Luxe Cakes by Goldilocks

J.R., one of my hardworking officemates approached me and asked me if i can take pictures of his upcoming deal from Goldilocks. There was a smile on my face coz Goldilocks for me is goodness! Luxe cakes are special cakes made by Goldilocks and they'r running a promo at Ensogo in this coming christmas season. 

showcasing their delicious cakes like this caramel dressed cake with nuts on top. This is one of my favorite cakes from the group! I love the artistry.. the lines...i love those shadows it made.. Looks really good. I bet it taste good as it looks!  

they also have this cake with rich chocolate all over and cherries on top! I tasted this one and its really good! The chocolate is absolutely delicious.  

They also have one with marshmallow puffs on top and God I love mallows! Too bad i didnt tasted this one. I bet it tastes good. 

 This one is just pure chocolate madness.! I really enjoyed shooting these cakes. Its not normal to shoot a lot of cakes in one seating and i was blessed to have this opportunity. Thank you Goldilocks for the delicious cakes! Its really something. Many thanks also to JR. Man, you have one great deal here. Hope you sell a lot of them! Many thanks also to my manager Ms.  Mara for helping me with the christmas props. Cant wait to buy this deal! :)

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

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.  

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.

Light Painting Technique

Casio Duro 200

These past few days i have been doing a lot of light painting with most of the products that I shoot at the studio. Using this technique gives me the freedom to produce awesome highlights and shadows. I learned this technique when I attended Laya Gerlock's Advanced Photography workshop about 3 months back. 

Light Painting is really fun actually. It gives you that added control where you want to put the strong lights and their shadows. All you need is an enclosed room where you can turn off all the lights and make the room really dark as in Pitch Black. Your going to need a tripod as well and a flashlight. A cellphone will do as long as it gives out that white light. 

Everlast Watches from Time Depot

Place your products onto the table. Make sure they are secured. Then set up the camera onto the tripod. In photographing watches, i make sure the hands are at 10:10 position. Why? Because of the symmetry of the hands to the watch. Its evenly placed. It will make your photo more professional. For your camera settings, my aperture, I use f/8 to f/11, for my shutterspeed, i set it to 20 seconds, for my ISO, i use 200. I shoot on auto white balance or sometimes cloudy. Now focus on the brand of the watch which is usually at the top center of the watch. It is best to use a Shutter release chord if you may. After everything is focused, place your camera into Manual Focus setting. Bring out your flashlight or your phone. In my case, I use my iPhone when im doing my lightpainting. I downloaded this flashlight app at the apple store for free. Its basically a white wall paper.   

Jaqcue Martin Watches

Now turn off the lights. We are now ready to paint! Like I said everything should be dark to make this project really good. When everything is dark and ready, press the shutter of your camera and  begin light painting. Turn on your flashlight and slowly illuminate the sides of your watch..then the top then the bottom. Make sure theres no glare on the watch's glass as you lightpaint. If it does., do the same procedure once again. So there you go! simple as that. Try it sometimes :)

I also want to share Laya Gerlock's lightpainting technique here http://www.flickr.com/photos/l_s_g/6875783925/in/photostream

Tristan

Its portrait day! Today is quite special since im shooting one of our new managers, Sir Tristan Torres. He is the new director of sales for LivingSocial Philippines. He's a nice guy. He's a very jolly person. Always wears a smile. I bet he'd fit well here at the office coz people here smiles a lot even when stressed. =)  Sir tristan is tall. About 6"3 i think.. I have to adjust my white backdrop a little higher. I also have to adjust the height of my strobes and reflectors. Cool portrait.    

The Ensogo Studio

Just recently, Ensogo-LivingSocial was kind enough to give me a little space to shoot products for retail. Not only that, they provided equipment to shoot portraits, group shots, group jump shots and a lot more! Just today, I was shooting  these really nice Satchel bags, soon to launched at Ensogo-LivingSocial's website. My model for today is the lovely Ms. Dee who looks really good with her purple Pashmina, that goes along with the brown and purple strapped bag. Ms. Dee is one of the freshest faces of Ensogo yet shes one of the most hardworking individuals the company ever have. Lucky enough to have a portrait of her due to her very busy schedule.  She kinda looks like Alice Dixon isnt she? :)

I also took photos of Carol, one of our awesome Web Developers. Shes just a beautiful pregnant woman and photographing her is my pleasure. I just love her prenatal portraits. Thanks to Luisa Gimenez for helping me out with the make-up :) 

Here's Luisa with Renz having photo of their own 

Jocy and Tin raided the studio as well and gladly captured photos of them. 

 Of course our boss deserves a good portrait! This is actually a candid shot. 

 I should have a photo of my own of course! Here with Clarisse with this wacky shot. 

I always dreamed of having a studio of my own and this one is so close to reality. I am really thankful  for these blessings and I do hope that someday i will have my own studio...a big one! Its free to dream right?  There are a lot of things to learn . Lot of actuations to burn. I want to be really good at this. I so love photography and i think im gonna be doing this even if im really old... Thank you Ensogo for giving me the privilege to learn how to become a better photographer. I promise to return this favor by giving the best photos i could ever have.  

More photos at my facebook. Click on this link

David

David was the last person to shoot for PAL's Flight Cabin Crew photoshoot. Thanks to Marco for helping me with the lights. Even though it was raining yesterday, we still managed to capture his video. Thanks again to Images by Mediaworld Co. for the chance to use their equipment.

2nd Shoot for PAL's Cabin Crew

Some of the members of PAL's flight crew did not make it from the first shoot. They organized a 2nd shoot and im glad it turned up pretty well.

The shoot started late due to bad weather. Rain started to pour really hard. Good thing it didnt last long since we have to take videos of them at the roof top. We were a little worried about the scenario. Faith pushed us through.

Setting up the lights took most of the time. Me and Marco had to lift the tables and chairs to make-way for our back-drop and strobes.

I appreciate working with these people. they are really nice and down to earth. There was a time that I dreamed of being a flight attendant. But im not a good swimmer and its a big requirement. All i wanna do is just slide that yellow thing that pops out of the plane. Looks fun.

Thanks to Angge Barcelona and Marco Quimson for the creative direction and the light set-up. You guys are really doing well. I also would like to thank Images by Mediaworld Creatives Co. for giving me another chance to shoot at their studio. Thanks guys.

I really love doing this. Hope theres more in the future. To this batch of PAL Cabin crew, congratulations! Happy graduation. Good job guys!

Mediaworld Photoshoot

Its my first shoot at Images by MediaWorld Creatives Inc. Along with Marco Quimson and Angge Barcelona, we took amazing photos of these young professionals who will soon become International Flight Attendants. Its been an honor for me to take their photos.

Angge gave tips to the models how to pose while Marco took care of the strobing effects. I took the liberty of taking the shots. This will be my 3rd studio shoot (First 2 was in UP from my photography workshop). and at still got Nervous at first. But as i went shooting., everything came natural.

I just realized that I need to buy more memory cards. I used up my 4Gig SD card from the shoot since i used RAW + fine on my shots. Good thing Marco and Angge have extra memory cards for me to use. I have some great photos from their memory cards that I would love to include in this blog. Unfortunately, i dont have it. I'l just add those photos in the future.

I had a great time today even though my knees are a little stressed out. This job is really is my thing! When im shooting, i dont really think its work because im really having fun. Is this a sign that I should continue doing this? Is it time to do this full time?

I would like to thank Images by Mediaworld Co. for the opportunity to shoot at their studio. Thanks to Marco Quimson for the strobes and the lights and for the space ! And to Angge Barcelona for her creative imagination on the poses and the lighting techniques.

For your photo services, contact Images by Mediaworld Creatives Co.

Flesh, Dark Clouds and Basketballs

Sir Nathaniel Salang's Nude Photography Class Batch 1

Sir Nathaniel's Yashica TLR

Saturday. What a weekend! Just had my first nude photoshoot under Sir Thaniel Salang at UP Diliman. I never felt nervous shooting with the camera. But as time goes by., it felt natural. We were 15 photographers out there. Kudos to sir thaniel for directing the "traffic". Thanks also to our fellow photographer Glenn for directing the lights of our photo shoot. Galing! Our model was very professional and very easy to work with. Hope to take her photos again someday.

After the photoshoot, I still have time to go to the QCAA games. Its been one of my great passions shooting ballgames specially the QCAA coz i love these kids perform. They give all their heart playing the games. In this shot, St. Claire and Angelicum is battling out for that semifinal s lot. St Claire won and what a game they played. I love this shot coz of that stretch.

This guy sure hell can play. He's fast, Very tough when he's in the air. Angelicum's star

Nice stretch. This guy can fly.

St. Pat's ace guard Masanque makes a lovely dish to his team mate after his awesome drive

This guy, I only know his Surname, Masanque of St. Claire, got game! After a nasty fall from the ellimination game against Ateneo, that gave him a dislocated elbow, he gave us a damn show as he showed us his hang-time moves against the big guys of Angelicum. He plays gracefully. Dribbles without effort. What a great player.

Star player of the game. St.Pat's Madamba, intervewed by UNTV

Sunday, I attended mass early and right after, I went straight to Tivoli Royale to cover the Final 8 of QCAA games. But before that, I dropped by Mcdo, grabbed a Double Cheeseburger Meal on the go for lunch and munched on melted cheese right at the parking lot. Im shy eh.. haha. Then as i entered the gym (with my iced tea), st claire, elementary, is playing. My favorite player, Mada mba is again racking the scores as he scorches the net with his three pointers and lay-ups. They won the game that made their team advance in the playoffs.

Gabo, shows us how to do it

Gabo, #7 player of St Vincent, is one of my favorite players in the league. If you look at him, he seems skinny but when you see him play., u'l just stand in awe. He's so agile. When he moves, theres no effort. He just glides and slices the defence up. In a normal game, he scores above 30 points, dishes out 10 more assists and can rebound. This guy is fun to watch. I hope he wins the MVP award.

This is the last play of the game were a crucial foul was called.

This will be the cheesiest picture u'll ever see in QCAA ever

The game between ICCS and St Vincent was "the game" of the season so far for me. The game was so close. St Vincent has the twice-to-beat advantage but team ICCS never thought of it as a hindrance and gave the best game of their lives. ICCS won in a cinderella fashion! There was even a little controversy on the last call of the refs and they even have to look at the tapes that the media crew took. What a close game it was.

show me the replay

Next week., its the final four for the HS division of the boys. Favored ateneo faces the underdog ICCS and Defense crazy Claret will face the miracle boys of St. Claire. Im gonna be there to cover the games. Its gonna be crazy!

. . .

Its monday, and there are things in the office that doesnt seem to be going pretty well. After all the issues that has been going on, Ayla and Jolly, submitted their resignation. Theres this huge cloud above our workplace and i dunno if things will still work out. For all I know., im go ing to miss these two special people., specially jolly who gave me this job. They are good people. But sometimes, good people has their own limits. Gonna miss those giggles at that part of the room. Im gonna miss Ayla's choppyness. =/

Ayla and Jolly, Mt Gulugod Baboy summit

For all its worth, I had a great time working here in SBM. I met great people who are not here anymore.. From Big tall Mark to always cool Cristel and to babe magnet Pao., to Bass strapping Anna..then Pabling Nick...then Jolly and Ayla, these guys..they are amazing...its been an honor working with them... and Im afraid, the list will go on.

fallen leaves and almost dead bonsai. is this a sign?

Like my boss's Bonsai, its leaves one by one withered and slowly dying (and i think its already dead). If everybody will leave, what will happen to us now? What will happen to the company? What will happen to me? I dont have any plans of goin anywhere. I dunno where should I go. I was actually thinking of becoming a full time photographer...but i dont know how am i gonna start...

Oh well.. Its been one great ride.