Taal Photosafari with Grupo Potograpika

Last Palm Sunday, I went with the group Grupo Potograpika (GP) with their Taal Batangas Photosafari. We went to the town of Taal and visited the Taal Basilica, some heritage house, balisong store, balisong factory and a peanut brittle/panutsa factory.

All photos where taken with Canon G12.

Here are some of my SP photos:

Juxta of palaspas vendor

Minimalist style frame within a frame. Shot inside Taal Basilica.

Same style but with another subject.

Here are some of the travel photos:

Inside the Taal Basillica. Two of my photog friends Kat & Mon was in the spotlight.

The Taal Basillica

Raw peanuts for the peanut brittle/panutsa

Cooking the peanut brittle in the kawa (big wok)

Cooked peanut brittle shaped laid in the table for hardening/cooling before packaging

Sharpening the balisong at the factory

Ballpen balisong and the cute baby balisongs

Traditional capiz windows

Evening Street Photography Photowalk at Makati

Last March 23, 2012, I joined my friend Ed Marfori for a SP photowalk at the Greenbelt Area. It was quite late already, almost 6pm when I arrived, so there's not much sunlight anymore.

I like to roam around the Glorietta and Greenbelt areas of Makati for street photography. It's a different atmosphere. It reflects more of upscale urban settings of the business districts and at night the nightlife and fun of the area.

Instead of my Canon 40D, I used my daughter's Canon G12, which I prefer for SP because it's smaller and thus more stealthy. One of the least advertised capability of the camera is the low light mode.  Although it can shoot only 1824 x 1368 pixels JPG Medium, since it uses pixel binding techniques to control noise, it comes out with amazing results.  The ISO settings can be set to ISO 12,800 even though the G12 specs only limits it to 3200 in the normal modes.  The trade off is it shoots like in auto mode, you cannot control the aperture or the shutter speed. Of course you can alter the ISO for it to adjust to a closer aperture/shutter speed combination you want.  You can also set the exposure compensation dial in this mode for more control. All photos below are shot in lowlight mode except for the last one.

Here are some of the photos shot that day:

1/160 at f/4.0, ISO 3200

Shot on the way home, using the Buendia MRT overpass. 1/40 at f3.2, ISO 3200.  I got away with slower shutter speed because the person is walking away from the camera. If he was moving left to right, it will require at least 1/125 to freeze him in the frame.

1/125 at f4.0, ISO 400, metered at background for silhouette effect. 1/125 shutter speed to at least freeze the moment of the passer-bys since they are moving across the frame left to right.

1/40 at f2.8, ISO 3200.  I utilized the street light for rim light effect + shadows. 1/40 acceptable since they are moving away from the frame.

1/40 at f2.8, ISO 3200

1/200 at f/4, ISO 1250

1/30 at f2.8, ISO 1250, shot in normal mode, not in low-light mode