I recently had the chance to do an overnight stay (for business) at Casa San Pablo, Laguna. And boy, was it a pleasure staying at that calm and rustic resort place. I packed my DSLR along for the trip, knowing that I’d get a chance to do some photography during the lulls and down-time of the overnight stay. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was using my iPhone more and more than my Canon 500D. Here’s why;

With the recent upgrade of the optics (camera) of the iPhone 4S, it’s one of the best mobile phone cameras out there. Add to that, a plethora of apps which allow me to edit and immediately share my photos at an instant! That’s the growing fad today which is iPhoneography and I can truly say that I am enjoying more and more of this great hobby!

Here are some photos from that day (all from the 4S and edited on Instagram)

Meanwhile, here are some of my favorite photos which I already uploaded at Instagram:

I love Instagram so much! It lets me snap a nice photo, do a little editing and then share my creation… all within a few seconds.

Compare that to the tedious process of shooting with a DSLR, uploading the photos to your PC, doing post-processing and then sharing, no?

I think the next BIG idea would be a DSLR with quick-edit features, built in Internet and sharing. Now, I would BUY THAT!!!

If you want to follow me on Instagram, my user name is “gmtristan”.

Let me know if you’re keen on taking up iPhoneography too and comment below with the links to your photos, ok?

Peace!

During the long weekend, I took time to refresh on some Photography skills. I’d like to share with you something that I found at Digital Photography School. Although I’ve been using Photoshop Levels for some time now, I was amazed at how “tweaks” can make your photos “pop” by using the dropper tool…

For the sample pic, let’s take this photo that I took during my recent trip to Seoul, Korea. Nothing unusual. In fact, the DSLR got the scene pretty much decent and the image is okay as it is. But we can still enhance it.

First, open your photo in Photoshop.

Then hit Control + L (or Image > Adjust > Levels).

You’ll then see this.

You’ll notice a graph with three slider arrows, Black, Grey and White and to the right, you’ll see 3 droplets also in black, gray and white. Now, here’s how you do it:

1. Select the black dropper and select the darkest (blackest) part of your image. You’ll notice a change in the picture at once
2. Select the white dropper and select the brightest part of your image
3. Select the grey dropper and find the grey part (in this case, I chose the under part of the ship). You may have to do a little trial and error to get your desired effect
4. Move the grey slider bar left or right to adjust the photo further. Stop until you find your desired effect.

After adding saturation a bit and doing some Sharpening, here’s the enhanced image:

Now, let’s see the “Before and After” side by side:

There! I hope you learned a thing or two. Would be great to finally post and share better images, yes? If your friends ask, don’t forget to tell them where you learned it.

Thanks!

Check out more of my Photography-related posts here

[ source ]

Camera shakes occur when you have shaky hands or your subject is moving fast. In order to have sharper images, you need to stabilize your camera. A tripod is the best tool for this. But sometimes, you don’t have the luxury of having a tripod ALL the time. Here’s a neat DIY trick which will greatly improve your photos…

Watch the video. I’m sure you could do this at home;

via DIYPhotography

Planking is, according to Wikipedia is is “an activity consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the Internet is an integral part of the game.” While a lot of people or orgs claim to have invented or “discovered” this popular phenomenon, here’s MY OWN TAKE on Planking…

Enjoy…

StormTrooper Planking

Btw, some of my friends are members of Planking Philippines. They’ve recently been featured at GMA 7. Check out their Facebook page here, ok? Thanks!

And again, as is always, don’t forget to share!

Nike CEO Mark Parker is an avid collector of art. More especially, “Nike-inspired” art.

Here’s a look inside his office.

More pics after the jump…

Inside The Nike CEO’s Office

I wish my office was like that…

Have a great weekend, folks!

Via Nice Kicks

Was at SM MegaMall earlier for the annual Comic Con. As expected, the area was abuzz with Cosplayers. What really surprised me is the talent and creativity of our cosplayers. They really get better through the years.

The photos (after the break) can attest to that.

Comic Con 2011 Cosplay (c) Mon Macutay www.gmtristan.com

Do share below if you liked it.

Thanks! Will post photos of the Toys next…

This looks interesting…. just drag and drop the photos from your missing DSLR and this website will use the EXIF data to crawl and search the web to help you find out where your camera is. Haven’t used it personally and I don’t know if it works.

But it may be worth a shot if you lose that precious DSLR or digital point-and-shoot of yours. So keep the info handy and don’t forget to share this too.

Recover Your Stolen Camera Online

Just head on over to

http://www.stolencamerafinder.com/

How It Works (according to their website)

Every photo you take with your digital camera contains hidden information about both the image and the camera such as the make, model and date. This information, called exif data, can also include a unique serial number which identifies your camera.

Stolencamerafinder crawls the internet searching for photos, collecting the serial numbers of the cameras that took them.

When you use the drag & drop feature, stolencamerafinder reads the unique serial number from the exif data of your photo and uses it to match against serial numbers it has stored.

Well, I guess prevention is also better.

Keep you cameras safe, peeps.

Thanks!

Just some random shots that I took when me and my wife went around to do the Visita Iglesia (7 churches) on Maundy Thursday.

Hope you guys have a safe and blessed Holy Week…

More photos after the jump.

Photography: Holy Week 2011 ( copyright by Mon Macutay)

For high-res versions, you can check out the photoset on Flickr.

Don’t forget to share! Thanks!

One of the hardest situations a hobbyist (or maybe even pro) photographer will face is low light. Without a flash, this task is daunting. This will call for longer exposures since your cameras takes in additional seconds to process the lack of light.

Here are some best practices that you can use to take better photos even at low light situations. Although more for DSLR users, point-and-shoot owners can also learn a lot from this.

How To Take Better Photos in Low Light

via Snapsport

Finally completed my Darth Vader 1/6 scale vinyl model kit. This took around 2 weeks to build, clean assemble and paint. The challenge with this project was that there were around 3 to 4 “variants” of black that was used for the kit; flat black, semi-gloss, and gloss.

More photos after the break…

Darth Vader 12″ 1:6 scale kit (modeled by GM Tristan)

I documented my WIP (Work in Progress) at my Facebook album.

Hope you liked it. Thanks for dropping by!