Portaits

Leah Delos Santos

Personally, I find portrait as the most challenging field of photography. It involves creating the right amount/type of light and engagement with the model. My peoples skills suck. I have no idea how to engage. It is the reason why people at first have the first impression on me that I'm an arrogant fool. With this said, I was fortunate enough that on the 2 photo shoots that I've been to, I was in the company of skilled and talented portrait photographers.

Cristina Ponce

My first shoot was back in February and it was an outdoor theme done at the Marikina Riverbanks. Jover Vasquez, a photographer I met in the Digital Photographer Philippines (DPP) forum invited me to join. He, along with Renen Belen and Art Topacio, organized the shoot. They are members of the D60 Krew of DPP. On that same shoot, I met the Love Radio's Papa Jack who happened to be into photography as well. I also met Alex Briones who at that time was also a newbie in photography like me. The sun was high in the sky as we started to shoot around mid-day. I borrowed reflectors by the way because all I had brought with me was my ever reliable Nikon D60. I literally had no idea what were needed for portait shoots. It was there I learned that since we were using ambient light, a reflector would do just fine. After taking my first shot, I was awed at what a simple reflector can do to a photo.

Rochelle Junio

Sometime in May, I got an invite for another shoot and this time it was from Alex Briones. You would definitely know when someone has the natural talent for photography. I noticed it because even though he only started holding a DSLR camera early in January of this year, he knew what to do with the models in our Marikina Shoot. This time around, his skills improved as he also attended workshops by Jo Avilla. The venue of the shoot was in his home in Maia Alta, Antipolo City. Surprisingly, the man had the needed gears. Softbox, light stands, umbrella, background etc. His Canon 1000d was also upgraded to a 7d. You could really tell that he was serious with photography. It was an amazing experience. Strobing was a new type of portrait photography where it is like a whole new science and he shared his knowledge with us. His wife, Weng, was the make-up artist - a very kind woman who demonstrated what Filipino hospitality is all about. It was also good to see Jover again and meet new people like Bong Pestañas, professional photographer of 9th Avenue Photography who lent me a spare battery (really need to buy a spare one). I also met the funny man Franz "Pang" Valenzuela who gave us a ride to Sta.Lucia Mall. It was a very hot day but after a whole day of shooting and learning, it was definitely worth it. Portrait photography, challenging indeed.

Athena Vica