I feel that the features in tumblr suites my needs rather than here on wordpress since it is more complicated. I just want something simple but has a lot of features.

For all those who have visited this site, thank you very much. For all those who have not yet please do check out agdemesaphoto.tumblr. And if you have a tumblr account i’ll appreciate it if you follow me there

Thanks much,
Ahg.

I have been following him in tumblr (terrysdiary) and seeing some of his works inspired me.

A simple google search gave me a bunch of his past work and his critiques.

I find it fascinating that people say that Terry Richardson is not great and whatnot that even their mothers can do what he can do. I’d like to think he was smart enough to do it in a way he does that nobody tried to be better at what he can do. I also think he has a unique way of composing his photographs. It’s either you like Richardson’s photos or not.

So I pose this challenge to myself and to those who don’t like the guy, try using a point and shoot and try to emulate, if not be better than what Terry Richardson can do.

Guidelines:

1) Use only a P&S
2) As much as possible the lighting you will only use is from the P&S’ flash

I’ll be using an old Kodak P&S my mom uses.

I’ll post my photos and conclusion soon.

It’s called Episode 4 because my HS best buddy, James, has been going to these surf trips with his father but when his father passed away he vowed to continue surfing because it was one of the best thing he and his father did and he wants to share it with his friends. This is the fourth month he organized it and for the first time I was able to come.

I also got to know some new awesome people.

The girl on the left is Atche (that was why there is daughter on the title of this one!) and the guy on the left is MikiBay (it’s best if you say it in one breathing hehe) awesome people them that I got to share this trip with. Apologies for the blurred picture. I was a bit tipsy/drunk when I took the photo… haha Drunk in the afternoon but hey we are on paradise so who cares!

My skullz boys Eric and Chino with MikiBay and James waxing up the boards. They’ll probably be mad because their beer bellies are perfectly highlighted.

Here’s MikiBay with some of their Ateneo HS batchamtes. I really like how my TLR shots turned out although I screwed the exposure on that one.

And screwed this one too. I should write the Ricoflex article soon. It has an awesome lens but the I always get the accidental double exposure. Nyargh.

I’m not the only one using film on that beach! That’s a Nikon FM2. Even if an apocalypse occurs, that camera will still survive I’m sure of that.

You’ll always see a lot of wierd stuff on the road. If you watched HBO’s6 feet under there is a character there that the car is a hearse. I wouldn’t believe that I actually would see one. Darn.

That dude on the left was my surf instructor. I suck because I forgot his name. Shit. But he is an awesome instructor. Lucky if you got him if you hit crystal beach.

Other peeps waiting for the instructor’s during lunch time.

Atch was also waiting

They also have body boards you can rent but this board grabbed my attention.

Erman looks so Happy, Dunno why heheh For some wierd reason he kept saying “Grover” the entire trip. Happy with his work perhaps.

Notice all of them are wearing shirts except the surfer. The surfer’s all have surfer bodies while the those beer drinkers have beer bellies. Oh well.

Here’s a good look of the waves. It was really a beginner level wave but nontheless, I will accept what Poseidon will give.

I like the fact that the little girl on the right was staring at Atche. I do hope that little girl grabs a board in the future and be inspired because she saw that the waves doesn’t belong to just the guys. Even girls can catch the wave.

MikiBay ready to conquer the waves!

The best part of the trip for me was the entire 2nd day. It started wierd because it was another memorable adventure with James. We have a bunch of those from getting lost to a subdivision for three hours to looking for a place which the adress is named Sa Dulo ng langit (On the edge of heaven). I always kept telling him that I wanted to see the sun rise. So after a night of drinking, being the good friend that he is, he woke me up 4:00am from our cottage (Awesomely named the House of Luke) told me to bring the beer while he brought the blankets, the alarm clock, and more beer. We walked towards the beach area, talked for awhile and slept. Come 6:00am, I heard a bunch of people whispering and murmuring around. Fishermen was all around and staring at us. I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought we were a gay couple. Darn.

Since I was already awake, I decided to grab my camera loaded with Ektar. I’ve always seen nature shots with Ektar turns out great. With awesome light that I have during that time, I just went ahead and shot stuff. I also got my Ricohflex with Fuji Pro 160C to get some square shots.

I’m really not a fan of nature shots. It was always my father’s forte but I am a fan of street.  Probably because I don’t know what to say with them but it really is strikingly beautiful. I thank God for his blessings.

Apparently, i’m not the only riser in the beach.

Amazing that the beach has some pine trees. My father told me that it was due to the Pinatubo Explosion in the 90′s. The Lahar flow brought the pine tree seeds near the water and voila. I should’ve asked the owner for that.

Speaking of the owner, I was able to catch him reading a book. Awesome guy him. Very Zen and loves nature very much. Asked if I was professional because I was wielding 2 cameras. He was really cool and told me to enjoy the place.

I assume they are the grandkids of the owner. He was with them so I guess they are.

Good thing I have a 28mm although if I have extra cash I’d probably look for a 24mm or a 17mm

Another pine tree shot. The light was hitting them right. I feel I kinda screwed this shot though.

There’s also some sort of team building area.

I need to move away from cliche shots. I see a bunch of this type of shot on tumblr. Oh well. Just have to restrain myself from shots like those.

All in all, it was one of the most enjoyable birthdays I had (Even though it was one week early ). Surfing in a great place with good people and a little bit of alcohol makes life a little more tolerable. Taking pictures of those moments turns it from tolerable to enjoyable.

Thanks Much
-selloutboy

PS
Crystal Beach is located in San Narciso Zambales around 3-4 hours away from Manila.
Their website can be acessed through here

It stems from a simple idea: I would go out today and shoot.

A street photographer does not need expensive lighting, tripods, or a shot list. The main motivation for street is to just go out and capture what the world gives you regardless of the location, the lighting, or the circumstance.  The street photographer’s domain is not necessarily the steet, it could be anything outside.  The street photographer will work with what has been given to him. There are ideal conditions but the street photographer would not let those circumstances hinder his vision. All that the street photographer needed is an impassioned eye, an unobtrusive camera loaded with film, and good shoes.

It will open your eyes

Not in the microscopic level but in the level that even if you do not have a camera with you, you see photographs.   The boring will look interesting and the mundane will seem important. Seeing something when others see nothing is what a street photographer posses. When a street photographer presses the shutter, he knows that the moment he snapped, everything fell into place from the subject’s movement or the light that hits it is the decisive moment.

It will make you more human

No one should NEVER and I mean NEVER take a picture of an impoverished person. It is not because of safety reasons but because a street photographer never exploits his subject. The street is not a zoo. It is a place where husbands go to their wives, where lovers often times meet, and where families enjoy each other’s compnay. The street photographer sees to it that he shoots humanity and not its failures.

It is a personal endeavor

One cannot gain profit from being street photographer. A photographer who knows how to shoot glamour or fashion will always have projects thrown to him but as said in Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition, “A street photographer sees photos everywhere and is compelled to take photographs from a place deep within themselves as one who concerns with the fruit and not the flower”. No one will stop the photographer from taking photos and nobody will tell him to start. It is all in the photographer’s discretion if he wants to start documenting the human condition.

A street Photographer finds his way in to it

Bruce Gilden does it in your face,  Joel Meyerowitz strive to be undetected, while Gary Winogrand just quickly trips the shutter! There are no simple or hard and fast rules. A street photographer will find his style as he goes. Techniques can be learned anywhere. You can ask more experienced photographers, you can consult a book, or the fastest way is to do an online search.  The difficult thing to learn is discipline. Not everyone can go upfront like Bruce Gilden, not everyone would agree to shoot street in color like Meyerowitz, and most especially not everyone can expose at least three rolls of film in a single day like Winogrand. Street photography isn’t absent from rules it does however follow a tradition. It is upto the street photographer to craft his own rules without straying away from tradition.

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Parting notes

What makes street photography unique is the mere fact that in order to be good at doing street you have to go out of your comfort zone. You can not and must not rely on burst shooting, Automatic Focus, Zoom Lenses, and automatic exposure, you can not just have some strobes or a expensive lighting rig set up, and most especially, *murderous Post Processing does not have a place in street photography. A Street Photographer relies on his skill, a little bit of luck, and his eye to create his art. It will take him time, resources, and sweat to master his craft but once he gets to a level where he becomes satisfied with his photos, that is where the actual quest of the street photographer begins.

*When a photo is post processd in such a way that people’s skin looks like leather or when Unsharpen Mask tool and additional filters are used. If post processing is indeed needed, it should be minimal and does not distract.

That one’s a christmas village in my favourite place ortigas center. The Meralco office. Not my best photo, but this was part of my first 1,000 photos. Just like what HCB said, they are bound to suck!

I apologize for not really posting anything.
Our ISP got a little wonky and our connection disappeared for a few weeks.

For now, expect more street photography, a lot more tips, and now that i’m using ubuntu I might do a recap on how ubuntu can help your photography.

Thanks much and merry christmas
-selloutboy

I have been wanting an Ipod Touch since 2007. It’s all because of the Lightsaber App! Kidding aside, I also wanted a mobile browser and a new MP3 player ever since my 3 year old creative Zen MP3 got lost. With that in mind, I just went ahead and purchased it.

The Apps are actually what surprised me with this little gadget!
When apple said there is an app for that, there truly was an app for that especially for photography even if you iPod doesn’t have the camera like the iPhone

Flickr

For those who addicted to flickr, there are a gamut of flickr related apps but still my favourite is flickr’s very own app!

It’s easy to use, navigate, and put comments and whatnot. If you just want to scratch that itch and check out what’s happening on your friend’s flickr or look for inspiration while in the middle of a shoot, the flickr will be great for you.

Available for free at the app store.

Weather

Knowing the weather conditions is a must when you plan to do a photowalk or travel to a different place and take photos. Perhaps the best weather App I found in the App store is Accuweather


It is really packed with awesome features from 15 day forecasts, to Hourly Weather Reports, and even wind speed. You can have it shown in English or Metric system. There’s also a radar showing cloud activity in your area!

Accu Weather is free in the Appstore.

DOF and Hyperfocal distance calculators

The Bokeh app Measures your Hyperfocal Distance and it also has a DOF calculator which I think is great for Landscape photographers. It’s very easy to use, you just move the sliders to your desired setting.

Bokeh App is Free and available in the app store

Field Tools Hyperfocal distance plus the near and far focus. The best part for this one is that it has different settings for different formats!

From 4×5, 6×6, and even digital camera systems like Olympus M4/3 system, Canon APS-C, and Nikon DX!
It also works by just moving the sliders.

Field tools is also free and available in the app store.

Exposure Apps

There are also different apps there that will help you calculate proper exposure.

Expositor is one such app

It’s really easy to use as you will just slide the ISO and F-Stop in the middle to correspond to the conditions stated on the left and it will give you a shutter speed on the right.

The best part of this app is the exposure compensation in the bottom which is helpful if you are taking a photo with the light behind the subject. Although I guess this app will work best if you get the Pro version. I don’t have a credit card so I just got the lite version.

Expositor costs $1.99 in the app store. Lite version is for free.

Another great app is Exposure Calc

In exposure calc, you choose your ISO and Lighting conditions. Then, you must move the slider at the bottom to the corresponding F-stop you want and it will tell you a shutterspeed.
The F-stop is from f/.7 to f/90! It also has a shutter priority mode if you use that mode. I was also using the Lite version of this app so most of the Lighting conditions are locked.

Exposure Calc costs $.99 on the app store and the Lite version is for free.

If you really just want to save trees and isn’t a bit lazy when it comes to calculating, just put the ultimate exposure computer made by Fred Parker in your IPOD or Ipod touch.


It’s inexpensive but a bit slow to use. At least everything is there already.

There you have it, these are just some of the tools and things I use with my Ipod to improve or at least help my photography. Heck, even my videos contain photography related stuff and if you want to learn more, check out itunes U since there are lectures there about photography related stuff from different universities.

If you have any more apps that you think is helpful, feel free to mail or post it in the comments section

Thanks much.

Perhaps it was the answer I was looking for. Since I started photography, I always liked shooting in Color than in BW. I always thought that photography should and ought to capture reality but then again, purists are in favor of BW because it removes the emotional effect of color. It’s all about the subject and light that is reflected on him which makes BW harder to shoot. It’s either that or because i’m a Joel Meyerowitz fan boy.

In the said Hong Kong trip, on my Minolta XG-9 is Fuji Superia Xtra 400 and on the Zorki-C is Kodak BW 400 CN. The difference in the subjects I took and the mood of the photographs somewhat gives credence to my friend’s statment. So let’s take a closer look at how I saw Hong Kong.

HK has probably the best transport system that I have ever seen in the world. Their trains are fast, the busses are not filled to the brim…

…and their are plenty of seats in their ferry station unlike in Pasig. Although not everyone rides in the Ferry of Pasig River because of the polluted waters here.

Champagne Court is the home of the Famous Champagne Court Cowboys as they are called in some fourms. Although there is a good cowboy there, David Chan of David Chan Camera. The Dude is awesome and even talked to me in Tagalog.

I wonder why this girl was sitting alone in the sidewalks of Nathan Road. Her legs was nicely lit though..

This was a bit mean. That there is my sister and I intentionally didn’t meter for her but just metered the sleeping panda behind here hehehehe

There is a running joke in Rangefinderfilipinas forums that they will bring a Large Format cam on the streets… Apparently, this guy already did it.

This was almost the same location as the earlier shot of Champagne Court but this was in the morning. HK isn’t as busy as it is in the early morning (around 7am or 8am)

But it is busy at night and the afternoons.

I guess this wouldn’t work if the shot was in Color. Hong Kong has dark alleyways too.

And this will probably work better if it was shot in Color than BW.

I guess at the end of the day, you just have to follow your vision and then fulfill it wether it is post processing in Lightroom or Converting a color negative to BW in Photoshop. Color will always show the beauty of your world and your surroundings while Black and white will always show the beautiful light that hits your subject.

You are the artist, it’s up to you to fulfill your vision.

Thanks much,
-selloutboy

I know it was a bit late…
but it was the 1st time I participated in an international photo event and when I got my rolls processed after 3 months (I had to starve myself just to have those things developed… darn.) I found out that the flickr group was already closed. Sucks to be me so here are some of the things I got from May 1, 2009 Commie Camera Day.

Better late than never.

Went with folks from rfilipinas.com forums in the Quiapo, Divisoria, Chinatown, area of old Manila.
There is no shortage of people there.

My apologies for the Multiply watermark… I can’t afford a photobucket account yet so I’m just getting it from my multiply account. They actually reduce the quality of the photo and add that vicious watermark which ruins the image… Well it’s free so what can I do right?

The 3 main forms of transportation in the country…
1) The Pedicab or trike
2) The Scooter
3) The Kalesa (although not as popular as before)
4) and of course the jeepney.

and if you look closely in the back, you’ll see a private vehicle hehe

For some weird reason, one of our fellow members, just crossed the street and sat like that for a minute, then took a snapshot. Sometimes, you really have to go where no photographer has gone before.

Winogrand likes taking pictures of women even if the women hated it. At least she just looked at me wierded and didn’t raise the finger.

Siesta time for this guy. The FED 3B I was using made this shot possible. If I was using my Canon or Minolta SLR, he would’be beaten me for waking him up… Rangefinders are the best camera for street hands down bar none.

It ain’t a Labor Day in the Philippines if there isn’t any rallies going on

For someone who leans on the socialist side of things, it’s weird to find someone who loves New York

Ofcourse we aren’t the only ones shooting the streets. I wonder if on a next walkabout, I point the camera at us rather than around us… Perhaps a good experiment I should try.

(125 Pesos Salary increase now!)
Everyone wants to have their salaries raised. Heck! I want to receive a salary! I want to have an M body soon or any of the Leica III series.

Labor day means rest but if you have a family to support, you have to work everyday to put a smile on your kid’s face.

Last but not the least, my fave from the set

Evil is done only by evil people but here in our country, evil people do it with stlye.

I still have others but not all of those are keepers just fun photos of scene kids on rally and whatnot.
I hope to be able to update most of the site. I already took crappy pictures of my cam and hopefully I could upload it soon!

Thanks much,
-selloutboy

My name A.g. and the online handle I use in most websites/forums is selloutboy or selloutboy47.

Looooong story, but the short of it is that I was supposed to be a Humanities Major but ended up in marketing.

Sometimes I regret it but there is only so much you can do with the thing you love and the thing you are capable of.

Ok i’m boring you… So far, I only have 2 articles for this site, one for the FED 5V and Zorki C which can be accessed in the cameras page in the tabs above. However, I don’t have pictures of the cams yet… will promise to upload them by the end of the week.

For now, since I don’t have anything yet, add me up on Twitter or Flickr.

Come back here a few days and i’ll make sure you have something to read

thanks much!