Strobox.com: A awesome site to learn more about lighting

My senior art director told me about this wonderful website that definitely takes way the confusion from lighting modifiers and setups which is somewhat similar to Virtual Lighting Studio. Enter Strobox.com a nice and free community-based website that allows you to share your photographs with their corresponding lighting diagrams. You can also create lighting diagrams in the website which you can export as either jpg or png file formats.

Just check some boxes and search then you are all set.

Nifty lighting diagram there.

One nice thing about strobox is that they have a iOS app which you can definitely download for free. The app actually lets you make your lighting diagram in png format which you can share with anyone. 

Neat-o!

I have been popping in and out in this site for quite a few days now since I'm buying a 400 w/s flash head and I'm torn between a beauty dish and octobox so I am using this to compare and see the limitations of the said modifiers.

I highly suggest that you guys sign up. Cheers!

One Kickass Music Video filled with Happy Fans and Still Images

Let's start this week with something completely awesome. 

Imagine yourself making a music video but then you think its too bland for your taste so what you did is you printed all the stills of that video and handed it strangers in a pub and photograph them while holding that still then you merge it into one awesome stop-motion video. Add the music, vintage color tones and post it on youtube.

Cool? Yeah, this is what you'll get:

According to Animalnewyork.com: J. Views or Jonathan Dagan made this special music video to interact with his fans (the strangers holding the stills) while doing a tour in Israel and what makes this one really awesome is that the fans can tag themselves in. Now, that is what I call quality "fan service".

Why I love Collabs.

Collaborative work is one of the most rewarding things a photographer can ask. Why? Because not only you get to work with different people, you actually get to work with people who are talented and driven to push their craft to its limits. You also get to learn more about your craft and the stuff that will eventually aid you to get better for the next shoot. Other than learning new stuff you also get to help one another in build everyone's portfolio.

As of this writing Jelly and I have decided to do this thing monthly and we are currently planning for our next shoot in June which is about brides since June is a wedding month here in the Philippines

Before I show your our finished work I just want to thank: Jelly, Kristine, Magu, Oko and Gerome for being awesome at the shoot despite the humid weather.

Cheers!

My photograph in Sidetrip May-June 2012

Hello dear friends! I have been really busy these days because of work and apart from that I'm currently self studying or re-self studying rather shooting fashion editorials and working on post production. I have a lot to share to you guys but for now I would like to share to you that my photographs where featured in a local travel magazine here in the Philippines.

Sidetrip Magazine May-June 2012 Issue

I would really like to thank Ervin and his family again for letting us stay and experience Obando.

Seeing Old Friends and Making New Ones.

I just got back from today's photo-shoot with awesome people and I can't express how much I had fun doing this. To be honest I still want to do shoots more often now since I had picked up a lot of stuff from watching other photographers whether in real life or in DVD and I am feeling inspired being able to apply it in these situations.

Just to share to you guys, I have here 2 unprocessed photos of our shoot today in my friend's commercial space.

Sun up to sun down, we shoot till we drop. I really had a great time working with Jelly, Kristine, Magu, Oko and Gerome because it didn't felt that we where working in the set for almost half a day not to mention the heat can probably drive you crazy! I really want to work on the photos but I still need to prepare for tomorrow's shoot and I need all the rest that I can get before I set out for another whole day of shooting. So I'll just leave you guys with those two beautiful photos of Kristine wearing Jelly's creations.

Alison Scarpulla's Magical Images.

Alison Scarpulla has created this beautiful dreamy and fairy tale like images using expired films, moldy lens and then dunking the negatives to wine or acid and blowing smoke onto the negative. This method gives her images that dark and mysterious feel something like a scene from Pan's Labyrinth.

(Source: Flavorwire | Alison Scarpulla)

Triptychs of Strangers by Adde Adesokan

Germany-based street photographer Adde Adesokan made a rather different way of creating street portraits. Instead of the usual one frame portrait what he did  is he shot three different parts of the subject to create a one unique frame. I am digging this series because to be honest doing street portraits is not a walk in the park, you need to connect to your subject for you to get the shot and not only that you also have the usual factors like lighting, background and such to take in mind before you press the shutter.

Not only did Adde took these really awesome photos he also shared his story behind the images and how he met these people.

Check out his other awesome stuff here.

9 Movies To Watch For Visual Inspiration

One way I beat creative rut is through watching movies, I am always on the look out of movies with stunning cinematography and beautiful set design. Movies from the past as well as independent films are most likely to have that creative visual play, they try to deviate from the tried and tested formula than most Hollywood films churn out.

I compiled a list of some of the movies I have watched that in my opinion can either kick start your creativity or make your usual weekend evening into a nice visual journey.

1. Amelie - Simply visually stunning and easily lovable. The movie is directed by Jean Pierre-Jeunet while the cinematography is done by Bruno Delbonne who is also doing Johnny Depp's latest film Dark Shadows.

2. Funny Face - Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire's stellar acting is just one thing that you'll love in this film. As a photographer I really wanted to travel and work for big fashion and lifestyle magazines photographing beautiful and talented women.

3. Enter The Void - Welcome to the dark side of the vivid city of Tokyo. If you haven't watched this then you are definitely in for a ride but be warned this film a bit heavy and really gritty. Most of the scenes are in first person view making this a little bit different from most films today.

4. Fan Chan (My Girl) - Keeping it simple is what I like with this film. It may not win any award for being visually stunning but to me this movie is like a visual cleaning agent that will leave you fresh and ready to start for that next photography project.

5. Letters to Iwo Jima - One of the few critically acclaimed war movies I really liked. Clint Eastwood did a really great job directing this film. I really like the color treatment in this movie to give it that dark and poetic touch. I can go on and on to what I like with this film but just look at the stills and see what I mean.

6. The Science of Sleep - Michael Gondry's imagination just went wild in this film. After I watched this movie I came up with tons of sketches for a set design just waiting inside my drawer when the time comes.

7. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - A surreal visual treat only in black and white plus the creepy feel. The aesthetics of this movie is just mind-blowing from the simple make-up to the scenes itself. If I where to get my hands on the film I'd take a couple of stills and enlarge it, frame and hang it in somewhere in my house.

8. Control - Another movie treated in black and white but this movie is not the vintage types since it was filmed in 2006 and was release a year after. I just love the sharp contrast and the silhouettes during the gig scene.

9. Blow-up - I will end our list with a film that is centered about the life of a fashion photographer. You will definitely pick up a lot of things from this movie. You are most likely to appreciate that we are now living in the digital age where we don't need to wait for the film to be developed just to see your work.

That concludes our list but to be honest there are still a lot of movies that can give you that visual kick. Movies like Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Across the Universe (although the story line sucks) and classic movies made by Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock. Let's not forget movies from Hong Kong like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the more recent Ip Man movies. 

If you have any films that gives you the creative kick then please do drop a comment!

1 Million Stills. 50 Cameras. 1 Kickass Movie

Back in college we were taught how to do simple clay animation and to be honest the "simple clay animation" is an understatement. We did a 3 minute video which is equal to 6000 frames of still images to get that nice smooth movements of the characters, but enough of me telling you what we did since that project happened years ago and compared to this upcoming 3D movie its nothing.

Enter The Pirates a movie made by Aardman a British animation studio behind the famous Wallace and Gromit. The said movie is made out of one million still images shot with 50 Canon 1D Mk IIIs. I am pretty sure that you are now wondering why did they shot the entire movie with just 1D Mk IIIs when there are a lot of High-end DSLRs which boosts fancy HD features. In an interview with TechRadar, Tom Barnes Aardman's technical director explained that they chose the 1D Mk III based from their experience and the camera's consistency. They also need to make the 8 inch tall figures to look life sized so they opted for a smaller sensor since they need an adequate amount of depth of field. Barnes also said in the interview that they have to modify their lenses to behave as much as cine lenses because cine lenses have a larger rear end element making it incompatible to the DLSR.

Source: TechRadar

Now that the movie is done the 50 Canon 1D Mk IIIs are sitting inside their drawers since the cameras just finish a arduous task and will be staying there for now. Barnes noted that they are inclined to try the new 1DX or the Nikon D4 but for now they want a camera that has been around in a long time and has proven its reliability.

Seeing the trailer I think that the guys of Aardman not only did a spectacular job but they also gave a statement that not you don't need the latest and the most expensive HD camera gear to create a master piece.

(Source: TechRadar)

Labor Day Demonstrations

May 1 or Labor Day in the Philippines is usually celebrated with demonstrations from different groups. Jeepney drivers, workers, women and even students amass to air their grievances and requests to the current administration. Most of the time these demonstrations are held in Mendiola which is also one of the main gates when going to the Malacanang Palace.

I always see the May 1 demonstrations in TV and for this year I have decided that it is high time to see it, photograph it and experience it for myself and here is what I saw.

P.S. Good thing I have some plastic bags that I was able to use to cover my camera and shoot while it was raining.