After a Long Dull Haul of no Posting

I haven't been posting any photos lately because of the busyness of things going on in my life.. which is good :D

I finished a shoot last week for a water company, and in between shoots I was playing around with a 60mm micro lens.

Oxy Drops

More to come :D

Karlo de Leon

Whats in Store for 2009?

Its early for a 2009 new year's resolution nor for an update of things that happened during 2008, but I received a 2009 planner from Free Speech Publications last week for comparison with the Starbucks planner. It's a contest really but im just posting since it wouldn't be fair that I didn't do my part and simply got a free planner instead.. so here it goes.

Since this is a photography blog, let me relate both planners to photography as much as I can, even though we all know im exerting too much effort doing so. Haha!

For all intensive purposes, ill be using the 2008 planner from Starbucks to compare it with the FreeSpeech planner.

Lets talk about the name:

Free Speech's planner is called the "This Planner Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009" planner and Starbucks' is called "Starbucks Coffee 2008". I think "This Planner Will Actually Change Your Life!!! 2009" is too long a name and I hope it really says what it does. Otherwise, it may prove to be a disappointment. This is actually the reason why I took on this challenge. I wanted to see what this planner had to offer that It would claim such a name. With the Starbucks planner, which is technically free after X number of cups of coffee, you just get it as incentive for buying your favorite drink and no other promises included.

I like Starbuck's (SB) cover more than FreeSpeech's(FS). My sister thinks FreeSpeech's looks like its just a guy's journal, and in truth, as I see it,m only a few men journal.. I hardly ever. I use one for notes and checking appointments. Most often I forget that I have one.

I love SB's penholder. FS Doesnt have one. I think for one its important to have one since its easy to lose a pen, specially for guys. SB's planner is ringbound, bookbound for FS.

Alright, what I see in FS that SB doesnt have are the following: Area for emergency numbers, address book, and other important numbers. Thats a small plus for FS. Its nice that they have a monthly expenses list, but the rest of the additionals like World Holidays and Dates, Trivial Stuff, Suggestions on things to do., Quarterly checkups.. these are nice to have, im not sure though if it will actually change my life though. What's the goal anyway? What change are we looking at? If I had a wishlist, that would include having a goals chart and tracking progress. That may be something too. As for SB, its a journal, and its nice. Either way, ill carry one that wouldnt cost me any, in fact, I had 2 SB planners and I gave both away :D but ill probabaly carry one in 2009 for my notes, not really to journal on it.

By the way, for FS, take out the mood chart thing and flags of the world, my sister thinks it's a waste of space.

Ok, I admit. I never really talked about photography yet, so here's the photography part: I think the Starbucks planner looks better on photo because of the textured leather cover, the paper used, and rustic inside look :D

Karlo de Leon

It Has Ended

The last day of our Low Light Photography class has just ended and although I had some quirks and stuff that I would so want to change, based on the student's final photos, I could say that the class was a success. Hopefully I would be able to post a photo or two of the participant's works here. Also, we might have another low light photography class due next year. Yes folks, next year. The last official Photoworks class this year maybe the Photoworks: The Travel Photographer class happening this November 7, 9, and 12. We might be doing something this December though as Christmas is fast approaching. I took a few shots during the day 3 out of town trip. Nothing fancy really. Just one of those quick snapshots before I do my rounds with each participant

Majority Wins?

By the way, next year, we're cooking up something really special. Its more than just another dish, lets just say its a new addition still with the old favorites.. and probably a new deli :D So be excited 'coz I am :D

Alright
Thats it :D

Karlo de Leon

Photoworks: Low Light Photography

I apologize for not being able to post for days now. Ive been very busy doing stuff :D Busy is good.

In any case, if youre a Photoworks grad. Id like to invite you to attend our Low Light Photography class that will happen next week starting tuesday October 7 at 730PM.

For more details, visit the Photoworks website at www.photoworksacademy.com

Thanks and I hope to see you this Tuesday

Karlo de Leon

My Second Attempt

Category: Free Shooting

Genre: Fine Art
Skill Level: Any

Im getting the hang of my new digital pinhole camera. I also discovered how dirty my sensor is after doing this.

Here's a photo I took today.

Behind Bars

Shot at 10 seconds, ISO 400. Focal length unknown. Im thinking since I dont have a lens, it must be 24mm based on sensor size. Aperture is unknown but I'm sure it's smaller than F/88. This frame was taken under dark overcast shadows since it was raining quite hard. I had to do a lot of cleaning up with photoshop due to the itsy bitsy things hanging around my sensor. Everything else is universally edited.

It's hard to imagine doing this inially with a film pinhole camera because I had to calculate for the proper EV and assume that I am 9 to 12 stops away from EV0. For those who don't understand what I'm talking about, don't mind me. Of course, theres a lot of motion blur involved in this shot because the normal output I get is already a blurred image even if I use a tripod.

Karlo de Leon

My Digital Pinhole Camera

Category: Photo Challenge and Just Having Fun
Genre: Light Painting. Fine Art
Skill Level: Any

A few days ago, some crazy man by the name of Leo Castillo, filmmaker, photographer, and the legendary instructor of Photoworks, prodded me to make a pinhole camera and have the college students try it out, and so the crazier me thought that it was a brilliant idea. That night, when I got home, I took my trusty Nikon D70 and turned it into a digital pinhole camera, also suggested by the same brilliant man.

I was getting blurred shots though without any way to adjust for focus without making things more complicated. That's going to be too much of an effort so I just made use of what I had and will just attempt to create fine art photos. My only other problem was that my shots were also dirty and thus the pinhole needed a bit of cleaning. I was able to fix that problem though by making the hole smaller by using a tin foil over the original hole I made.

Here's my first attempt at fine art photography using a digital pinhole camera

Red Stained Tracks

Shot details: 14 seconds, ISO 1600, aperture and focal length unknown. Guess the light source =D

How did I do?

Karlo de Leon

A Different Kind of Feather

If you believe in God's miracles, signs and wonders, then this is one wonder that you might want to see too. I took this photo yesterday after our Morning Church service.

A-Feather

It is a photo of a feather with a very fine backbone ( I dont know what you call the middle part of a feather), white base color and the top part is, yes, that's Gold, and it shines like one too, and no, it is not an artificial feather. Its au naturale.

If you want the story behind it, our senior pastor, Ptr. Hiram Pangilinan of Church so Blessed is launching a book soon and you'll find the story there.

Karlo de Leon

God's Touch

I joined Ptr. Hiram and the rest iof the gang the other day to Pampanga for the dedication of Dr. Angie's (of Church So Blessed Angeles) clinic. She's a Pediatrician.

There we met a little boy named Nael (Im not sure if I spelled his name correctly) and her parents (They all look so cute together as they arrived with the same pattern of clothing, in Filipino - "terno"). Here's a photo when Nael and her mom was being prayed for healing:

Prayover

From those from my church - Hulaan nyo kaninong kamay yan. :D

I had limited space to shoot so I had to make use of what I had and adjusted as I could. This is the best I could do compositionally with a 70mm. In times like this, you just do your best as much as you can.

Photography can be anything from snapshots to paid commercial advertising. I pray that I am able to glofiry God through my photography and bless others, whichever of these it may be.

Karlo de Leon
Phographer Extrordinaire

New Studio in Paranaque

Hello Folks,

I promised my good friend and photographer, Macky Sy, that I' d promote their new studio in Paranaque. Its very very affordable at Php300 an hour. Studio hours are from 9am to 6pm. Same rate beyond operating hours but you have to reserve one week before.

Here's the photo of the studio. This was taken by Macky.


The studio is equipped with two Rimelite Digi 600ws, one Rimelite 400ws, two Falcon eyes 100ws, softboxes, an octagonal box, boom, lightstands and six backdrops with the following colors - black,red,gree,white,yellow, gray.

You may contact Macky @ 09178010119 or Chi Busque at landline 7010634

The studio's address is at Unit #7, JDP Building, Dona Soledad, Better Living Bicutan Paranaque

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Some Old Photo

I know I said I'll be posting new photos, but I was cleaning my computer's back up drive to clear up some disk space and came across some photos I took way back when I knew that photography can be a lucrative profession. I'm posting one right now. If you know how to take out the keys on a keyboard, then you've probably done something like this before. I used an Ericsson K750i for this shot. Shooting with a mobile phone camera was my idea of photography back then. Now I understand that it doesn't really matter what camera you use :D

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Portrait for Mona

Category: Photo Shoot
Genre: Portraiture
Skill Level: Any

I did a portrait shoot for Mona today. It's for her solo album. She's a singer and has a really nice voice. I had a chance to sing with her one time together with a whole bunch of people during one party. She used to be part of the San Miguel Choir when it still existed. She now has her own group (I forgot the name, sorry :D ) and she also sings for weddings. So for those who need singers for weddings, Mona and her group is a great choice :D Here's a sample of what's probably going to be the cover photo. I did something wrong here though so I might look for a similar photo.

Mona

Yes, this was photoshopped for the dreamy effect but the raw file looks nice as it is. Thanks MeAnne (Mona's best friend) for holding the reflector and board for us :D. I should get an assistant :D

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Tired Busy Blessed

Good thing I didn't promise to post daily. I did say that as much as I could, I will. Life has been tiring and busy for me these days. That's a good situation really. I used to think being busy was a sign of stress, now its really just a big blessing.

Its raining outside and i was thinking of shooting some birds under the rain. Unfortunately, as soon as I got out, the birds were gone. I didn't have enough time to shoot because I have lots to do so I ended up shooting one of the house posts. One of the most boring subjects one could ever think of. But hey, in evey subject, theres something bound to be revealed.

Revelations of a Post

And so there we go folks. I have to leave for a meeting. Till next time.

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Crazy Driver

No we're not talking about sharpness today. Lets take a break from the lessons for a few days :D

Have you ever tried driving while taking photos? If ever you decide to do that, make sure to keep both eyes open - one on the road and one on the viewfinder. You wouldn't want other people taking photos of you because you caused an accident, right? Better yet, don't even try it. I'm just crazy to try out things.

I did my rounds today. I was at school for a teacher's orientation since classes will be starting next week, then I had other errands to take care of after. Going home on a Saturday afternoon, I find myself caught in the middle of traffic along Commonwealth Ave. This usually happens on a friday night but not on a Saturday afternoon, when most people should either be at a Mall or at home having siesta. Realizing that the traffic wouldn't budge that much and I was at the verge of getting bored from nothingness, I took out my camera and started snapping away, my right hand at the trigger and my left on the steering wheel. Good thing my car is automatic. None-the-less it was still a difficult feat, specially that the traffic started to flow faster right after I took my first frame. So that proved to be a little of an extra challenge.

So here's a photo of the traffic, at least that's the view from where I was.

Traffic To Fairview

When I got past the next walkway or overpass, traffic started to flow smoothly, I didn't stop shooting after that though.

What followed was a series of useless shots. I was just playing around really. Before the last turn from the main street, I saw this usual jeepney scenario and decided to take a snap. If there weren't any cars behind me, I would have stopped for better framing but this is the best I could do with one hand.

Sabit

I like this photo because It inspires me to make a book about Filipinos. Wait for that one. Ill probably start shooting next month or right after I get my trip schedules set for the recent project I just got.

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Photo Lesson 5: Soft Sharp and Blurred

Category: Photo Lesson
Topic: Sharpness
Genre: Any
Skill Level: Any

Let's talk about sharpness.

Sharpness is defined as the clarity of detail in a photo. If you're new to photography, you probably only know two types of sharpness - sharp and blurred. Let me introduce sharpness by understanding the different levels of sharpness.

In a photography, the area of sharpness is called Depth of Field.

The levels of sharpness are arranged from not sharp to very sharp.

Blurred - the clarity of detail is lost or unacceptable. In most cases, the detail can no longer be recognized.

Nyarp - Don't even attempt to search for the definition of this term elsewhere. I learned this from Richard Larrios and Macky Sy. It's a term we use ridicule our photos that look sharp when viewed normally using your digital camera's LCD at first look but when you look really closely and zoom in or when you look at the photo several times, the blur is unacceptable.

Soft - there is a fair level clarity of detail. It is not very sharp but the detail is still acceptable.

Sharp - there is superior clarity of detail on the intended focus area.

Angela

This is Angela. She was one of our models during the Fashionography event in Baguio. She's a very young model. But we're not here to talk about her. We're here to talk about sharpness.

Before a photo is taken, the photographer chooses which area to focus on. This area is simply called the focus area. The level of acceptability when it comes to sharpness is determined by how sharp the focus area is after taking the shot. Before this photo of Angela was taken, the focus area I chose was Angela's left eye (right eye on the frame) and as you can see, that is the sharpest part of the photo.

We'll continue talking about sharpness tomorrow and how we can achieve each level within DOP. Nothing fancy :D

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

Fashionography on Baguio Day

Category: Workshop Shots
Genre: Portraiture
Skill Level: Any

I just woke up a few hours ago after a long tiring but very happy and blessed weekend. Yes, it was a monday yesterday but it still seemed like part of a weekend since it was Baguio day and I was there. No, I wasn't there for the city celebrations, but I did celebrate, Yes - celebrate God's goodness in my life that is :D

I gave an hour and a half talk on model photography at the Fashionography event there and it really felt good sharing my heart and some things I know about my trade. No, I am not a fashion photographer and I dont' really intend to be one. I'd do it as a hobby but that's it. I'm sticking to food and travel. So why give a talk on model photography if I shoot food and travel? Because my talk wasn't specific to fashion photography in the first place. In truth, it didn't really matter to anyone there I think. Again, I'm just happy to share.

Anyway, it was a fun-filled day. During the latter part of the event, while most people were crazily involved in a studio shooting spree, I was taking portraits of some of the aspiring models on the side.

Here's one:

Thea

This is Thea, she's an aspiring model. She poses well too. Yes, this photo is posted here with her permission.

(Hi Thea, if at any time you would like to take this photo out, then let me know.)

Shot at f/1.8, 1/50th of a second 85mm. ISO 640. I didn't get this photo as sharp because the light from the window, which was my key light, wasn't enough because it gloomy and slightly raining, so this one is kinda soft. Again, key light was from the window, fill light from a reflector on her right side and no edge light. Postprocessing involved a bit of cropping and some exposure adjustments. I made some adjustments on the eyes also so it would be a bit sharper to look at.

This isn't my best photo from the set ,but hey, I want to post this one :D I think i'll buy a portrait lens just for fun :D possibly an 85 micro.

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire

I Resign!

RESIGNATION

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old again. I want to go to McDonald's and think it's a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple, when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair.
That everyone is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is possible.
I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again.
I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So . . . here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.
And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause........

....."Tag! You're it."

***

This is probably one of the best forwarded emails I have ever received. and no this isn't my official post for the day. I'm just having fun :D

Karlo de Leon
Photographer Extrordinaire