Behind the Truth and the Legend

file this under inspiration

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:36:33 +0800

*file this under inspiration*

The nice folks over at Elorde Alabang contacted me to shoot some...

Fri, 31 May 2013 23:07:00 +0800

The nice folks over at Elorde Alabang contacted me to shoot some pics for their new Alabang branch. I actually just intended to visit the place and see what it was like, but I took 2 bodies and some small flashes just incase there was some activity to shoot. Nothin sadder than shootin an empty gym, right? Bets was there so we were able to get some shots down. Also did some portraits with the trainers… Nothin fancy with the light, just balancing small flash with ambient… Didn’t bring any stands, just took some clamps with me.

I realized right away that I need a decent wide angle lens. The 24-70 on a crop body is not wide enough and the fisheye’s distortion takes away a lot of the “seriousness”, in my opinion. Sometimes you just need wide shots with straight lines.

Will return when I get to borrow some decent wide angle glass. No funds just yet to purchase my own. And I really don’t want to buy a crop lens, when I know I’m eventually getting a full frame body. Man, I wish I had oodles of cash to throw around.

But anyway, I’m posting a few frames I liked.

If ya live in the beautiful suburb of Alabang, and you’re lookin for a boxing gym, you can’t go wrong with the Elorde name. The guys there are warm and friendly too. Follow them here.

Cheers!

More Headhuntin… Shot this last week for our annual...

Mon, 27 May 2013 05:31:47 +0800

More Headhuntin…

Shot this last week for our annual office muse / escort “pageant”. I don’t wana shoot another headshot for a while now. Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting heads, I just need a little break.

Couldn’t have done it with out Hannah and Euvs! Thanks, guys. And thank goodness for white walls too, really the easiest way to get a clean background in no time.

Makeup by Hannah Acena check her out, she has good taste in music.

Assisted by my main man, Euvy.

more soon… cheers!

URCC 23: Unrivalled 2 things I realized this URCC… 1....

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:42:02 +0800

he's freakin pointing right at her boobie

"i just whooped yo ass"

URCC 23: Unrivalled

2 things I realized this URCC…

1. when it comes to shooting the URCC I can’t see how Nikon can beat Pentax in terms of color. The Pentax Kx does a better job than the Nikon D7000 when it comes to color rendition. If only Pentax had a kick ass focusing system (and flash system cause they really need to up their flashes - 180th sync wtf????)

and 2. Cristine Reyes is too cute when she’s watching MMA… too bad, I couldn’t steal a picture…

A bit sad cause all the guys I rooted for lost in a bad way. Painful to see your local MMA heroes go down in defeat like that… Hope they bounce back next July.

head huntin

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:52:00 +0800

Every chance I get to shoot in the office, I make sure I drop whatever work I’m doing, and just leave it all hanging. F*ck the meetings. Forget the deliverables. Delegate shit. It’s time to make some pictures.

(hope my boss isn’t reading this)

These last couple of weeks, every time I’d pick up a camera, it would be more or less for a headshot session. Did quite a few in the office, also had some fun with friends who just like to shoot.

Some personal favourites from the recent shoots in and out of the office and some tidbits of what I learned in the process…

Pictured above is Sharon. Sweet face + nice piercing. All my frames had her hair covering that ear. With this one, I felt like it gave a bit more personality. Hair’s a bit all over the place, but her smile just stands out.

Up next we got Mimi… She’s a cam whore. I love it. The perfect stand in. She also works for me, so sometimes she doesn’t have a choice but to stand in (despite the deadlines). =) What I love about her, she’s willing to experiment and she takes direction pretty well. Always have fun shooting her.

Here we have Hanna. I shot her before for the office marketing material campaign we did for recruitment, this time she’s back for some head shot action.

I wanted to show her tat (more personality) so I had her pretend she was fixing her hair. Who said you can’t add arms in a head shot?

The challenge of trying to make someone look interesting is freaking addicting. It’s also a lot of trial and error. There are some things you can say or do to a certain person, some you cant. Different strokes for different folks, but the common denominator is really making that connection.

I’m learning the hard way that you can’t afford to fiddle with lighting, your settings, and your gear when you have a person in front of you. All your attention should be focused on your subject and your interaction with that person. What you say, what they say. Their body language, your body language. You have to be mindful of everything. Your job is to make sure they trust the photographer. Find a way for them to be comfy with you.

In terms of lighting, technically there are a lot of things to look out for too. I find myself sticking to the tried and tested, basic lighting set ups. Partly because everything is done on tight timelines, and you have to deal with limitations like the location and equipment (remember, I’m mostly shooting inside cramped up conference rooms and tiny offices). I don’t have the luxury having a slew of studio lights at my disposal. And on top of all of that, even if you know you’re lighting technique, accidents are still bound to happen.

Above we have Diane. To begin with, the ceiling was probably 7 feet high. That’s actually pretty low and that meant I couldn’t set up my umbrella properly. So I just washed light onto that low ceiling. Thank goodness it was white. To make things worse, Diane was forced by her boss to get her picture taken. So immediately I had 2 challenges to deal with… The easier bit was the light, I did a few tests with the high bounce wash, TTL was working pretty spot on which bought me a lot of time. Then I had to deal with the jitters of being forced in front of the camera. If it hadn’t been for TTL, I would have spent all that time fixing my light and not getting her to shine that smile. See, TTL can save yo ass too. =)

Below is another person who usually stands in when I need someone to test the light. Meet my seat mate, Mitch…

Talking about basic lighting, there’s nothing fancy here, my go-to set up for shooting the ladies (when I have the space) is: One light table top position, then a reflector for low bounce fill. Modifier of choice would be the Photek Softlighter 2. Keeping it simple. 1 small light + 1 big mod + 1 reflector, quick and easy.

art by Lisa Congdon http://lisacongdon.com

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:04:00 +0800

art by Lisa Congdon

http://lisacongdon.com

wish i’d seen/had this when i started. freakin...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:26:00 +0800

wish i’d seen/had this when i started. freakin handy…

from: http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/03/30/free-portrait-photography-cropping-guide/

Analog Adventure from the shoot earlier… Met the Crusaders...

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 02:21:52 +0800

Analog Adventure from the shoot earlier… Met the Crusaders and listened to the Who live a Leeds.

Just finished the first work week of 2013 and now I finally have...

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 08:33:01 +0800

1. Bets

2. UDD - Turn It Well

3. My Team

4. New Year's Eve Feast

5. URCC

6. Shooting Ede

7. KL

8. Singapore

9. Thailand

10. Tonette and the Tether Cable

Just finished the first work week of 2013 and now I finally have time to sit back, hit the internetz and upload =) Got this idea from DH’s year ender Post-a-Palooza, and it just makes perfect sense. A best practice that I’d like to imitate, if you may… I was supposed to post this last week, but it took me a while to squeeze in just 10 photos. So many good memories, it was tough making the edit.

So here goes…*drumroll*

In no particular order or criteria. Just my favorite memories of people, places and events of the year that was.

1. Bets - Follow her, she tweets about food a lot. She’s also one of the faces of the new Olympus campaign. I’ve known her since she was a kid, and as far back as I can remember she’s been in billboards and print ads. I’m so happy she’s my neighbour and that she’s always game for beauty portrait sessions. Thanks, Bets! ^^

2. Up Dharma Down: Turn It Well - That expression on Armi’s face is priceless. This instantly became my favorite BTS shot. Check out the video here.

3. My Team - These are my fighting Urukhai. The crazy bunch on the 9th floor. The teams seated around us hate us because we make so much noise with our laughter and banter. It’s a pleasure serving you guys. Let’s aim for team excellence of the year!

4. New Year’s Eve Feast - This last NYE feast was a bit special, my sister and I took up kitchen duties, and we cooked up a storm! Thank goodness I didn’t screw up that prime rib. Also, that parma ham and manchego laced with truffle honey was an orgasm in my mouth

5. URCC - The URCC shows this year were just insane. This one was an all out war. In the end, the Igorot won.

6. Shooting Ede - I like this one because the entire shoot, we were wrestling with different lighting set ups, and all we got was crappy light. Then we went outside and found out (again) that the best light out there is free. No mods on this one. Just some nice afternoon sunlight.

7. KL - View from the hotel room. KL felt a lot like Makati, congested with horrible traffic.

8. Singapore - This trip, I met up with my highschool buddies and went to Laneway to catch Feist, Toro Y Moi, The Drums, Cults, Chairlift and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. Also watched Wicked at the Marina Bay Sands and got to eat Coco Curry! Fun times.

9. Thailand - This green curry meal was made in the heart of the Amphawa floating market. We then hopped on a boat and got Thai food massagies around the Mae Klong river. Great experience, can’t wait to come back… Next time, I’ll go to Pataya and visit my long lost brothers.

10. Tonette and the Tether Cable - I was so excited to shoot tethered for the first time, I invited my dear friend, Tonette to shoot head shots. After this shoot, I was convinced that the most important thing in the world is connection with your subject. No connection means no expression.

So there. My personal highlight reel in 10 pictures…

I can’t wait for what 2013 will bring. Whatever it is, I’ll be sure to take some snaps (hopefully 2013 also brings me an iPhone 5 so I can shoot more often).

Cheers, guys… More soon.

Holiday Food Trip 2012 Always loved shooting food. I’m a...

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:08:00 +0800

Holiday Food Trip 2012

Always loved shooting food. I’m a frustrated foodie-photog, I’ll admit. And the biggest problem I have with food photography is, I always want to eat the food more than I want to shoot it. I get impatient, then end up eating the subject.

Jeez, I’m getting hungry as I’m writing this… tsk tsk. ^^

Can’t wait for our New Year’s eve feast!

Light as soft as a baby’s behind. Meet my godson,...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 04:12:52 +0800

Light as soft as a baby’s behind.

Meet my godson, Zedric…

We shot him with a queen sized bed sheet gaf-taped in between 2 light stands, with 2 SB900’s shooting through. Chuck and I wanted to mimic window light, and nothing does that better than your 99 Peso bed sheet from Daiso. We set up the entire rig in 5 minutes. Setting the SB900’s at 1/32 power a piece, we had the luxury of having super fast recycle times. Once all that was set, the rest of our time was making sure our subject wouldn’t get cranky.

Hope to shoot him again, mibbe when he hits his 6th month mark. In the meantime, enjoy these really cute baby expressions.

Cheers ^^

I don’t think I ever remember attending a URCC show that...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:12:00 +0800

Looking like Bruce Lee

first blood

punch out

Eric Kelly

Blood of the Landslide

Lowen Tynanes

doctor stoppage

I don’t think I ever remember attending a URCC show that didn’t deliver. Damn, last Saturday was freaking epic. It was painful to see my hero, Edward The Landslide Folayang dethroned. Yup, our pound for pound number 1 guy was outclassed by a 20 year old monster from Hawaii. A kid named Lowen Tynanes showed everyone where we are in terms of MMA hierarchy.

Some interesting bits… After the show, I was hanging out at the parking lot with URCC matchmaker, Will Carlos and fellow URCC photographer, Alan Ranch. Will was rambling how the main event fight between Folayang and Tynanes proved his point. He was saying that we still have a long way to go before we can compete with the rest of the world. That one of the keys to success is cross training, and that how we aren’t ready for the UFC just yet… And I think he’s right. After seeing what Tynanes did, it’s interesting to see how Folayang will bounce back. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Enjoy the bloody photos for now, full set can be found here.

Cheers!

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT Chico Limjap Photography

The Turn It Well video is officially out on youtube. Props to my...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:47:00 +0800

The Turn It Well video is officially out on youtube. Props to my cousin Caloy for the awesome job directing.

If I remember correctly, we shot this with 5 DSLRs. They even used my 105 f2 for some of the tight shots.

Cheers to the guys for a great song and video!

This post is for all you UDD fans who just followed me here on...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:40:00 +0800

Pedals

Paul

Ean on drums

Armi

Carlos

Take 3

i dunno why I like this one a lot

Up Dharma Down - Turn It Well

This post is for all you UDD fans who just followed me here on Tumblr. =D *waves hi*

Just like you, I’m a fan too. I first saw them in 2000 somethin… It was probably the first Terno night in Saguijo. I can’t even remember if it was Terno Inferno or Terno Au Go Go… Anyways what happened was, just like you, they blew me away. You guys know what I’m talking about.

Here are some of my personal favorites from that Turn It Well music video shoot. Since the only way to shoot video is by using continuous lights, I had no hope in bringing out my flashes. I had brought 5 speedlights, and they were all cased up in my Pelican, that was being used as an apple box. With the whole video lighting rig, I found myself settling somewhere between f2 - 2.8 at 90-125th of a second, ISO 1,250. Pretty crappy conditions, if ya ask me. I hated it. The fact that I couldn’t use my gear was torture. It was nice that they made good use of my century stand, and the McNally reflector, but to not be able to use my strobes was paralyzing.

And then at the very last moment, I had a tiny ass window of opportunity to shoot their portrait. It was in those brief moments of wrapping up the video shoot, tearing down, and right before going home. I had no time to test anything, and I needed a huge light source. I was gona pull out my parabolic umbrella, but I forgot my umbrella bag at home. The biggest source of light I could generate in the fastest amount of time was in the form of a single sb800, shooting through a 2-stop McNally triflip diffuser. It gave that hard-ish light at the distance I had it in, but the spread was enough to cover all four of them and give me some dramatic shadows. The remainder of my time was spent getting the guys to react to me so I could nail that expression.

It was Armi’s suggestion to not look into the camera. I guess she’s camera shy like that. Her gazing off on that last frame was just perfect. On the other hand, Ean, Carlos and Paul were like pros giving looks into the lens. They got the pressure-on-the-brow-action goin on pretty well. =) The four of them were such great subjects. Super easy to work with despite the long hours of shooting the video. Thanks, guys! You’s made it breeze.

I’m looking forward to Capacities on vinyl. I just placed my order.

Till next time, guys. Cheers!

photojojo: A second book of street photographer Vivian Maeier’s...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:56:59 +0800

photojojo:

A second book of street photographer Vivian Maeier’s photos is out, and it looks promising!

Vivian Maier spent her life working as a nanny, but also spent her days shooting on the streets of Chicago. Two fans, Richard Cahan & Michael Williams scanned 20,000 negatives that were never printed before Vivian passed away!

Fantastic New Photos from Street Photographer, Vivian Maier!

file this under inspiration

Run and gun portrait of Up Dharma Down. I only had a few minutes...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 03:12:00 +0800

Run and gun portrait of Up Dharma Down. I only had a few minutes to get their shot together. The band was tired, and it was half past midnight (we’ve been shooting since 4pm). They were real steady guys. Nice to meet you Ean, Paul, Carlos and Armi =D

That single sounded really, really good. Can’t wait for the whole album.

BTS pics soon. =D

chic24seven: Natalie Portman by Mario Testino for V magazine. I...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:01:00 +0800

chic24seven:

Natalie Portman by Mario Testino for V magazine.

I was surprised. She is fabulous. Mario is a genius.

Oh my gawd… first time to see these shots of Natalie Portman.

Damn.

No doubt, Testino is a genius.

Blast from the Past I’m kinda sorting out my hard drive,...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 02:54:54 +0800

Sundowner

double exposure

iconic. Jon Joe with stolen Roxas Chua street sign

First time in Galera circa 06

shrrrrroooooooomed

First time in Boracay

Sabine's Dream

Electric Kiss

Classic! Stuart holding his San Miguel beer

First shoot with Ches

Blast from the Past

I’m kinda sorting out my hard drive, and I never really get it sorted, because I always get sucked into looking at old photos. Decided to post some favorites from my first camera everrrr… This was before I ever shot digital. Jeez, some of these I’ve totally forgotten… but I will never forget, thanks to my camera!

It’s true; the past does get brighter with time.

photojojo: We stopped by Leica at Photokina today (that giant...

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 11:10:42 +0800

photojojo:

We stopped by Leica at Photokina today (that giant photo conference we’ve been talking about)!

Here’s what we saw:

The Leica M, their newest mirrorless camera with a full-frame 24MP sensor (as good as a DSLR’s!) It goes for $6K, but it’s a Leica, y’know?

The stunning and relatively small X2. It’s a compact digital camera with a fast f/2.8 lens and a major CMOS 16.2 MP sensor, which means it can capture light better with low noise and great color depth.

Spotted at Photokina: The Leica M Full-Frame Mirrorless & the X2

Photokina Gear Lust. Now all I need is 6000 dollars. =?

My photo received an award on ViewBug, a photo contest...

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:33:08 +0800

My photo received an award on ViewBug, a photo contest community!.

Editor’s Choice baby =P