Distilled Moments: Father’s Day

 

Turn the key and then we’re off to
Grand adventures under sky and
Sun. Your belly giggling, dancing,
Fighting back the sorrows, now and
Done.

Travelling Light: Using Light to Create a Dramatic Portrait (Part 2)

Acting All Snoot-y: Using a Snoot

A snoot (click on the image on the left for a larger view) in many ways is similar to a grid in the sense that both restrict the light that’s coming off the source. This particular (usually tunnel-shaped) attachment allows you to control the part of the scene that is lit by focusing the light in the direction in which the snoot is pointed.

This is one of the first attachments that I made myself using some illustration board, duct tape and hook-and-loop fasteners. A DIY project that led me to finding an alternate use for plastic placemats, and one that I would’ve happily continued if not for my wife’s sudden realization that our placemat numbers were dwindling.

‘Four? Didn’t we just have three of these?’

Distilled Moments: Simulacrum Scroll

Finessed beyond a measure too unreal,
A trite expression makes the lie congeal.
Coquettish girls enswathed akin to sprites,
Entranced by praise and yet compelled to spite.
Between a minute’s passing, love is born
On promised flights of fancy; a ruse for scorn.
Of fates entwined, of hearts in sync as one;
Kathump! Kathump! And soon it’s all but done.

Five Tips for Making Better Pictures with the Camera You Already Have

Tip # 3 – Ready? 1, 2… : When to Press the Shutter

This is probably one of the most trying ordeals when shooting portraits. You have your exposure, focus and composition locked down. Your subject (or in the case of this photo, my family) is positioned and posed. You exhale and gingerly press the shutter.

Click!


Upon checking your LCD, your subject is blinking (or unintentionally making a face). So, you shoot a couple more frames and like Christmas lights you get a series of blinks and funny faces. It’s as if your subject is sending you a message in code — S.T.P. (Save This Photo).

How?

Distilled Moments: To Tread a Measure

‘Hello,’ your eyes voiced with a cursory glance.
We are a room apart from an awkward advance.
‘How are you?’ your feet shyly stuttered.
‘We can’t be having this talk.’ my inept hands uttered.
‘Hi, are you having fun?’ your lips finally asked.
In mute praise, I tugged at my flimsy mask.
‘It’s loud here!’ you read off my face.
My heart confessed, ‘I like you... your party, this place.’

Five Tips for Making Better Pictures with the Camera You Already Have

Tip # 2 – Pictures within Pictures:  
Frame Your Shot

A picture frame does not necessarily confine the photo it encases. I believe it prevents your attention from straying from the image it is exhibiting.

In an everyday scenario, there are elements that can be used to frame an image as it is shot, such as windows, doorways, and other visual borders. You can effectively use these elements to give emphasis to the subject of your photos and make the image as a whole more interesting.

Distilled Moments: The Color of Your Tears

Your lavender dress flutters in the wind;
Leaving your scent, your goodbye.
Your fingernails of a Thulian hue,
splintered from clinging on to a shadow.
Tea rose-stained eyes, a magenta glow
And a spurious smile could not undo
The hurt of a carmine-sunset lie.
Your lavender dress flutters in the wind.

Travelling Light: Using Light to Create a Dramatic Portrait (Part 1)

Ah, June. It should be raining with a welcome regularity any day now. Not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy the feeling of sticking to my chair, but I for one would like to bid summer goodbye.

As a parting shot to the sweltering heat, allow me to share my experience shooting portraits at twilight during my Bantayan trip.

If you’d like to know how I did it, then do read on.

Distilled Moments: Sexes

Sigh,
Hesitate;
Eternal
Limbo. Outdo, outdrink
Kamikazes. Saddish,
Handsome
Eavesdroppers.
Suspect-trivia appetizer,
Raindance exhortations —
Salacities.

Five Tips for Making Better Pictures with the Camera You Already Have

Digital imaging has come a long way. A digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera used to be only available to professionals or to those who abhorred the idea of keeping money in their pockets. Now, there are a number of dSLR models available to eager dabblers and serious enthusiasts alike. Even current compact digital cameras have inherited a few of the features of their more advanced counterparts and are more than capable of suiting your shooting needs.

In light of these new advancements, it's definitely a great time to cultivate an interest in photography.

The apparent runaway growth of new and improved imaging technology has resulted in a glut of new camera models entering the market even before you've taken your 'new' camera out of its box. This reminds me of a similar situation with mobile phones a few years back, where one just had to have the latest model because the one you have doesn't have those cool new LED backlights. Only now, some people are thinking that buying the more expensive (hence better) camera will result in getting better photos out of the box. And when these very people, point their spanking new camera (on auto) at their pet and get a picture that's none too different from the one that a family member took with their mobile phone; they think that they'll need to get the more 'professional' camera to get a sharper image of their cat's whiskers. And a vicious cycle ensues.

In light of this unchecked consumerism, it's definitely a great time to be manufacturing and selling cameras.

Okay, less rants and more tips after the jump.

Distilled Moments: Boon

One beat, two hearts.
No three words could
etch on the skies what
life has been with you.
On to the years,
veiled in doubt, with
each pulse still in sync.