Travel Photographer Philippines
Photography is one of my passions in life. It has grown from an aspiration, to a hobby, then an important aspect of my life as a full-time travel blogger.
A lot of people ask me where I studied photography. Truth be told, I don’t have formal training in photography. I learned the basics by reading photography blogs like Digital Photography School and photo books sold at Book Sale. I’ve come to realize early on that there are a lot of helpful information online about photography and it’s not necessary to enroll in a photography class just to take a “good” photo.
Hoping that aspiring photographers would learn and be inspired by my experiences, here are my personal tips about travel photography.
So you want to buy a camera?
Camera shops
I have a camera, now what?
Photography basics
Post-processing
Shopping at online camera stores is a great option for people who are in the market to buy a DSLR or compact camera. Several online camera shops based in the Philippines have sprung up in recent years.
Prices are generally competitive. Many digital cameras and photo accessories cost the same or, at times, cheaper than the camera stores in Hidalgo Quiapo. Definitely, much cheaper than the bloated prices at the malls.
What’s great about these stores is that you can check the current prices instantly. No need to canvass from store to store at Hidalgo. In case you’d want to buy in Hidalgo, at least you already have an idea how much your desired unit costs.
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I’ve always planned on giving photography tips on this blog so as I start, I thought of sharing my simple workflow to come up with nice looking landscape photos. I used to do all my post processing work in Adobe Photoshop but now, I almost entirely use Adobe Lightroom for most of my post processing needs. I only use Photoshop for selected photos because it takes so much time tinkering with its interface. I’ve been there and I understand how daunting Photoshop could be for beginners. At the other end of the spectrum, I just love how easy, fast, and fun it is to edit batches upon batches of photos in Lightroom. It only takes a few clicks to turn my photos into the works that you’ve seen in my blog. If you’ve been curious to know my photography workflow, here’s how I usually do my post processing.
“Before and after” photos of the scenic Capones Island, Zambales using my customized develop preset for Adobe Lightroom
It’s always an exciting endeavor for every photo enthusiast to try shooting the perfect fireworks photos. I’ve had my practice runs every Dinagyang Festival back home in Iloilo, where a big nationwide fireworks display competition is held (that aside from fireworks shows on almost every major celebration). Now it’s time for the big leagues, the most celebrated pyrotechnic competition in the Philippines and among the World’s grandest, the Philippine International PyroMusical Competition 2011 staged at the SM Mall of Asia in Metro Manila.
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If you’re wondering where you can buy dSLR cameras and other photographic equipment in the Philippines for the cheapest/lowest prices, then it’s in Hidalgo, Quiapo. I know Hidalgo Quiapo, in general, is notorious as one of Manila’s shabby and crime infested areas (full of pirated CDs/DVDs, counterfeit electronics, snatchers, garbage).
I was surprised myself after finding out that it’s highly recommended by other photographers in the Philippines as a place to find a wider range of photographic/videographic equipment at a cheaper price than in malls. I bought my first camera, a Canon Powershot A700, in Hidalgo Quiapo when I was in college and a Nikon D40 last year.
I have nothing to complain about the quality of my purchases there.
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Two of my pictures taken during recent visits to Bacolod City, Negros Occidental were published in the iTravel Philippines Magazine’s Bacolod City feature by Mr. Bombette G. Marin. The pictures were of the Lacson Mansion Ruins in Talisay City and the San Sebastian Church in Bacolod City. I’m very happy that my photos are circulating outside my blogs with permission and proper credits this time.
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Well, they aren’t real inmates but we did manage to have a photo shoot in an actual prison … or rather ex-prison. The provincial rehabilitation center (jail) was transferred to a town 40 minutes from the city, which left us with an abandoned (heritage) building just ripe for a photo opportunity. The setting was really great! old junk, steel bars, empty hallways, rooms, and corridors, dirty walls, and a haunted ambiance left by a century of history. No professional work, just a bunch of friends having fun.
Disfuntional Family
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Photographers always have this feeling of exhibiting their photos either for other people or even for their own viewing pleasure. For me sharing my photos is a way of getting my perspective out, and letting other people know more about my life and my perspective. I’ve already done spreading my photos all over the internet and on some print media, and this time, I was thinking of doing something a bit more personal. So I decided to make this cheap and easy-to-do photo wall for my room.
Photo Wall Ideas
While searching online, I came across two interesting ideas, which included magnets and metals as the core materials. The first one, included painting the wall with a metallic paint and then laying over magnet/s on top of the photos to suspend them. The second used several pieces of colored metallic strings draped across the wall instead of the metallic paint. I scrapped the metallic paint idea since it is quite expensive and labrious to cover a whole wall of metallic paint.
I’m not sure if there are colored strings available in our local hardware/craft stores but the first thing that popped into my head when I started thinking about improvising, is using paper clips. Perfect! because they are cheap and easy to find.
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An art exhibit is currently ongoing at Red Steakhouse and Gallery in Smallville, Iloilo City (along Diversion Road, Mandurriao District). The exhibit is called “Spectrum: Iloilo,” there are no themes, groups, or subjects just a bunch of independent photographers in Iloilo wanting to showcase their passion for their craft.
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Lightroom is one of my most used tools in my arsenal photo-editing softwares. I’m not the most technical kind of photographer when it comes to taking photos (in-camera), so most of the time, I have to edit the photos I take before uploading them in the internet. At certain times, I have hundreds of photos that I want to upload in a short span of time. Lightroom to saves me a hell of a lot of time and effort unlike editing the photos one by one in photoshop.
Lightroom works like Picasa but is much more powerful. I like that it’s able to edit RAW photos since I now exclusively shoot in RAW format. Another thing I like about Lightroom is that you can apply “preset effects” to a photo, which means you can edit/enhance batches of photos with just one click.
Example
This is an unedited photo I took during a recent trip to Taklong Island in Guimaras. Due to the undesirable settings I had and the bad lighting conditions, the colors turned out too dull, which doesn’t give justice to the beautiful sight in real life. I wanted to emphasize the vibrant colors of the boat and the scenery so I had to brighten the photo, and increase the saturation and contrast. Though … before achieving the the image I had in my head, I wanted to tryout some other effects. Using the preset option, I came up with these:
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My food shots of Amalfi Restaurant in The Avenue, Iloilo City has just appeared on a national daily, the Philippine Star, on May 28, 2009. Here’s a snapshot of the feature on Amalfi Cucina Italia:
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In the Philippine Ilonggo dialect, ambot ah literally means "I don't know." After graduating in college, I decided to hold off pursuing my profession and embarked on a free spirited journey of adventure and self-discovery. My travels have led me to many places across the Philippine Islands and South East Asia. I don't know where this path will take me but I'm certain I'll get a lifetime of stories out of it.
