My First Real Model Shoot

I experienced my first model shoot last Saturday. I didn't realize that it would be enjoyable. I really learned a lot and now I am confident that I can wing it when another opportunity comes.

Why did I say my first real shoot? Well, I joined a model shoot before but nobody taught me anything because everybody was busy trying to get their own shots. This time however, it was different. There were professional photographers around who readily helped us (especially me!) with camera settings. Also, everything was so well-organized such that even if each of us were only given 3 minutes each to shoot a model, we were all able to take good photos. It was really fun!

So today, I am sharing one of my model shots.   Ala - 5th Element. What do you think?

Photowalk

Last Saturday, we (our camera club) joined Scott Kelby's 2nd Worldwide Photowalk. For those of you who are not familiar with the photowalk....This is an activity participated in by photographers from all over the world. You need to register your site for the walk and invite as many as 50 photographers to participate in the walk. The idea is to shoot anything that you encounter during your 2-hour walk around your site and at the end of 2 hours all of you meet at a designated place wherein you share the photos you took and discuss and bond with fellow photographers. Then each photographer can upload to Scott Kelby's site a maximum of 2 photos that can compete for prizes with the photos from other photographers from around the world.

Our site was Antipolo City. We were lucky that there was an activity going on at the park last Saturday so we were able to take photos of dancers as well as other things, people and places around the area. There are so many interesting things and places in Antipolo but we could not cover all of them. The photowalk was limited to only 2 hours.

Anyway, we had fun and we really enjoyed the activity even if it rained later.

body langauage3

I love this photo of the bond between my daughter and the puppy. Just look at how the puppy is so trusting and full of adoration as my daughter held its paw. What do you think?

body language2

We were on a photo shoot at a park once and we chanced upon this pair beautifully framed by the window in an abandoned tower. Their body language is so beautiful and perfect, I don't even need to write words to describe it. All of us immediately took out our camera and started shooting. They never seemed to notice. They were oblivious to what was going on around them.

You know what, we were shooting around the park for about 3 hours and when we ended, the pair was still in exactly the same position as when we first chanced upon them. Talk about everlasting love or endurance or whatever.

body language

I follow a website that has monthly photo contests on themes that are challenging. Although I don't join the contests regularly, I always learn from the photos of winners.

Last month, the theme was "body language" - supposedly photos that tell something using any body part except the face.

Well, I found that challenging. I did not have time to go shooting though so I just went over my photo files and selected some photos that I thought would fit the theme. We were limited to only one photo though so I had a hard time deciding which to send.

Anyway, I'm sharing today the entry that I sent. Sad to say, I did not win. Still, can you give a title to this photo? I will not tell you what I title I gave it. I'll just tell you another time.

patterns

In my other blog, http://whatilikeabout-anything.blogspot.com/, I talked about patterns as one of the things I like. So I thought of repeating here what I wrote there. I still don't know how to link one blog with another, that's why.

Patterns are exciting subjects in photography. I'm thinking that I might do a series about patterns in the next few posts.

For today however, here is what I wrote in my other blog...

One of the many things I look for when I compose my shots during photography is to look for patterns. So when I thought about "P" as my topic for today, I immediately thought of patterns.

We find patterns everywhere... in things at home, in the office, in school, in nature.

Just look at how crayons are packed or how bottles are stacked. Take a look at the leaves, or the flowers, or the stones. Observe the things in your closet, or your bag, or your desk. You will find patterns there, everywhere.

The challenge in photography is to present these patterns in such a way that they create pleasing pictures. This is the challenge that always excites me. That's why I love taking pictures.

a day in the farm

When we were in the province last time, we visited my mom's farm. My daughter, Smarla, enjoyed the day by having pictures with the animals there. She carried in her arms a newly born goat and also tried to catch some chickens.

Here, she is posing with "Babe" (how original!), the pig.

Flying baby

One of the things I love doing when in a public place like Boracay is to watch what other folks are doing and to capture some interesting shots. I love taking "stalker shots" as I call them.

Well, the photo I am sharing today is about a baby being repeatedly thrown up the air by the father. I took a series of shots of the activity. I'm certainly glad that I had my zoom lens with me that day. Although I could not hear them from where I was, I'm sure the baby was squealing with delight or fright then. There was even a point when both father and mother were throwing their baby like a ball between them. Should I say "poor baby" or "lucky baby"? I really wonder if a baby remembers such activity with "delight" or with "fright"?

Do you remember being thrown up in the air at all?

twilight jump

I never could get a good jump picture. Something always comes out blurred. I just could not get the right aperture, exposure and shutter speed combination. However, when I went home to the province last time, I tried once more to capture a jump shot with the twilight as background. My daughter, sister, brother and brother-in-law were my willing models. We were at the same pier that I featured in a previous post.

Just to make sure that nothing comes out blurred, I used the sports mode of my camera and finally captured a perfect shot. What do you think?

fire dancing

Hello, I just got back from my short break late last night. I actually visited my favorite island, Boracay, and I also visited my mom.

One of the activities that usually takes place at night in Boracay is fire dancing at the beach. The performer holds in both hands a "poi" which is a pair of chain which has lighted wicks at the other end. He/she then swings around this pair of chain as he/she dances to the rhythm of drums and music.

During daytime, the performers actually willingly teach any interested group the fundamentals of fire dancing. I tried my hand at this but could not synchronize the movements of my right and left hands. Ha ha. We did not use actual fire of course. We just used strips of cloth attached to chains.

add people in your landscape photo

Have you ever noticed how adding people to a landscape (or seascape, or airscape) photo makes it more interesting?

I mentioned this in a previous post last November 14 wherein I talked about my "stalker shots". http://aphotoaday-saanva.blogspot.com/2008/11/stalker-shot.html

Well, this photo that I'm sharing today shows this. Just imagine how this photo would appear without the person in the picture. It would just be another waterfalls picture, right? Adding the person however made it more interesting. Now, you can start asking some questions like: "What is that person doing there? Is he/she exploring or planning something? suicide maybe? or is he/she looking for some rare specimens? So, there seems to be a ledge there?..."

See what I mean? Adding the person can make us ask questions and maybe take a second look at the picture.

Of course we have to be careful that the person we add to the picture does not distract from the whole scene that we want to take a picture of.

Oh by the way, the person in the picture is a 'she'. She is a friend and fellow photographer who went up the falls to explore more angles for a shot.

have you ever tried street dancing?

Have you ever tried street dancing? If you haven't, I suggest that you do. One good way to do that is to join the Ati-atihan festival which is being celebrated every 3rd Sunday of January here in the Philippines. The celebration actually lasts for about a week and culminates on the 3rd Sunday of January. The eve and the final day are the best ones to join.

In yesterday's post, I mentioned the origin as well as the highlights of this festival.

It has been years since I last joined this festival so I had the time of my life when I joined last weekend. I did not have time to put on a costume and some paint on my face though. Still, I had fun dancing.

saying hello without goodbye

Hello,
I was out for a week but was not able to say goodbye. Well, nobody seems to have noticed because I did not receive any inquiry. Anyway, I had to attend to some family matters in the province and didn't have a chance to say goodbye before I left.

I'm back today and I wish to share with you one of the photos I took while I was in the province. I was lucky my trip happened to coincide with the Ati-atihan festival there.

The festival is like a mardi gras but with a religious flavor. People paint their faces black, wear colorful tribal costumes, and dance in the streets while carrying statues of the Child Jesus.

The activity commemorates the agreement of peace between the Christians (Spaniards) and the original natives called Atis or Aetas (dark-skinned people). The Christians gave a replica of the Child Jesus (Sto. Nino)to the natives while the latter gave food to the Christians.

Anybody can join in the festivities. The frenzied beat of the drums usually makes even timid souls forget about inhibitions and just join in the fun. Somebody once commented that the festival gives license to anybody to go crazy and nobody will mind (as long as you don't hurt yourself or anybody else in the process). So the festival is a good stress reliever.

innocents' day

Since today is "innocents' day" I thought it's a good idea to share a child's photo.

This is the newborn child of our neighbor and that's her sister giving her a kiss. Aren't they sweet? Children and babies especially are always photogenic so there is no problem looking for a good angle.

I just saw them outside our gate as the mother was giving the baby a sunbath so I requested to take their picture.

By the way, I used Picassa in giving a soft focus effect on the photo.

I'll catch the sun

I thought that today I'll take a break from all the reds and greens and share with you another sunset picture.

This is taken from my hometown and that's my daughter acting as my model. I asked her to pose as if she is holding the sun in her hands. The effect is rather nice, don't you think so?

The title comes from the poem/song of Rod Mckuen.
"I’ll catch the sun
and never give it back again
I’ll catch the sun
and keep it for my own.

And in a world where no one understands
I’ll take my outstretched hand
and offer it to anyone
who comes along and tells me
he’s in need of love
in need of hope
or maybe just a friend.

Perhaps, in time
I’ll even share my sun
with that new anyone
to whom I gave my hand.

Perhaps, in time
I’ll even share my sun
with that new anyone
to whom I gave my hand."

my first OTS

I was just a month old in my club when I experienced my first OTS. I did not even know what an OTS was then, but I kind of just figured out what it means based on how everybody was talking about it. So I learned that it stands for “on the spot” shoot or painting or anything on the spot.

Anyway, my first OTS was a festival. I have heard of the festival before and I learned that one of our club members won the top prize photo of the festival the year before. Everyone was excited because we were hoping to duplicate what happened the year before. Since our club had a big delegation, we decided to break up into groups with each group having a senior member as guide. I was lucky to be assigned under the guidance of last year’s winner.

We got to the festival site early so we were able to take some shots as the participants prepared and rehearsed their numbers. I have never taken festival photos before and even if I prepared by reading on the best camera settings for shooting festivals, I still had to fiddle around with my camera buttons because there was so much movement. I also got separated from our guide and I did not have anybody to consult with. We found each other later though when it started to rain and we had to scamper for cover.

The rain poured real hard as several of us tightly squeezed together under a very small tent. We got wet anyway but we kept our cameras dry by covering them with plastic bags.

When it seemed that the rain was not going to stop for a while, some participants started getting impatient and they started dancing even in the rain. Since it was hard to keep on changing my camera settings, I just set it in burst and P mode and kept on shooting even if I could not see anything in the rain. Well, I’m glad I did that because when I later reviewed the shots I made I still came up with some good ones. And my favorite shot is the one I share today. I also discovered a very apt quotation for the photo. So here it is, it's titled "rain dance".

By the way, this photo won 2nd prize in our club photo contest for that festival. So getting wet was all worth it.

another stalker shot

I have taken so many "stalker shots" but its hard to publish them in a public site because a model release is needed especially if the faces are recognizable. However, I could not resist sharing this shot today. I so love the ingenuity of this group as they shared one life saver. They're having fun aren't they?

shooting the shooter

Since my first photo shoot with my camera club, I have joined several others and one of my favorite activities during these shoots is to take photos of the shooters. I have now a collection of these shots but I’ve only shown a few of them to my fellow shooters. The photo that I am sharing today is one of those shots.

You can see that our shooter here is wearing a raincoat. Well, every time we go on a shoot, we always come prepared for any eventuality. Rain is always one of the possibilities that can happen. It started raining real hard after I took this picture. We actually had to pack up and ran for cover. If anybody (who did not understand photography) saw us at that time, he/she would have wondered why we were using the plastic bags and wraps to cover our equipment rather our bodies.

stalker shot

I hardly ever take pictures of people except of those that I know. I am rather shy of approaching people and asking if I can take their picture. However, ever since my son gave me a zoom lens, I have started focusing on people too. I would use my camera from afar and then just zoom in on people so they never really know that I am taking their picture. I call photos taken this way as my “stalker shots.”

Well, I don’t really stalk people, not paparazzi style. But I do include them in some of my photos now. I discovered that some scenes look even better if there are some people included in the shot. Somehow the presence of people makes them more interesting. I also discovered that some people actually love to have their picture taken. Every time they see someone with a camera, they will always say “picture, picture” and will even scramble around and pose for the photo. Sometimes this can be distracting to the scene that I want to shot. However, what I usually do when this happens is, I oblige and take a few shots of them, then, I make a signal that I also would like to take a photo without them around. This way, we end up both happy.

Anyway, what I am sharing today is one of my “stalker shots.” I just wanted a picture of the beach then. However, I saw a pair playing frisbee, so I changed my angle and included one of them in my photo. Now the beach scene looks more alive. Don't you agree?