Watching the World Go By

Whispered Wishes

Sasha — Eostre

Sasha — Eostre, a set on Flickr.

A tribute to rebirth in more ways than one...

Project Street Light: Madridejos (Part 3)

Here are back-to-back diptychs of the last batch of lit street portraits I made at Madridejos. Enjoy.

Mae Ann and Chik (left). Camera Settings: 1/10 s, f/3.2, ISO 800, 28 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, behind and slightly to the right of the camera

Mae Ann and Chik (right). Camera Settings: 1/5 s, f/3.2, ISO 800, 26 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, camera left

Susan. Camera Settings: 1/25 s, f/3.2, ISO 800, 19 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, camera right

Carlo. Camera Settings: 1/10 s, f/2.8, ISO 800, 23 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, camera left

Watching the World Go By

Renewing the Joys of Summers Past

Project Street Light: Madridejos (part 2)

As mentioned in the previous post, the pictures here are lit street portraits taken from dusk until nighttime.

Therese Ann. Camera Settings: 1/25 s, f/3.2, ISO 400, 46 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/16 power +dome diffuser, camera left

Chik. Camera Settings: 1/20 s, f/3.2, ISO 800, 28 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, camera right

Susan. Camera Settings: 1/15 s, f/3.2, ISO 800, 18 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/32 power +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, camera left

More to come...

Project Street Light: Madridejos

On my yearly trip to the sunshiny hometown of my parents, I always bring an assortment of lighting gear with me in the hopes of creating dramatic photographs with them. I must admit that I have a compulsion tendency to overpack on these excursions. And I must admit too, albeit begrudgingly, that on most of my earlier trips; I rarely used any of the gear that I had lugged with me for hours through a number of car, bus and boat rides.

Which brings me to this year. I vowed to pack light (well, lighter) and make the most out of the lighting gear that I brought. I virtually had no excuse not to: Subjects? Check. VALs? Check. Interesting locales? Check. Cahones? Check and check.

I thought about why I had left most of my lighting gear in the bag all those years, and I realized that I balked at the thought of going through the streets and shores of Madridejos with a couple of lights and various modifiers in tow. I gather that my confidence in my photographic skills (and myself in general) had not quite caught up with that of a few, yet highly encouraging, family and friends.

I don’t know what it was, but I believe this year was different. I was hot (literally and figuratively) and on fire (just figuratively). So, I took to the streets with a camera in one hand and a hot shoe flash in the other. And the portraits that follow are the results of my first foray into lit street portraits.

 

Carlo. Camera Settings: 1/250 s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 17 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/8 power +1/4 CTO gel +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, upper camera right

Chik and Mae Ann. Camera Settings: 1/160 s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 36 mm | Strobist Info: YN560 at 1/4 power +1/4 CTO gel +1/8 Honl Speed Grid, upper camera left 

The different looks for the images above were finished in post. I’ll be posting nighttime street portraits next. More to come…

Watching the World Go By

The Perils of Flight. Once you decide to fly into the storm clouds of hopes and dreams, one shouldn’t discount the risk of falling. But, one shouldn’t use it as a reason not to fly either, as in the end everyone inevitably falls.

The Day of the Matriarch

A Hundred Clicks. Or it would seem like it. I could never make a halfway decent portrait of my ma because she would get self-conscious the minute I sat her down for one. She would unintentionally… well, make faces. Hence, I resorted to capturing this candid moment of her overlooking the carroza preparation during this year’s Holy Week. No raised eyebrow, no smirk, and one thing off my list of pictures to make before I die. And not to end on a morbid note, happy Mother's Day, ma!

Light Exercise: Mood Lighting

Light Exercise is a segment of my blog detailing my misadventures with light. In a nutshell, I grab a flash or two from my bag, throw it up in the air add it to the mix, and see what happens.

Not being much of a fan of travel, I often resort to working in locations that are accessible to me. In the process, I’ve developed a knack for making ordinary settings look remarkable or at the very least, different. In working with light, I’ve noticed that it does not only change the look of a place, but the mood of a picture as well.

Case in point, meet Harold’s good twin.

Watching the World Go By

Facades. It’s a case of art imitating life. Or in this case, architecture. Recent regrettable experiences have only reinforced what I feared to be true about certain people, and that is a respectable facade often conceals an ugly interior.