My Peoples

It has been a while since I had the chance to take my camera out for events and I was certainly fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph a local band performing live. A good blend of reggae, rock and hip-hop, My Peoples wowed the crowd with awesome tunes at the Rockit Room for a solid 2 hours. Mike's husky vocals definitely struck a chord with the ladies at they gathered and danced right by the stage. I would encourage all reggae lovers to check them out on iTunes.

Album here.

Tool or Toy?

It was very difficult to get my hands on one of these... After 3 failed attempts at queueing up at the store, I gave in to the folks looking to make a quick buck on craigs. I figured a $80 mark up on the 64Gb model was justifiable. =) Thanks to Yun, B, CK, SF and S who contributed for the gift.

As with most photographers, the golden question I kept asking was: is the iPad useful for photography? If so which model should I get? I am sure there are many sites that offer advice on the matter but here is my take on it.

It is fun, it is beautiful, it is a good reflector for still photography! Jokes aside, I can see how the iPad can replace a laptop when you are on the job. It can store photographs, edit photographs, (the right software is coming out soon), upload photographs as well as display photographs very well. The games available for it are very very fun too. Get it, the computer is really personal and portable now.

The Opposite of Adults

It seemed to be ages ago when I first heard Chiddy Bang's 'The Opposite of Adults' (sampling 'Kids' from MGMT). Their sound is amazing and I highly recommend their debut album, The Swelly Express.

There was a listing on craigs looking for a photographer for a free live music event some time ago and I figured I'll do it just to gain more experience at concert photography. But little did I know, that the free event was organized by Chegg.com and guess what? Chiddy Bang was the headlining act! I guess the icing on the cake was that Dev who did 'Bass Down Low' and was sampled for 'Like A G6' was warming up the crowd.

It was a BLAST! Dev got the crowd pumping and Chiddy Bang literally shook the house. I swear I thought the venue was going to collapse (It was on the 2nd floor of a relatively old building). Chiddy is an amazing free-stylist. They got the crowd to suggest eclectic words for Chiddy to rhyme. I do have the video recording of that as well as the crowd partying. I just need some time to process that. Anyway, check them out! You won't be disappointed.

Crowd getting ready for Dev

Dev performing 'Like a G6'

Chiddy taking the mic

Xaphoon Jones getting suggestions on words for Chiddy to rhyme as he free-style

The rest of the set is here.

I'm all tied up

One of the perks of being in America especially San Francisco is that you get to meet a myriad of people. Fortunately, they too need photographs and that's where I come in. While some photographic requests are so sketchy (think catalogs for adult actors/masseuse) that even I had to think twice, there was one that I knew I had to jump on.

It was weeks before valentines day that the ad appeared on craigs, seeking a photographer for a boudoir style shoot with a little twist -- incorporating perhaps some fetish toys. Understandably, the photographs are going to be a gift for someone special.

To be honest, I was slightly worried that I couldn't deliver since I haven't had experience. Yet at the same time, it was exciting to be shooting a theme that few people could have and want to. We spent many days corresponding over emails, trying to nail the specifics and logistics for the shoot. Eventually, it was decided that it would be taken at my apartment. I guess that was better for me, since I wouldn't have to transport all my gear, and I could get the lighting and set in order in advance.

She photographed beautifully. I might have made it a little too romantic, but I guess it was fitting for the occasion.

The Little Things

Browsing craigslist is an evil evil pastime. In the past few mths, I have spent way too much on purchases that I 'had' to make because the prices were just too good. A couple of days back, another one of such deals popped up.

Welcome to the family, #8

I'm sure photographers who have heard of it will know what it can do. Or so they think...

Handheld, less than 1/100 seconds:

You know you want one. =)

Monica and Davide

The drive back from Berkeley was smooth and speedy even though the bay bridge had 2 lanes closed. It was 10.20pm; we decided that it was for the better that we defer the submission. That way, we could examine the exact causes for the inaccuracies we got. Such is life.

Which means that I have time to get my photography stuff back in order. I managed to do a first pass for Alexia's shoot, selecting and processing 80 odd images. Every time at this stage, it always amazes me how much processing can do to improve the photograph. In the digital age, processing is almost akin to developing the negative and the print at the same time. However, most beginner or amateur photographer do not spend much time or effort in processing an image to bring out its best potential. Not that I am very well versed in doing so, but I do spend the effort to make the image come forth as how I would like people to view it. So photographers, process your images! Experiment with techniques outside your comfort zone and see what you end up with. You might be surprised with what you get. Our tastes changes more rapidly than you think; I am already bored by the photographs that I put up 3 weeks ago. =)

Speaking of which, the shoot I am referring to is the first assignment I shot for IPM -- Monica. We decided that we would avoid the terrible yellow walls in the garage and use the Golden Gate bridge as the backdrop. The caveat: it has to be done at night to avoid onlookers and the weather was very very cold. Monica was extremely professional and I would highly recommend her. Krysti did the makeup. Oh, Davide was her boyfriend whom I shot with her as well.

It was impossible to focus. The Canon 1D mark IV with a f1.4 lens had so much difficulty with auto focusing that I had to use manual focus. I could not see anything through the viewfinder since it was almost pitch black. Live View at ISO 6400 to the rescue! Somehow, taking a photograph in Live View mode does not trigger the flash. I guess this is because I had the Live View mode configured for movies. So I had to focus in Live View, get out of it, and trigger. Boy am I lucky to get these photographs. ISO 6400, mostly shot wide open. Enjoy.

Hello World

I have always wanted to keep a blog that details my photographic experiences but procrastination got the better of me. Nonetheless, let's hope that my humble first post will provide the momentum for many more posts to come. 

There are a few other events that happened over the past few weeks I would love to pen down, but I shall save those for now and introduce you to Alexia!

She's has a lot of energy hidden within her small frame. At the risk of sounding cheesy, she does knock-out punches too... If you didn't know, I am helping a local San Francisco motorbike magazine (inlineperformancemag.com) shoot their monthly girls and Alexia was casted as one of our 2012 girls. She's young, fun and I would say very particular about how she would photograph. While I have yet to pick the ones that are spectacular and work on them, the photographs look promising at first glance. With the workload that I have right now, I would imagine I will only get to editing them next week, (after the iPad 2 announcement).

I shot her with either the 35L or the 50L and pocketwizards. Oh man! I hate to say this, something is very very wrong with my pocketwizards. I do hope that the problems I faced was due to weak batteries, but it seems unlikely given the problems other Canon users are facing with their FlexTT5s. My firing rate isn't at 100%, and that absolutely defeats the purpose of using them. I probably should do more tests before I make any conclusions but using the FlexTT5s and the MiniTT1 hasn't been as smooth sailing as I wanted.