A Lab Affair: Thoughts from the Big Head

I am often asked this question by people I shoot or either work with on a shoot —

What goes on in that big melon of yours before you take the shot? (Maybe not in those exact words, but you get the picture.)

I probably get asked this a lot because I tend to space out and mutter to myself while I make adjustments to my setup. I try to work as quickly as I can, so as not to bore my subject or drive her crazy with the minute modifications to posing and/or lighting that ‘must’ be made. I try to talk to my subject to keep them occupied, but I have yet to master the skill of maintaining a conversation while working on the shot or vice versa. The reason for my general lack of an ability to multi-task is because there’s a lot of ‘inside’ talk going on in my head. If I didn’t keep it in check, I might unintentionally blurt out parts of my internal monologue, such as —

I’m going to put the light more to your right side because it makes your face look … err, slimmer.

For this peek into the inner workings of a madman what goes on in my head before I make the shot, I will be using a picture from my recent shoot with the ChemSA officers. All of these images (except for the last two) are taken unprocessed from the camera to give you an accurate idea about what I see on my side of the lens.

If you’d like to know what went on in my bulbous head while I shot the picture above, then click on the link below to read more after the jump.

Fountain of Youth

Bubbles of pure joy prove the hardest to find
In the recesses of volatile mem’ry,
Displaced by the perception of importance —
Meaning is newspapered to show the tawdry.

We fall sway to the temptation of being
Faster, stronger and happier than we are;
Yet, it is the present that reveals the one
Reflection that fickle mem’ry cannot mar.

Watching the World Go By

It’s the End of the World as We Know It — REM

Half-press to Impress

As I write this post, I am singing its title to the tune of Roxette’s ‘Dressed for Success’. With that being said, I am inviting you to sing along with me as you go through this tip for making better pictures with the camera you already have. Once again, I’m not claiming to be the expert here. I am just imparting to you what I have learned from my meager experience in photography. These techniques have worked for me, so I hope they will work for you as well.

If there’s one thing that most people will readily recognize that’s off about a picture is when the supposed subject of the picture is out of focus. This could be a result of the camera not being able to obtain focus (because it was too dark or the subject is a ghost in a fog) or the camera focused (through no fault of its own) on an area of higher contrast behind the subject (like the rims of the umbrella in the shot below).

 

To avoid ‘artsy’ (yet blurry) pictures, click on the link below to read more after the jump. 

Distilled Moments: Crossing Worlds

In a sea of eyes, I caught yours –
They were smiling and twinkling,
Inviting me to sit with you.
And I did, not even thinking.

Breathing in the soul of your smile,
I breakfast on your luscious voice.
The drawn-out ride ends in a blink.
I hesitate to make the choice

To disembark from this daydream,
To abandon a hope gone dim —
That in the many, many worlds
In all but one, you won’t love him.

__________

As with most forms of poetry, this syllabic-verse piece is open to many interpretations; but I'm hoping that my friend, Ising, will recognize the message I've specifically written in between the lines for her.

The One Ring

A ring flash is commonly used in portrait and fashion photography to create a distinct look where the light seems to ‘wrap’ itself around the subject. Aside from the even illumination, the subject is often seen outlined with a soft-shadow halo, which means there are fewer distracting hard shadows in the picture. This look, however, is an acquired taste and can be quite divisive (just like Lady Gaga). People love it or hate it.

As I cannot afford a ring flash, I had to settle for an adapter for my hot shoe flash (more commonly known as a ring flash adapter). And since I couldn’t justify getting an adapter that’s more expensive than the flash I’m putting it on, I had to settle for a no-name alternative (also because my DIY skills end with making cardboard snoots). This simply means it’s not a Ray Flash or an Orbis, but if I should receive one as a gift (Universe, are you listening?), I would weep in gratitude for days.

Having lost my shooting buddy, Kaloy, to the city-state that is Singapore, I mainly have to fend for myself during most of my shoots. I sorely miss having someone assist me especially when I’m shooting my nephew, Jace. I can only imagine how baby and child photographers must feel while they’re trying to wrangle their lights and gear into place, only to find out upon turning around that their subject has now moved out of the shot area. And so I thought that the easiest way to do this without sacrificing the quality of the light would be to use the ring flash adapter and knock back ambient contribution from the overhead CFL’s until it doesn’t register in the image.

This first shot was made with the ring flash adapter used on-camera.

Not your cup of tea? Well, there’s always the option to take it off the camera and see how the light falls on the subject from different angles.

More after the jump …

Watching the World Go By

Curiosity

Every Day

For a good part of my life, I navigated the dark and turbulent seas alone. When all one knows is struggle without ebb, it is not only unexpected, but quite uncommon to have someone offer solace and warmth. Yet, even in the safety of this person’s harbor, one gazes upon the brewing tempest in the horizon as if there was a part of us that longed for the unrest . Too many times I’ve forgotten that I don’t have to brave the turmoil of life by myself or that if I found myself at the mercy of the fates, I now have someone in the same boat with me.

Thank you, Ga, for not only reminding me, but showing me just that.

Watching the World Go By

Daybreak. We must let the waves wash over us incessantly and repeatedly; eroding away layer upon layer of grime before we can glisten for our moment in the sun. 

Age is Just a Number

Today, I turn 34. I’ve heard from a couple of close friends that I should at least write something about this very occasion or even myself (Perish the thought!) . I’ve never been comfortable with self-promotion, so I’ll conveniently divert the topic towards humanity’s preoccupation with age, and time in general.

We give these numbers too much power over our lives.

The years we’ve existed on this earth. The days that lie between a long day and the weekend. The hours we spent waiting for someone to show up. The minutes we wasted nervously pacing in worry over the most inconsequential things. And I could go on and on about how an arbitrary measure of a moment’s passing has taken over the way we live.

I’m not saying that numbers aren’t important. In fact, they are one of the most important tools that have been made available to us. But, they are just that — tools. And in that perspective, we are letting a tool dictate the run of our day.

And all too often we end up waiting. Waiting for the right time, the right moment. We then conveniently cocoon ourselves in the comfort of old reasons and rationalizations. We wait for the New Year to resolve our issues. We wait for the right time to talk to someone. We wait for our next birthday to finally do something about our dreams. The years go by in a blink and we’re still waiting.

I fall into the same trap over and over (as do nearly all of us), but I’ve learned to cope with it by convincing myself that there is no such thing as perfect timing. There is no meter that runs down, reminding us of how long we have left. We jump from one fleeting moment to the next, hoping that we land on our feet. The life that we’ve so neatly measured in occasions and events could very well end in an instant. And just so I don’t forget, I woke up today telling myself —

Happy birthday, Jo. Today a helicopter could fall on your head while you think of how many minutes it might take for the rain to fall. Make the most out of it.

In Profile: The Men of USC Chem

Let me start this post with a disclaimer: I am not a fashion photographer. I would like to think of myself as a portrait photographer (with a slant towards the editorial at that) with the good fortune of getting to shoot people who are just fashionable. What I would like to capture is a person’s essence in a photograph. The light, the setting, the clothes … well, they all take a backseat to having my subject feel that I have revealed to him and to the world one of the best facets of his person. With that said, allow me to return to regular programming.

I’ve been asked a number of times as to why I don’t have that many picture sets of male subjects on Flickr. Well, to be honest, I know very little about how to best flatter a man in a picture. I’m afraid that having shot mainly women, I might put a guy in a pose that ends up to be feminine. Women have nice, round curves that are easy to mold into a pleasing composition. Men are full of sharp and angular features that require a different set of rules altogether.

You’re a man, so wouldn’t it be easier to work with someone who has the same working parts as you?

You’d think that, but no.

Which is why I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked with James, as he pretty much just poses himself and I just throw a light up and shoot away.

More of and about James after the jump …

Watching the World Go By

Of Faith and Coincidence. I am not religious. I have no pretension of piety even if I was born and raised as a Catholic (in the Philippines, no less). I rarely hear mass or participate in other church-related traditions and rituals nowadays. But, I do pray. And to behold creation at its most magnificent is one of the ways by which I commune with the divine every day.