Shutter Box Philippines :: Digital Photography and A Whole Lot More

Conversations with Jay Alonzo
A talk on basic travel photography (free of charge)
September 28, 2007
5:00 p.m.

The Pictorial Tales of Boracay exhibit will be complemented by Conversations with Jay Alonzo where he talks about traveling with a camera in one of the most picturesque destinations in the Philippines.

As an additional treat to the guests, The Alcove Perspective and Olympus are having a special display and demonstration of select photographic gears as they learn the basics of travel photography. I-MAG copies will also be distributed upon registration.

Fees will not be collected for this talk but due to the limited number of slots, interested participants are encouraged to pre-register. Refreshments will be served.

For more details, please call 8921801, send an SMS to 0917-5594417, email cruz.ct@ayalafoundation.org, or visit www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph.

presents

Pictorial Tales of Boracay
A one-man exhibit by Jay Alonzo
September 1 to October 6, 2007

Gallery hours: Tuesday to Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Boracay Island is a tropical haven with its white sands, azure waters, and tranquil atmosphere. Tourists from all over the world troop to this Western Visayas island for pleasure and relaxation, especially during the summer months. A trip to Boracay, however would not be complete without a camera as the place is undeniably picture perfect.

Using an Olympus E500 camera, Jay Alonzo explored Boracay in search of new photographic subjects. The best of his Boracay images will be on display at The Alcove photo gallery until October 6, 2007.

The Alcove Photo Gallery is located at the Filipinas Heritage Library along Makati Avenue, Ayala Triangle, Makati City (across The Peninsula Manila).

For more details, please call 8921801, send an SMS to 0917-5594417, email cruz.ct@ayalafoundation.org, or visit www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph.

Travel Photographer of The Year 2007

Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) is a prestigious international photography competition designed to find and showcase the very best in travel photography. It is run by photographers for photographers, and since its launch in 2003 it has become a major annual award, with entries received from over 50 countries around the world.

The overall winner of this year’s competition will travel to Dharamsala in India, during which they wil have the opportunity to spend up to two days with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This trip will enable the winner to produce a superb photographic essay on His Holiness and the Tibetan settlement at Dharamsala.

TPOTY 2007 features three Portfolio categories - One Planet Many Lives; Sense of Place, and Thrill - and a One Shot (single image) category.

Each offers an outstanding prize package, and there are great prizes for those who finish second, third and fourth. Details of each of these awards, categories and their prizes can be found by following the links found later in this page. And a full description of each prize can be found on the relevant sponsor’s page.

There’s also a special award for those aged 16 and under - the Young Travel Photographer of the Year - and a new award, for up and coming photographers - New Talent.

Travel Photographer of the Year 2007

To be considered for the title of Travel Photographer of the Year 2007 , you must enter at least two different portfolio categories. This year’s winner will receive an outstanding prize.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2007- Fragile Earth

The search for a photographer aged 16 or under who has exceptional talent.

New Talent Award - Insight

If you are aged 18 or over and an amateur or semi-professional photographer, or have turned professional since September 19th 2005, you can also enter the New Talent award. This very special category will help either set one photographer on the road to a career in photography, or give a significant boost to a fledgling career.

Portfolio Categories

This year’s TPOTY Portfolio categories are: One Planet Many Lives; Sense of Place, and Thrill. In each category you enter, you must submit a portfolio of four prints.

• One Planet, Many Lives

• Sense of Place

• Thrill

One Shot

This is an award for a single image. However, this year we are giving you two chances to win, as, for a single category entry fee, you can enter two different images. Each will be judged as a single image, so, unlike the portfolio images, they don’t have to form a set.

The One Shot theme is:

• Special Places, Amazing Faces

You may enter one image that shows a Special Place and one that shows an Amazing Face, or two that show special places, or two that show amazing faces, or one (or two!) that shows amazing faces in special places. The choice is yours!

For more info, visit Travel Photographer of the Year.

The Passing of Light

photo exhibit by

Emmanuel Santos

September 6 - October 2, 2007

Silverlens Gallery

Drawing inspiration from the Renaissance period, Melbourne-based photographer Emmanuel Santos presents and illuminating and theatrical series of angels and biblical visions in the exhibition The Passing of Light. It shows at the Silverlens gallery from 6 September to 2 October 2007. For over a decade, Santos has researched sacred texts to present a conceptual interpretation of legends and myths surrounding the ephemeral domains of the divine.

The 38 photographs presented here draw on the holy scriptures of the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran. In all of the works, Santos presents a dramatic backdrop of recognizable places from ancient, sacred sites to the bustling, modern metropolis of famous cities. In the foreground, Santos’s angels fly, swoop, listen, crouch, comfort, or salvage lost faith, broken trust and innocence - according to their individual narratives.

Born in the Philippines in 1957, Emmanuel Santos migrated to Melbourne in 1982. A photo essayist specializing in areas of ethnology, spirituality and social documentary, Santos began his photographic career working for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Most of his work since the late 1980’s has focused on the Jewish Diaspora, which he has photographed throughout the world. Santos’ photographs are included in dozens of Museum collections and he has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Singapore, Japan, Belguim, France, the Ukraine, Israel and Brazil. His work is also widely collected and published. This is his first show in the Philippines.

You can see some of his works at http://web.mac.com/etsantos

Silverlens gallery is located at 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Warehouse 2, Yupangco Building. Gallery hours are 10 to 7pm, Mondays to Fridays and 1 to 6pm on Saturdays. For more information, call 8160044 or email manage@silverlensphoto.com.

Photo Life Magazine

presents

Image International 2007 Photo Contest

Photographers worldwide are invited to send their best shots in the following categories:

A WORLD OF PEOPLE
Our planet will soon be home to 7 billion people and each individual has a story to tell. Knowing your subject is the magic ingredient to showing their individuality and telling their story. Show us who they are and illustrate their tale through your images.

NATURE AND LANDSCAPES
Despite disturbing threats to our environment, the Earth still grants us breathtaking fauna, flora, and landscapes that offer tranquility to appease our rushed and sometimes complicated lives. A keen eye can translate that tranquility into an image that speaks volumes… perhaps loud enough to impact environmental issues.

TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Travelling is often a choice opportunity for photographic creativity. Your travels canlead you miles away to exotic locations or right in your hometown. Make the rest of us green with envy through your discoveries.

GRAND PRIZE
A 10-day G.A.P Adventures expedition for two to Antarctica where you will experience the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula, home to some of the planet’s most impressive wildlife and dramatic landscapes. (estimated value: $15,000)

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
By mail: You can participate either by regular mail using the Official Participation Form found within the pages of Photo Life magazine or by downloading, printing, and using the PDF file.

On-line: You can also participate using the on-line facility (high-speed Internet connection highly recommended), for more information, click here.
ENTRY FEES
Entry fees are $15 for up to 10 images in any or all categories (example: if submitting 27 images, the participation fees for the first set of 10 images is $15, plus $15 for the second set of 10 images, plus another $15 for the remaining 7 images, for a total of $45). You may submit as many images as you wish. Entry fees for on-line submissions are payable by Visa or MasterCard only and in Canadian funds for Canadian residents and in American funds for all others.

DEADLINE
To qualify, entries must be uploaded no later than September 30, 2007, 11:59 p.m.

More info on Image International 2007 Photo Contest at Photo Life Magazine.

Entries for AustralAsia Scuba Diver’s inaugural photo competition started pouring in as soon as it was announced in February 2007.

Hundreds of contestants from more than 25 countries entered, with a total number of images in the thousands.

Adrien Uichico is the only Filipino who made it through the finals and won not just one but two awards!

Adrien, 24 years old, bagged 1st place and 3rd place in the Young Underwater Photographer category. This category is only open to photographers who were born after 1 August 1982.

Swimming pygmy seahorse, Bohol, Philippines

1st Place - Young Underwater Photographer 2007

Shrimp on coral, Bohol, Philippines

3rd Place - Young Underwater Photographer 2007

Adrien will receive a Seacam underwater DSLR camera housing worth US$4200 and a 4D/3N dive trip for two at Bahura Resort and Spa in Dumaguete for bagging the 1st place and 3rd place in the Young Underwater Photographer category.

His winning photos appeared at the 2007 China Dive Expo - CDEX (25–27 August 2007) and will also be published on issue 5/2007 of the ScubaDiver AustralAsia Magazineas well as on the ScubaDiverAA.com website.

Adrien manages a dive resort in Mabini, Batangas called Dive Solana. He has been diving since he was 11 years old. He got his first dslr in 2005 which was Canon 350D and later on got a Canon Ixus 400 and decided to get a Canon underwater plastic housing for it.

Adrien recalls that his dad lent him a Reefmaster underwater strobe which got busted because he was using it too much. Fortunately a good friend lent him an INON D2000 strobe which I used for about 4 months. It was during this time that he started talking to Gutsy Tuason and Nonoy Tan, both notable underwater photographers, on getting a n underwater housing for his Canon 350D. He finally got a housing for the Canon 350D and used it for nearly a year until he got a Nikon D200 with an Aquatica underwater housing as per Gutsy’s recommendation.

Taking underwater photographs gives Adrien a chance to share with other people the beauty of the ocean and he really wants people to realize that the Philippines has the best Marine Biodiversity in the whole world. Adrien encourages everyone to learn how to protect what we have.

At the moment, Adrien’s team is engaged in training local dive guides to cater to underwater photographers. They have conducted training seminars in Anilao, El Nido, Donsol,Bohol and Davao. They train the locals not just to be “guides” but part of the experience for an underwater photographer. Ask around and divers will usually have a “suki” divemaster or guide.

Same as photographers by training these locals we aim to help them better themselves and to take pride in their profession, being a guide for fun divers is easy but a guide to a photog or videographer now thats something else. Imagine you have to be part biologist part spotter and usually these divers stay for 1 hour- 2 hours underwater per dive and then they usually dive 3-4 dives a day.

You may want to check out the other winners of the AustralAsia Scuba Diver Photo Competition 2007. You can also see more of Adrien Uichico’s underwater photography work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrienuichico/.

Fine Art Nude Photography Workshop

by Dominique James

The naked human figure is a rich resource of creative ideas and is a well-spring of myriad artistic expressions. In this exclusive male and female nude photography workshop, professional photographer Dominique James shall openly reveal and share a number of his best and most intimate photographic approaches when photographing nude bodies in the studio and on location.

The areas to be covered shall include hair-and-makeup, styling, background and backdrops, lighting, props, posing techniques, and how to bring out the best in both male and female models.

The workshop will likewise cover frank discussion of human sexuality in photographic imaging, artistic license to nude photography, the moral responsibility of artistic nudes, freedom of naked expression, and the debate over pornography versus art nudes.

The best part of the workshop shall be actual hands-on photo sessions with a female nude subjects. Under the creative direction of Dominique James, each participant will have the opportunity to create individual portfolio of artistic male and female nudes.
What will be covered

• Basic photographic principles of photographing male and female nude body
• Elements of beauty in nude photographs
• Mathematical formula/rule of capturing & creating photographic beauty
• Pre-production & conceptual stage of photographing naked figures
• Hair & makeup styling for a nude portrait session
• Dealing with sexual aspects of nudity during the shooting session
• The different approaches to photographing male and female naked bodies
• Photo session and post-production workflow
• Studio lighting techniques for nude photography
• Natural lighting techniques for nude portraiture on location
• Composing the photographic image
• Nude photography secrets of the professional photographers
• The legal & business aspects/arrangements of photographing male and female nudes

Who should attend

This course is for amateur and professional photographers who want to foray into fine art male and female nude photography.
Prerequisites

Participants should have completed PCCI’s Basic Photography workshop or have equivalent experience.
Presentation method

Class time is divided between instructor-led presentations, hands-on practice, and instructor-led critiques of the photos taken in class. Classes are limited to 12 participants or less to ensure optimum learning.
What to bring

Participants should bring their own (film-based or digital) SLR camera. For participants with film-based cameras, film will be provided.

DATES: September 15-16, 2007 (Saturday to Sunday)

TIME: 9 AM to 5 PM

INSTRUCTOR: Dominique James

FEE: PhP 7,200 (USD 160)

Includes materials, lunch and snacks. Plus roll of film, developing and printing.

To register please call 63.2.759.308 or email registration@pcci.com.ph

Greenpeace is holding a photo contest with the theme “Celebrating Philippine Freshwaters and Looking at the Threats.” The contest aims to bring people together to celebrate and protect our important freshwater sources. photographers and photography enthusiasts from all over the Philippines are invited to join this competition.

Greenpeace is looking for dramatic photographs that document why our country’s precious freshwater resources must be protected. Entrants may submit photos that celebrate the beauty of our rivers, streams, lakes, springs, groundwater reservoirs, etc, or which expose how these freshwater sources are threatened by pollution and waste, or scarcity and drought, thereby making access to clean water difficult.

All photographs must depict freshwater or freshwater sources in the Philippines and must have been taken by a Filipino or a Philippine resident between January 1 to September 28, 2007. Deadline for submission of entries is September 28, 2007.

At least 20 finalists will be chosen, and prizes of PHP30,000, PHP20,000, and PHP10,000 will be awarded to the first, second, and third prize winners respectively.

For more details please visit: www.greenpeace.org.ph

The complete photo contest guidelines and entry forms may be downloaded at: http://www.greenpeace.org.ph/photocontest

For inquiries about the contest, contact:

Lea Guerrero
Media Campaigner
Greenpeace Southeast Asia
tel: +63 2 434 7034 loc 104
fax: +63 2 434 7035
mob: +63 916 374 4969
lea.guerrero@ph.greenpeace.org

Thanks to Yvette Lee and Sheryll for the heads up on this one.

Bob Mendoza Images

presents

Nine Days of Peñafrancia

(Photo Exhibit)

September 7-16, 2007

Avenue Square, Magsaysay Ave., Naga City, Philippines

September is the month of Peñafrancia festivities, a regional fiesta drawing in countless devotees from all the Bikol region as well as pilgrims from all over the country, to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, fondly called Ina.

This September sees also a photo exhibit at the Avenue Square, Magsaysay, Naga City. The exhibit marks many firsts: it is the first-ever one-man photo exhibit to be held in the Bikol Region and the first-ever single-event photo exhibit on Our Lady of Penafrancia.

The exhibit is called 9 Days of Penafrancia: Bob Mendoza Images, a product of a 10-year coverage of Penafrancia festivities by Dr. Bob Mendoza. A practicing eye surgeon in Naga City, Dr. Bob, as he is fondly called, is a native of Pasay City. He moved to Naga City in 1997 and has since then become a devotee of Our Lady. Uniquely, the doctor expresses this devotion through photography. He was, in fact, the chief photographer of the coffee-table book Ina and the Bikol People published in 2002.

Dr. Bob Mendoza has selected the top 50 photos for the exhibit in a range that captures the dimensions of faith and arts: from the profane to the sacred, from the human and the divine, from the festive to the solemn. Images abound in the event, including those around the novena to Ina, the Traslacion, when the Virgin is carried to the old cathedral; and the Sakay, when She is brought back to her Shrine by the river..

This photo exhibit is sponsored by Canon Philippines , Avenue Square, and organized by Ina nin Bikol Foundation.

The activity is also a fundraiser. All photos to be exhibited are for sale, with proceeds going to a fund to be used for the poverty alleviation programs of Ina nin Bikol Foundation, the foundation Dr. Bob has been supporting since 2000.

The exhibit formally opened on September 7, 2007 and will run until September 16, 2007.

Memento  Creative Images Photography Studio

presents

People Photography II 

Session on Portraits 

September 29, 2007 (9AM to 5PM)

9:00 a.m.   - Basic Photography ( Overview )
9:30 a.m.   - Basic People Photography
- Studio Portrait
- Street Photography
- Lighting
11:30 a.m.  - Lunch
1:00 p.m.   - Model Shoot ( Studio )
2:30 p.m.   - Model Shoot ( outdoor/natural light )
3:30 p.m.   - Post processing
5:00 p.m.   - End

Time will be extended should there be a need for it. Only 10 slots available.

Fee is Php 2,000 which includes lunch, make-up artist and model’s fees and studio time.

Text/Call Deo at 0917-8549525 or email deo@mementoph.com for reservations.