cam ham

I get asked a lot about all the cameras I use and it's on the top of my FAQ page. What I can't stress enough is that the type you own doesn't matter without a basic knowledge in framing, composition and lighting, apart from the basic functions of your camera. 

After browsing through my Flickr page I came across photos of all the cameras I've used and I decided to post the ones I've owned through the years...

i conquer claustrophobia

Today I discovered my contacts were ripped so I had to wear my glasses out the whole day. 

They're so heavy and I probably almost tripped thrice. Thick-rimmed glasses are cute but not practical especially when going down stairs. I can't even do something as simple as running/sprinting bec. super blurry vision messes with my balance on the treadmill!

But the camwhorage continues despite my blindness because I finally got my new Oly! 

Hi, please take this pasty girl to the beach. 

A lot of micro four thirds cameras are going back to that retro look, replicating film + cross-processed + pinhole effects.  But I'm not complaining. 

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Don't have a lot to say today... But please watch our gig tomorrow.  :) 

For gig scheds, follow us on Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook!

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what I do at the exhibit

We take turns in guarding our booth and I get to go thrice a week. I was obviously bored during my last shift since the visitors weren't asking questions about our design rationale and main materials anymore. 

I took some photos before realizing that this may be the last time I'll be using my Lumix GF1. 

Found decent and comfortable "walking shoes" at Pedro the other day. I needed a new pair for days when I have to run errands. I'm slowly trying to refrain from wearing TOMS everyday (but I still love them) since I'm no longer a uni/college girl. I love sandals with heels a bit higher than kitten heels (I could never wear those, they make me cringe).


I don't wear my sky-high heels on normal days since I'm a bit taller than the average Filipina and people get mad at me for wearing them. Plus of course, heels hurt when you have to walk/run/skip on the roads around here. I don't work in a carpet-laden office. 

Yani was obviously bored, too. She gamely posed for me and did our "offering" pose, haha!
 Sometimes I forget how nice the bokeh is from the 20mm pancake lens of the GF1.

Everyone loves the tall mirros in our booth. They're for sale (as well as our customized shelves) so contact me if you want to buy them!

My hair's getting longer. :)

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Recently cleaned up my blog a bit since I was getting tired of looking at colorful badges and endless links at the sidebar. I think I've lost touch of why I started this in the first place-- it's a mere documentation of my life and everything I like. I've always wanted it simple. 

What's new: 

• I basically just added pages on top that includes my long list of links, FAQs + redirecting links to my Twitter/Formspring. 
• My other blog posts have a "read more" option so all the photos don't have to load when you're on the main site, but I still have to fix the spacing before and after that link
• I've also added a search box and a drop-down list of categories to get rid of the annoying cloud of tags that I had. I still have to edit the tags on each post since some of them are unnecessary (the ones that only have one post attached to them). 
• Still have to fix the space in between each post. I'm not satisfied with the crowding of the text. 
• As much as I want to edit the template, I can't let go of the all-white background and placement of the side bar on the right. I might change my banner if ever I take a decent monochromatic photo of myself. Or should I just make it a huge "raleene.com" header? 

I'll stop right here since I don't want to badger you all with these things about the whole look of the site!


Anyways, I really just want to tell you all that I am trying to get myself to post better photos! I am hating myself for leaving my camera behind, but then again I've been really busy with school-related events that just keeps me from going around taking photos. I hope you all understand. 


I am also excited about getting a new camera! My brother's getting my old micro 4/3s Lumix GF1 since he's taking photography lessons in school (I know, they offer it in my high school now. How unfair!) and he needs a "decent" one. I can't let go of my DSLR since it's my first baby and the my first purchase ever since I started earning when I first came here for college.

I'm getting an Olympus PEN E-P3. (photo isn't mine)
Thank God for online shopping! I can't wait to get my newest baby!

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Lytro: shoot now, focus later.

This is pretty cool.

the Lytro field camera
 Lytro is the only camera that captures life in living pictures. Visit http://lytro.com

* Capture everything - instantly. Capture living pictures with the press of a single button.

* Focus after the fact. Focus and re-focus, anywhere in the picture. You can refocus your pictures at anytime, after the fact.

* Share the love. Easily share from the desktop or from Lytro.com to friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, email or your blog.

CHECK THESE OUT: -photo gallery (Click anywhere to focus on something! Super cool)
-the science inside

I want new/pretty toys.

Blackberry bold 9900

I KNOW you all know I'm a sucker for all things Mac. Recently got the iPad 2 and I've been screaming "Team Apple" since forever BUT you can't imagine how many times I've gotten the "What's your BB pin?" question and honestly, I don't think WhatsApp is up to par with the BBM. I want this model since I instantly LOVED its design! I really don't have time to compare the long list of BB models right now, so please tell me if this sucks or what. I don't want the Torch since it's bulky and slide phones have never been my thing... I want something sleek and fast.

Fuji Finepix X100

Because I know I'll never be CRAZY enough to buy the limited edition titanium Leica M9 for $29000 (or any Leica M series cam for that matter-- I'm too rough on my cameras!),I'll settle for this. It's pretty cool and even if I know I won't be able to change the lens (I don't even change my Lumix GF1's), this would be a pretty awesome pocket camera. The viewfinder and built-in flash is something my Lumix lacks (the flash pops up on the GF1/2) and this has a rangefinder system thing going on... You won't be able to use it properly if you don't know how to use a manual camera, though... There are no intelligent auto settings. I want to be able to practice fixing the settings on a camera again! Whenever I shoot or pick up my DSLR, I keep having to force myself to stay away from my Lumix.

And just look at it... It looks so cool and oldschool! PRETTEH!

Nikon D7000

I'm not a pro, so I'm not touching any of those FX cameras. For now, I can only wish to upgrade my Nikon D80 to this DX camera. Google the specs if you please...

I know you're all going to grill me for saying "Oh please, the camera doesn't matter." But the noise levels and grain once I pump up the ISO's (for clients, not my blog) starting to bug me. I never thought I was going to do a lot of things when I first purchased my D80 way back when I was in first year college. I mean, why would we need a camera in Interior Design? Oh that's right, we don't.

But now that I plan on actually pursuing photography after school, I'm considering investing on a better camera. I have Nikon lenses so it only makes sense to stick to Nikon. I've never had a problem shooting with my D80 and my grandpa was a Nikon guy.

This is priced at $1,200 (body only) but hmmm if I am dead serious about pursuing a phophographyyy why not go for an FX cam like the D700? Priced at $2,700... Hmmm...

GAH I wish I didn't have to earn and pay for my own gadgets. I wish I loved clothes more than gadgets since they're far more expensive, your world will crumble if they get stolen, and unlike clothes, they don't make YOU pretty. HAH..

Okay these are accessories... But...

Why, Nixon? Why???

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Some of my shots for Audioclef Inc.

I've been getting TONS of questions about the cameras I use...

For photo shoots, I use my Nikon D80 + Nikon VR 18-200 OR 50mm F1.8 lens +

SB900 (flash)

For everyday photos, I use my Panasonic Lumix GF1 + 20mm F1.7 pancake lens

I almost always edit the colors of my photos here to give it my mark or a certain feel, so NO- they don't come out of my camera as they look like on my blog posts... I used my Canon Ixus for a couple of months before getting the GF1 (since I sold my Lumix LX3 too early on) and NOBODY noticed that I was using a simple digicam... It all depends on the settings, composition, angle and editing. You don't necessarily need the best camera.

I'm always the photographer with the simplest DSLR/equipment during photo shoots, but that's never stopped young photographers (like moi) from producing nicely-done photos which clients can appreciate ;) I'm not even satisfied with my own work all the time and I admit I have TONS to learn, but that will come in time... Hopefully I can take basic classes about lighting when I graduate with Interior Design.

I will not entertain any more questions about the cameras I use, or if I edit my photos or not because I get those types of questions at least 5 times a week (I am not even exaggerating, but don't feel bad if you're one of them cos that means you think my photos are nice? Haha!) through comments, e-mails, formspring, twitter, facebook messaging and replies on my Tumblr (which is weird cos I can never even reply to those without having to screencap, answer, etc).

So those are my tools and I will be putting a list of them somewhere around each of my websites. And of course, I will always blog about new cameras/additions to my camera collection. :)

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Amber Davis, singer

Rizza Cabrera, 2/3 of the Walkie Talkies

2/3 because she sings and plays the guitar. I'm only 1/3 of the band cos I only sing. LOL!

AND I obviously couldn't take a photo of myself... Will have to rely on the 2 other photographers for my solo shots :)

Salamin

Paolo Valenciano- lead vocals

Emilio Marcos- drums

Miks Bersales- bass

Sho Hikino, guitars

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There are more photos but the site will be launched this January, so I'm hoping I can post the others by then. I've seen our photos from the other photographers and I absolutely love them!

Will let you guys know about Audioclef soon when everything's ironed out... I'm excited!!!

Oh, and here are some BEHIND THE SCENES photos they asked me to take from Indios Bravos studio:

Creepy eyes of mine

Hopefully you all had a lovely weekend, because I sure haven't experienced that in a while. :))

♥

My new GirlFriend(1), Pancake.

I got a haircut today!

Clearer photo of the white GF1. Isn't it so pretty???

[source]

After our photo shoot at Heima last night, I decided to just cancel my LX5 order and looked for a white GF1 online. My LX5 didn't get delivered to my house that night too, because of "traffic" (psshhh) so I took that as a sign... Initially, I didn't want it since I had a DSLR (the GF1 is considered to be the smallest DSLR in the world) plus I just really wanted a pocket camera to bring with me everyday. The LX3 proved to be a really excellent camera before I sold it to Vito, so I thought that upgrading to the LX5 was fine for me. Sulit.com.ph proved to be really helpful since Henry's in Quiapo didn't have white ones on hand, and the ones I found online were cheaper (and offered free delivery) by a couple of thousands. Everyone kept saying that the white version was rare, but luckily I only had to ask 3 stores til I found one that still carried it. It's slightly more expensive than the black or red ones, but Inez advised me to just get it since it would be worth a lot in the future (if ever I decide to sell it).

I've been wearing bracelets from Charmed Life

Here's the team! Grabbed these photos from Tricia. YAY! And that was my hair before having it cut (which I should've done before this shoot, grr). My hair grows out really fast! The stylist was even shocked and told me that I had to go back every two weeks. Say whuttt?!

Can't wait to see the final catalogue! I took photos of BJ and BJ was the main photog who took photos of Tricia and I.

And ooooh fun iPhone photos from the shoot! Tricia and BJ took clearer BTS pics but I was too busy using my Flip cam to capture videos (video post soon) so I didn't bother taking my DSLR around. Heeee :)

My first makeup look. I had to be a "hands-on housewife" for my first two looks!

Cute cootie catchers made for Tricia's bedroom set-up

So many cute set-ups!

Ryan asked if we could Facetime since we were the only ones with the iPhone 4! LOLZ

Ryan and Garovs!

I really wanna buy this pillow! Cute :)

goodies from gramps

Given to me a few months after I moved to Manila for good(2007). Dad got these babies out of my grandpa's closet. Used my Sony prosumer cam to take these photos and used a white cartolina as my backdrop.
:)

Hello, Lulu.

Pinhole effect film grain effect Thanks to miss Cecile for the shirt :)

Film grain effect
Ixxie, my Canon Ixus 65 managed to slip out of my bag while I was scurrying my way out of a huge crowd last Saturday night/Sunday morning. It was the perfect party camera. After years of passing it around my friends to use during events/parties, it quickly became THEIR favorite cam and it was such a chore for me to upload everything right away since everybody wanted pics from that cam only. According to them, it made them look pretty and kickass. WELL.

I've been wanting to replace it for a few months now, ever since the HD video capturing technology's become a trending feature in the new digital cameras. I wanted the Nikon Coolpix s70 at first cos that was the only thing I liked during a trip to Best Buy in NY. Then I found the Leica D-Lux4 and fell in love with its black, boxy look (cos that's the way cameras should be!). And we all know that Leica lenses are top-of-the-line. After thinking about the price of the Leica and how Lumix cams integrate Leica lenses as well, I decided to go for the Lumix LX-3.
Had to get a replacement cam cos we always have to take photos of our sample plates for school... Now my wallet's crying.
But oh well, I feel whole again! :D Time to find some more money-making schemes...
Speaking of money-making...My dad and I are selling iPhone 3Gs units (16 gig) for Php 41,000. Globe sims. E-mail me if you're interested. This offer is for Cebu and Manila residents only.