Photographer of the Week

Alex Ramil Aguel - Capturing Drama -

by Yugel Losorata–

Life is a drama replete with vim and vigor; without such, life would be meaningless. This is true in dealing with pictures. Those photographs that possess the dramatic element are looked upon like painting images with heart.

Hobbyist Alex Ramil Aguel found the key to unlocking the door to drama. This has made his work worth seeing and deserving of many second looks. The moment he realized that his pictures pale in comparison with those that have more than enough drama, it was when his artistry changed dramatically.

“Before, I don’t care about how good my photos were, because I thought photography is just about taking pictures of interesting scenes – no more, no less,” he recalled, “But then I learned to realize I was wrong. Photography is about capturing the drama or story that the scene is telling us, and not just the visual aspect of the photo that viewers can see. From other people’s perspective, your photo must be a good storyteller. If it doesn’t tell them anything, then you have a bad photo.”

Freezing emotions is what Alex does best. Thus, he is much into portraits where faces and poses share stories that “mute and frozen” subjects cannot tell. Fashion photography comes near second, with all the glitter that goes with it. He admits there’s a lot of attraction to all those lovely models, the trends, stylish outfits, as well as the colors and accessories. For someone into colors, fashion is the rainbow that appears on land.

The versatile and open-minded Alex was then focused on landscape and strobist photography. It won’t be surprising if he would change interest from time to time. One thing expected is that, once he develops the interest, a good picture follows, regardless if it’s food or cave photography.

Alex shared, “I love colors and every time I have the opportunity to shoot colorful subjects, it gives me a sense of interest. I’m into conceptual shoot, something beyond the ordinary kind of photography. It’s hard to explain, but it is something that stands out from the natural notion of artistic photography.”

No need for explanation when it comes to Alex’s portfolio. The photos speak for themselves. What may be simple words from Alex will become poetic flashes of visual beauty when transformed into photographs.

Our featured hobbyist is an I.T. consultant for a European software firm. It may be a little odd that he is into photography, but he did “personal” commercial shoots way back. Photography was a medium waiting to be discovered. Having been raised in Dumaguete City, he finished a college degree at the Silliman University in 1996. It made sense that he is now a member of Photographers Club of Cebu since he was born from that key province of Visayas.

“One of the best things about being photographer is that it gives you the chance to bring out the creative side of your personality,” he relayed with a sense of artist’s fulfillment. “With photography, you learned how to construct and develop ideas and concepts. It gives you the opportunity to deal with people of different emotions and personalities.”

Being an I.T. expert, this Sillimanian began learning post-processing with his photos using commercially available image-editing software. He is one who looks into details including lightings, models and staff, outfits, and location. Sometimes he even cancels a shoot if one of these four elements failed to meet his requirements.

Alex is no doubt very technical. But at the end of the day, he makes sure there’s enough drama in his images because the technical aspects alone won’t save the day. “Viewers keep on looking back at your photos because they want to hear the story that your photo is telling them over and over. In short, a good and effective photo is something that can tell viewers the drama and story behind the scene.”

Considering himself as just a newbie, Alex feels there’s still a long way to go for him to achieve his loftiest goals. He wishes to do workshops here and abroad, shoot commercials for international companies, and see his photos in world-renowned magazines.

For now, the moving drama continues.