Through a Lens, Clearly

Election Posters and Readers’ Images–

With the elections just two months away, readers may want to help out their chosen candidates by printing their own posters. There are free software and free online services available for anyone with access to the Internet.

Poster Forge 1.02 (2.81 mb) can be downloaded for free at www.ronyasoft.com. According to the accompanying Read Me file: Poster Forge is software for big banner printing, sign printing, poster printing. Any picture, digital photo, Microsoft Word or Excel document can be used as a source for the poster. It can print standard format (A0, A1 A2) poster or custom large poster. Simply select the image and the software will divide it into the necessary number of pages. To create a poster, you will also need glue, scissors, and a bit of skill.

Erick Lirios

PosteRazor (484 kb) is available at http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/. PosteRazor cuts raster images into multipage PDF documents. This is a simple executable program that needs no installation on the computer. Just choose the image, settings (size, # of pages, etc.), save and print.

If you prefer to create your poster online, a site to visit is www.blockposters.com. Upload the image from your computer and choose how many sheets wide you would like your poster to be when it is printed. Then download the PDF file containing your newly created images and print each page to make a massively blown up huge pixel poster. Another online site to try is http://wallpostr.com. It uses the same procedure for making your poster.

And now to our readers.

When this column featured Alice Villa-real five years ago, she was very much into astronomy (then vice-president of the Astronomical League of the Philippines) and her photography focused solely on the celestial bodies. Recently, however, Alice says that she “got bitten also by the ‘photography bug’” and now declares herself as “a photography enthusiast.” Also an active member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) and serious birdwatcher, Alice shares that she would like to do bird photography in the future. Her photographs on this page were shot from a recent trip to Puerto Princesa in Palawan. More of Alice’s work can be viewed at http://starbird77.multiply.com.

Medical analyst and student Christy Ann Egar Padre writes that she started taking pictures in high school as the photojournalist for the student paper. She did not take pictures in college and resumed her photography only two years ago. Today, she is a part of Lomomanila. “I enjoy using full manual camera, but I am also using DLSR,” says Tea-Anne.

From Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Mariano Marcos State University Laboratory High School teacher James Ventura writes: “I am the type of person who finds beauty in everything at different angles. I always bring my camera with me anywhere I go. Each day, I always capture unguarded moments, fascinating views, pristine landscapes and unparalleled gaiety from living organisms.” He shares that while he is still a neophyte in photography, he already has so much passion for it.

Also from Mariano Marcos State University Laboratory High School, fourth year student Ulysses Gaygay rues that the only camera he owns is a film camera he received in grade five. These days, he is able to shoot when he can borrow the camera of his teacher who happens to be James Ventura. “I am a hobbyist photographer without any digital camera on hand possessing the eyes of a truthful lensman,” he writes. “I do not use Photoshop to edit my photos. I only use the software to watermark the images.” Ulysses invites the readers to see more of his work at http://www.froastbyte.multiply.com, http://flickr.com/earthkeeper, or at his facebook: Ulysses Gaygay.

Also in today’s issue are first time contributors Leo A. Tiukeng, a Baguio entrepreneur who says that he got his first DSLR only last November and still calls himself a newbie in photography, Jovie Naval of the PLDT-Lens camera club, and Kevin Louie C. David, a first year Accountancy student at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City.

Previously featured readers also sharing their images today are Mike Gerald C. David and Dennis Caparas Abrina who covered the Sorteo Festival of Carmona, Cavite.