Through a Lens, Clearly

Merry Christmas to All!–

Readers who are fond of images that project a story might be interested in www.pictorymag.com. The site describes itself as a “showcase for your best photo stories.” Anyone can join and send images. There are weekly themes on different social documentary topics to guide the image submissions. One image per theme may be submitted but the image must have a caption. There are other rules on picture size, watermarks, appropriateness for a general audience which can be viewed on the site. The chosen images are then published in a showcase. This column will give special mention to readers who get published in Pictory.

Raffy Paredes

And now to our readers.

Mia A. Caliboso-San Jose says that it was only recently when she heard of Picture Perfect from a buddy, Rene Nob, who was featured here in early December. “I am neither an amateur nor professional photographer,” she says. “Technically speaking, I just like to take photos. I’ve been into lomography since January 2008 and I view it as a stepping stone into photography.” Mia submitted images taken with a Lomo LC-A+RL film camera. She has a Lomo blog at http://finickyme.blogspot.com and some of her pictures can also be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/finickyme/.

IT consultant Justin J. E. Lynn writes that he’s just a newbie who got his first DSLR last August. And since then he’s been “experimenting in different fields of photography from portraiture, IR, macro, landscape, street, and sometimes events.” He shares: “I hope to improve on my skills by learning from people who are into this hobby and by experimenting on my own.” Justin joins only a handful of readers who have tried high dynamic range (HDR) image processing.

Furniture businessman Ramses Jingco of Betis, Guagua, Pampanga writes that his interest in photography grew because he wanted to post and share pictures on social networking sites. He got himself a point-and-shoot, and eventually acquired a DSLR six months ago. According to him, since he can’t afford to attend workshops because they were either expensive or just not available in the province, he’s been learning the theories and technical aspects on his own through on-line sites and Picture Perfect. “I consider myself a newbie in photography,” he shares, “an amateur who wants to see every facet of the world and express it through my lens.” More of Ramses’ work can be seen at ramces.multiply.com.

Bank employee Jun Fernando says that the first camera he ever used was a Kodak Instamatic that used flash cubes and 110 film. In 1990, he got a SLR but admits that he rarely used it. It was seven years later when he took the basic and advanced photography workshops offered by the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation (FPPF). He then purchased a new SLR and this time, “really got hooked in photography.” However, the digital shift seems to have slowed down his momentum again. “I really miss the excitement every time I go to Studio 58 to get my contact prints and slides. I am still a big fan of TMax and Velvia. I hope that somebody will organize an ‘old school photo contest,’ back to basics” he rues. Jun shares that he’s had a DSLR for three years now but has hardly used it. This should change, however, as he has resolved to “shoot more often (digital and film), join photo contests, and learn basic digital processing” for 2010.

Also contributing images today are Marius Patrick S. Encinareal (mpat3k.multiply.com) of Legazpi City who took long exposure photos of Mayon’s eruption last Dec. 14 and 15, Jovanie P. Cabrera (cabrerajovanie.multiply.com), Heinz Orais, Ed Diaz, Henry Byrne Obispo, and Wilson Chua (wilsonchua.multiply.com) who watched Ballet Philippines’ “The Nutcracker.”

With this issue, I would like to wish all the readers a joyous-filled Yuletide season. May the message of Christmas bring hope, peace, and happiness to us all!