Hollys Coffee

About a month or two ago, I was commissioned by Hollys Coffee to shoot the interiors/exterior of their newly opened shop along Taft, Manila. Hollys Coffee is a well known coffee shop chain in Korea.  This is their first store in the Philippines and the photo above will be used as an ad for their 2nd store.  I also shot some product shots that they have been using for in-store menus and and features.

Hollys was a really nice client and was very easy to talk to.  Plus their beverages have been the best ones I've had in recent memory.  Maybe because I've only had either Starbucks or Coffee Bean most of my life, and that Hollys offers unique drinks like the Sweet Potato latte, which is by far my favorite.  I encourage you to try it, and I bet you'll fall in love with it.  Here are some more photos:

Hollys facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hollyscoffeephilippines


rb

The Nostalgia of Shooting Film

It's been a while since I last posted here.  I blame it on a piece of $*&+ desktop (I really really need to switch to a Mac this Christmas) and a very busy family life.  I'm on the last day of a very long weekend and finally got to cleanup my laptop files and saw the album where the  photo above was in.  This was from June of last year, on a retro-themed party that my day job had to celebrate our first year celebration.  Everyone was dressed up and I didn't really know what to wear (and I didn't really care too much).  So I just dug some of my dad's old clothes and found an old-school styled corduroy jacket, got some old sunglasses and thought I'll wear that and bring my 80's film camera and hopefully look like an  80's photojournalist.  Then I had the idea of loading the camera up with film and see what kind of shots I get.

I brought a Canon A-1 with a 24mm f/2.8 lens.  I also had a Canon  166A flash from the 70's.  I loaded it up with roll of Kodak ASA 400 and a roll of ASA 200.  I chose the 400 since I knew it was going to be really dark inside and the 200 is for photos outside the function room.  The 24mm was wide enough to get the group performance in my frame, but the flash wasn't as powerful as I thought, as the light didn't reach far back.  The flash was full auto, but had an aperture calculator at the back.  So what you do is you input what ASA you're using and how far the subject is (from the camera), then it gives you 2 aperture/shutter speed combination to choose from, 2.8 for some nice depth of field, and a 5.6 for focus on more areas.

I really like the shots that I got.  There's a different feel when you see the results from a film, fully manual camera. You won't understand it unless you have shot film. Focusing in low light was really difficult but as you get used to where a subject falls on an area of focus, you just shoot away.  I love the grain on these, and can never be matched by your usual photoshop grain.

I thought it was a perfect way of capturing the images for the given theme.  It was a great night as I remembered.


Now, let's try to get that look in digital.....

rb

What's Wrong with this Photo?

Yup, you're seeing it right,  that's a Canon lens on a Nikon body.  You normally see people having Nikon lenses on Canon bodies nowadays (just says a lot who's lens is better), but there are some Canon lenses that I really like.  The lens above is a Canon 24mm 2.8 FD lens.  FD is the old lens mount that Canon abandoned about 30 years ago.  I have a few lenses and I'm now starting a collection of these fine lenses, since I can now put them on my Nikon camera. The current Canon mount is called EF, and as of now, I don't think there's a way to put those onto your Nikon bodies, but you can put Nikon lenses on Canon bodies, just in case you'd ask.

I'll do a full review, how I managed to attach it and sample photos soon.


rb

So Who thought this was an Actual Photo?

I have always thought that I was looking at a computer generated background everytime I turned on my PC in the last 10 years.  Turns out it was a landscape photo by Chuck O’Rear.  Full article here.

So for you landscape photographers out there,  who knows, you're next photo might land on to Bill Gates' hard drive...


rb.

So What Can You Do with 250 Cameras and 250 Flashes?

This is what happens when you get a Japanese rock band, a factory full of Japanese made cameras and flashes, a chock full of Japanese ingenuity and a ton of the usual Japanese craziness.  Totally amazing video.

So if you're seeing a ton of 60Ds in Ebay or Tipidpc, please check the actuations, and if it shows 50,000, then it probably was in this video.


via Strobist
rb

Pat and Juna's Wedding pics

 

Here's some of the long overdue-photos from the wedding I shot for about a month ago.  Again, the couple were fantastic and were very easy to get real emotions and expressions from.  I wish they have a long, happy and lasting relationship.

Pat and Juna Engagement Shoot

I shot these about a month ago and have also shot their wedding. They were a great couple to work with.  I hope every couple are like these two love birds.

 

 Their wedding photos next....

rb