Shutter Mix

Costume Parade | Kamandag

2016-05-11T03:43:00.001-07:00

Costume Parade | Kamandag

Costume Portraits

Richard Guttierez in the Titular Role of "Kamandag" in the promotional photo below.

Photo Credit: GMA Network

Francis Balgos is a Call Center Agent, Weekend Travel Warrior, Amateur Spelunker, Sometime Surfer, Newbie Mountain Climber, Photography Enthusiast, Certified Beach Bum, A first born son, Faithful lover, True Explorer...

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Flora | Flower Photo Collections

2014-10-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

Flora | Flower Photo Collections

Wild Daisy in the vegetable paddies of Mt Timbak in Benguet.

Today is a beautiful sunny Day and I am feeling lonely. Unlike before, I have undone a lot of things that I do when I'm in such a mood, like chasing words running in my head and weave them into poetry, or reading a book after another book feeling like a crazed bookworm or just lie in my bed and stare into the ceiling without anything to think about. These mood spells that had once besieged me when I feel isolated from the world had morph into something else and that is Facebook (ing). You read it right, in this day and age of social media revolution I am connected to everyone with facebook and blogging my travel and photography adventures, but I feel more alienated than ever before.

I liked a photo of a flower in my facebook newsfeed and realised that I just joined a chain post to promote a post of more positive images in this social media platform. With nothing much to do, I gladly shared a flower photo, and hell yeah people just joined in, I guess we are all the same, we didn't read the caption until its too late.

Almost like a Cherry Blossom, these are wild flowers blooming in the rocky summit of Mt Manalmon.

The white variety of the flower above, still from the summit of Mt Manalmon.

Today I thought about flowers, the rosemary and boungainvilla's in my mother's garden that she so painstakingly cared for, the scattered Daisy's and Calla's in the vegetable terraces of the Cordillera's that are always wet with drizzles, the Cherry Blossoms like flowers sprouting in a bush at the rocky summit of Mt Manalmon, the wild Sunflowers in Sagada, the varied Chrysantemum's in Baguio or the single yellow Rose I once gave to a now ex-girlfriend; the memories just keep coming.

Understanding that inspiration is something that you bring upon yourself, no matter what or who it is that may inspire you is entirely a personal choice. For today I thought about scrounging my saved image file of flowers, Photos I've taken to practice Flora Photography. It's cliche for some experienced photographers but mostly anyone who is starting into photography with whatever tool had been out there photographing flowers at one time, I did. Capturing textures of flower petals, water droplets against a vivid colorful background or of bees, butterfly's, moths, spiders and even fly's perching on them; photographing flowers will never grow old for me. Though I can never claim to be an expert of capturing the feeling of awe and wonder, the happiness of seeing a beautiful thing bloom naturally for everyone's delight, I can say that I have gotten the hand of it to make it more interesting.

Photographing flowers had helped me understand how my camera would tend to focus on a certain color, how a certain angle would make about a dramatic change in perspective, the play of shadows under the petals, or in some cases the saturation of colors that comes fort without intent. I find flowers to be a very interesting subject to photograph because they are easy to photograph and are naturally still. I have gone ahead of my introspection here; allow me to share some of the flower photos I've saved in my hard drives.

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Costume Parade | Valentina Of Darna

2014-09-25T02:01:00.000-07:00

Costume Parade | Valentina Of Darna

Costume Portraits

A classic comic super villain created by writer Mars Ravelo with Nestor Redondo as artist. As a kid, I was familiar with the movie versions of Darna and her arch nemesis the Serpent Queen Valentina. She has had many revision, many actress had played the part, but the Medusa look remains the same.

Now this one is inspired by the costume worn by Actress Iwa Moto as a Darna Supervillain. Ara, a close friend of mine had donned quite well.

Iwa Moto as Valentina, a Super Villain for "Darna" in the photo below.

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Costume Parade | Amihan of Engcantadia

2014-09-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

Costume Parade | Amihan of Engcantadia

Costume Portraits

Inspired by Dieties, Elementals and Enchanted beings the "Engcantadia" TV Show became the grandest and most ambitious TV Production on its time in Philippine TV. A lot of characters were drawn out, and Amihan was one of the Four Sanggre's that were present almost all throughout the show as the Guardian of the Jewel of Air.

Having created costumes and knowing the level of difficulty and creativity needed to achieve this particular look made this one of my favorites in the parade. And I guess if one is to were a costume as detailed and very well made as this one, you would parade it with confidence like Heidi did.

Taking a closer look, the rubber mats were already difficult to cut alone, the intricate details in the texture was achieved with glue guns and spray painted by silver all over. If I have my own say on this, the complex work done and level of creativity, this is a winner.

The Beautiful Iza Calzado as the guardian of Jewel of Air (Brilliante ng Hangin)

of Engcantadia in the photo below.

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Costume Parade | Carlo Vergara's Zsazsa Zaturnnah

2014-09-03T22:33:00.001-07:00

Costume Parade | Zsazsa Zaturnnah

Costume Portraits

Despite being a hugely popular Super Heroine that spurned out of comics created by Carlo Vergara, I am not really familiar with Zsazsa Zaturnnah aside from information I could easily read off from the Internet. Pardon me, I was a student who cannot afford to buy intertaining materials during it's first release.

Having said that, I did what I can to compensate with what is available that I even went as far as watching the movie version. There are a lot of things I want to say about it, but I don't really want them to get published here. Just a few things I know should come out right, that Zsazsa Zaturnnah would accompany a big Red Hair, Mascular Physique when transformed into the Super Heroine and a Gay alter ego.

This was suppose to be fun and with that, and Ric was successful. He made this a hugely entertaining parade, thank to his jump shots and dancing.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah on the cover sequel of the comic character created by Carlo Vergara.

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Costume Parade | Diwatang Magayon Of "Indio"

2014-09-03T03:52:00.002-07:00

Costume Parade | Diwatang Magayon Of "Indio"

Costume Parade

Diwatang Magayon is the Deity of all flying Animals in the GMA TV Show "Indio" and was portrayed by one of the most beautiful Philippine Actress of this age Rhian Ramos. Bedecked with gold and orange colored crystals, sometimes I think the costume were too pageant wise, but it served its purpose of presenting Rhian Ramos as a goddess.

It came as no surprise when my friend and recently promoted Team Lead Dyan Santos was made to parade with this goddess inspired costume. It seemed only natural, but everyone actually held their breath when she came out bedecked with jewels. It looks too Indian for me, if it not for Dyan's natural good looks this can't be pulled off I guess. The jeweled headdress and the high slit skirt capped it all.

Actress Rhian Ramos as Diwatang Magayon of "Indio" in the photo below.

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Costume Parade | Lucifera And Babaeng Tuod Of Darna

2014-09-03T03:36:00.001-07:00

Costume Parade | Lucifera And Babaeng Tuod Of "Darna"

Costume Portraits

Jabee is one of those conservative Team Leads I know, so it came as a surprise to me that she had doned this costume with gusto. There are about 20 costumes paraded for this event, but I'm only blogging about my favorites and this is one of them.

The materials used to create this look is surprisingly ingenius. Crumpled and rolled newspapers, tied together by glue gun and painted over, the twigs are the one's you can buy in a native store used for Christmass Tree bush. Jabee has natural pale and creamy skin, she was actually hard to focus in the camera so photographing her was a challenge. Her make up needs some some correction to achieve a better look, but the costume alone made it a stand out.

Actress Francine Prieto as Lucifera and Babaeng Tuod,
one of the infamous Super Villain in "Darna."

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Costume Parade | Danaya of Engcantadia

2014-08-31T21:16:00.000-07:00

Costume Parade | Danaya of Engcantadia

Costume Portraits

Danaya of Engcantadia, one of the four Sangg-res Lireo brought fort from a largely popular TV Show from GMA Network "Engcantadia". The Guardian of Jewel of Earth (Brilliante ng Lupa) and portrayed by sexy actress Diana Zubiri.

Engcantadia is a Fantasy TV Series which was dubbed as the grandest, ambitious and most expensive production for Philippine TV during its time. While I was not an avid follower of this TV Show, at least I made myself familiar with the characters, the special effects doned in this production and the costumes are quite unique and extraordinary.

A long time friend and colleague, Marj Calinga is the most recently promoted Team Leads in the office. The character of Danaya being feisty and cunning fighter fits her well, this is actually one of my favorites in this Office Parade in Costumes of Pinoy Superheroes and Villains.

The Sexy Diana Zubiri as the guardian of Jewel of Earth (Brilliante ng Lupa)

of Engcantadia in the photo below.

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Costume Parade | Amaya

2014-08-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

Costume Parade | Amaya

Costume Portraits

Unlike any other popular Filipino Heroin that started out from comics, Amaya was a character created for Historical Fiction Epic Period Drama for TV. An epic series with titular role granted to the Philippines current Queen of Prime Time shows Marian Rivera.

Amaya as a TV show series was a resounding success. Though it has been years since I actually tried to follow a local TV Series because of my night shifts at work, with this show I tried to follow on as much as I can unlike any other TV shows aired locally. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for anything epic and historical, initially I didn't appreciate that Marian Rivera was tagged to play the titular role because she doesn't fit the bill when it comes to how Ancestral Filipino's look like. Because this is a period series, I expected tribal customs of the Philippine's Pre Hispanic colonization era. As a silent follower though, Marian did great in playing the strongest warrior woman, the research and tremendous amount of detail was lauded to be superb and I cannot really complain.

So when it was announced in our upcoming Office Activity of Dressing up you're Team Manager with Pinoy Heroes and Villain, I had looked forward to how they'll come up with the Character of Amaya. Though I haven't met Kate Juanillas who represented on her Team Lead's behalf, I really think that she rocked it.

Marian Rivera in a behind the scene production of Amaya Photo Below

Photo Credit: GMA Network

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Life Is My Playground | Up Close With Randolph

2014-06-10T04:06:00.000-07:00

Up Close With Randolph

There had been a few times were some of my friends would request that I take their pictures, as always I would gladly indulge especially on clients that I think would be an interesting subject. I had been friends with Randolph or Ralph for several years now; he is an amazing and enigmatic character to boost. And it would take skill to capture that in a photo. He was my photographer before I started into photography, so I am really curios if my current skill would be at par for him.

One weekend, we had planned to visit the home of his parents in Greenwoods Dasmarinas Cavite. Our gang of friends had been here for a few weekends already when we feel the need to get away from the Metro and just spend some time hanging around with each other, that is to say Ralph is our generous host.

The parks and neighborhood of Greenwoods had been a location for quite a number of our photo shoots sessions. We were a team after all, few years back when I still haven’t bought my first DSLR camera, Ralph was the photographer, and of course I modeled for him back then. This was more like returning a favor, as he asked me to take his photos.

Ralph is the guy next door type who basically prefers Jeans and Shirts; he’s also one of the esteemed English Coach in the BPO Company I work for which is Sykes Asia, so you have to understand my need to make this post as grammar error less as possible or I would be in trouble. Like many young professionals who transitioned from being a very active student, he gained weight when he started working; the sedentary work showed its toll on him just like many young professionals I know. To compensate, he went on a regular work out with Fitness First and is very proud of what he had achieved physically. In this photo shoot, I understand his need to show off, as I do so a lot of times.

I would’ve have wanted to take this photo shoot much further, shooting photos of my subject in their underwear, unfortunately, as a fellow photographer with a very strong opinion, Ralph is not yet confident to go that far, but he gladly took his shirt off for a few private photos that I can’t share in here. Ralph is my client for this which means I had to follow his wishes, and an intimate set of photos would suffice. Well, it was easy so to speak; Ralph had natural clear skin, big soulful eyes and an adorable character. After all, this is what this photo shoot is for, to have the pictures speak for themselves.

Location: Greenwoods, Dasmarinas, Cavite.
HMUA: Chaz Zenith
Model: Randolph Co
Photographer: Francis Balgos

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Beach Photo Shoot | Angel On The Rocks

2014-06-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

Angel On The Rocks

Beach Photo Shoot In Cuevang Lampas

This year’s summer is too dry and too hot for comfort. The best beaches in the country that I long to visit at this time of year is just out of the budget and a little too far for an overnight trip. Calaguas in Camarines Norte takes a lot of energy to get past that nerve wracking boat ride, the same for Puerto Galera in Mindoro Oriental, the beaches of Laiya in San Juan Batangas takes a ton of time for easy road trip, and Boracay Island in Aklan is too far since you would need to catch a plane. Hence when one of my backpacker friends started planning a weekend trip to this white sand beach cove in Pagbilao Quezon, the perfect opportunity came to me finally.

I have to admit on being guilty in having too many photos taken when I’m on a beach trip. Who wouldn’t really? For a young professional, work continues the whole year round. If I think about it, it’s the basic requirement to becoming a contributing adult in this country; you have to work during the best days of your youth. You can’t really blame call center agents like me taking Team Building to somewhere far flung, we try to elicit as much fun in our busy lives as possible, we’re the weekend travel warriors after all. This trip to Cuevang Lampas a secluded cove in the coastal fringes of Pagbilao, Quezon is no exception. As for me, I joined someone else’s team building trip to get a bit of outdoor fun before this 2014 summer is over. I’ve regularly went to gym for workout for almost half of this year. I had to save money, and it means I need to travel less. If I do travel though, I have to make sure I don’t spend too much, so this back packing overnight beach trip was really just what I needed to relieved the stress of working too long in an office.

We had planned to do a little photo shoot on the beach, with some of my office mates to model for me, but mishap happened days before the trip; I can’t bring my camera. The idea was scratched out, and we decided to enjoy the beach as much as we could, with only my Canon Travel Zoom camera to document it. It was a downer, as I am used to traveling with my camera as my constant companion.

One of the organizers likes to have her photos wearing wings taken whenever she goes on a beach trip. The angel fantasy of hers, it’s just a small, lightweight feather wings that she brought all along. There is nothing wrong with fulfilling a fantasy of being an angel, and it was an opportunity I couldn’t resist to take. So on the morning of our 2nd day, I borrowed the costume and went into the rocky side of the cove illuminated by sunlight. It took a lot of ounce of confidence for me to wear the wings, amidst the curious onlookers who had probably never seen a photo shoot before.

These photos were shot with Canon SX170 IS Travel Zoom, no makeup done, and with only my white gym shorts that I wore for this swimming trip to complete the ensemble. The photos would have been nothing without the person behind the camera, so thanks to my friend Chaz the blogger behind Sugar, Spice, Not Everything’s Nice who shot the photos. An artist through and through, he’s my mentor when it comes to model poses, I would have been lost with poses it weren't for him.

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Self Portrait | #Selfie Photos

2014-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

#Selfie Photos

For most of us, a selfie photo would mean a photo taken from a camera phone with hands extended. And since this usually focuses more on subjects face, being creative with the facial expression is the thing. I actually have hundreds of Selfies even before this trend came to be what it is called today. The onset of smartphones, digicams, entry level DSLR’s and Androids gave way to this kind of photography, and I’ve had it all, it’s the mark of this generation after all, I was a kid when this world existed without cellphones, and text messages that when it came to be; it was such a breakthrough technology.

I’m way past half assed selfie photos, pardon my strong opinion. I just think that if your photos aren’t sharp enough, forget the rest. You’ve heard this somewhere, but I won’t elaborate much on that. Camera phones just doesn’t do much justice, even digicams no matter how expensive they are, I should know; high Megapixels just doesn’t guarantee sharp photos, the CMOS sensor makes all Digicams the same no matter how much they vary in price range. It’s even frustrating when I take photos from my Android phone, be overly excited that they look good in the screen, only to tear at my hair when I check the file in the computer and see the photo on a larger screen. People can continue to use the camera 360 if they want to, nothing wrong with it really, but if you are passionate with photography, you wouldn’t sell out sharpness and make your yourself look like wax models; after all, facial features, expressions, the soulful eyes, these are what makes us humans and a camera is a tool to capture that essence.

As a travel blogger, I would often travel alone to explore the places I visit. I would be lucky if I had a travel buddy who could take instructions in taking photos because there is no way that I would leave a place without having my photo taken, and a phone or digicam selfie is out of the question. That aside, there are times that I wouldn’t have anyone else but myself, so I have to make do. Learning how to take self portraits proved to be an effort but fun and rewarding. The most basic equipment for me would be my entry level DSLR, a remote and tripod is needed but not required.

These photos I recently took in Los Arcos de Hermanos Resort in San Jose, Belmonte Bulacan on a company sponsored summer outing. While it was only for a day trip, I decided to stay for the night and actually spend my weekend in there with a few friends. I had planned to do this all along since it has been a while that I did night pool swimming (Check this link: A Night In A Dark Pool). The previous one, I did the same thing, taking photos of my friends using only the available fluorescent pool lamp. It did yield some amazing photos under low light condition. This time though, I didn’t have my tripod as I deemed it heavy for this relaxed trip, my remote shutter release is with me though, and this lessens the effort of going back and forth for camera adjustments. You can well imagine the effort photographers do just to create a set up for taking photos.

Placing the camera on top of a water jug that is placed on a table solved the issue of stability, no tripod, no problem. I was being resourceful, now I set up my camera for 2 second remote release, means I have about 3 seconds to be ready after hitting the remote button. For the ambient light, the lamps available aren’t sufficient, but I can’t use the camera flash as it would flatten out the image. If you consider studio portraits, the situation is far from it, I only have key light which are the lamps that can only illuminate me from the side. This set up of short light would normally work on female subjects; I’m just trying to be creative with silhouettes and shadows. To those who know better, would understand what I meant by short light and key lights, but for the sake of creativity and practicing portraiture with ambient setting, this would do. Setting my camera on manual mode, to better illuminate me as the subject I used a slow shutter speed which mean I posed still and steady for a number of seconds in each of these pictures. I prefer clean photos with less noise as possible; I used ISO 200 to achieve a good contrast in shadows while opened the Aperture to its widest possible. Without really looking much for the camera’s LCD Screen, I managed to take several frames in RAW file since I intended to process the photos to a good use.

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Post Halloween Portraits | The Grecian Goddess

2014-06-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Party Portraits | The Grecian Goddess

Costume Portraits

Without time to prepare, I asked the help of my friend Chaz for a costume I can wear. I initially intended to come as a Viking warrior or Machete, but since I just came from a Food Tour in Baguio where I had a weekend to binge on gourmet food; I ate a lot and had temporarily stopped my gym work out. So the idea was scratched, least I make myself look ridiculous. I had nothing to wear, when Chaz said that he’s got an extra scrap sheet of red jersey from his Darna costume, it was the last resort. To come out, wearing drapes in an improvised gown. I had worn improvised gowns before, just for fun on parties similar to this one, matched with Bob wig in red highlights, my white strap gladiator sandals. The ensemble was just enough without the blings, olive shaped metals for headdress to complete a Grecian accessory. I became the underdressed Grecian God, androgynous; I just have to make up for the presentation.

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Post Halloween Portraits | Darna, On The Aftermath Of Disaster

2014-06-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

PARTY PORTRAITS | Darna, On The Aftermath Of Disaster
Costume Portraits

The talented and resourceful Chaz has a collection of costumes prepared for a few occasions for a few friends who requested them as needed. The Darna costume he made for an office event, as it was when it came time for it to be paraded; everyone ogled at its ingenuity. The head piece, the two piece undergarment and even the body stockings are handmade, now surely that is an effort as he did his own make up. Overkill, if I think about it, the hair wig is the only thing that came readily brought from a store. This is just flare, raw and unadulterated talent, combined with confidence, he wore the Darna costume not minding the cat calls and what would everyone think of his body.

We joked about it, his looks I mean. It’s the reason why I called this the aftermath of Disaster, we decided for an epilogue were Darna had married and became this loved woman, a plain housewife who had lost herself in the rigors of real life and gained weight in the process. We imagined Darna to end up like this, with a happy but ridiculous adieu for a very impressive heroine.

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Post Halloween Portraits | The Vengeful Angel

2014-06-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

Party Portraits | The Vengeful Angel
Costume Portraits

Irene is a scourge of amazing finds from a thrift shop. She has not prepared any costumes for this party, she scoured a few of her favorite thrift shop for something she can wear to match a big white angel wings. She came in this mini black dress, studded with black buttons and matched with fishnet stocking. Lo vixen, she was rocking it, looking like an angel straight from a soft porn magazine, at least that was her intentions.

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Lourence And Blessie | Heaven Sent

2014-06-05T03:42:00.000-07:00

Lourence And Blessie

Heaven Sent
Short Pre Nuptial Shoot

A month before her wedding, I went home to find my Sister, busy with all the preparations and rigors of her own wedding. It was to my surprise that she didn't hire any photographers, pre nuptial, wedding and post nuptial photos, she was expecting me to take over about it. While I was flattered that she would trust me with this very important phase in her life, there is very little time for me to prepare for what it actually needs to prepare for a Prenup photo shoot. Truth be told, a lot has to be done in the preparations alone, and this I didn't have the luxury to think over since her wedding will be in a months time. I only have a week long vacation, and will be back during the wedding itself.

Dropping all planning and just going with a simple intimate photo taking in a park near our home, I asked them to be ready one afternoon during the golden hour. It was a good thing that I am personally acquainted with the couple but still it was a challenge to get them to relax in front of the camera. I only needed a few shots for their multimedia presentation, the Social Media teasers and of course their very own intimate portraits before they finally tie the knot.

As a young Policeman, my soon to be brother in law is awkwardly stiff and shy with the attention he's getting. Its a good thing that they have 10 years of being in a relationship in their belt, I know them both at heart. My sister is a natural photogenic, she has that air of confidence about her of a woman that is appreciated and loved.

Dropping all other preparations, the only thing I ask is for them to wear make up and color matching clothes. Since purple is the weddings motifs, my sister has a lot in her arsenal. My brother in law though just came as he is, and it was a challenge even just to ask him to wear loose powder on his face, but thankfully he did. They have a palpable chemistry with them that it didn't take much of a challenge to photograph them at all. These are but a few of the photos I've taken for them, I would have planned more, outdoors and perhaps in full couture if I would have my way. My sister only wanted something simple but intimate, and in that I was successful.

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Post Halloween Portraits | The Wicked Witch

2013-11-09T17:37:00.002-08:00

PARTY PORTRAITS | The Wicked Witch

Costume Portraits

Mama V has a natural scary glare, and even when she’s smiling you’d feel that something scary and wicked is going in her mind. Without knowing her loving nature and embracing warmth, you’d be scared to approach her.

Love that Sinister smile. Something Wicked has come to town.

With her generous gift of influence, she was the one who planned and organized this party, and the short list of invitees whom are mostly are referred as her minions including myself, we call her Mama V. She wasn’t able to prepare her own costume, what with the food preparation and provision for the party, but as her own son pointed out, she can just wear any dark garments and make up, throw her hair wild and she’ll be an instant scare.

With her Beau JB who was our gracious host for this party, his Bachelors Abode is the perfect set up for this weekend rendezvous. No Halloween scary decorations, just the right lights and a place to crash for the night. We didn't really the bed anyway as party was until morning.

The Exorcism of Veronica

The Crying Death God

The Witch's Apple

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Post Halloween Portraits | Androgynous Black Swan

2013-11-09T06:24:00.001-08:00

PARTY PORTRAITS | Androgynous Black Swan

Costume Portraits

In contrast to his vibrant personality and loud voice (Sorry Ric but its true), donning the façade of The Black Swan is perfect for him. With a body built that of a ballerina, slim, flat chest, and even with the way Ric unconciously moves even without the ballerina dress. Ric is the prim and proper, always the one who sits up straight you’d think he’s doing it consciously but without an ounce of effort. Check these out, the Androgynous Black Swan.

Personally I have to laud Ric for having the confidence to wear and be the night’s graceful ballerina. This black swan outfit was inspired by the Psychological Movie of the same name starred by Natalie Portman and Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Although he didn’t prance around on tip toe, but rather cat walked in a wedge, it sure gave the illusion that he is standing on the tip of his toes. All that is left is to move around with the grace and posture of a true ballerina which fortunately Ric has in abundance. He was fun to photograph.

Meet the Party Show Characters

Halloween Costume Party

The Wicked Witch

Darna, on the aftermath of Disaster

The Vengeful Angel

The Grecian Goddess

- Notable Characters

NOTE: The blogpost for the characters are still in drafts, so the links are not yet available.

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Halloween Costume Party Portraits

2013-11-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

PARTY PORTRAITS | Halloween Costume Party
Costume Portraits

Halloween for most Filipinos isn’t about all night parties, scary antics or costume plays (CosPlay). To its core, it’s a celebration of Life for those who have already passed on. Being largely an Asian Catholic Country, we celebrate All Saints Day and All Soul’s Day in prayers, contemplation and visiting graves of departed loved ones.

Our party ensemble in a tableau.

It can’t be helped though that these holidays’ falls on School’s semester breaks, every students are out and expected to participate. This is at least how I grew up, without trick or treats or late night frenzied parties donning mask and menagerie of costumes, at least until I’ve started living in Metro Manila. A world city, for years since I’ve worked here, Halloween celebration has become one of those holiday’s where you can wear whatever costumes you’d like to be, a time in the year where the borders between genders can be crossed and everyone has the perfect excuse to be Androgynous.

Well enough of my ramblings, I bet everyone has an idea of their own Halloween parties. This series of photographic blog post is merely a feature of the party me and my friends had organized on the weekend after the holidays itself.

Costume parties are nothing if the party invitees will not make an effort on what they can wear. And as you can see in the incoming photos, I’ll be featuring portraits per character and write a little background of the persona behind these awesome friends, partners or duo’s.

Come in our own look, unplanned costumes and on the spot photo shoot makes this set a buzz of confusion so please take each photo as they are meant to be, without cohesiveness and relation to another. Hope you will all like this Halloween Costume Series all taken one night, in a Halloween Costume party.

Scare of The Bloody Zombie

The Temptation of Artem

Vengeful Angel in Battle

Swords of Justice

Angel's defeat

Choose your Shinigami

Wicked Witch and her Huntsman.. err Apple eater

The Crying Death God

Meet the Party Show Characters

The Androgynous Black Swan

The Wicked Witch

Darna, on the aftermath of Disaster

The Vengeful Angel

The Grecian Goddess

- Notable Characters

NOTE: The blogpost for the characters are still in drafts, so the links are not yet available.

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Little Girl Portrait

2013-07-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Little Girl Portrait
Portraits Of My Adopted Cousin Nikki

Since I started working in Manila, my time spent at home for vacation is short and limited. As such that my family takes an extra effort to have everyone present when I am around. Sweet! And since I am the family's self proclaimed pro-photographer, I tasked myself to take the portrait of each of my beloved siblings including relatives that actually lived with us.

The little girl featured in this post is my adopted cousin Nicole or Nikki as we call her. Mind you, before Nikki came into our lives as an adopted daughter of my Aunt, we were already a big family with Six children of Five rowdy boys and only One girl. My parents tried to conceive children whenever my Dad is at home and off work from his Seafaring job. Off course, they had wanted to have another girl-princess in the family, unfortunately my Mom had a miscarriage on their supposedly 7th child that she was carrying for 7 months, it was the girl that they had been hoping for. It had been many years now, but it brought grief to both my parents, even now, about Six years since it happened; they'd both fall silent and cry remembering the loss.

The boys are growing up, and while they are loved and allowed to go as rowdy as they can, it's not easy to hold fast to growth, my Dad loves to have children around him, noisy as it is, the children's laughter's and playfulness makes him happy just watching over them like the great Patriarch that he was. He's asking for grand children, just unfortunate that he married late, so his first Born's which is me and my sister, were both raised to be smart and practical adults that we are now are not yet ready for such a set up.

Nikki's coming into our lives was a blessing. She is a 2nd child of a Single Mom, she was offered to my Aunt weeks prior to her birth, as her real grandparents can't take another fatherless child to feed and take care off. My Aunt on the other hand is separated from her husband; she stays with us to help take care of our only surviving Grandma. Mind you, my Aunt doesn't know how to take care of children more so in raising one. So it came to pass that everyone in the family, even my younger brothers took turns watching over Nikki as she grows, day by day becoming one of the boys in the family, it's not surprising that she thinks of my Parents as her own, my Sister became like a surrogate Mom tending to her needs from Diapers to formula milks, as for me, I was her Ninong that comes home once in a while bringing her chocolates and goodies that she devours with gusto. Such a voracious feeder, from Time to time, my Mom would bring home dresses she could find in thrift shops and departments stores, it seems like my Mom found her own little Barbie-Princess to dress, my Dad on the other hand found a grandchild he can watch over, spoil and dote, she keeps him happy and pre-occupied.

I set up to take these photos, hanging a white cotton bed sheet on a wall, I have no extra flashes or speed lights, just an external flash that I can rotate to achieve a bounce light. The set was easy, but encouraging Nikki to do poses for me was the real challenge. I didn't know it would be very difficult to take portraits of children; for one thing Nikki is use to moving around a lot, we have a big house, and she's used to walking around, wobbling confidently like a landlord. Her attention span is very short, and she doesn't like to look directly at the camera, so the few shots with her looking at the lens is considered a lucky shot. While she is basking for the attention she's getting from being photographed, I only got her to stand in front of the camera for just a few minutes after her Kuya's (my younger brothers) had done posing for me.

Looking at these frames, I'm glad to have taken them personally, and as it is, they are ready to be printed for her and my family to cherish and remember in the years to come. Was it difficult to photograph children? It was my first time but yes it was, but I can say that the rewards are worth the effort. My family would be looking at these frames in a few months from now, to be hung in the wall with the other portraits, including mine.

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Portrait Model Shoot | Ria Delos Santos

2013-06-30T20:41:00.001-07:00

Ria was doing the push the wall pose, with her nose towards the key light and eyes looking down.

Portrait Model Shoot | Ria Delos Santos

The Portrait Seminar with Sykes Photo Club

It was a bittersweet event for me but I had no regret at all. I was supposed to take part in an Outreach Climb at Bokod Benguet with Sykes Outdoor, but I can't join since I didn't get the desired work leave during the departure time. Taking the alternative for an invitation to a Photography Seminar "The Portrait" by Sykes Photo Club was a good respite for my downcast spirit on this uneventful weekend. The Sykes Photo Club had shape the way I take photographs, starting from scratch, that after attending a Basic Photography Workshop with them, my blogs photos took a great change and I was able to develop my own brand of photography.

The touch your face pose with kicker light at the back of the Ria.

Content with outdoor photography, I was always afraid to take portraits of people, taking a brave spin towards Lifestyle Photography where you shoot on events is even more scary for me. So it was about time I learn the basics, differentiating the editorial, lifestyle and environment portraits. Understanding the sort of light that would work for subject; male or female, taking advantage of the long and short lights, the key lights and the background lights, kicker lights, fill lights that attributes to a great portrait.

There were a lot of things I had to undo while I sat in the board room of Sykes for a few hours. A lot of misconceptions had been answered like processing the photos. One thing is for sure, we were taught to take a good shot, and make our photos as realistic as we can, without much photo editing involved we can take a great portrait as long as we invest a little effort in establishing the lights to illuminate the subject. I learned better from people who actually do it, no skin softening tricks that Digicam or Instagram does, only the tips on capturing a sharp image directly from the camera, how important is the right exposure, the poses that is useful for either male or female subjects, and how to direct them.

Ria leaning on the wall, eyes towards the camera and nose facing the key light.

Ria leaning in the wall with eyes towards the key light.

Looking at these photos, one might think it was shot in a studio when in fact, it was just the same board room where we had the Seminar in Worldwide Corporate Center (WCC) in Shaw Blvd, it was also broadcast live with our friends in Sykes Cebu. We made use of the equipment that everyone shared, and that one needs to have if interested in delving into photography business. Here I used what I learned during the seminar, the kinds of poses we asked of Ria Delos Santos, our female model. I was really fun to put a name on the poses, model poses that I would like to try with friends and incoming clients for photography gigs.

Unfortunately, our male model wasn't able to come around, so I didn't get to practice taking portrait of a male subject. But Ria proved to be so much more than what I can handle, she was professional in taking direction with a lot of photographers taking her picture at once. Considering the number of poses that we asked from her, its won't be surprising if she ended with a some muscles pains for being in a position for a length of time. There was no denying that she was a model through and through, being multi faceted, she only had to do little change, show or hide some angles in her face and you'll see a different look altogether. It made all my colleagues excited all throughout the shoot as Ria delivered frame after frame of really good shots. Now I can't wait to have another model shoot, who wants to model for me?

Finally we made her sit in a chair, as it was tiring to stand for too long. Here Ria is facing the key light touching her face with a blue gel fill light in her hair.

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Shooting The Perigree Full Moon 2013

2013-06-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

Shooting The Perigree Full Moon 2013

Ever since I looked up to the night sky to photograph fascinating stellar formations and heavenly bodies, I've been hooked. More so that it is challenging considering that my job is on a night shift. I should consider myself lucky that the lunar event called Supermoon happened on a weekend for 2 years now, I'm not counting the years before that because then I was oblivious with the fact that I can actually take photos of the moon with only my DSLR and 200mm Nikkor Telephoto lens. It is also a fact that Digicams can also be used to capture the Moon and its mystical surface; people just don't read their camera manuals.

Our Moon Luna being a diligent satellite circles our planet Earth many times, while the Earth is circling the Sun. These movements of heavenly masses creates a push and pull of gravity, making the orbit spaces elliptical, so while there is a point in the Earth's orbit where it is closer to the Sun, so as the Moon has a spot where it is closer to the Earth. As it is, Perigree Full moon happens, a time of the month when the Full face of the moon reflecting the light of the Sun graces our night sky on the part of its orbit closer to the Earth.

While some may argue that the increased percentage of the full moon is not much noticeable. Excited as I was, I did a preparatory test shots towards the end of April Full Moon named as the "Pink Moon". Full Moon's have corresponding names to them per different cultures, and last night the June Full Moon is known as the "Thunder Moon". Though last April, I was just playing with my camera, more of spur of the moment action as I watch from the windows of my apartment, seeing the bright night sky. It does makes a difference, using the same Camera setting I used for 2012's Supermoon, I had a hard time getting a sharp image, my camera remote release was acting up, and the tripod I was using is new, so I was unfamiliar with the dials. More so, I realized during the post processing that I didn't get any decent shot at all, so I gave up editing most of it, but still I decided to blog it using a few frames and including the one's I did last year.

I told myself, in 2 months time, I will get the chance to shoot a Perigree Full Moon, and I will be ready.

The camera settings I normally use starts with an Aperture of F11 or F12, sometimes if it strikes my fancy I go as low as F18, with Shutter speed of 1/25 sec, ISO level of 200, my 55-200mm Telephoto lens is at its max of 200mm though I zoom it out sometimes because I need more stability, most of the shots are at 145mm. Shoot the photos in RAW file, Manual Mode, Manual focus and center metered. It is okay to place the Moon in the dead center of the photo, because as you can see the Moon's surface in the lens, it's brightness will bring erase all discerning details in the live view, you have to go process the photos to underexpose going as far as -3.00 or -3.25 in Adobe Lightroom.

To appreciate fully and show the moon's surface, it has to be close cropped, this is why shooting in RAW file is needed, as you will chunk off all that extra size down. You can now use the rule of thirds in cropping, by then any of the camera shake you have taken for granted earlier will be visible with the side blurring. I've taken about over 50 Photos of the Supermoon last night, but had to discard most of it as I inspect each of them on the post process. I was not satisfied even with the final export result; I have to open Photoshop but decided against it. Good thing I have Picasa, its simpler software to handle but does an excellent job in sharpening photos, you just have to avoid the temptation of going through the boost dials. Using this one click edits maybe easier, with the downside that the photo will look unnatural.

All these photos posted here had a warm sheen on it, they were golden. But so I can emphasize the moon's surface and its varying craters, I adjusted them to cool temperatures, to tune down the golden sheen and make the white craters glow. The text were added with the help of Picasa, I just wish though that I can do composite editing, where I can combine several photo's of the same subject in one Shot, that may allow me to show a lot more details of the moon and the colors that are actually in there like blues, the grey shades and shadows of craters.

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A Night In A Dark Pool | Portrait Photos

2013-05-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

A Night In A Dark Pool
On The Spot Portrait Photos With Friends

It was an intimate night swimming party with friends. There we are, on the clubhouse of some Subdivision Village in Dasma Cavite, enjoying the pool all to ourselves. It was fun except that we were provided just one lamppost to light us in our rendezvous. Looking at how ample the light was, I played with it, and it's always nice if you have friends who like sharing the fun.

The one niche in photography that I am not comfortable or insecure to tackle is portrait. Probably one reason why I avoid request for prenuptial photo ops or family photos from people I barely know. The Photographer and model has that certain spark of relationship between them to make a photo work, and most of the pressure is coming from the Photographer himself. So if I can't take some time talking to the people that I will photograph, then I'd rather not do it.

There are a lot of endearing about taking one's portrait. It's easy to ask your model to pose for you, smile, scrunch like a model does, but its caricature if it looks forced. A couple who loves each other can look estranged in a photo if there aren't as comfortable as they are. To some, it's capturing the light inside a person, not just the light that a camera captures an it all comes down to having that moment to enjoy. I personally like capturing characteristics I've never seen from a person before, moments of vulnerability, the expressions of the eyes, certain body languages, intense emotion or the lack of it.

Maybe from now on, you'll see me create more of portraits and model shoots. These fun photos are easy to achieve, simply put sulphur light into a darkened room, observe how it creates shadows in the skin, shoot, shoot the photo in many different angles. Its a good practice to understand how light and shadows play a vital role in photography. As for me, these photos are accompanied with happy memories, of friends having fun together while enjoying the night, swimming in a single lighted pool.

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Sunset Photos From Puerto Galera

2013-05-09T00:32:00.002-07:00

Golden Hour Sunset Photos From Puerto Galera

The White Beach is crowded; I've never seen this place saturated with this much guest. But then I've never been here at the height of summer. Finding an ideal spot to mount my tripod was a challenge alone, so as much as I wanted to avoid incorporating silhouette's and people in my frame, my intent was really to simply capture the Sunset as it rapidly descends. Zoooming in at 55mm with my kitlens, I still got some, but only on handheld shots and not much of foreground. Good thing the sky was a brilliant array of colors; otherwise I would not share these photos.

There is that moment that I decided to let it go and enjoy the last of the sun as me and my friends await the weekend beach party of Puerto Galera. So these are really just a few of the frames I managed to squeeze through from our session of beer drinking and sunset viewing. It feels like I didn't give justice to it, it was quick, like literally watching that beautiful orange sphere of the Sun as it moves down and below the line of the horizon. Yet another beautiful moment I'll remember by when I look at these photos.

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Photos Of Full Moon Luna

2013-04-29T02:54:00.000-07:00

Photos Of Full Moon Luna
Looking Up At Our Mistress In The Night Sky

A Perigree Full Moon also known as Supermoon graced the lunar sky of May 6, 2012 for Asia. It was fun anticipating the Phenomena, though at a normal eye we can't tell the difference, it was nice to know that our Moon Luna, is at its biggest and brightest on this night.

The Supermoon phenomena happens yearly, when the moon is closest to the earth on its orbit. While the moons monthly full moon cycle have different names given to them, they don't all apply to us in Asia that lives in the tropics, as is the names are based on season's that we dont really experience. In this year 2013, June thunder moon will be the Perigree full moon, while the apogee full moon or the moon at its smallest will be December's Long Night Moon. The difference can't be easily seen by human eyes. But its good to know the facts while looking up at our mistress in the sky.

There's only but a handful of occasions where I photograph the moon, but as always it is an exciting adventure whose result I can't predict untill I sit down in my computer and check the photos that came along. Though full moon happens every month, I don't always have the luxury to photograph them because I work at night. So it is always by luck when I get to enjoy the sight of Luna on a weekend, not only that, having a cloudy night sky makes the photos captured more dramatic and surreal. These photos were taken from the window of my apartment here in Makati City, the pictures aren't as good as I wanted them to be. The lights surrounding the moon is not as saturated, I have to blame it to the heavy smog the envelops this urbanised city, like an undesirable matter, smog takes away brilliant colors of light, making them dull and grey. One can't photograph starry starry night in this city, and that is something I have to contend with.

Using my only telephoto lens, it's difficult to incorporate views from my location as a foreground. I have to get to higher location for that. From time to time, the moon gets hidden in a heavy blanket of clouds while it soars higher up at every minute. It was time consuming just to adjust my tripod, and remove any vibrations from the camera. I just can't shake them all off, my close up photo of the moon showing its surface weren't as sharp as I wanted it to be. But just loooking at the night sky, makes me realise that what I'm doing is crazy, my neighbors who can see me from the window, crouching in front of my tripod would think me lunatic. Ironic, that the very root word of Lunatic is the name of the moon I'm photographing. Still, these photos aren't living to my expectations but they work well enough for me. Hope that you can enjoy them.

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