Tarsier

Ambient Light Shooting

I love shooting with natural lighting. :)


1/60, F3.5 at ISO800
Hand held
Light coming from the spotlight on the floor.

Model and Mug

My new favorite model.
Depth, colors, catchlights in the eye. This is a very good learning tool.


1/125, F8, ISO100
Shot inside a DIY mini studio
Felt paper background
Flash triggered remotely cam left
White paper as reflector on cam left


Canon 10th year anniversary mug. I won this during the raffle at the Canon Photomarathon.
Where's the red ring? :D


1/125, F8, ISO100
Shot inside a DIY mini studio
Felt paper background
Flash triggered remotely cam right
White paper as reflector on cam left

Canon Photomarathon

It was a tiring day but fun. About 350 photographers scattered around the Makati business district in the Philippines trying to catch a moment, painted in our imagination, trying to depict the themed assignments given to us.

Even though we have a permit to shoot at the vicinity, we were still harassed by the guards while trying to get some photographs.

A note to the guards and enforcers: A camera is not a threat to national security. Publicly visible cameras are a proven deterrent to crime. However, public safety can be threatened when security personnel harass photographers instead of doing their jobs. (quote by: Curtis N)

Sky scrapers and gadgets

Gimik, hangout and coffee

Nikon and Nikon Fanboys

Nikon Zealots: Get the nikon D50 instead of the canon 350D, "It feels better in your hands cause it's bigger."
Nikon: (came out with the D40 which is about the same size as the Canon 400D i.e. small!)

Nikon Zealots: You don't need more megapixels, it will only introduce noise (D40 is only 6MP)
Nikon: (came out with the D40X which is 10MP!)

Nikon Zealots: You don't need full frame digital camera.
Nikon: (came out with with the D3 which is full frame!)


So the next time these guys tries to justify a lack of feature, you know that it simply means the brand lacks the feature.

Gear Lust

Beware of gear lust! When I get hooked into something, I always strive to be better than average. I always put in extra effort. And if it's not enough to be better, I compensate with better gear.

Unfortunately, extra gear means money. And right now, I'm tight on budget. I couldn't sleep knowing the fact that I need extra money to get better lens for my dSLR. I'm not even thinking of the brand name pro grade lens, I'm just looking at the 3rd party alternatives.

Everytime I pass by the camera shops, I just drool over the lenses on display.

So if you're not ready to throw down at least a hundred thousand pesos on gear, don't buy a dSLR. Because, you'll surely want that upgrade.

Must resist!

EOS 40D Launch

We went to the local launching of the Canon EOS40D. Nice singing group who performed. Nice models for the photo session. There was even a couple of strobes with umbrella on each of the model's setup. As compared to the 400D launch last year, there were more people who brought their cameras along. It was difficult to get a good shot. There were dozens contending for the model's attention. Having a puny camera and lens didn't help my cause.

I won a jacket on the trivia session. Nice embroidery at the front. Big print at the back which is wispy, making it look cheaply done. The back print pull down the coolness factor of the jacket by 10 notches. Ouch!

I also got a shirt which is cool though. It has a print that says "I like to shoot people... with my EOS".


Shoot setup:
Ambient light, nifty fifty lens and ISO 1600.








Shoot setup:
Strobe, Kit lens, ISO 100.

Gold Diggin'

Look what we've found along with the heaps of junk around the house ...



A flash. Now I have extra light for my strobist setup. :)


Now if I only know what those numbers mean. :D



A point and shoot film camera with hotshoe.

Shoot setup:
Flash on camera right. Shooting through tracing paper.
White felt paper as reflector on camera left.
Felt paper background.

430ex flash manual settings

I'm trying to figure out how to use the flash in manual for some lighting tricks.




430EX does not go down lower than 1/64 on manual. 50mm, F1.8 @ ISO1600


But it goes lower than 1/64 power when on ETTL mode. 50mm, F1.8 @ ISO1600

Ebay wireless flash trigger

Finally, my ebay wireless trigger arrived. I immediately went to the post office to pick the item up. When I got home, I installed the battery on the receiver and tested the setup.

The first test didn't set-off the 430EX flash. I pressed the test button. Still no flash. Oops! I forgot to turn on the receiver unit.

Tested it again. Still no flash. I pressed the test button, this time the flash fired.

I removed the transmitter and mounted it the other way. It's now sticking out on the backside that it touched my forehead when I peeked through the viewfinder. Still no flash.

Re-mounted the transmitter the right way and tightened the screw a bit more. Success! I mean the flash fired. But the image was almost pure white. The flash was set to 1/4 power.

I lowered the flash output to 1/32. Flash is not within line of sight.

I changed the setting of the shutter to 1/200. The image was half black.
I decreased the shutter speed to 1/80. The image now looks ok.
But sometimes the flash is totally out of sync or sometimes the flash don't fire at all.


In conclusion, the ebay wireless flash trigger is a really cheap and fancy way to get your feet wet in off-camera flashing. But note that it is unreliable and should not be used for professional work. You're probably better off using a wired setup or get the more expensive pocket wizard.

MPULSE bowling tournament

MPULSE bowling group


Johnny Sy attempts a perfect game!

The crowd, as Johnny misses!

Trinoma

First time we visited Trinoma last sat, 21 July, 07.

It is a nice place. Highly recommended if you love malling. :)

Proj 52 - Door

Week 3

1 esplanade

We've had an event at 1esplanade. They have nice rooms there. :)

Microsoft Kaakbay Entertainment