el toro bumingo: The Transformation of Quiapo Through Anime

Saturday, June 23, 2012

The Transformation of Quiapo Through Anime

It was my first time at the famous Hidalgo Street (in Quiapo) yesterday. I attended the free workshop and photography contest conducted by such renowned photographers like Ricky Ladia and Jay Tablante.

Ricky Ladia discussed Strobist photography on cosplayers. Strobist photography is the use of off-camera flashes to avoid direct lighting on the subject which results in the absence of shadows (no drama effect). So instead of mounting the flash on the DSLR itself, strobist photographers use stands for the external flash and positions it in a way that the subject would have a display of light and shadow on the picture (more drama).

Jay Tablante who specializes in cosplay photography, discussed a brief history of this sub-genre of Fashion Photography and Cosplay 101 in general. He gave tips on how to make the model (cosplayer) pose for the camera as well as some etiquette on dealing with fellow cameras and the models. Cosplay BTW is a combo (combination) of costume + play that started in Los Angeles, California and became such a hit in Japan.

There were bands playing (both from the City of Manila Band and SM Quiapo), Lion Dance, T-shirts and IDs being given to the participants, a talk from Mel Cortez (the founder and advocate of Facebook group Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito), cosplay photo-shoot, and a dance number from Megatron, Prime, and Bumblebee. There were also welcome speeches from the Chairman of Barangay 306 and a lawyer (who represented the City Government of Manila).

The highlight of the event is the photo contest which has the theme “Transformation of Quiapo”. We are encouraged to present Quiapo as a photography-friendly location and a safe place to be for photographers, tourist and the general public. I participated in this contest and this was my second time to participate in a photo contest. I took a picture of a lovely couple from the USA who’s carrying a backpack like the ones we see on The Amazing Race.

We were asked to print our entries (a maximum of 2 entries per participant) on an 8”x12” photo paper. It’s a good feeling to see my photograph in that size! It cost me P35.00 per print but it’s worth it. Although I wasn’t included in the Top 10 (and ultimately winning the grand prize), it’s a good feeling to be part of a competition. I also made a new friend during this event. He’s a photographer from Cavite who also attended a workshop of Winston Baltasar. We promised to attend another free workshop and photo contest.

BTW, congratulations to Gilbert Gutierrez! He won the photo-contest and brought home A LOT of prizes from the sponsors.

This event is made possible by Phottix, Rollei, Spider Camera Holster, Patriot Memory, Easy Cover Camera Case, The City Government of Manila (in celebration of Araw ng Maynila), SM Quiapo, Nikon, Canon Philippines and Barangay 306.

Were you at this momentous event in Quiapo yesterday?