Jun and Norma's Homemade Ham

This is my first Ham product shot of the year. Kinda proud of this project because I really need it to look delicious and enticing. This is Jun and Norma's Homemade Ham and currently running at livingsocial.com.ph With the help of EJ, we roasted the ham a little in the oven toaster  for that reddish look! (a blow torch would come in handy but i dont have one). Tracy helped me with the veggies and Neil poured the sauce on top while Im shooting. The lettuce seems to be overexposed but.. its ok.. the Ham is the star of the night. :) Thanks guys for the help! 

Learning Food Photography with Mark Floro

I feel like I'm the luckiest person on earth right now. I always wanted to attend a decent food photography seminar but the thing is., its quite expensive. Thanks to my good friend, Aron Lim, i got in for free! He invited me on a  food photography seminar by one of the best advertising photographer in the country no other than Mark Floro! The seminar was made possible  by the joint efforts of the  members of Accenture Photography Club. 

I always look up to Mark because his photos are really good most specially in shooting food. He is a master playing with highlights and shadows. His Halo-Halo shots at Chowking is very beautiful!  His photo with the syrup dripping down slowly from the leche flan is really awesome... He's also one of the best when it comes to architectural and product photography! 

There are some interesting facts about Sir Mark. He graduated with a degree in political science! But he really wanted to be a photographer and he followed his passion. He went to the states and finished a degree in advertising photography at Art Center College of Design  in Pasadena California. One of the biggest school of design in the states. He is a frustrated painter, just like me.. and he doesnt know how to photograph fireworks! but he can google it anytime he said :)  He believes that light is the key factor to any means of photography. Know how to control it and he assures you, you will make wonders in your photos.  

    

mark discussing about advertising photography

Mark uses continuous lights in most of his photos. He said you should light the subject according to your intent. Always look for the strong "point of view" on your subject. Then make it sharp and properly exposed. Theres no such thing as good angles. It really depends on the food. Lessen the props. Shoot the food dead on. As much as possible shoot the food with the whole plate then leave the cropping to the editor or the client or give your own cropped shot later. Always shoot RAW and tethered whenever possible. Use a booster cable (A-Ten , available at Octagon) to connect your camera to your computer.

mark floro's popular strawberry dip shot. 

When doing food photography, one must provoke an emotion. That ooohh.. that ahhhh, that yummmm. It should be there! To the point that you will still love to eat the food even if you're already full! Mark gave us a great tip when handling  a food presentation with client. He said, deprive them of food. Never schedule a photoshoot after lunch! Talk to them when they'r hungry for sure an ordinary photo will definitely look good!

it doesnt have to be expensive

Some of his photography stuff can be found almost anywhere! These two jugs of water are his weights for his tripod to make it sturdy. Very ingenious actually because if you gonna buy weights for your tripod and  lightstands, for sure it will cost a lot.  

a very unusual flag that came from an endangered animal

He showed us this feather and it came from a monkey eating eagle! (or eating eagle monkey..monkey eagle eating..mark blurted). He uses this one to flag or block the light from its source creating beautiful shadows onto the subject. 

insulation material as reflectors

When shooting food for a client, you must remember one thing, you should always hire a professional food stylist. The photographer and the food stylist should work hand in hand. The food stylist actually creates your photo. Thats why the food stylist must be really good if you want to achieve quality photographs. If not, you will just glorify horrible looking dishes! Mark's food stylist is his wife Linda who owns an Itallian restaurant called  Buon Giorno in Tagaytay.

styling for the on the spot photo contest

Always remember to "implant an idea" to your client. Follow their desires, give them the shot that they want. Make the idea that comes from them. Then give them your own version.  Show it to them side by side. Giving them choices and variations. Food photography is always about texture. Always focus on the texture. Show those highlights and shadows standout. Those will make the food more interesting and look more 3D-ish.  Mark has a hard time shooting siopao because some siopaos lacks texture and it has no details except for a red dot on top of it (pink for asado). I asked where's the best place to put your light? He answered, its best to put it at the left side of the food.

one of our demo food which is sitting for quite some time. 

This is one of the many dishes photographed at the seminar. Mark asked who wants to volunteer with the food styling and I just raised my hand then said "Me!"  

went to handyman to buy some stuff

We even had a little fieldtrip at the hardware store and CDR-King to buy some stuff for a DIY studio lights. He showed us that it doesnt have to be expensive to make a good continuos light set-up. In less than 500 pesos, we already have a decent lightsource out of ordinary household fixtures and cables.  Then at the end of the day, he raffled all of these stuff to the participants. So nice of him.  

Judging the photos. 

We had a on-the-spot photo contest. The members are grouped into 3's and they were asked to shoot different kinds of dishes. Mark asked 4 members to be the judge. My friend aron told me not to join the contest and be one of  the judges intead. Why not :). Photos were really good but there can only be one. It was a unanimous decision and we picked group number 4 with their amazing shot of the Tamago and sushi rolls. 

Accenture Photography Club

We had our group picture taken at the end of the day. Im so happy to be a part of this workshop. It was actually a whole day event! I was there at 9am and the seminar ended at 8pm. I learned a lot from the seminar and I really appreciate it. Many thanks to Aron for inviting me. I met new friends who has the same passion as I am. It was an honor to be here. 

with THE Mark Floro, an ambassador of light

Of course ! I wont go home without a photo with sir Mark Floro! Like I said, he's the guy that I look up to not only because of his talent but also with his great personality. He is really a down to earth person and he's very easy to talk to. Photography is his passion for quite some time and he really knows what are the ins and outs of the photography business. He teaches advertising photography at Philippine Center for Creative Imaging or simply PCCI in Pasong Tamo. 

some interesting facts : 

• 600 Million photos are uploaded on facebook everyday
• Mark Floro has a degree in Political Science
• You should learn how to talk to a "mayabang" person
• Sigma is Mark's first camera before using canon
• According to Mark, the best camera would be a Canon body with a Nikon Lens and with a Sigma sensor .
• Shoot with One Light.
• Diether Ocampo took 40+ takes on that "cheese stretch" sequence on a pizza hut commercial
• Never shoot 50/50 on your food.
• Minimize the use of photoshop.
• 100% of the photos in advertising is edited
• Warm, neutral colors. always.
• shoot tethered
• Your food stylist creates your photograph.
• Draw an imaginary line for your shadows
• Rule of Thirds
• Use Selective focusing
• Lemon, Calamansi on bananas will prolong oxidation
• An ice cream stylist's talent fee - 9,000 pesos per scoop
• Add some of the ingredients on your photos but not to many.
• Implant an idea to your clients.
• Ask yourself, what are your intentions in shooting this particular subject.  

What a great day for photography. =) Thanks again sir Mark for the knowledge! It was an honor to be part of your workshop. I hope someday I can attend your classes in PCCI. Visit Mark Floro's official website at www.markfloro.com

ABS-CBN Parol

I cant imagine I stepped inside Pinoy Big Brother's House over at ABS-CBN. I had a photoshoot of their star christmas lantern or "Parols" featured at ensogo.com.ph. I was a little nervous because ABS-CBN is now a  huge partner of Ensogo and I have to do good with my photos. Looks like I did well with my multiple exposures and made great shots of the famous Bahay ni Kuya.  The parol is now available at the Ensogo website. Proceeds of the parol will benefit the Sagip Kapamilya foundation. 

The parol is not that flashy in design. Its really simple but elegant.  Its available in red and white. It is made of capiz. and its about 24 inches in diameter. It has one steady light inside. Also available in 5 inch hanging parol and 5 inch handheld parol. 

Hurry and buy your parols now. This is a limited offer and its now available at ensogo.com.ph  This is a great deal because not only you purchased something really nice , but you will also help a lot of people because proceeds will go to Sagip Kapamilya, ABS-CBN's charitable institution. Christmas is all about giving. Now is the time to give out something and have something beautiful in return. 

For more details about abs-cbn's parol deal at ensogo, visit this link.   

SunJewel

This is the most expensive thing i ever photographed. Imagine 66 diamonds right in my fingertips... Well forgive me but I dont usually photograph expensive things and i was just amazed how beautiful diamonds are. It has this shine which is mesmerizing... Its just a wonderful feeling taking photos of these precious stones... 
Ensogo will soon launch a deal at Sun Jewels located at Shangri-La Hotel and they are slashing 50% off the price once you purchase the voucher. Its a really great deal and probably one of the biggest ensogo ever had. Watch out for it! Coming real soon at ensogo.com.ph 

Victoria Secret Pink Sequined Bag

I just cant help myself posting another photo of Ms. Dee posing for Victoria's Secret Pink Sequined bag available at ensogo.com.ph. The bag is available for only P999 pesos and it comes with a free toy dog :) For more details, pls log on to ensogo.com.ph.See deal here.  

Pena de Pato Wines

 Its always been a challenge shooting wines. Theres actually a proper way on how to light the bottle and I admit, i still dont know how to do it. So far this is my best effort. I really want to shoot wines in low key (dark background). For me, it looks more elegant. Its like you gave the product a dash of prestige. I dunno. Its just me. I just like it that way.

Ensogo will be running a deal with these wines. I dunno when but it will be really soon. Just watch out for it. Really need to practice more. Shooting bottles, glass.. playing with reflections and shadows is a skill. 

I really need to master this art. I guess i have more shots to click, more camera actuations to burn. ;) Till next time! Watch out for this deal! Visit ensogo.com.ph for amazing products, travel discounts and good quality services. 

Fila Watches

It just came to me, what if I try shooting watches using my 50mm 1.8.Undeniably this lens is really sharp and fast. I went on to my usual rig using the tripod and the shutter release chord and set my camera to bulb mode. 

Then for my apperture, i chose f/8 for that maximum clarity. Then for my ISO, i chose ISO100. Red is best on black so i chose a black felt backdrop. This only shows that the nifty fifty is a really good lens. I strongly agree that  every photographer should have this lens in their camera bag. Its light, its fast, its very sharp and very affordable.  

The Nikkor 50mm 1.8 costs less than 5,000 pesos. Its great for portraits, food and products. Its amazing in creating those lovely bokeh and the best lens when doing street photography.

Nautica Watches

Nautica Watches now at Ensogo

The first time I saw these watches, I fell in love. I so want it but then again, its quite expensive. It wont fit my budget. I just have to let it pass this time. Ensogo has this deal with these good looking watches. You can see the deal here .  This is my first time to do light painting on products. Saw the idea from Laya Gerlock's flickr page.  That guy is really awesome when it comes to photography ideas. Visit his page, you might learn something from him. I attended his advanced photography classes by the way and its really nice. Back with the watch, look how the "seconds" hand panned.. Lovin that effect. Awesome.

I think the yellow strap is cooler

I really like this watch.. specially this yellow one. A million sighs... anyways. Maybe some other time. Im gonna buy one of those probably not now...maybe in the next few months....

thats me with anne helping me out

Here are the other models.. Looks good huh?! Check out Ensogo's deal on these fabulous watches!

Swiss Legend Neptune for Her

Swiss Legend is one of those premiere brands of watches that is intricately designed and crafted. I had the privilege to shoot before the Swiss Legend Neptune before. Now they have a new version of the Neptune this time its for women. 

Very classy design. Its kinda heavy though..rest assure it is tough and robust. The bezel has this capiz like surface which makes it sound like it came from the God of the Sea.. It has this soft rubber white strap that looks really stylish and elegant. 

 Ensogo-LivingSocial will soon launch another deal with Swiss Legend and im sure a lot of people will be interested to purchase this one fine time piece. Please do watch out for it. 

Draw Something

Oh yeah im definitely hooked with this new game. I really love to draw a lot even though im not good at it.. Doodling though is my favorite past time. Game is simple,  you connect with your facebook friends and you'l draw something and let them guess what you drew then vice versa. Its a really fun game. Brings out the creativity among your friends!  Im playing with my sister  whose in the states and now even my mom wants to try it as well! Available for free on Apple App Store! Come on lets play! 

A Long Day at Work

Ever since I worked at Ensogo, I was surrounded with fun, energetic and loving people. No matter how stressful they are, they still wear a smile in their faces. Its time to give ourselves a reward. We went out for lunch. We need to feed ourselves something delicious. Something to keep us sane from working. We went to Serendra and scouted for places good to eat. We chose to eat at Mexicali. 

 Good thing i brought along my camera to take some snaps of the beautiful Bonifacio High Street. I can say, even if my work place is far away from home, its nice to work at BGC. The environment is really nice. Its clean and well maintained. Lot of places to eat. If you love to jog, there are a lot of beautiful parks with beautiful jogging paths to run. 

BGC is one of those "high end" places in Manila. People with money... people with a high stature in life most probably lives here...or maybe stays at their condo units for the week.. driving their lamborghini and their ferraris.. 

Arrived at Mexicali and took a photo of their delicious tacos. One of my favorites at Mexicali.  

 After that hearty lunch, we went back to the office to finish the day... saw this teddy bears ready to be packed. Such an unusual scene saying hundreds of bears with the same color, with the same size and like in one place... 

Again..we are all on overtime...and good thing Sir Jojo bought us some pizza. Thanks sir! 

Keyboard Cups

Cool keyboard cups will definitely make your coffee breaks more fun!

This is probably one of the coolest set of cups that  i ever seen. These keyboard cups is the perfect gift for someone computer addicts like programmers, gamers, bloggers or your typical average geek. Id love to have one of these actually. It is a very nice addition to your kitchen. With its stylish and unique design, drinking a cup of coffee or tea will be more delightful. Its made with high grade plastic and its dishwasher safe. This product will come out at Ensogo-Livingsocial real soon. Go get yours now. Available for pick up and delivery. For more details, go to www.ensogo.com.ph and click on the deal.
Thanks by the way to Craig, our awesome graphic artist for helping me shoot this product. Thank pre! Yo the man! hehe.

Watch Photography

Red Line Compressor. Full working chronograph. Solid steel
 bezel on black soft silicone straps

Solus Digital Watch with built in Barometer, Altimeter, Heart
 Rate Monitor and Digital Compass

I used 2 strobes for these photos. I also used a portable product softbox or a "Light Tent" to make the  light from the strobes soft and even. I placed one speedlight at the right side of the light tent. Angled  90 degrees with a stofen diffuser with a power of 1/64. Then the other speedlight is placed at the back, mounted on a tripod, angled straight up,  bouncing it onto the white ceiling. I placed my big reflector on white surface at the left-front of the light tent.  For my camera settings, My shutterspeed is at 1/60, My aperture is at f/4 and my ISO is at ISO100. I used a matrix system for my metering.   

Light Tents are very useful specially on  product photography

For so many months now, I am still finding ways on how to photograph watches with my 50mm lens. I think this is probably the farthest i'ved ever been in terms of quality. Im still looking for that sharpness, that proper lighting, that search for details within the photo... Still learning. More practice!

I really want to master taking pictures of still life objects most specially on product photography since its a big part of my job. I really have to practice more. Experiment more.. and burn more actuations. I really want that workshop from Laya Gerlock and learn some efficient strobing techniques. If i have the resources and the time., i will definitely take that workshop real soon. But for now, i just have to learn for myself. Im also planning to take a food photography workshop at Philippine Center for Creative Imaging or simply PCCI. I found out Mark Floro, one of the best food photographers in Manila is conducting the workshop and boy o boy i wanna learn from that guy. Hopefully Ensogo will sponsor me to take the workshop. =) 

The Solus Digital Watch and the Red Line Compressor
soon at Ensogo-Livingsocial

Im so proud of these photos! =)


Photography by Mac Centeno
Ensogo-Livingsocial Office
Watched by Solus and Red Line

Spandle

This is a new product that I never seen before.  This is a new product called Spandle. Its some kind of a lotion or a moisturizer which has a great scent. Which gives you a calm soothing mood when you apply it onto your skin. 

You light it up. 

Then let it melt for a while. Wait till you have a plentiful of wax from the candle . Dont pour it onto your skin yet because  it can be hot. 

 blow the candle and let the wax cool a little bit

 then pour it onto your skin..

Lather it up and enjoy the scent and the smoothness of your skin after you apply it. 

Choose from a variety of flavors! For me the one that smells good is the one on the top right and bottom left. 


This product will be  soon launched at Ensogo-Livingsocial really soon! Please do watch out for it. 




Model : Luisa Gimenez
Photography : Mac Centeno
Ensogo-Livingsocial Studio

Long Busy Week

Sanika's pizza from S&R. Combination pizza. P99 per slice

What a long week. For the past 5 days im on overtime. Its not that I complain. Im actually thankful since im learning. The more shoots I have., the better. I really need to level up and practice more. Need to learn more about techniques on lighting, food styling and fiddling with exposure. I really want that  advance workshop from Laya Gerlock. He's just amazing when using strobes and lighting techniques. One of these days, I will definitely attend his workshop. 

Like I said, I was bombarded with a lot of indoor shoots. So many i even left one product to shoot at last friday. Im gonna finish that one on Monday. I actually posted my simple 1 light set-up from my previous post. That set-up works pretty well. Bouncing off light from the reflector gives that even distribution of light. The downside, it doesnt have that texture.. those shadows. Theres a little but not enough. I hope i could purchase a really nice product table, a good soft box and great strobes. Plus, i need a new tripod coz mine already broke. Its wrapped in tape just to hold the hinge. The wide angle lens is so heavy my tripod snapped and had a crack right on the hinge. Good thing my camera did not fell off. 

Photo above is a slice of S&R's delicious pizza. Its a big slice actually and it costs  P99 pesos. Seems expensive but for its price.,  its a good deal coz its damn so delicious. You got to try this one out. Im sure you'l love it. 

You can watch movies with your  thumb drive.  By this there are no skips & no jumps! 

Sir Garry gave me a visit and asked me to take photos of this really nice product from Philips. Its a portable DVD player. The good thing about this product is that its rechargeable, the screen can be twisted, and it can read USB memory sticks! Its better than playing dvd's since there are no moving objects therefore there are no skips. Viewing is just a breeze! 

 I love that tilting. swivel motion of the screen. It has this holster where you can use if you want to put it on your car's headrest. Perfect for those long drives. A good movie will never bore you down. Watch out for this deal real soon at Ensogo-Livingsocial . I heard it has a limited number of units to be sold and im sure this product will sold-out real fast. Its price? I think they will sell it for LESS than P4,000. Its actually a great bargain for a really good product. Watch out for it coz it will be launched next week - i think.  

Abby's Pocket Pitas. These are so good...

Abby prepared me lunch! Thats so sweet by the way. These are pocket pitas, stuffed with some bacon, ham and vegies. Surprisingly, these 2 slices are really heavy on the belly! It actually made me full for almost the whole day. The bacon and the ham are sauteed with knorr seasoning. Then slices of tomatoes, cabbage..red bell peppers are added onto the mix. Abby has the knack for these kind of stuff. She love to experiment different kinds of dishes which undeniably taste good. Not only that, its healthy too!  

Big Blue Teddy is no match with the master

We also have a new product to be launched real soon. Say hello to the biggest teddy bear i ever seen! This blue teddy bear stands 4 feet tall! Its so huge its already as big as a normal person. My officemates  asked me to take pictures  with big blue teddy and this photo with Edu tops it all. I just love this photo.  He looks like a serious hustler! 


Im actually afraid of stuff toys. Specially this bear. Kinda freaked me out. I dunno what am i gonna do if that bear move all by his own! I swear im gonna piss in my pants...

Simply addicting. Available at Apple store for free.

Stay away from this game. Its so addicting! Temple Run is one of my favorite apps on iPad. When i started playing this, I was instantly hooked! As of now, my highest score is at 279,000.  I heard Rayver Cruz, a local celebrity, scored 20 Million! and thats a long way to go... Im sure you will love this app as well. Its available for download for free! Go download it and start running!   

Good Times KTV at The Fort Strip. If you love videoke, this is the place to be.

I was editing this deal of ours and the photos that they provided seems to be low in quality. I asked my manager of we can do a photoshoot at their place and good thing it got approved. Goodtimes KTV is one of the best karaoke joints i ever seen. The place is huge! It has a great view of the Bonifacio Global City since its on top of the Fort Strip. 


The rooms are really clean. Its spacious. And it the place is well interior designed. The chairs and tables are really colorful and the design and wall colors are also outstanding. This not your hole in the wall KTV bars. The place is really good and it has this very inviting atmosphere. 


Goodtimes KTV is running on Ensogo-Livingsocial. Check out their great deal here. 

Chiffon Cake from Cake Avenue. 

J.R., one of our Merchant Consultants,  approached me and told me that Cake Avenue has something for us for photoshoot. Cake avenue is scheduled for a photoshoot way way back but we could not do so since the owner is always not available at the moment. Good thing they provided the cake. That way., we wont bother going to their bakeshop to take some photos. 


Anne helped me out with the shoot. Everytime theres a food photoshoot at the office, i always ask for her assistance since she worked hand in hand with Mark Floro. One of the best food photographers in the country., perhaps in the world! Anne helps me with the styling. Our new grphic artist - Craig also helped me out with the shoot. Anne and Craig both worked at Chowking before and they usually work on the graphics for food for the restaurant's collaterals. 

Baby Chino's Baptismal at Christ the King Church

Saturday. It was baby Chino's baptism at Christ the King. Chino is so cute.He has this  rosy cheeks..cute little hands. He's just adorable.  The ceremony is short and but solemn. After the baptism and taking photos of the guests, we went to Corinthian Gardens for the reception. 


The village is awesome. Huge houses, wide streets. Its a certified top notch community only the rich can afford.  Ived been to Cortinthians twice. I joined this basketball league with my buddies from the village - CYC Goats.. thats way back when im still fit and addicted to basketball. 


Reeception is at the clubhouse. Surprisingly there were a lot of guests who attended. They served some lechon.., chicken bbq, pasta in white sauce..,  roast beef., corn and carrots (my favorite) and chocolate cakes. I was so full actually. I just had a quick meal so i can take a lot of photos of the guests. I used 3 kinds of lenses in this event. I used my wide., my 50, and my telephoto. Good thing the event went really well. These people are really nice. They love my work and they even gave me a project to take pictures of their business. Im excited! Id like to thank Ms. Nancy and her family for being very hospitable. Im looking forward for this food project. 

Shadow, the shitzu from hell. haha. he looks like a mini pitbull. Disclaimer : He Bites

We had shadow shaved! The guys at the grooming station said that his hair cannot be combed anymore and shaving it all off is the only way to fix this problem. Shadow is a very stubborn dog. He actually bit one of the groomers. They placed a mask onto his snout just to be safe. Two guys handled him actually. A lot of work for this small dog. After 2 grueling hours, this is what he looks like. 


So there ya go. Those are some of my favorite photos for the week. Its been a long and exhausting week but its a good one. Thanks to my great team mates who works really hard to bring out the very best. I also want to thank Abby for being patient with me. Been acting like a real  jerk lately. I appreciate all the efforts and im sorry for acting like a big ass..
Thank you so much for being there... 


More photos next week! Thank you so much.