Take your Time, Check Your Gear and Shoot in Raw.

The photo above was part of the Intramuros photoshoot we had last year. Since it was my first time to shoot with a model and on location, the excitement took its toll and made me forget some essentials. I forgot to bring batteries for my flash, forgot to change my ISO setting from 6400 and I was shooting on JPEG mode. This resulted to poor quality and should I say, grainy photos. Luckily, we were shooting in a periodic and historically significant location that the photo grain kinda worked to my advantage and helped me achieve the vintage feel I was aiming for. This will not be the case all the time. Please do me a favor and do not make the same mistake I did. Always remember to always take your time, check your gear and shoot in RAW! :)

Selective Color Technique

Selective Color is one of my favorite techniques in digital photography. I just love how this draws the eye to the subject while the black and white background adds to the dramatic feel of the whole picture. While different photographers have different ways in achieving this look, I processed the photo below using only Adobe Camera Raw.

RE-Learning PS

I have been trying to learn how to edit images properly on Photoshop. I know some photographers would say a true photographers do not do post processing but I believe PP (post processing) is essential especially when doing portraits.

Above is a before and after of the shot I made with Marielle. Clearly, post processing has helped in hiding some skin imperfections as well correcting some mistakes I made when I shot the photo. I must admit, I am one of those who uses Orton effect to make my images more soft as well as make skin look smoother. The downside to this is color saturation tends to look over exposed and overall the photo loses sharpness (which is then compensated by increasing contrast). 

Both photos above came from the same shoot but the photo on the left was processed before I took some online tutorials. Photo on the right would still not pass as a magazine cover in my opinion but as how the old cliche goes, practice makes perfect. 

Light vs Dark

It's amazing how a different perspective in photo processing can further change the outcome of what you envisioned when you were taking the shot. Below are the light and dark versions of model Zshaneille Bayona's  photo taken in Intramuros.

 LIGHT

DARK

Both photos conveying a totally different message through play of colors and contrast. Personally, the DARK photo works for me better but some might be drawn more to the other. With a little persistence and creativity, a photo can be seen in thousands of views. Though it is important to have the right angles and expressions when you take the shot, a photo can never be confined by the elements present at that moment when you press the shutter. You just need to use your IMAGINATION.

Basket Man

Basket Man, a photo by RageDevil on Flickr.

@ Pahiyas 2011
Lucban, Quezon

Color Isolation + Paintography

This is an attempt to use both Isolation and Paintography techniques to achieve this "picture in a novel" type work of art.