Black and White Challenge

If you guys have Facebook friends that are into photography, rest assured you have encountered 'black and white challenge' on your news feed.  This has been an on going thing in social media sites.  

In case you haven't encountered this challenge yet, social friends poses a challenge to another friend to shoot and post 5 black and white images, 1 image each day on their profiles.  Images can come from a person's archives or may be shot on each day of the 5 day challenge, but the restriction is that the photo or the image has to be taken/captured by you.

So in line with this black and white challenge, I'm already past half way point of project 365, but so back-logged by tons of images saved in my wife's computer.  As I saw the first batch of challenges posted by friends I thought to myself, oh no...  Pretty soon, I'll be challenged next! And then it came true, in a matter of hours, I received a notification and I was challenged and my thoughts were, how in the world can I get this challenge done as I was already swamped with project 365 and pre-nup shoot(the day after challenge was issued)?!

My wife told me to focus on the prenup then I could think all I want after the shoot is done.  So we went on and did the shoot, and as I was getting the photos transferred from the camera to the computer, that's when it hit me. 

I'll just post the next 5 images as black and white. And here they are:

Day 1 -  Father daughter moment

Location shot: Tikling, Taytay, Rizal | Date shot: June 27, 2014 
Description: Stirring mixed emotions.  

My wife told me to stop by at Chowking, Tikling due to hunger pains.  So we went there and she bought us breakfast while I waited in the car.  While waiting, I saw a father and his daughter playing at first and moments later the child was crying so the father carried the kid, squatted and leaned on the wall while he smokes his cigarette.   A very rare moment to capture, due to the fact I rarely go out and shoot street photography.  I guess I got lucky here.

Day 2 - Day break

Location shot: 37th flr Unionbank Plaza,  Merlaco Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Date shot: June 28, 2014

Description: Literally capturing the light breaking through the sky. Not an ideal subject for a black and white photo but I thought of trying it out.

Last post I mentioned that I shoot during the mornings.  One of the many times that I've waited for the sun to come out.  In all the years that I've worked in the said building, I've watched and seen different sunrises.  This is the only time that I actually caught the rays of the sun going through the clouds.  I can really say that I got lucky with this shot. 

I just wish that I had a camera with higher dynamic range to capture more highlights and shadows without compromising the image.  I really think that I would've done more to get better results.  I'm not sure how or what, but eventually I'll discover it(if it is truth or fiction). For now I'll keep shooting with my old camera.

Day 3 - Dried fish

Location shot: At home, Antipolo, Rizal | Date shot: June 30, 2014 

Description: Dried fish AKA Tuyo is a one of the local delicacies here in the Philippines. I love going back to basics with simple and cheap subjects.

My 2nd favorite black and white shot to date, even if I'm not a fan of 'tuyo'.  I'm quite critical of this shot because the fact that I used the broken down kit lens (Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ISII - AF not working and IS maybe broken as well),  but it came out sharp enough for me. Originally shot in color but converting the image in black and white adds more texture and drama.  Who would've thought that black and white simplifies this shot and makes it better.

Day 4 - Relentless

Location shot: Home, Antipolo, Rizal

Date shot: June 29, 2014

Description: My wife mercilessly working on blog posts and other stuff.
Whenever we come home from work one of the things that my wife wife does is check for any blog traffic and activities, checks personal email, log in to social media sites, and write new content for our blog.  

I admire her passion in writing and blogging.  The blog wouldn't have become what it is without her.  I just give the viewers images, I write(sometimes), fix some layout issues, but she does it regularly.  She is the driving force between the blog and photography business.

I couldn't imagine managing this blog, writing and shooting all at the same time.Maybe in the future, but for now I'll just write about the stuff that I know about.  Let's see if I'll be able to write and blog more. 

Notice that the day 3 and day 4 dates?  They were not posted in the correct order so this mix up was completely a product of confusion, lack of sleep 

Day 5 - Shadow play

Location shot: Ever Gotesco, Ortigas Extension, Pasig

Date shot: July 1, 2014.

Description:  Shot this while waiting for my wife in Ever Gotesco Ortigas. People jogging around the mall as the sun rises...  I guess hard shadows, textures and contrast are the best way to go when shooting black and white.  

Other than these 5 shots that I've posted, I shot many other black and white images from the camera during the 5 day challenge(except for the prenup shoot).  I learned a few tricks along the way, so in hind sight I'd like to thank the person that started this black and white challenge and Enan Catalan for challenging me.  It was fun and very educational(for me) shooting and post processing black and white images.  

Hopefully, I'll be able to print these images and have them framed.  We'll have to wait and see if this comes to fruition. 

My Photographic Journey

There was a point in my life when I had a lot of free time in my hands. When I wasn't working I was hanging out with friends, playing video games or I was in front of the TV. I didn't know it back then but I was unhappy and I was going no where.

Where it all started Voltaire and me. June 27, 2010. Mediahub©

One weekend came, my good friend tagged me along for an event shoot, at first I was hesitant but what else would I be doing, right?  So I came along and was assigned to work on capturing the event via video, but I was told that they had to scrap some parts of the video because I chattered to much.

The following gig, I was assigned to shoot photos.  In my head I thought that it would be easy, but like John Snow, I was still green with Summer and I knew nothing, even if I had 'some experience as a college photojournalist.  It didn't prepare me for the reality of an event photographer's duty.  Long story short, that's when it all started.  I was bit by "the bug", I started asking questions, I started to read more about photography, I shot with the camera, whenever I could and itched for more chances to click on the camera.

Marcos Highway in the evening. December 2010

I learned at first with my friends' help.  Take note, that this was before I had my own camera.  I borrowed his camera whenever I can.  I started to familiarize myself with the Canon EOS system, it was the first camera system that I worked with.  I realized that some of the controls were intuitive and familiar with my dad's Canon Powershot A510, it was a digital point and shoot camera that had generic shooting modes, and creative shooting modes like P, Av, Tv, and M.  The downside of the A510 was it didn't have a manual focus mode on the lens barrel, typical for a point and shoot.  Take note, that there was an option to over-ride the focus of the camera by pressing the down button 2 times to go and manual focus, but it took a long time to get to the desired focusing distance when using the MF override on the said PNS (point and shoot) camera.  It was the camera that I used often when I was shooting for the college school publication back then.

Working with my friend's Canon 40d, it was a beast during its time.  A mid-sized DSLR,  10 megapixels, crop sensor, it can shoot continuously around 5-6 shots per second.   It was an overwhelming creature to control when I started out.  There were a lot of things I didn't know or understand about it, when I shoot with it.  Even If I was overwhelmed by the 40d, I somehow figured things out, eventually.

Shot by: Reyson Angeles. 2010

When I couldn't get enough of shooting, and I had to have my own DSLR, I finally convinced my father to help me on the purchase.  Convincing him wasn't easy, and he gave in.  Another tough task was done, but another awaits-which make and brand of DSLR I'd buy?  I had to do my research ask my friends' advice.  I was caught in the midst of Canon vs Nikon bout.  My office mates that were into photography back then, were Nikon shooters, on the while my high school friends, shoot with Canon.  It was the point of no return, this'll make or break my future.  I had to decide which brand, and then choose a suitable camera.  It took a long time to get to a decision but the Canon 500d was just too irresistible for me.

 July 10, 2010, I bought my camera in Jeptall, Robinsons Pioneer.  I had to hunt around with my dad since I couldn't complete the purchase without him. Take note that this model was elusive back then, but was able to get one.

Japanese Math Rock Band Tricot during the Manila leg of their March 2014 Asian Tour. 

Believe it or not, when the purchase was complete, I caught up with my friends that were going to another event shoot in SM Fairview. So I traveled from Pioneer to Fairview which was a tricky feat, cause it was the first time I did it. Bottom line was that I was happy with my purchase since then.

4 years and 3 months later, I still have my camera, still working, despite of cracks, dents and error 01 with the 50mm. I have it with me wherever I go.  I'm not the one to stick with a single brand, but with what my camera and I have been through, I'm satisfied. My only wish that it'll last me forever.

Project 365: Week 11

As the year went on, the shoots just kept coming but the words and writing the blog post, still took along while.  I usually write when I'm not doing anything, whether it is photo projects, post processing photos, and or shooting events.

April 5, 2013 - Playing with smoke 

This day, I was able to hang out in Mediahub, and the team.  This is my friends' office.  I tend to goof off with my friends, and their employees.  Right around this time, my wife bought me e-cigarette to help me stop smoking.  The people in Mediahub had a blast with my solution to stopping cigarette smoking.  We had so much fun that we shot a smoke photo portrait.  Using a Canon 500d, with a wireless trigger mounted, and the receiver connected to a Canon 580 EXII as primary flash, and wirelessly triggering a Canon 430 EXII.  the one behind the smoke is the master flash and the fill flash is coming from the left side.  This was my favorite shot during that night since most of the photos were weirdly lighted.

We went to cover Paramore Night 4 last April 6, 2013. FYI, my wife is a big fan of Paramore.  I was taken a back because the crowd were so lively.  Here's a link to more photos and blog post about that fated night just click here. 

April 6, 2013 - Hands in the air

Its pretty obvious that I favor the crowd when it comes to gigs like these, and hopefully we'll be there to cover more.  The photo below is also shot during the same event but shot past midnight so that makes it to my shot for April 7, 2013.

April 7, 2013 - for the crowd

Project 365: Week 8

March 14, 2013 - Tribute to childhood

Week 8 of Project 365 has been a challenge for me, since I couldn't keep on bringing my camera with me, and I think that I'm pretty predictable and repetitive of the shots that I've been doing.  So, as the project's objective is to improve and learn more about photography,  I plan to change it up.  And I thought how I'd make this 'change'?  

So I stared blank into the oblivion in thought and got to the conclusion to shoot with my iPhone.  I have already done it a few times so what the heck!

Here on the photo on the left is LEGO brick from one of my surviving toys from my bachelor days.  Like I said, I was repeating what I already done, which is shooting macro, with a reverse ringed kit lens on a Canon 500d, remotely triggered a flash positioned at around 11 o clock.



Again I'm still not taking down notes on strobe settings and not laying out the EXIF data since I'm writing from the office again.  Sorry.

March 15, 2013 - Old reliable

On the photo above, it's a pair of Nike Dunk that I have-for years now.  I'm happy to say that this pair has never seen any shoe repair man-yet, but it's still alive and pretty much kicking.  As you can see, flash is setup for this shot to highlight the shoe's right side edge to get that texture off of the rubber.  Shot with my ever so reliable 500d, with a kit lens.  Post processed in Lightroom 4 to get red tint into the mix.

March 16, 2013 - RDOT organizers

Ica was invited to attend Rest Day OT Jam Sessions 2.  It's a musical gig where in people who work in Business Processing Outsource do their thing.  Ica had a friend who performed on the said event but unfortunately we missed her band play, because I had to report to work.

Shot with the Canon 500d, with a 50mm f/1.8.  Nothing fancy pretty straight forward.  In post processing I bumped up the contrast and saturated the image a little bit.  I kind of liked B-Side bar in Makati, it has a nice vibe to it and it had lots of graffiti.  To bad I didn't shoot a panoramic photo of the place. All in all I had a blast shooting the gig.

Project 365 - Week 6

As I hit day 30, I was taken aback.  Wow... I've been shooting constantly everyday(more like every night).  The same worry that clouded my head from the day I started this project is that I would run out of ideas.  So days kept coming and so I kept shooting.  I'm still surprised that I'm still undertaking this despite of the pitiful work schedule that I have and still having a few things up my sleeves.

February 28, 2013 - Japanese Doll revisited

Sometime ago probably a year or two, I shot this Japanese doll from my wife's godmother.  It's one of our props for our wedding reception I believe.  I'm more impressed on how I did this shot here since I got more light compared to back then.

Forgot to mention that I borrowed a light box from my sister.  It's used to diffuse light coming from outside the box, which gives it a more like an even controlled lighting look used for product photographs.

Equipped with the 500d, flash trigger mounted to remotely fire off the flash coming from the upper left hand side of the doll.  I'm not sure if I'm using the Sigma 70-300mm or the Canon 50mm.  The doll was placed in the lightbox with black background.  I tried using the white background but I don't think that the color suits the subject.

Project 365: Week 1

One night, while I was in the office, I was looking for a camera app for my phone and I encountered Project365.  Then my head started asking questions, Can I really shoot 1 photo a day? Can I really take on this daily without forgetting?  Can I have add this to my daily routine?

During the start of the year, I had free time since I didn't have any scheduled shoots.  I felt that my photographic skills are deteriorating and I needed to keep on shooting no matter what the circumstances are.  

So I went ahead and downloaded the app 'Project 365', which forces me to shoot a photo a day for the whole year.  This app is tied to my mobile device(iPhone 4S) but I think it would be best to shoot with my camera(Canon 500d) in case I have it with me.  So my primary would be my DSLR, and secondary as my mobile device. 

January 24, 2013 #1 And It Begins

I started late for this side project (January 24, 2013).

#1 was shot with my iPhone.  The image on the right was shot on the night of 1/24/2013, same as the screenshot of the Project 365 app, bottom right is a self portrait shot 1/15/2013.  I put all of them together using Picsart app.  Images on the right were edited with Snapseed.

I like starting of with a collage as it puts together multiple shots. 

January 25, 2013 - #2 Safety and Security

At work, there are lockers that always mocked me to shoot them.  I finally had the chance to shoot it, since no one was around, and the security guard wasn't looking(oh yes, mobile phones and cameras are not allowed in the office). Shot with iPhone edited with Snapseed.