PhotoWorldManila.com

Three men and a bull engage in a friendly competition. Friendly? This bull bumped my rear! Photo by Lito Beltran, FPPF.

Festive buntings, bull-riding lasses, cowboys and cowgirls, bruised knees and egos – and a cowboy-dressed senator spooking the horses with his helicopter arrival in the middle of the show: these were the memorable sights of the 2009 Rodeo Masbateño held in Masbate City last March 18-21, four days of rambunctious bull-riding as centerpiece of the festivities in the agricultural town.

Well, they didn’t exactly ride bulls always – the girls were riding cows – but the sights were just as exciting as the American Old West originals and just as dangerous. The FPPF was there to cover the colorful events, this being the 14th year of the Masbate Rodeo, held yearly to give thanks for a bountiful harvest, like any fiesta in the Philippines.

No, this cowgirl's not on top of her cow -- she's trying to lift a 35-kilogram bagful of sand, part of the cowgirl contest of the rodeo show. Photo by Jinggoy Espayos, FPPF.

[Click here to read more.. »]

Canon today introduced the new EOS Rebel T1i DSLR camera, capable of 1080p HD video and packing a lot more megapixels – it has a 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor.

The good news is that it is still a good DSLR camera, following the Rebel (EOS 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D and now the 500D) line which has a solid track record in camera performance.

The other good news is that it can now record HD video. The bad news? Canon crippled its HD performance to just 20 frames per second in 1080p recording (you don’t get a good movie unless you go up to 30fps). Well, you can work around it if you’re willing to go down to only 720p video which can go as high as 60fps.

The Canon Rebel T1i (quite an unimaginative name!) also followed the Nikon D90, the first DSLR to offer video capability, and the EOS 5D Mark II in their lack of full-time autofocus during movie recording. You have to pre-focus the camera before recording, a shooting arrangement that’s good only if your subject is stationary. But you know how we shoot video: we want to zoom in, zoom out, shoot low, shoot high, varying our angle of view – and our subject seldom stays in just one place.

And where’s the auxiliary audio input? I’m capturing high quality footage but I don’t get high quality audio? I want stereo sound there; I need an AUX MIC input for that!

That is not to say of course that the EOS 500D, the Rebel T1i (My eye! Maybe they hired the same guy who came up with the Pentax *ist D name), is a bad camera. It’s got pedigree. Canon has reasons not to put everything there and make it a perfect camera because it will cannibalize sales in their other DSLR models and videocams.

If you want the latest Canon in the Rebel line, with video capability to boot, it’s here now: $800 body only, $900 with an 18-55mm IS kit lens. Just don’t expect to get perfect 1080p HD video. But it’s there.

[Via: Canon USA]

“Everlasting Moments” is a film by Swedish director Jan Troell about a woman who finds art — and meaning — through photography.

Set in working-class Sweden in the early 1900s, the story unfolds over the decades, showing a life not entirely transformed by photography but profoundly touched by it.

Note the beautiful old camera in the film. Ka Lito swears he had such a camera when he was younger.

There’s a full review of the film at The Seattle Times.

Bernadette Sambrano took a photo of a sulking husband to win First Place in the Portrait category of the contest in Basic Photography, Batch 4 Feb-March 2009. Bernadette made perfect use of available light to convey real emotion from the fretting Air Force captain. She went home with a trophy that would surely put a smile on her hubby’s face.

The basic photography course was held for 5 Sundays from February 8 to March 8, 2009 covering the basics of digital SLR camera operation, photo composition, elements of design, posing techniques and basic studio lighting.

At the end of the 5-day course, the workshop participants were asked to submit 8×10 photos in Portraiture and Still Life to determine how well they have absorbed the lessons in photography. Theme for Still Life for this batch was Eggs.

The Top 5 Winners in Portraiture:

1. Bernadette S. Sambrano – 1st Place
2. Paul de los Reyes – 2nd Place
3. Ash Reginald Evasco – 3rd Place
4. Jaypee Martinez – 4th Place
5. Wadel S. Cabrera III – 5th Place

The top 5 winners in Portraiture who were awarded trophies and medals. From left to right: Wadel S. Cabrera III 5th Place, Paul de los Reyes 2nd Place, Bernadette S. Sambrano 1st Place, Ash Reginald Evasco 3rd Place and Jaypee Martinez, 4th Place. Trophies and medals courtesy of Fujifilm-YKL Color Phils.

Winners all: The Top Ten finishers in Portraiture, Basic Photography Batch 4, February-March 2009.

At the moment of triumph, Paul de los Reyes raises his winning photograph after hearing the announcement that he won First Place in Still Life. His eerie photo conveys a mysterious alien-like world. It was his version of shooting an egg, a simple chicken egg yolk at the bottom of an aquarium, with the egg white still dripping down like massive cobwebs in an extra-terrestrial movie.

The winners in Still Life:

1. Paul de los Reyes – 1st Place
2. Karen Rose Borromeo – 2nd Place
3. Justine Salagubang – 3rd Place
4. Erika Ledesma – 4th Place
5. Jingo Bravo – 5th Place

The top 5 winners in the Still Life category, Theme: Eggs. From left to right: Erika Ledesma 4th Place, Justine Salagubang 3rd, Paul de los Reyes 1st, Karen Rose Borromeo 2nd and Jingo Bravo 5th Place.

All together now! Proud and happy with their eggs: The Top Ten winners in Still Life, Eggs.

The winning photos of Batch 4 are now in the Gallery.

Batch 4 having a fun time at the FPPF Art Chamber in Intramuros where the photo workshop was held. In photo are Prof. Cecilia S. Angeles, standing, in black shirt, Ador Pamintuan, in red shirt with back to the camera and FPPF Project Director Lito Beltran in yellow shirt.

Here are the Overall Winners in the Advanced Photography Workshop, class of February-March 2009:

Overall winners in the Advanced Photography Workshop, Class of Feb-Mar 2009. From left to right: Mary Joy R. Lazaro - 5th Overall, 4th Bridal; Sheryl Ann Viñas - 1st Overall, 3rd Still Life, 1st Bridal, 5th Photo Essay; Jerry Go - 2nd Overall, 1st Still Life; Leo Angelo Francisco - 3rd Overall, 1st Photo Essay; Carlo Bajandi - 4th Overall, 2nd Still Life, 2nd Photo Essay.

The Advanced Photography Workshop, Class of February-March 2009, concluded their seminar last Sunday, March 8, 2009 after completing a 5-day course. As part of the requirements for completion, the participants were tasked to submit photos from their exercises in Bridal Portraiture, Still Life with Glass as theme, and Photo Essay. The photos in each category were judged and scored by a panel of judges composed of FPPF faculty members and prize-winning photographers. Winners were declared in each category and awarded trophies and medals. The Overall Winners were also determined by tallying all scores, and the top 5 were also given trophies and medals.

The Overall Winners:

1. 1st Place – Sheryl Ann Viñas who also placed 3rd in Still Life, 2nd in Bridal Portraitue and 5th in Photo Essay
2. 2nd Place – Jerry Go who also placed 1st in Still Life
3. 3rd Place – Leo Angelo Francisco who also got 1st place in Photo Essay
4. 4th Place – Carlo Bajandi, also 2nd in Still Life and 2nd in Photo Essay
5. 5th Place – Mary Joy R. Lazaro, also 4th in Bridal Portraiture

The panel of judges were composed of the FPPF’s Toch Arellano, Prof. Joey Tañedo, Chris Malinao and prize-winning professional photographers Edwin Loyola and George Cabig. Trophies and medals courtesy of Fujifilm-YKL Color Philippines.

The winning photos of the class have been posted in the Gallery.

Workshop participants, employees of Sanyo Philippines, with Dennis Araneta, seated at center. These Sanyo employees are the company's frontliners in marketing Sanyo compact cameras.

The FPPF held last Thursday, March 5, a short photography workshop for Sanyo Philippines. The workshop, conducted by FPPF’s Dennis Araneta, was intended to sharpen the Sanyo employees’ understanding of camera operations and the fundamentals of picture taking.

The Sanyo participants are the frontliners for the company’s marketing efforts in selling digital cameras, the ones directly in contact with consumers who buy the Sanyo compacts. The workshop aimed to better equip them with the technical knowledge about cameras and photographs.

The workshop, which was attended by 35 company employees, was held at the offices of Sanyo Philippines at Solid House Bldg. in Pasong Tamo, Makati. It was organized through the initiative of Joseph Sanchez of Sanyo Philippines.

It was part of the FPPF corporate outreach program to conduct specialized seminars to various corporations, private organizations, NGOs and government agencies. The FPPF tailors specialized photography workshops to suit the objectives of various agencies.

Winners in the Portrait category of the Saturday class, Batch 3 2009, pose with their winning photos. Left to right: Paolo Agustin 4th Place, Maricel Mendoza 2nd Place, Mary-Ann Tee standing in for Philip Opiasa First Place, Erik Dowell C. Doroteo 3rd Place and Theresa Galindez 5th Place. Photo by Vic Sison.

This year’s Batch 3 of the Basic Photography Workshop, Saturday class, produced another FPPF scholar for winning both Portrait and Still Life photo contests. For that singular feat, Philip Opiasa won for himself a scholarship to pursue Advanced Photography with the FPPF, free of charge.

This does not happen very often. This was only the second time it happened in the 15 years of FPPF’s photo workshops. The first time was last December when Catherine Hipolito also did a grand-slam for both First Places in the Portrait and Still Life categories.

“The FPPF is happy to note the proximity of both grand-slams, happening only in a span of 3 months,” said FPPF Project Director Lito Beltran. “If this indicates the discovery of true talents, the FPPF is just too happy to help them polish their photography by granting them scholarships in the Advanced class.”

The Batch 3 winners:

Portrait
1st Place – Philip Opiasa
2nd Place – Maricel Mendoza
3rd Place – Erik Dowell C. Doroteo
4th Place – Paolo Agustin
5th Place – Theresa Galindez

Still Life
1st Place – Philip Opiasa
2nd Place – Erik Dowell C. Doroteo
3rd Place – Ma. Eleonora B. Dillera
4th Place – Nestor C. Gabarda Jr.
5th Place – Mary-Ann Tee

The Batch 3 winning photos have been posted in the Gallery.

The Batch 3 class with instructors Ador Pamintuan (back to camera) and Prof. Cecilia S. Angeles, standing in red shirt. Photo by Vic Sison.

The FPPF recently conducted a photography workshop for the SILIP camera club, “mga Siruhano sa Ihi Laging Interesado sa Paglitrato,” headed by Dr. Nonoy Panganiban. SILIP members are surgeons belonging to the Philippine Urological association; they hold office at the Philippine College of Surgeons Building in Quezon City. Club adviser is Dr. Lester Garcia.

The two-day photo seminar (Feb 22, Mar 1) was conducted by the FPPF teaching staff — FPPF Project Director Lito Beltran, Dennis Araneta, Ador Pamintuan and Prof. Joey Tañedo. Practicum shooting was held at the Wildlife Parks in Quezon City.

SILIP surgeons Dr. Arnold (left) and Dr. Sonny (right) discuss DSLR operation with Ador Pamintuan (center).

The good doctors making silip with their DSLR cameras. Dennis Araneta is standing by to make sure they do not hurt themselves during the dangerous operation.

The doctors standing are not inside an operating room. They are taking photos of the scenes on the street during the workshop.

In another FPPF workshop – in Balanga, Bataan – the Illuminati Camera Club held a second photography workshop for their members last week. Illuminati club members are mostly doctors, dentists, architects and professionals in Bataan, headed by BJ Banzon. The club meets every 2nd sunday of the month and holds a contest every meeting.

The FPPF last week conducted photo workshops for the Illuminati Camera Club in Balanga, Bataan. Here, 9 club members proudly display their certificates of completion. At left is Prof. Joey Tañedo, at right is Lito Beltran, FPPF Project Director.

These cruise ship photographers are ready to rock-and-roll! They just finished the FPPF Cruise Ship Photography workshop held last March 3, 4 & 5, 2009. At center is their happy instructor, Joe Galian, a veteran cruise ship photographer.

The Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation (FPPF) has graduated the first batch of cruise ship photographers. There were 12 participants in the first batch conducted by Joseph Galian.

The workshop is designed to equip prospective applicants for cruise ship jobs abroad. The 3-day course demonstrates what skills would be needed by photographers to increase their chances of being hired as cruise ship photographers.

The next batch of Cruise Ship Photography workshop will be on April 7, 8, & 9, 2009 at the FPPF offices in Intramuros.

They came all the way from Mindanao to attend the FPPF Basic Photography workshop. From left to right: Bai Alfaidah Pen Macalandong, Bai Alfaisah BonBon Agustin and Paolo Agustin of the Mindanao State University (MSU), Maguindanao campus in Odin Sinsuat town.

Three workshop participants from Mindanao are currently attending a crash course on Basic Photography with the FPPF. The three – Bai Alfaidah “Pen” Macalandong, Bai Alfaisah “BonBon” Agustin and Paolo Agustin – are employees of the Mindanao State University, Maguindanao Campus located in Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao.

Under a special arrangement with the FPPF, the Maguindanao workshop participants will complete the 5-day Basic course which started last Monday for them. Pen, BonBon and Paolo will later join Batch 3, Saturday class on March 7 for the graduation ceremonies.