By YUGEL LOSORATA–

In the field of photography, a number of talented father-and-son tandems can also be found. One duo that easily stands out is Danny Ignacio and son Bogs, both recent winners of “Photographer of the Year” tag given out by the Wedding and Portrait Photographers of the Philippines (WPPP). So recent and worth noticing that they won the title consecutively: in 2008 for Danny and last year for Bogs.

“I saw it coming,” said Danny of his son’s surprise win a year after he won the award, noting he felt his son had a chance to win it all after perennially placing high in the monthly contests of the prestigious wedding photographers’ club.

Danny’s eye is so sharp that he must have seen their back-to-back victories even before anyone got a picture of both of them savoring a rare feat. Danny’s son, to add color to what had been accomplished, is the youngest WPPP member to have received the award.

 As everybody agrees, Bogs’ triumph is a reflection of how well he was nurtured as a lensman. Some kids are lucky to have talented dads from whom they can pattern their future. Bogs, a multimedia arts student from the College of St. Benilde, is not an exception.  He is another case of the child inheriting his father’s talent and passion for something creative.

A holder of two engineering degrees called civil and sanitary, Danny was not the typical born-with-a-camera person. He was in a different career path serving as the project evaluation officer of a national government company in the late ‘80s. In what was then an instant major decision, he suddenly shifted gears and went to photography. Thanks to an intense interest in capturing images.

A man of few words and would rather talk through his pictures, Danny uttered, “Photography for me is a passion, much more a living.”

Danny specializes in wedding that for many years now, he has been freezing unforgettable moments and poses of people who decide spending the rest of their lives together. His shots combine the romantic touch of human love and the beautiful world outside that complements it. 
 
Danny’s rise in the field was timely as the community needed at that time something like WPPP – to bring wedding photographers together and promote and foster their goals and programs. He ended up becoming a founding member of the group. He was so eligible that even the international community hailed his portfolio, qualifying him to become a member of WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) in the U.S.

Danny is a Pinoy pride who earns the distinction (to date) of being the only Filipino photographer accredited as full member of the highly regarded Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).
 
At present, he is a resident lensman for some of the country’s first-class party venues, namely, Diamond Hotel, One Esplanade, Ilustrado Gardens, City Garden Hotel, Ibarra’s Garden, Plaza Ibarra, and Patio Ibarra.
 
That’s the extent of how well-reputed Danny is, having earned the respect of people running high-end places. The credentials speak much and the photos always in salute of his track record. 
 
Judged by international photographers, Danny took another back-to-back success by claiming WPPP’s “Photo of the Year” submissions in 2007 and 2008. When asked about his key to winning, he shares, “Don’t compete with others, just with yourself.”

His titles and winnings truly deserve someone as skilled as he is, especially with the realization that he did more than just producing good photos. He has practically revolutionized the industry by introducing the digital infrared to wedding photography.   

Danny concludes with his mind turned on to photography, “It’s a continuous learning. Always put in your mind that your skill must be better today than yesterday.”

Bring back to life your “dead” NiCad battery
(Continuation of July 13, 2010 issue)

Zapping the Penlight Battery

Materials and tools needed:

1) Fully charged capacitor and capacitor charger – A simple low cost circuit is included here for easy assembly.

2) Penlight battery charger –  A charger equipped with full -charge indicator is ideal for this purpose. I used one with a red LED charge indicator that turns green when battery is fully charged.

3) Penlight battery discharging kit – Some penlight charger has built-in discharger. If you don’t have one, see Photography 101 March 23, 2010 issue.

4) Optional:
• Multitester (or volt
           meter)
• Penlight battery holder
• Terminal blocks

Hints in Actual Zapping

Benjamin Rivera

Steps listed here are just guide. You can actually do it in any convenient way provided that you don’t reverse the polarities of the capacitor and battery. You may need a penlight battery holder and alligator clips to make things easier if you are zapping individual cell. If the battery to zap is a cluster, you need to disassemble and zap the individual cell.

1. Connect the negative terminal of the battery holder with a blue wire to terminal B.
2. Connect the alligator clip through a red wire to the positive battery holder terminal. In this situation, the positive terminal A is left unconnected.
3. To charge the capacitor, plug the completed charger to wall outlet for a couple of minutes then unplug it. Again, measure the voltage of terminal A and B. Same voltage reading should be present even as it is unplugged. The capacitor is now fully charged and its stored voltage is ready for you to discharge into the dead battery.
4. Taking note of the polarity, install the battery for zapping into the battery holder. In this situation, the battery is ready to be zapped. The only step left is for you to connect the alligator to terminal A.
5. In first zapping, there is a moderate spark at point of contact of alligator and Terminal A. This is normal.To repeat the process of zapping, plug the AC power cord to the wall outlet again for about one second. Then zap once more. As you repeat the process, the spark should be disappearing. I zapped each cell for three times, and then charge it in the normal way. The battery should now accept charge current.
6. When the battery becomes fully charged as indicated by charger’s full-charge indicator, in my case, I discharged and recharged for three complete cycles (the process was explained in detail in  Photography 101 March 23 issue)to condition the battery. After the whole process, the battery has been fully revived and is now ready for use!

Other Methods of Zapping

As mentioned earlier, there are other ways to zap a shorted NiCad battery as there are other ways to kill a cat. As NiCad batteries have diverse use (from battery operated toys to industrial applications), pursuing experiments of the other techniques in zapping (Zap the Battery with High current Power supply, Zap the Battery with Customized Electronic Battery Zapper, Zap the Battery with a Car Battery) may have a well-founded reason. The interested reader could pursue further learning in other alternative sources as it is beyond the scope of this article series.
The author’s concern is to provide technical information for the photographer’s effective use of his photographic flash. Therefore, knowing more about your source of power (the flash battery – its capability and limitations) is not only helpful but vital to the capability and dependability of the photographer.

As we are out of space, here are the topics that we will discuss in the coming issue:
• Zap the Battery with a Welding machine
• Zap the Battery with High current Power supply
• Zap the Battery with a Car Battery
• Zap the Battery with Customized Electronic Battery Zapper
• Zap the Battery with a Large Capacitor 

Special thanks to Dong Gales, you may now claim your resurrected battery. Also thanks to G. Baarde and Gelly Palces for our graphic illustration in Figure 3.

 For comments and suggestions and contributions, please call at 5278121 local 384 or 5253085 or email atrivera.benjie@gmail.com

Coconut trees, blue skies, and white sandy beaches overlooking vast waters – these are the images that come to mind when speaking of the Philippines. With its picturesque landscapes and stunning seas, tropical Philippines continues to be one of the best spots to find natural idyllic scenes. Understandably, photo enthusiasts flock the country to capture these mesmerizing images but for Philip Cruz, the thrill is much more than simply taking pictures. The senior medical manager for a multinational pharmaceutical company will be migrating to Belgium and wanted to explore the country before saying goodbye. While tourists and photographers are drawn to the tropical paradise of Visayas, Cruz took advantage of Northern Luzon’s accessibility. 

“Luzon exudes the charm and adventure in discovering its natural resources and landscapes. History plays a major role in the region especially during World War II and this adds to the mystery and culture in its historic landmarks. There are lots of choices in terms of places to go and undiscovered hideaways where one could unwind from the hustle and bustle of city life and reconnect with nature,” shared Cruz.

Northern Luzon is the perfect antidote to travelers seeking new adventures and authentic experiences at affordable prices. As Cruz discovered in his voyage, it is a treasure house of tradition, history, and raw charm all wrapped with gracious people naturally inclined to peace, kindness, and a generosity of spirit. No wonder, no one feels a stranger here for long.

Topping Cruz’s list are Bataan and Zambales. “These places are a melting pot of our rich history and culture complemented by breathtaking landscapes.

In Bataan, Cruz marveled in awe at restored antique houses offered in Las Casas Filipinas. With structures that have been in place in 100 years, the houses are a throwback to the past. Other memorable places that he unearthed in Bataan included Tortugas (the only island barangay in the province), Morong, Bagac, and Mount Samat (the site of Shrine of Valor and served as history’s witness during the 1942 Battle of Bataan).

For postcard-perfect sceneries, Cruz headed to Pundakit in Zambales, a fishing village enveloped by mountains, hills, and other islands.  He savored the tranquil and relaxed environment filled with intriguing sea creatures.  The place also served as a jumping-off point for Cruz when he went to Camara Island and Anawangin Cove.  With its crescent shape cove, Anawangin Cove reveals impressive white sands topped with tall pine trees.  A few steps away from the beach, one is transported to pine forest and natural springs. In Camara Island, Cruz was able to get a magnificent view of the open.

“The Philippines is a complete tourist destination. The fun is the thrill of discovering something new and immersing yourself in the place, people and culture. There is a lot more to discover,” he added. Cruz found a perfect travelling partner in Victory Liner, the country’s largest bus company that services North Luzon.  “The ease and comfort of travelling via Victory is the best way to go. Safety is ensured since this is always a general concern in travelling. It really is having the best value for your money,” Cruz added.

Discovering the imagery of Northern Luzon is now made easier with Victory Liner providing daily trips to Baguio, Pangasinan, Cagayan Valley, Pampanga, and Zambales. For trip schedules and booking, visit www.victoryliner.com.

The Cultural Affairs Office of Adamson University recently opened “Echoes from the Past,” a photo exhibit by Prof. Joey Tañedo at the Adamson University Art Gallery.

On display until August 6 are photographs produced through the old traditional chemistry and exposure processes. The artist/photographer used photo emulsion consisting of gum arabic and watercolor sensitized by potassium dichromate.

Subjects include interiors of old houses, old street scenes, landscapes, and still life most of which are in sepia tones.
Prof. Tañedo is a graphic designer and photographer who teaches at the UP College of Fine Arts and is a member of the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation, Inc.

The Adamson University Art Gallery is located at 900 San Marcelino St., Ermita, Manila. For inquiries, please contact tel. nos. 383-3735 or 524-2011 loc. 255.

Several new and previous contributors are featured in today’s column.

Jun Lao, a Filipino working in Ho Chi Minh City for Mindshare Vietnam writes that he started in underwater photography last year and has been “hooked ever since.”  He shares: “The reason I got hooked is every dive offers something different and unique every time and provides the best escape from the corporate world (no cellphones, no deadlines). Plus, the Philippines truly offers the best diving in the world.” Jun reveals that he comes home every three months to engage in his passion for underwater photography. He dives in Anilao, Balicasag Bohol, Puerto Galera, and Verde Island. He has also gone underwater in Phuket,  Vietnam, and Palau (which he describes as the “the Mount Everest of diving”). All in all, Jun declares that he has had 200 dives. And still next on his dive bucket list are Tubattaha, Malapascua, Pescador Moal Boal, Coron Busuanga, and Apo reef. More of Jun Lao’s images are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/junlao. He also has videos uploaded on http://www.youtube.com/user/junlao122675.

Raffy Paredes

From Olongapo City, entrepreneur and college professor Romell V. Isidro shares that it was at the start of the year when he acquired his first DSLR camera. He says that it was both a post-Christmas present and an advanced birthday gift to himself. Since then, he has been addicted to photography and plans to enroll in a workshop soon. Romell prefers human interest subjects and enjoys street photography. “I love to take pictures of different people from their extreme happy moments to their extreme sad moments.  I find it very challenging,” he writes. Romell is a member of the Subic Bay Photography Society (SBPS).

Wilson S. Etrata,  station manager of Love Radio Davao and YES FM Cagayan de Oro sent in photographs from Mindanao. Wilson reveals that he is self-taught in the craft and engages in it to beat stress.
Josefino “Joey” Langas of Bataan writes that he still has a lot to learn in photography. But this has not stopped him from sharing his photos today. Joey says that regularly seeing the contributions to Picture Perfect inspired him to send in his own images.

Reader Teni Sta. Ines sent in “Tay” a photograph of a father biking his daughter to school. “It reminds me of a good protective, provider father,” he shares. “My father died when I was only eight years old and I never experienced the thing that the father did to his child in this photograph.”

From Olongapo City, Hessel Anne N. Domingo reveals that she only has a point-and-shoot camera and has never attended a photography class. However, she likes taking pictures and sent in photos of her nephew and nieces. She also shared that she is currently saving up for a DSLR.

Previous contributors with photos on this page are Rhayan Cruz and street photo hobbyist Neil Angelo Malasig.

If you have a good photograph that you would like to share and you think is good enough to be published, send it to us (including some technical information about the image).  We are looking for images of any subject that will catch the readers’ attention and paint a thousand words.  After choosing from among those photos submitted, we will publish one as our “Photo of the Week.”  For details, please call us at 5278121 local 384, or email your photos to: pictureperfect.mb@gmail.com / picture05perfect@yahoo.com.

One thing marking a person who has been using computers for quite a number of years is how he or she thinks. Those of us who have, have gone through quite a bit and that includes using very cryptic codes to get things done. There were lots of things to memorize to copy files, move files, etc., so much so that when people eventually moved to graphical user interfaces like what we now have with Windows, the Mac and Linux, it’s sometimes (often?) hard to imagine that what was once quite hard is now easy.

Erick Lirios

There’s an amusing if not sometimes irritating caveat to this: When you can’t figure out how to do something, you’re probably thinking too much. Try to see what’s the most natural and probably easiest thing to do to get something done and that’s probably how to do it.

Honestly, that’s the mindset that worked for me when I started using Macs (though I still use Windows machines up to now). As an old and now departed Algebra teacher once explained: If there’s an easier way, find it. (Now, was it Edison who said that?)

That’s one of the things that Apple is known for and this is apparent in Aperture 3. Take one really nifty feature: Faces.
Okay, to be fair, the feature is also available in iPhoto but since Aperture is the big brother and pro-level application, it’s such a big deal that an easy-to-use feature makes searching a bit more accessible to everybody. It works quite simply: You identify faces shown to you in whatever project you’re working on and, though a bit tedious at first, this will eventually yield some dividends. For example, as I was going through a project, naming the people in the photos, soon, the program was able to identify and suggest a name for the people in the photos. Granted, it started by giving a really bad suggestion – suggesting that my daughter could be this guy in glasses – but it was such a relief and a feeling of achievement that when a Find command and a search for a particular face was issued, the photos with that person’s face were shown. Since this is an entirely different way of doing things, let’s see just how it can be of continued use.
Not only that though, if you click on a person’s face in the corkboard of sorts (even looks like a corkboard), Aperture will suggest possible photos where that person may be. Then, it’s up to you to determine whether this choice was correct or not.

One of the so-called 200+ new features is the ability to tag a photo using a color code. Apple OSX has had this ability for quite some time and many people have been using it to mark their folders. So why is it in Aperture only now? Better late than never, I guess and at least you can edit the color assigned to something even after the fact. It’s a bit of a mystery though that one supposedly ease of use feature only made its way into on the third version of the program.

Making full use of the screen
The now almost unheard of word processor, Wordperfect, used to be the most popular word processor in the planet and one reason for this was it used a very clean screen (no menus) and it had a page preview featuring at most two pages at a time. That may seem like such a forgettable feature now but then, it was quite new since people were still using Wordstar and its very messy screen with all the codes shown on it.

It’s distracting really to have all sorts of menu items surrounding your photos and that’s why programs like Photoshop have incorporated a viewing mode allowing a user to do away with everything that’s not the photo. This is quite useful and Aperture now has it as well.

We mentioned last week that photographers are actually used to putting their slides (positives instead of negatives) on a light table to look more closely at them. Aperture simulates this experience with the full screen view. Everything is black except the photos when you’re looking at your library. You can rearrange photos and do your usual library stuff when in this mode but things are so much cleaner so you can focus on the photos and not the menus.
Similarly, full screen mode is also there when you want to edit specific individual photos. Nice to have a clean black screen.

Honestly? I’m not such a big fan of the gray look on the default editing screen and finding out that there is this other way of doing things is such a great thing.

What’s more is that you can easily toggle what editing stuff you have on the full screen mode. You can have the usual straighten control, red eye, cropping, etc. You can even have the whole shebang that you normally have on the default editing screen – library, metadata, and adjustments but with a nice black finish. Much more elegant, I think.
Typical Apple though to add some visual spice to the mix: When you press the Shift key when you’re moving sliders in this mode, the rest of the adjustment palette (or HUD) disappears leaving just the one slider you’re using. Again, this does a pretty good job of letting you concentrate on the adjustment you’re doing.

Just a little observation: When you shift back to the usual screen and the library, metadata and adjustment heads up display (HUD) was left on, it can stay on though you have the same set of controls on the default screen.
What’s funny (amusing?) is this: If you lock the HUD on the full screen mode, it will fade out when you go to the default screen. If you don’t lock it, that’s when it stays there when you exit. How’s that?

Oh, there’s this nifty toggle switch (hey, it really looks like a regular switch) that allows you to keep some of the controls always available or if you want them to just slide out of the sides when you hover your mouse pointer. It’s always nice to be in control.