The Art of Strobing: Winston Baltasar's Workshop

Sir Winston in Action!



Strobing at it's finest!


It was Sunday afternoon and I just woke up from last night's clubbing event. I know I had to have some more sleep and work the night after but we all were waiting for this day. I know I was not able to get the chance to meet the master a few weeks before for fashion photography lessons (which is my passion by the way courtesy of Xander Angeles! XD) and I was getting excited of my Deedee (Nissin DI622) because this week it was going to be STROBING. Yeah I know, I have a lot to learn about this subject and the one before that so missing this one again would literally be like abandoning my craft. I made sure I get to see him this weekend even if it meant less sleep for me so I jumped out of bed and took a cold shower... got CAMMY (Mah Crumpler) and set on to go to Makati for this very important workshop.

It is all about lighting and how it could enhance our photos. It was also time to try some things I read from the XBOOK of Xander Angeles and how to take fashion and post processed photos to another level. I was inspired by his work when we got the chance to meet him Friday evening at the DPP Loaded event and if there was one thing I will do after this strobing workshop by Sir Winston, it was to make my output mostly like the magazine covers Xander does for US fashion spreads.


Here is my shot, hope it did work LOL!



We started off having discussions on how we can practically apply lighting in outdoor shoots. Our settings obviously would differ in different lighting conditions so after we got out group assignments and had our models made over we went upstairs to take some shots so we can compare notes later on about our output and the settings we did to achieve it. Sir Winston shared some advise on how to make our shots better on the extreme outdoor lights we had that afternoon. As you know, the sun was up and we were all under the sweltering heat worried about our model; and how those strobes would go off if the on cam flash was not getting detected because everything was too bright. My camera was making the best out of it since I found out my batteries just ran out. Too much thinking went into all of these but the one thing I forgot was charge my camera and get batteries for the flash! Geeze!

Anyway I already have some shots taken that afternoon. I thought I did not have enough photos for critique later on but I listened to the things he said to other photographers and learned from their mistakes as well. The direct sunlight was harsh and it needs a filler in order to have ample amount of shutter speed and stop the motion of the subject (hence no motion blur) and the aperture level would dictate how much bluer skies we want on the outdoor conditions we were in. We needed to use a smaller aperture to keep the ambient exposure constant while not sacrificing flash synchronization on a subject since distance and ISO would dictate what would happen on a flash unit that only would reach around 1/1000 rates. Going over that is not advisable so some of us were only at 1/150 +/- 5% and stayed on aperture setting that would get us a nice blue sky. Some of my shots went overboard and got too exposed in the beginning but fixed that after a couple test shots on two locations in the roof deck of Sir Winston's house. My indoor shots fared better though because I had more control on light; and experience on studio settings from my photo shoots before. I was not able to borrow a light meter this time but the setting was not that different and the adjustments were minimal since I had to only use my on board flash since Deedee went kaput on me. The others were able to use radio triggers on their cameras and take advantage of the umbrellas they brought for the occasion. I was in the end very pleased with the few pictures I had to work with in post processing. Here are some excerpts on the part where we raffled off some prizes for that shoot. Awesome DPP and FHM issues for beauty and you know what were given away by Sir Winston.. that was a treat!


Awesome Mags were given away!



And another one!



How can we forget the birthday boy Benjo Licup!



The naughty Senor!



Nikon and Canon DO NOT MIKZ!!! LOL


Overall I learned a lot and the guys did too. Some had fallen inlove with the models that day LOL while some were just around for the experience shooting with the NOCTURNALS and Sir Winston. I hope the next one is going to be big... I want extreme makeup and "totally" almost naked glamor shots. I know there maybe time for that next year! I will be there! Thank you to our awesome models Ms. Jinri Park, Ms. Rowhe Rodriguez and Ms. Rix Benares. My favorite MUA in the whole wide world Ms. Yuan Yim THANK YOU!!! Without you this would have never been a huge success! Thank you to Sir Winston too! =)



The NOCTURNALS, CitiCameraClub, Sir Winston and the models GROUP HUG!

Time to SPACIFY!

My brother just arrived yesterday and got me a lot of stuff from Ireland. I was planning to go out this Saturday night but he was thinking of purchasing Furniture from on line shops and I need to wait for the tables he ordered that promised to deliver it on a weekend. It is very convenient and since I was not doing anything in the morning, I volunteered to stay. My co photographers and friends were asking about what time I was going out but I begged off confirming anything because I am too busy at home.

It is a perfect day! I never run out of things to do. The furniture just arrived while I was writing this and it looks amazing! Good thing I waited; I am the first one to see this. Now do you have any suggestions where to put it?!

NEW MOON: ON KUMAGCOW MOOVIE REVIEWS

Do you want to know what happened? Yes ladies and germs I watched it already! I will try to sum it up from a non TWILIGHT fan's point of view. Not that I hate it; but its just not in my personality to be a fanatic of movies. I do love watching them though...

The story started in the old highschool they came; from and consequently it was Bella's birthday. As with anyone who had some personality issues, she did not want to have any gifts or have someone greet her. She does not want people looking at her apparently. But oh they so wanted to do it already. Possibly Edward was trying not to turn her into a vampire, but as you know one kiss here and there was already tempting them... then I thought everyone wants to be immortal right?

They got into school, discussing Romeo and Juliet... the professor thought Edward was not listening because he was whispering some stuff with Bella. Of course he had attended school a lot of times and when he was required to say few lines, he sounded like an expert... it was romantic... but I'm a guy so I was not one of those who got excited on that part.

Bella was invited to Edward's house, she was welcomed by them all. She got a paper cut and the vampires suddenly went on a rampage. Almost bit and got her killed too. It was then when she said that it would really be hard to be with Edward. After she got cured by the vampire "Dad"... she went home. The next day, Edward appeared and just decided to go away and get separated from Bella... he did not want to see her again after that.

She went on a couple of trips here and there because it was only when she was in danger that she sees Edward. She found company with Jacob... filling that void that came to her in the few months she was not able to meet Edward. Got on a motorcycle thing so she could end up in danger and meet him. She saw some of Jacob's people looking hard and buff like this:


Yeah I know they looked hotter than I am but its just a bit! LOL

They were all jumping from a cliff, though Jacob was not part of it... he was kinda drawn to join them because he was a real werewolf to begin with. Bella did not know that until she saw some of them transformed. Bella almost got killed by friends and that female vampire that wanted revenge from the first Twilight movie but it was a good thing the wolves all protected her.

Jacob's father got killed though, but it was not enough to stop Bella from almost loving Jacob while still loving Edward... I would not blame her she might have wanted to get YOU KNOW WHAT LOL.

While she was friends with the wolves and that female vampire was trying to kill her, she still wanted to see Edward so she jumped off a cliff which most outdoor divers do. Edward's sister thought Bella died, and so did Edward. Not thinking it was just a sport of some sort. She almost got killed but she was saved from that still. Edward was blaming himself and wanted to get killed by some vampires in Italy. I guess they were some royalty over there. Anyway, it was nice because she was able to see him before they did something bad. They forced some tests on Bella that got them to know that their powers did not affect her. They wanted to make her into a vampire then, but they said Edward will. The sister showed a future thingy where Bella became one so they convinced those other vampires from Italy.

So they went back home. Edward promised never to leave her, while Jacob got broken hearted. They talked a bit but it almost went on to a battle between him and Edward which would tear up Bella if they continued. It looked like there will be another sequel to this movie because a lot of the characters were just shown but was not included in the story. I recommend you watch this movie just for continuity's sake! Please watch the first one so you get to know how these things come up in the next one okay?!

This movie gets 3 out of 5 KUMAGS for a nice plot, at least I did not sleep in the cinema =)

Cool New Frames For Me

I just had my annual physical exam this weekend and guess what; they said the same thing last year. Nothing changed I guess but to tell you the truth I was worried about my eyesight. I may have been adversely affected by constantly pressing my keys even in the darkest hours. I also am on line almost 18 hours a day and there are times I squint a lot because I guess I am tired. The optometrist and ophthalmologist recommended I get corrective ones because it was slightly off their charts. They mentioned prices but it was way high. Good thing there are $8 Prescription Zenni Glasses that I can purchase on line. It would have cost me a fortune if I got it from the doctor, good thing they have great deals!

Not just that, they have Holiday Fun Eyeglasses too to celebrate the season! I had my eye on this pair above and it looks like I will be wearing blue spectacles until my eyesight comes back to normal. There will be New Arrivals too so watch out for that! Eye wear does not have to be expensive; you can get all of these at an affordable price. Make sure you get the best gift for yourself and get ZENNI!