My Canon Story

In June 2010 I created a blog for my lover who went to Saudi Arabia to work. The blog was named Elmer Loves Oreo and my lover’s name is Oreo. When I got my SSS loan that year, I purchased a new digital camera – the Canon PowerShot A495. I’m hoping to improve the quality of the pictures on my blog by using a digital camera by Canon.

The latest historical place I’ve visited – the Aguinaldo Shrine

I love the color of my first digital camera – red! I began using it on my blog and I noticed that my pageviews increase from a mere 100-200 pageviews to 1,000-10,000 pageviews. I got so excited with my new digital camera that I ended up taking pictures of just about everything from churches to buildings and foods.

When I got my 13^th month pay last year, I decided to invest it on a DSLR – the Canon EOS 1100D. It brought a lot of changes to my first blog and I even created this second blog, el toro bumingo.

I purchased the red 1100D DSLR since it resembles my A495, making the transition from digital camera (point and shoot) to DSLR a lot easier. It has the same red color and familiar icons that the A495 has – night shots, macro, landscape and portrait modes.

My first blog, Elmer Loves Oreo, eventually reached 100,000 pageviews and I became more active with Nuffnang Philippines. I’ve attended more events and movie screenings including a close encounter with John Lloyd Cruz and John Spainhour. I also met and became friends with a lot of bloggers through my love of photography and my Canon EOS 1100D.

The very successful Lloydie

This year, I was able to attend the basic photography workshop of Winston Baltazar and almost all the Canon PhotoSkwela workshops. I’ve also met a lot of the Canon Brand Ambassadors including one of my favorite bloggers, David Guison.

On top of all these events, I was able to attend the Luzon and Metro Manila Leg of the annual Canon PhotoMarathon held in Villa Escudero and Intramuros respectively. I also took pictures of the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Nueva Vizcaya, and almost all the major National Parks here in Metro Manila.

My favorite building in Subic Bay Freeport Zone

SM City Baguio

My pictures taken using the Canon EOS 1100D were also featured on Wikipedia when I participated in the Wiki Loves Monument event. I consider it as my greatest photography achievement so far.

Right now, I’ve made money using my DSLR through online ads by Nuffnang Philippines. I’m also a regular member of one of the country’s oldest photography club. Elmer Loves Oreo has a pageviews of 143,061 while this blog, el toro bumingo, has 134,381 pageviews as of today. Most of these pageviews are achieved through beautiful pictures taken using my Canon cameras. This is how Canon made an impact to my life.

How about you, what’s your Canon story?

This is the picture of SM Mall of Asia that was included in the Wikipedia article about this famous mall.

Technorati Tags: My Canon Story,SM Mall of Asia,Aguinaldo Shrine

The Facilities of Villa Escudero

Villa Escudero is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited so far. It’s complete with beautiful cottages, pavilions and buildings. It’s a perfect venue to practice macro photography, landscape photography as well as shooting architectural images.

Here are my shots of the different facilities of Villa Escudero.

Technorati Tags: The Facilities of Villa Escudero,Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort

Night Shots

I practiced taking pictures at night using my Canon EOS 1100D together with my Benro T600EX Tripod last night at Plaza Rizal. I was there around 12 midnight and it’s still full of people. It made me comfortable taking pictures.

This is Guzman. A famous place for lugaw, mami, lumpia and other street foods. It’s located along Sandoval Avenue opposite Villa Alegre Subdivision.

I tried the Bulb Feature of my DSLR. According to the manual, it’s the best setting whenever we take fireworks or we wanted to capture the light of vehicles to have the “light-saber” effect on pictures. I actually got the concept and I’m pretty happy with the results. I can now take pictures of vehicles at night although I still need to do it in a very congested street for me to capture both the red and white lights. It would be very helpful if I could be on a higher elevation like a hotel or mall.

It’s been 6 months since I purchased my Canon EOS 1100D from SM Megamall and I can say that I know my camera better now. I’m also proud to say that I’m taking pictures using Manual settings 90% of the time. Right now, the things that I’m planning to buy, to improve my photo composition, are external flash and the umbrella with stand (diffuser and reflector). Other than that, I just need to take more pictures and improve my composition.

I actually made a promise to improve my composition first before upgrading my lens. I’m also planning to attend more photo contests, workshops and photo-walks. I also became a member of the Pasig Shutter Bugs – a group of photography enthusiasts in the Pasig area. I haven’t attended a meeting or workshop by the group yet, but I’m hoping that being a member of a photography group would further improve my skills. I’m also encouraging you, my readers, to give me feedbacks on the photos that I’m posting here on this blog.

With all the tips that I’ve get, I’m pretty sure that I’ll improve my night shots, glamour shots, and landscape shots. Give me 6 months more and stay tuned to this blog.

Villa Alegre Subdivision, Pasig City

Pasig City Museum

Plaza Rizal

The main gate of the Pasig Cathedral (Immaculada Conception Parish Church).

Technorati Tags: Night Shots,Villa Alegre Subdivision,Guzman,Pasig Cathedral

My Experience With Speedlite Photography

I had a nosebleed yesterday. I attended the Speedlight Photography workshop conducted by photographer Jiggie Alejandrino of Team On Site Studio (Team OSS) at Canon’s Makati Service Center. It’s definitely NOT a workshop for beginners.

We were around 30 participants and most of them are intermediate to advance Canon users. Most of them have their own Speedlite already and are familiar on how to use it. Nonetheless, Jiggie Alejandrino was a very good photographer and facilitator and I’ve learned a lot of new things from him regarding Speedlite photography.

We were given a 21-pages photocopied manual covering the subject of Speedlite photography. For photography newbies like me, a Speedlite is a stand-alone flash that can be attached to our DSLR (or a stand) for more powerful flashes.

The workshop is all about using Speedlite as an alternative to studio lights so that we can have outdoor photo-shoots without the need for the nearest outlet. A Speedlite can be combined with other accessories that can magnify the light giving the impression on pictures that the pictures were done in a studio.

It is very important for newbie photographers like me to learn the art of using Speedlite and not just take pictures using our DSLR as if we’re using an ordinary point-and-shoot camera. Although photography is the art of taking pictures, it would not hurt if we use Speedlite and other accessories to manipulate the light on our subjects. After all, photography is all about manipulating the light. Without light, there is no photography.

Photographer Jiggie Alejandrino discussed the pros and cons of RAW and JPEG, white balance, the importance of calibrating our monitor screens, proper exposure, the principles of light manipulation, and how to control light. Aside from ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed (which greatly affect the outcome of the picture), he taught us two things that are important to Speedlite photography: the Flash Power and Flash to Subject Distance.

He also discussed the advantage of using Canon Speedlight on our DSLR cameras because of the most recent improvement in this device: the E-TTL. According to Jiggie Alejandrino (and the way I understand it), E-TTL is a technology that auto-calculates how much flash power a Speedlite would give to obtain proper exposure. It totally eliminates the need for light meter. E-TTL is also a wireless technology that lets you control several Speedlite (using radio frequency). BTW, the latest Speedlite available on Canon’s website are the 600EX and 600EX-RT.

It was really a nosebleed for a newbie like me but he explained the subject very well. He even gave us practical tips during the photo shoot – how to make the model comfortable and how to focus on a model’s eyes, mouth, shoulders and neck.

The event is a whole day activity with basics and classroom discussion in the morning and practical application in the afternoon. We have the chance to try the latest Canon Speedlight as well as different products from Xfiniti. Some of us got prizes from Rapid (strap) and Transcend (SD memory).

Thank you Canon for giving me a chance to attend this remarkable workshop!

Look at the size of this umbrella from Xfiniti. This makes the light softer on a models face

Shot using default settings for Portrait

This is my finish product using Manual Settings with a single Speedlite on my Canon EOS 1100D.

P.S.

According to Wikipedia, Speedlight is the brand name used by Nikon Corporation for their photographic flash units while Speedlite is the trade name for Canon's line of external flashes.

BuzzNet Tags: Speedlite Photography 101,Canon,Jiggie Alejandrino,EOS 1100D