sometimes i just wish i said no

one of the things that i love about photographing is the fact that i have a chance to be part of someone or somebody's most important time of their lives. but i never thought that i could be one of those who is silent in a corner and witness great sadness.

being an event photographer i never thought that i would photograph a funeral, something that is really, really something that i never have thought that i would do in my career but i did. i was there and it sucks because it's such a gloomy day thought the sun is up. most of the time the only thing that echos in the silent day is the sobs of those who were left behind.

and it is the first ever job i took that i did ask myself... do i do this again? can i do it again? i know that this is my second project (on a funeral) but really do i need to be in this type of situation again?

the whole project is too out of my character it is totally in contrast with my personality and i felt out of place. i photograph to be able to share happiness and joy, not bear witness to a sad day. bottom line is i hate sad things, its something that i don't really need in my life but everything in this funeral is worth photographing. do i like the photographs yes i do, but i am not happy with sad situations.

the wedding project

this wedding is part of a school project... everything here is not real but we all made it realistic for the viewers...

we all had fun with this shoot... the students are very cool about it. some were even very exited about the whole event. i am just happy that everybody participated well and made the whole event a success.

this wedding is the first ever solo wedding that i have ever shoot, considering that i am not really a wedding photographer. but this whole event open up to a whole new experience, i am very glad that i had a chance. i learn something that i don't really learn in my usual photography... i just thought that in wedding photography there is a whole new discipline. you need to work with people... literally work with them. combination of ideas is the key. you need to combine your own idea with others to have a spectacular shoot. and the best part is that i have fun with every second of it.

luntian is my name

for years now i am bearing the name luntian... many would ask why do you have that name?

people are mostly given names when they are born and same equation is used why people have names... because it describe them (mostly). if we trace back history most of the names are given to our ancestors because it describes them... like they are as swift as a kidlat (lightning), as hard as a bato (rock), or they are like a hiyas (jewel). we are given the name because it's part of who we are and what we are to the people who love us.

luntian (green) is who i am. it represent life, fertility, well being and most importantly it represent nature. yes luntian is kalikasan (nature) that is who i am. it is the only thing that describes me best... a person one in nature.

it is the only time that i am at rest... i can feel that i am revitalizing when i am in her midst. it's really the place where i can really think. and ever since i am always in love with mother nature. it's like you can't separate her from me.

who am i? i am the daughter of mother nature for she always nurture me and everyone else in this planet.

30th day of the challenge; oh my kit lens

the 30th day and now we are at the end... for our final photograph i will show you how wide it can go and how far it can zoom. first photo is in 55mm, the 2nd is in 26mm, and last is in 18mm.

photography is suppose to be an expression, it reflect reality, a way to communicate, to reach out to others. it should not be contain with in a box but transcend to different levels. that is why we should not limit our creativity because we only have a kit lens but instead find ways to capture that illusive, that one shot over 120 shots. we shouldn't blame the camera nor that lens and start making excuses that "if only i got this... if only i got that..." no! stop right now and start thinking again... is it really the camera or it's just me?

29th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

29th day every one... it's almost over and i am happy that you are still with us until this day...

with this shot i only make things very simple. i hope that you will still be with us until the last day. this

28th day of the challenge; oh my kit lens

so this is the 28th day... and i think that we made it a long, long way by now. this is my second time to do smoke photography with in this challenge. i know that i have shown last time some smoke but i hope that this will blow your mind away.

i know that smoke photography itself is a challenge because it's very tricky but i guess the photographs tell the story itself.

all i did here is a very simple set up... i only use the pop-up flash, black and white cardboard, tripods to hold the camera and the smoke thing (a lighted-rolled tissue). i use a a57 in fluorescent white balance (that is why it has a cooler tone). other than that i forgot the rest. well i did use a kit lens (18-55mm).

due to internet connection problems this post is very late. thank you for visiting the blog again.

27th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

now we are at the 27th day! it's like really it's almost over... we have a great fun with our journey. we find something really amazing about the kit lens and photography. it's really fun to know more about kit lens and what it can do (and what it can't do).

i am doing a little different here, i guess i still have a hangover over our faceless assignment last week. sometimes it's really the hidden message in the photograph that we are really interested. it's not the obvious, it's not what is waving in-front of us but rather the one that hides itself from the rest of the world. it's how we tell the story of the subject that really captures our imagination.

you are correct the subject is really hiding from me. guess not everybody is happy being photographed. elements that i use to make the subject stand out light, leading lines, and i frame the subject.

26th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

so the 26th day has come and i want to show some personality (person) in the photographs. so how will a kit lens handle this shoot?

how or what makes a stunning portrait? is it the model? the way they are dressed? really it's just the light. just master the light and you'll be fine.

25th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

i just went out and get this photo... 25th day is something that i did a street photography. i think (it works best for me) that this lens is the best for this type of photography. i can zoom a little closer (though it's not necessary) and i can do wide to capture of the whole scene. and i can move around too... giving the stealth mode full blast.

i am not related nor sponsored by this company.

24th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

finally its 24th day... it's like yesterday that we started this journey and now we found ourselves that we are at 24th. the power of photography (creativity of light) is something that is way beyond the camera (structure and build wise) and lens. it's the power to read the light and make friends with it.

now may be you have already saw that most of the photographs that is part of this challenge is compose of light and show light itself in contrast with shadow... why is it that most of the photos shows that? simple because we have to understand that photography is about light in general. that without it every photograph is nothing but a blank of darkness. it's because photography is light painting.

above all we have to understand light, we need to read and see through the lens. it's by mastering this that we will be able to make a masterpiece. so before you start talking about lenses... discussing the latest camera available in the market... may be we need to reflect with in ourselves... am i reading the light?

in this blog post the image above is compose of three elements... the lines that points to the subject. the polygon that breaks the fame giving another dimension of the photograph. and the light.

23rd day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

this time i am making it simple. 23rd day i only show a different perspective giving an abstract image. i just hope that you will enjoy it.

22nd day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

so this is one of the things that most people doubt about kit lenses... high speed photography and kit lens don't mix. so how do you get around it? trust and luck and a little bit of hope.

so at our 22nd day of our challenge i made something a bit challenging of your mate kit lens... this time i did some high speed photography with out other set up. i just use the pop-up flash and that's it. i just recommend that you will shoot in raw so you can play with it later at lightroom. you might want to change the color of the liquid instead of that boring transparent color just like i did here.

by the way this tutorial is at digital-photography-school so you can check it out if you wish to do some high speed photography.

21th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

now this feels like an achievement given that we have went through a long way. 21th day that is really a long way and i am very happy that everyone still gives time to read this blog and somehow give honest feed backs to this site and also at facebook. thank you very much for sharing a time with me.

now as you will observe the photograph it about shape and foreground bokeh. this is really about having a feeling that you are in a dreamy world. some times foreground bokeh gives us the intriguing feeling and give our imagination a blast. the shape somehow breaks the focus and giving more interest on the blur part of the photograph (which in reality is the real subject).

20th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

20th day of our challenge. and this is about the part where you are between the conscious state or in the dream state. the lens has the ability to show us both world.

due to unexpected network problem the 20th photograph is a bit late.

19th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

so

this is the 19th day and i will shut my mouth (or refrain from typing). now this is about how i see an image. and the way i see it... this is better!

the patters, the light and shadows, the symmetry of the subject makes it stand out. it's really important that you really see your subject. it is by seeing that you see the other side of things...

so what you think is how you see an image. but what if you see an image but you don't think? they call it Mindfulness in Photography (the avatar state). it's just that you don't think you just photograph what you see. this is when we forget about concepts but just enjoying what the subject is offering. and yes it's meditation in essence too.

18th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

it's the 18th day! and now i must say that the kit lens challenge did somehow survive. we have tough days but still we manage to go on and show what a kit lens can do. i may push it a bit but somehow we just marvel that it can still do something awesome with something that we already have in our pockets (or cabinets and vaults).

today i am showing you another set of shadow and light shot. why because the subject itself represent both... yin and yang, push and pull, north and south, etc. my subject this time is the power of polar opposites or the opposites that attract one another but can't exist with out the other. Yes it's the fishes they call Pisces.

we too should learn to understand the opposites, in photography we even call it juxtaposition. but what i am just showing here is the simplest form which is the light that in-relation is associated with the subject too.

17th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

this is our 17th day... i combine different elements here. first is the (a little) foreground bokeh, then the texture and finally the leading lines.

sometimes photographer find themselves seeing different elements with in a frame. now if you want to be a photographer you must try to arrange (rearrange) different elements to make a subject stand out. it's how you combine these elements that help the viewers see what your composition is about. but remember it's how you present this to your viewers that makes a good photographer.

i always say there are a 120 ways to compose an image but you only need one to present it to make a good master piece. it is by seeing our subject as it is that we will be able to understand what to present to our viewers. remember that photography is a visual art so people need to see something that will capture their attention and interpret it.

16th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

now that we are at the 16th day i did something special with my kit lens... it's light versus the shadows. i hope that you will like this one.

one of the basic elements and the most important is the light. with out it there would be no photograph. isn't it magic...

15th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

would you believe it it's been half a month now that we have started our journey with our kit lens challenge. it's a long way but hey we are still here and trying our best.

now with this day i did something that i haven't done before with this challenge. i did lines with this post, leading lines specifically. i did something that would test the wide angle of the lens and it didn't disappoint me.

14th day of our challenge;oh my kit lens

this is now the 14th day so i did something that is different. i did an animal photography, my subject is my dog (wiggles). i only took him outside so all the lights that i am using here is natural lights.

this series is part of an entry to a pet photography competition. i hope this shot could be considered. and yes my dog is a geek. so was my cat.

13th day of the challenge; oh my kit lens

there you have it it's bee a while since we have started our challenge. i am very happy that you are still with me. now for this day i did a product photography.

i only use a single light for this set up that is bounce to a white cardboard (to soften the light). i use a black cardboard as a background for the subject. and a black and white cardboard to reflect the lights.

i keep thing as simple as possible eliminating other distractions to give more emphasis on the subject. the first image (single teacup) was shot with out the black and white board. while the second teacup is with a black and white board (to reflect lights).

12th day of the challenge; oh my kit lens

after days of bad weather finally the sun came out on the 12th day. i was out shooting for seascapes this time. yes it's different this time. i want to test the wide angle of this lens.

i use a polarizing filter with my kit lens. i also process it (exposure) using photoshop.

11th day of the challenge; oh my kit lens

i am still doing a light painting for this 11th day... hope you like it though...

10th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

so at our 10th day what i did is another light painting but this time i am individually lighting each lighted part of the photograph using a LED torch light. with this shot i am balancing two elements here. i am using a long exposure (15") to capture the light.

after i photograph around 6 photos i put it together using photoshop. what i think is the most challenging part of this shot is the fact that i am shooting during a rain. i use 1 LED torch light, two tripods (1 that holds the camera, the other is holding the umbrella), and umbrella (to keep the camera dry and protected). then the rest was imagination.

9th day of our challenge smoke photography; oh my kit lens

so this is our 9th day and i did very different this time. i did a smoke photography. yes folks you hear it correctly. smoke photography.

i only use the pop-up flash this time over a black and white cardboard (i use the the black side as a background). then process it at photoshop (i invert the image and adjust the exposure). for the smoke i use a cigarette because there are no incense sticks (i can't buy them here) around town.

8th day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

ok people i must say that days just passed by so fast and how we are on our 8th day. would you believe that! now we have journey through this and together we learn something about our dear and trusted friend our kit lens.

so i took my 18-55mm (kit lens) with me to a fireworks display. but before anything i review my notes and research again about how to photograph a fireworks.

one thing that you should remember if you are shooting a fireworks is;

1. you need a lens that can take a wide shot. the thing is you don't need a fast lens only a lens that can give you enough space to actually make the fireworks fit in your frame.

2. lowest possible ISO (mostly around 100).

3. a long shutter speed to capture the light's movements. but i find bulb mode very convenient because you can control when to close shutter.

4. something that could make your camera steady just reduce camera shake. a tripod would be a good choice.

5. a remote control to prevent camera shake. remember you are using a long shutter speed here and even a tiny shake can ruin a shot.

6. enjoy yourself

out of the six i only got 5... i forgot to bring a tripod again but i use my backpack as a replacement of a tripod. well as long as it will prevent shake then it's good to go.

it's really a fun day i have a chance to spend some time with my sisters. i did miss them a lot but hey they bond with me for a little while. and we share a finale with a bang (fireworks bang).

seventh day of our challenge; oh my kit lens

now that we are on our seventh day of the challenge i did something different. we all know that food photography is something that most people don't do and i just want to try it with our kit lens.

i must say that the kit lens did have a good fighting chance at food photography. the narrow aperture helps capture more detail of the subject.

i did this set up using a hallogen flood lamp, two tripods, two black and white cardboard and torch light (wrap with plastic to defuse light). by the way the camera that i use in this shoot is a sony alpha33 the one that is in the photo is a kodak dx7590 (i am just showing the set up.