Livin high and takin it easy

Last Saturday, a group of people teamed up to hold the first Kikayism photoshoot showcasing our products: clothes, bags and accessories. Kikayism is a seller and reseller of clothes, accessories and bags. Kikayism also puts emphasis on products that are handcrafted or locally-made. Kikayism supports other entrepreneurs so consignments are accepted and collaborations are promoted.

My partner PJ Valenciano organized the event while our other partner, Nikki Valenzuela, manned our little booth at the Flea Market in the Grillery Cafe & Gallery at Guijo St., right beside Saguijo Cafe. We teamed up with Alex, a make-up artist who also let us use her house in Blue Ridge, and GlamBox, an airbrush cosmetics company.

The following photos are not strictly product shoots. Some of them are make-up shots to be included in the make-up artist’s portfolio. PJ called them “editorials”. Me, I think I need to read more on fashion and get subscriptions to fashion magazines. (Sige lang, gooo lang nang gooo!)

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My Mama was told that we should come at 4pm, but I had to take my nap and all that, so we left the house at 5pm and arrived at the exhibit some time before 6pm. There were still a lot of people. There was a registration booth where my Mama had to write her name down and this pretty lady behind the table gave me this Western shape pack of Silly Bandz.

I had a nice time running and walking around the exhibit.

There were a lot of people. Some girls were walking around with platters of food. One of them even offered me some chocolate cake squares but I was too busy with my silly bandz pack to get one. My Mama said no too because she was busy taking photos of me and running after me.

While walking around, there was this tall pretty lady with the beautiful smile who talked to me and showed me her silly bandz bracelet!

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This August 16-19, 2010, Everywhere We Shoot curates the Polaroid PoGo 2 exhibition at the SM Megamall Event Center Lobby.

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When I first saw Orosman at Zafira in 2008, I was utterly moved to tears. Though I was not a part of the production, it felt like I was, too.

I saw them through their movement rehearsals, their music rehearsals with Carol Bello, even the Cirque du Soleil DVD watching in Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan (THY) and I was with members of the production before, in-between and sometimes even after the rehearsals. For some reason, I was even at the cast party. (Yes, I had a tremendously huge amount of free time back then).

I must have seen the show in its entirety at least four times and never did it lose the magic for me. I was always blown away. I was always moved to tears no matter how many times I saw it. Orosman at Zafira of 2008 was one of the best plays I saw that year.

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I actually do not have the right to write about these photos. I know nothing about them except..

… they were taken sometime between 2001 and 2003 when I was still in college
… they were taken for my friend Lorie‘s B&W film class

We were hanging out at the U.P. Association of Biology Majors (ABM)‘s tambayan and she said she needed someone to take photos of for her class. I was not doing anything so I told her I’d do it. (At least that’s how I remember it)

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I just really had to write about what I thought of the photos from this particular play and my experience in taking them. This play was the so far, the hardest of all the plays to photograph, for the sole reason that it was too dark.

Nicco Manalo and Alex Dorola Yasuda

I was able to catch two shows and the first time, I was still fumbling around my camera’s settings (which was by then less than a week old). I did not get any good photos on that first time. Most of them are too dark to be of any use to me or to anyone else. I am surprised that the camera was still able to focus given that amount of light.

When I do post-processing, I actually just move the curves.  That is just basically what I do all the time. For this set however, I had to Despeckle too every now and then.

I thought about adjusting the Brightness, but I found out that adjusting the Brightness only made the photos more glaringly red – which was painful to the eyes. In the end, I opted not to.

As much as possible, I try to take photos of each cast member. More

I found this link off Twitter (where I actually am in more often than Facebook) and found it very helpful. I wanted to share it with you guys, in case you are interested. I have always said I am such a poor student of photography and only lately have I been reading on things. I am really grateful for blogs such as this one.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

I’ve gotten in the habit of spending 10 or 15 seconds checking my camera settings before I shoot. Of course, all cameras are different (as are shooting styles), so this is just my own personal checklist of things I look at. Yours may be different, but the point is that you should have that habit of checking the settings prior to releasing the shutter. Here’s a rundown of what I look at and how I typically set my camera.

1. Priority Mode
2. Shutter/F-number
3. Exposure Compensation
4. ISO speed
5. Drive mode
6. Autofocus Mode/Area
7. Meter mode
8. Color space
9. White balance
10. Battery power
11. File format
12. Remaining shots

These are just the things I quickly glance over before shooting. Other cameras and other photographers will have different needs and different checklists. But the point is that you should have some sort of camera setting checklist burned into your mind.

Click here to read more.

When I was given the task of documenting for the Virgin Lab Fest, I thought it was a good idea to read about theater photography. I have admitted some time ago that I was such a poor student of photography. I’ve never been into reading anything but I have changed my ways.

The following tips were taken from a Theater Photography blog:

“The first step is to try to view the entire performance prior to shooting it.  Of course this is not always possible, but if there are multiple rehearsals, try to sit through at least one before shooting the final dress rehearsal. If it is a sporting event, try to catch a game the day or week before the one you wish to shoot.”

This is the primary reason why I had to watch each set twice. Once to just view the More

One of my realizations the past week had something to do with one of my hobbies – photography. I think that I have not learned anything new in the last months or even years and have basically stagnated.

Yes, I used to be proud of the fact that I know shat about photography, don’t read on it and that I just somehow end up with “good” photos. These days, saying that is a disgrace.

I realize that photography, as in any hobby, must be studied. One must read what one can and when one has time.

Like any other hobby, say for example, philately (my, how geeky ), you just don’t keep on collecting stamps and mounting them up on albums. You read on how to properly remove stamps from envelopes and what are the best ways (what kind of album and what kind of mounting tape) to preserve them. You read on the history of stamps in general, history of stamps from a particular country (say, the Philippines) and say, the nature of commemorative and themed stamps as well as first day covers if you have any. You may also read on the value of your stamps in the market if that interests you.

http://www.philippinestamps.net/

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As a result of today’s horrifyingly huge failure at work, I have come to the realization that aside from a planner slash organizer, a daily check list of little goals to accomplish is now an absolute necessity.

I used to just go about my day doing whatever came to mind. I used to say I do not need a planner as there is nothing to write except:

• Do laundry
• Iron
• Clean bathroom
• Bathe the dog Ewok

…once a week, and

• Clean house
• Take care of baby

…day after day after day after day.

Now I’ve got “work” coming in from all directions, though mind you very few of them are actually “money-making”, and I find myself in need of some serious time management skills.

Indeed, failures are nothing but lessons we need to learn, for as a result of today’s failure, I realized a lot of things.
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