their slideshow, Click here to view some more selected photos.

Hey, this kind of high-energy studio prenup is a little bit similar to Rizza & Andrew's Prenup, only that time, I had full control of the situation.

Karla is to Shelley and now Dar is to Andrew, dejavu!

Minor White

I borrowed a couple of photo magazines, some old, some new, from
my brother who is a hobbyist and had some time to read them
especially during the brownout days of typhoon Milenyo.

Minor White, a contemporary of the more popular Ansel Adams,
is a photographer whose philosophy I admire.

Here is an excerpt from the View Camera, The Journal of
Large-Format Photography Magazine describing his work:

"Minor was known for his deep belief in the sacred and spiritual
quality of photography. What was seen in the image was important,
but the meaning behind the image was even more so.

Minor White's life was a spiritual journey that used photography
as a means to communicate his inner self to the outer world.
He was devoted to the idea of 'Equivalence', a theory of
photography based on the idea that any image, regardless of
technical merit, should function as an experience, as opposed
to a 'thing'. The photograph should act as a springboard for
the viewer to explore feelings and emotions within..."

Am posting his philosphy for inspiration.

His photo above reminds me of Chris & Chie's wedding
in Pennsylvania.