10 Photography Targets For 2010

This may come a bit late, since it's already February, but I'd like to share with you what I wanted to achieve this year related to my hobby. These may be simple to some, but as a TV ad kept on reminding kids, "great things start from small beginnings."

1. Attend a photography workshop. I've already mentioned this in my previous blog post, but I feel this should still be on the list. I have a lot to learn, and I think this is the only way that I can further improve myself with regards to photography.


2. Print at least one (or two) of my shots in large format. Think A3 or larger size. Then I'd hang it on a wall in our room.


3. Shift away from aperture and shutter priority and stay with manual. This is a personal challenge that is taking me long enough to achieve. I think I should force myself to shoot at M-mode from now on.


4. Use custom white balance. Too much I have relied on Digital Photo Professional to adjust the white balance of my shots. I should do this before I start taking pictures. I should learn how to get everything right on-camera.


5. Stop looking at the LCD screen after every shot. I instinctively do this whenever I take my shots. The results? I miss possibly great captures because my eyes were glued to the LCD. I've already turned off auto preview. I'm thinking of turning off the LCD altogether and start looking at the settings through the viewfinder's display instead.


6. Develop my own photography style. If you'd look at my Flickr and Snapixel accounts, you'd see that it's a hodgepodge of pictures that, wonderful as they may be, look like they were not taken by the same person. One looks brighter than the other, one has a washed-out style, another had this 'lomo' look. I should strive to be consistent from now on.


7. Refine my workflow. Right now, my workflow goes like: Reset the cam, change all settings to my usual, take the pictures. Upon reaching home, offload pics to the laptop using Canon EOS Utility (auto-rename has been set), then use Digital Photo Professional to cull through the shots. After culling, tag the remaining pics. Import the pictures to LightRoom 3 Beta. Correct the colors if necessary. Clean artifacts if there are any. Export to JPEG all that will be posted online, check if watermarking is necessary. After posting, delete all JPEGs. Perform backup to external HDD. Tedious isn't it? There should be a better way to do this!


8. Learn how to focus manually. I've dreamed of learning how not to rely on the camera's AF function. However at the moment I'm trying to set the diopter of the viewfinder correctly to achieve proper focus on the lens. What happens if the diopter setting doesn't match what the lens 'sees'? I see the image well-focused on the viewfinder, but when I load it to the computer, it's actually blurred.


9. Do a portrait shoot in a studio. This goes with #2. There are a lot of studios for rent here in Manila, with a lot of lighting options available, on the cheap. Maybe I'd do this after the photography workshop.


10. Post a (serious) entry to a major photo contest. Canon usually holds at least one photography contest every year, so do some photography organizations. This should be the culmination of all that I have (and will) learn about photography for this year.

Are you interested with photography like I do? If you have any, I'd like to learn if you have any photography goals for the year. You may post them as a comment or post the link if you have then in your blog.

Photography With A Purpose

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, an old adage says. That's what I'll be trying to disprove come March 13. I signed up as a participant to Imagine Nation Photography's "The Purppose Driven Photographer (PDP). It will be a 7-day "journey", held every Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

I have long dreamed of participating in a photography workshop ever since a friend got into one for free (after he bought his DSLR late last year). I never thought about actually signing up for one until my wife and I stumbled on the PDP website while looking for a friend's prenuptial pictorial online. My wife suggested the workshop as her post-Christmas present to me, knowing that I'm sure to choose it over a pair of rubber shoes.

Participating in a photography workshop is different from learning on your own. Yes I can learn all the settings and all there is on my camera by myself, but a workshop would provide an expert who can teach me the intangibles, like how to bend the rules in composition and lighting, and how to position and communicate with the models in getting the image that I want. Moreover, 'connections' with other photographers can be built as we go along those seven sessions. Who knows, we might be working on a future project as a group!

I think it's obvious that I'm excited with this. I've got great expectations on myself once this workshop is over, as I feel that a lot of what I do on photography is based on 'textbook information'.

For more information, please visit the PDP website.

Long time, No see...

It's a usual Filipino expression when meeting someone who's not been around for quite some time. Definitely me and my blog haven't seen each other for 2 months.

Another lull, you'd say? As much as I wanted to focus on making posts I was thinking of how I would want my blog to present me as a person.

Narrowing My Focus

Do I want to focus on a niche topic, as other would do when creating a blog? That would attract loyal followers, but which topic do I focus on? My photography? Family life? Raising children? I was quite successful doing that with my 52 weeks photography project, but I can't seem to find one to talk about at great length in a blog. I've been at it for weeks, and I still have none.

Free-flow

Do I post at random, as what I have been doing for my past blogs? Wait, I'm doing that with my microblogs, so doing so would just be an exercise in redundancy. I remember one of the reasons for my blog reboot is that I myself got sick of reading everything about me from several microblog and social network site accounts. I wanted to post something different here.

Give...

I would want to have a 'tips' site, and at the moment I'm wracking my brains trying to think about it. I can help others if they ever do stumble upon this blog.

I'll try that for now, and I hope it would be 'THAT' thing that would keep me blogging as often for the longest time.

Martial Law, According To The 1987 Constitution

Section 18.

The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion. In case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress. The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its Members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.

The Congress, if not in session, shall, within twenty-four hours following such proclamation or suspension, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call.

The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.

A state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the Constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function, nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

The suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall apply only to persons judicially charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in, or directly connected with, invasion.

During the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, any person thus arrested or detained shall be judicially charged within three days, otherwise he shall be released.

Only In The Philippines

...can you find an incumbent President running for a legislative position.

...can you find a past President who is seeking reelection because he was not able to finish his 6 year term.

...can you find 'nuisance candidates' running for President of the country.

...can you find politicians transferring from one party to another, just to get the best position to win the election.

...can you find politicians who still demand "royal" treatment, even though it's clear that when they took their oath into public office they promised to "serve the people".

...can you find someone who killed several people and still be given special treatment while behind bars.

...can you find a lot of actors and actresses seeking public office.

...can you find a politician who claims to be "one with the poor" and yet has never, ever been subject to experiences that those poor people had because he/she was born to a very wealthy family.

...can you find people who, despite the numerous natural disasters that came and went, still smile.

...can you find people who, despite having not enough money to buy food, own expensive cellphones.

...can you find a lot of latest-model cars plying the traffic-ridden streets, even though it's been considered a third-world country.

...can you find 5- to 10-year old city buses from Japan being cleaned and reused like new ones.

...can you find trains that have special coaches for female passengers that are not crowded, and yet not all women go to them.

Care to add some more? As the typical Filipino expression goes, "Bato bato sa langit, ang tamaa'y huwag magalit!" :)