May Palacpac, Storyteller

I’ve always liked photography.

No, I’m not one of those who think that everyone who has a camera can be good at it. In fact, I have such high regard for this art. In my honest opinion, you can distinguish a gifted photographer from a regular one.

I signed up for BNP’s Photography workshop, not for anything else, but for the hope that I can somehow grasp the concept of lighting, composition, and all those technicalities I hear so many photo enthusiasts talk about.

It’s not only because I’m a blogger, but it’s because I’m such a fan of good photography.

I’m the type who stops at photo exhibits at the mall to look at every single photo they post on the walls.

I knowwww…so nerdy, right?

Pictures elicit different emotions from me. I don’t know if it may be because I’m a musician, you know, artist by heart? But really, pictures move me.

I also enjoy food photography a lot. Well, actually, I’m really more interested in “food styling”, but they make such pretty pictures when you fix food well, don’t you think so?

And I love posting them on my blog, too!

I love watching America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) much to my husband’s chagrin.

I hate the drama, I take the bickering scenes as cue for me to check on what I’m cooking in the kitchen, but I am so taken by the transformation of the models in the pictures.

I took up photography, but….

I’ve taken up three semesters of photography – one of which was photo-journalism, which were required courses for my degree in Communication; but let me be honest with you, I learned NOTHING.

It wasn’t because I had bad instructors, I actually have batch mates who now provide photography services, it’s just that my head was in the clouds at that time, and I was more interested in pursuing other things.

I had a range-finder to use back then, but I couldn’t figure out how to use it, so I used my father’s automatic camera, the one with 4 lenses that zoom out like a robot when you click a button, and used that to shoot pictures for my final project, just to get it over with.

So, you see why I need this workshop? It’s high time I learn the basics!

The workshop proper

I listened to two main speakers that day. One was John Cailao and the other was Azrael Coladilla.

John Cailao talked about the basic tricks on what to do to be able to get a good shot. He also explained terms such as aperture, composition, lines, framing and viewpoint. He also talked about shutter speed.

I was able to understand most of it, up until composition; but when he started discussing about settings, especially on ISO and shutter speed, I was lost! You see, I’m the type of learner who needs to be able to handle the equipment and try it out, for me to absorb it.

Alas, I’ve no DSLR yet. They said some phone cameras have settings, but my beloved iPhone doesn’t have them yet. We’re aiming to get a DSLR by January 2015, so until then, the numbers given will have to wait for me to comprehend.

Before the next session, Mike of MRLightworkz Photography, took to the mic to briefly share about his transition from Celebrity photography to food and events, and also gave the settings to one of the food photography that he had done for one of his clients.

Azrael Coladilla discussed more about maximising and optimising images for blogs, being a blogger himself, aside from being a photographer.

He shared tips on storing photos, how to earn from them, the importance of watermarks, and gave us a short list of editing tools that are easy to use. He also reminded us on practicing ethics when we cover events and shared some of his experiences on it.

One of the things that stuck to me about what he shared is about taking pictures that show what’s real. You can be creative and artistic, but do not misrepresent your subject.

Applying what we learned at OTKB

What great way to apply what we learned but through actual food photography!

Olive Tree Kitchen & Bar (OTKB) in Bonifacio High Street was one of the official sponsors of the workshop and after Azrael’s session, we proceeded there to take pictures of the mouth-watering food that we were going to eat.

I have to admit, I’m not the aggressive type when it comes to crowds. I waited until most of the participants were done taking pictures before I took my turn.

I’m not very happy with my output, I know I can take better ones with my iPhone, I was a bit intimidated by others who already have DSLRs, but I’ll share a few of mine here anyway:

I’m posting the rest of my pictures on Fully Housewifed Facebook page.

What did I learn?

I thought the workshop was very informative and very useful for bloggers and hopeful photographers.

I learned a lot in terms of the value of photos for bloggers and I’ve picked up a few tricks on how to make photos more interesting.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a DSLR so I can tinker with the settings and see how they will affect the composition of each picture I take.

I’m also feeling braver about taking different awkward and uncomfortable positions in the name of a good picture!

Azrael Coladilla also said that as long as we pay for coffee, he’s willing to teach us more and I just might take him up on that once I get my own DSLR to use. Hah!

Being able to apply what we’ve learned is a great way to go about it. I could sense the excitement from among the participants as we tried out a thing or two from what was discussed.  I can’t wait to see the pictures the others have come up with from the OTKB exercise!

Was it worth going to for me? YES!

We still have the Canva workshop to go to, to complete this workshop. It was rescheduled for another day.

But hey, I heard that there’s going to be a re-run of this workshop soon, so if you’re interested, shoot the admins of Bloggers ng Pinas a private message on Facebook or email them at: bloggersngpinas@gmail.com, so you can sign up!

Let me just mention the sponsors of the event: Bloggers Ng Pinas, OTKB, Essays.ph, Sagabay Outsourcing Services, Sagabay Technologies, Skin Philosophie, Fully Booked, When In Manila, and Nikon Philippines.

Basic Photography Tips & Tricks was held last November 8 at Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street.**