the little girl next door...

...another set of my practice shots...

model: sampwet (my pet name fo her..hehe)
white tops: piccadilly (gift from tita eyrish and tita tin)
floral pink skirt: periwinkle
stylist: moi
location: our improvised home studio

sweet little fairy of mine

We just had a little photoshoot at home this afternoon...with my one and only favorite model, my Sammy girl...hehe :p these are just practice shots inspired by studio like set-up. backdraft was made of connected white cartolina... improvised lights c/o my two table lamps and our uncurtained bright living room windows...lol! fairy costume c/o toys r' us and make-up c/o mommy!... what do you think guys?... pwede na ba kong magtayo ng studio?...hehe :p

Like Mother, Like Daughter...

Original layout by Aggie Avaso. A very creative pinay digiscrapper I just found recently over the net. Great work mommy Aggie! Keep up the good work! you're such an inspiration to every pinay digiscrap enthusiasts. :p

Credits:
original layout by Aggie Avaso
digital kits by Tammy Cirilli

Photography 101 : Know more about Exposure

Now, let's talk about Exposure...

EXPOSURE
When you combine the ISO setting, the aperture (or f/stop) setting and the correct shutter speed, you are putting together the pieces of the camera puzzle that create your exposure.

The Exposure is the image created by the light entering the camera and being recorded onto the film or digital sensor. To achieve correct exposure, you need to balance your ISO setting for the lighting situation you are in with the f/stop setting and shutter speed to allow for the correct amount of light to enter the camera.

Exposure is a tricky thing and whole books have been written on getting it correct and then intentionally messing it up for artistic purposes. Most modern cameras now come with some pretty nifty built in “cheats” to give you correct exposures. Most point and shoot cameras handle exposure automatically for you and do a very nice job. Bridge and SLR cameras will also do the heavy lifting for you by shooting in fully automatic modes. They also contain with what are referred to as “Creative Modes” that will adjust your aperture and shutter speeds for certain situations such as sporting events, portraits, landscapes, or night shooting.

Once you have moved beyond the fully automatic and creative mode shooting, bridge and SLR cameras also have a few more tricks to help you achieve your correct exposure (in combination, of course, with the ISO, f/stop, and shutter speed):

The first of these is the built in light meter. Metering is the process of gauging the light and dark areas of your image and correctly aligning the ISO, f/stop, and shutter speed to give you correct exposure. All bridge and SLR cameras give you the ability to change all three settings independently, but thankfully these cameras will also do all the metering math for you with their built in light meters.

Along with the light meter in your viewfinder, you’ll most likely also have several auto-focus points. On most bridge and SLR cameras, you will be able to see your auto-focus points when looking through your viewfinder and focusing on your object or image. These auto-focus points light up to indicate what the lens is focusing on. You can also manually adjust the focus points to accomplish a specific focus (if your subject is not in the middle of the viewfinder, for instance.)

Finally, another factor in exposure is White Balance. Digital cameras will also allow you to set or alter your white balance. Most film cameras handle white balance in the film itself and you purchase your film to match the lighting situation you will be in, whereas most digital cameras will allow you to set or alter your white balance. On a digital camera, you can set your white balance for each image just as you can set the ISO for each image.

White balance is simply a fancy way of setting the color temperature of your image. The human eye is very adept at compensating for color changes in light and allowing us to view light in a very large spectrum. Camera sensors are not quite as intelligent, and they must be told what color the light is for a given situation in order to compensate for that color. For example, morning sunlight is very blue in color while evening sunlight is very yellow. Incandescent bulbs are very orange while fluorescent bulbs are very purple. Each of these settings will affect the color temperature of your photo. To compensate for this, all digital cameras come with some pre-set white balance settings such as Auto, Daylight, and Tungsten, among others. Properly setting your white balance for your lighting situation will greatly increase the impact of your photos and decrease the amount of time you spend editing them.

Obviously, we are just skimming the surface when talking about Exposure. We will address it again in future articles and play around with it in the form of challenges.

For further reading on this topic, we recommend the following book:
Understanding Exposure (revised edition) by Bryan Peterson

Photography 101: Know more about ISO, Aperture & Shutter Speed

I'm absolutely fascinated about photography and really trying to learn and deepen more my knowledge about this digital hobby. Thanks to my very loving husbad...hehe, for providing me my dream slr cam last summer. The camera made me more passionate about photography. Since I have no time to attend to a photography school, aside from the fact that it's also very expensive, I just do self-study by searching some sites that provides free tutorials and helpful tip and tricks. Let me share some of the articles that i've found over the net that will surely benefit and educate those photographic enthusiasts like me.

The best way to think of photography is to think of light. That’s really what photography is -- capturing the light of the moment on film (or recording it onto a digital camera’s sensor). Virtually everything involved with a camera revolves around manipulating the available light to produce a photograph, and there are three main terms that interconnect with this manipulation: ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed.

ISO, APERTURE, AND SHUTTER SPEED

When you pick up your camera to take a photo, the first thing you need to consider is how much available light you have and the speed of your ISO setting. ISO stands for International Organization of Standards, but you really don’t need to remember that. What you do need to know is that ISO is the setting on your camera that tells your camera how quickly your film or digital image sensor will capture the light that it’s exposed to. The lower your ISO setting (100 speed, for example), the slower the exposure of light onto the film or image sensor will be. The faster the ISO (1000 speed, for example) the faster the exposure of light onto the film or sensor will be.

In other words, for lower ISO settings, you will need more light to correctly expose each image. Because a low ISO uses more light, the resulting image of a stationary object will be very sharp and clear. The higher the ISO setting, the less available light you will need, but keep in mind that the resulting image will be have more grain (or in the case of digital cameras, more digital noise).

Most modern film cameras will automatically set the ISO for you when you put in a roll of film. The benefit of digital SLR cameras, as well as some point and shoot or bridge cameras, is that you can adjust your ISO setting for each shot you take. As a general rule, for bright outdoor shots, choose 200 or 400 speed. When you move to a setting with less light, such as when you go indoors, you can quickly increase your ISO to 800, 1000, or higher to keep on taking photos.

Once you’ve gotten the idea behind ISO, then we need to move on to Aperture. The aperture is the opening in your lens right in front of where it connects to your camera that either opens to allow light to pour through the lens or closes to constrict the flow of light. The aperture acts like the iris of your eye in that it can control the volume of light provided to give you an accurate image.

Most point and shoot cameras have a fixed aperture (meaning you can’t change it), but virtually all bridge and digital SLR cameras have adjustable apertures. Apertures are referred to by their f/stop (a technical number obtained by taking the focal length of the lens and dividing it by the aperture of the lens). For example, you’ll see numbers like f/1.8 or f/5.6 used to describe a lens. In addition to indicating the aperture, f/stops represent the lens speed and indicate how quickly light will enter the lens and focus onto the film or digital sensor.

Here’s the important part -- the lower the f/ number the faster the lens will capture light onto the film or sensor. For example, if a lens is listed with an f/stop of f/2.8, then that is as wide as the aperture on the lens will open, as well as being the lowest f/stop allowed by that lens. At the lens’s lowest f/stop, nothing will stop the light from entering the lens and being captured by the camera. Light will flow through the lens like water that’s been unleashed from a dam. This is very nice in low light situations since low f/stops allow you to take pictures that you normally wouldn’t think possible, but there is a drawback. Because nothing is slowing the light from entering the camera, your lens will only focus on a small portion of the image and leave a large portion of the image blurred. This can be very nice or very frustrating.

With larger f/stops like f/22, the aperture on the lens closes down to the size of a pinhole and the light very slowly enters the camera. Because the light flow is restricted, the film or image sensor has much more time to capture that light and you will get images where almost everything in the image is in focus.

By the way, if you’ve heard the term “depth of field,” this is what it is referring to – the portion of your image that is in focus. A large depth of field would have more in focus and would use a larger f/stop. A shallow depth of field would have less in focus and use a smaller f/stop.

After you’ve set your ISO and considered your lens aperture, it’s time to move on to Shutter Speed. Now you’re probably beginning to figure out that if your lens aperture is at f/22 and light is slowly trickling into your camera, then anything moving would be a blur. The same could be said for instances when you have your ISO set at 100 and you’re trying to capture someone in motion. This is where your shutter speed comes into play with your f/stop and ISO settings.

Your shutter speed is how quickly the shutter, or the little door that opens in front of your film or image sensor, operates. It can range from several minutes to 1/1600 of a second or more. When you set your shutter speed on your camera, you’ll see numbers like 60, 120, 250 and so on. These actually represent 1/60th of a second, 1/120th of a second and so on. Generally speaking, if you are holding your camera and it is not mounted on a tripod, you should keep your shutter speed at 1/60th of a second or faster. To capture quickly moving objects your shutter speed should be around 1/1600th or faster.

When you combine the ISO setting, the aperture (or f/stop) setting and the correct shutter speed, you are putting together the pieces of the camera puzzle that create your exposure.

For further reading we recommend the following book:
Designing with Photos by Allison Tyler Jones, published by Autumn Leaves

You can also find out more online about your specific camera at these camera resource centers:
Canon Digital Learning Center
Nikon Digital Learning Center

Scrapping mode again...

Oh ...another layout for today! :)

you can get the free template here

Credits:
template by Aggie Aviso of SSD
design layout by Lynnette Penacho
digital kits (flower power) by GG Digital Designs
alpha crazy by DigiScrap.ch

Canon Photography in the Parks Photo Contest

For my US based friends out there, join the Canon Photography in the Parks Photo Contest. Share a piece of the world's natural beauty by submitting your favorite inspirational park photo and you could win an exciting trip for two to a National or State Park, renowned Canon camera gear, and the opportunity to have your photo featured in the future Canon advertising endeavors like previous contest winners shown here. Remember - photos taken of landscape, wildlife or National Monuments are eligible!

Note: Contest is only open to any legal US resident over 13 years of age. So i guess, I can't join...waaah!! :(

Visit the Canon Digital Learning Center to know more about the contest.

Canon launches its Ambassador Program

Canon Marketing (Philippines) Inc. (CMP), the leader in total digital imaging solutions, extends a special promotional activity for photography clubs and organizations, dubbed the Canon Ambassador Program. The program provides a way for photography club members to help raise funds for their respective organizations by getting cash rebates whenever they purchase Canon products.

“Canon continues to find ways to support the local photography community, and the Canon Ambassador Program is just one of them. This will help boost the photo clubs’ fund raising efforts for their various activities and projects, and at the same time, encourages local photographers to continue supporting locally distributed products,” says Ramon Arteficio, CMP President and CEO.

An organization or club will receive PhP5,000 as rebate for every PhP250,000 accumulated purchase of participating Canon professional products, which include EOS digital SLR cameras and accessories, video cameras, PIXMA bubble jet printers, laser printers and multimedia projectors. To receive the rebate, the group must register and submit their organization profile, business permit, SEC/BIR registration and signed memorandum of agreement (MoA).

In addition to the rebates, Canon will be giving an additional prize of P100,000 in cash for the photo club who credits the highest amount of rebates.

“We launched this in 2007 and acceptance and support for the community was overwhelming. We decided to extend our Ambassador Program until June 2008 to give more photo clubs and organizations a chance to raise funds for their groups,” added Arteficio.

Just recently, Canon turned over rebates amounting PhP128,195.00 to Pinoy Photographers Org or PhiPho, who will be using the funds for their annual Christmas party at the end of the year as well as for their regular out-of-town shoots and trainings.

Registration and claim forms are available at Canon retail outlets. Submission of accomplished forms and verified documents may be done in person at Canon Marketing (Philippines) Inc. head office located at Marvin Plaza Building, Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City 1233, through fax 812-0067 or email info@canon.com.ph.

"Under The Sea" Element Freebie

It's freebie time! :p I've been so busy for the past months that i almost had no time to design. I still have this tons of photos to scrap but i'm in the mood to do some designing, so digiscrapping can wait..hehe. Got a new freebie for everyone. A colorful fish element that you can use in your "summer collection" layouts. This was already a premade fish and just had it scanned and played with different colors. Hope you like it. I 've put the direct link hereon my blog from 4shared account to lessen the time of waiting. Just leave some love here @ my blog after snagging it!...Enjoy scrapping! :p

download link

my designs @ digiscrapdepot.com

I'm doing my usual digiscrap freebie kit hunting when i stumble to digiscrapdepot.com once more. I was suprised seeing my design there as on of the current scrapbook theme! I think I uploaded them to the site sometime a couple months ago. I started to design almost 4 months ago and had a little chance doing it again because my schedule started to be frantic upon the onset of summer season. I really want to design again & do a lot more beautiful kits for you to enjoy. Maybe I can start designing again one of these days. For now, I also missed doing layout designing. I have a huge collections of new pics to scrap from my new slr cam... a gift from my hubby! :p

screenshot of the featured theme @ digiscrapdepot.com

Photography is not cheap, and it will never be...

Photography is not cheap, and it will never be, unless you consider “snapshooting,” photography. Most people perceive photography as a business and money-making opportunity, a venture to earn big bucks out of the unlimited shutter clicks on each digital camera. Businessmen, who know nothing other than profits, cash, and company checks, assume the same – for as they say, “digital naman.”

Photographers indeed make money out of their crafts, but they do so precisely because they deserve to be paid for their skills and artworks. They have earned their way to learn and perfect a craft, a not-so-easy feat to begin with. Chefs cook, doctor’s cure, actors act, professors teach. Like these professionals, photographers too spend years, and maybe even decades, learning and mastering the art. Just like an ordinary person, photographers too spend money (that most don’t have enough of, by the way) for this craft. Photographers too spend time, energy, effort, and passion producing an output, something that will always be a part of the photographer as an artist, and something that will identify the work as a product of the artist. This identity from the artist is what makes each piece unique, what gives each piece an attitude and character, what makes each work important. this identity is the “essence” of the artist, if you may – the “essence” that is largely connected to the special talent and skill needed to translate the passion within into a tangible piece of work, into an 8x10 that you hang on to the wall or put in a gold-gilded frame waiting for guests to ooh and aah.

Secondly, someone’s got to pay the rent.

Photo Contest: "Portraits: Mom & I Trinoma" Photo Competetion

Good news to all Moms out there who always have this passion for photography. Have yourself and your child's captured moments at Trinoma Mall to become a winning entry to this contest. Great prizes is at stakes. Kindly read the mechanics on how to join!

credits goes to flair in the city and kidsahoy for this great info!

Postponed show :(

TODAY'S WORLD PYRO OLYMPICS SHOW POSTPONED FOR TOMORROW DUE TO ROUGH SEAS AS PER ADVISE OF COASTGUARD

NEW SCHEDULE - 18 MAY

7:30 p.m. - Venezuela
Venezuela prepares the audience for a festive and "fiesta-like" atmosphere of celebration!
9:00 p.m. - Italy
Italy to showcase its cultural heritage of design, form and elegance juxtoposed with an explosive flare. Known for its craftsmanship of special shells passed on from generation to generation of artisan pyrotechnicians.

LOCATION
The World Pyro Olympics III will take place once again at the Esplanade behind SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Caravan Of Fun

Are you a parent? Bargain-hunter? Kid-lover? Want to play or shop?
There's something for everyone at the Caravan of Fun!
May 3 & 4, 2008 (Glorietta 4 Park, Makati)

FREE ENTRANCE BUT PRE-REGISTRATION IS A MUST!
WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ENCOURAGE BOOK DONATIONS
(children's books, reference materials i.e. dictionary, encyclopedias, thesaurus, and the like)
TOWARDS "ISANG MILYONG AKLAT, ISANG MILYONG PANGARAP" CAMPAIGN
BY ACTS OF HOPE FOR THE NATION (AHON) & KIDS FOUNDATION.

Email kidsahoy@yahoo.com ASAP with the following details :
(SUBJ: CARAVAN OF FUN PRE-REG)
Names of Kid/s in your party, Ages
Names of Parents, Adult Companion
Contact Info (mobile, email
What city do you reside in?
Are your pre-registering for May 3 or 4?

BAZAAR: Exhibit/Selling/Demos from 10am-8pm (both Saturday & Sunday). Merchants will be encouraged to give marketing materials and product samples. Merchants will be invited to donate prizes for raffle to be held every hour. (Interested to be an Exhibitor? Contact us today!)

PLAYDATE: Creative play activities & games will be available all-throughout the day! - Arts & Crafts to-do's provided by Kids Ahoy
- Comic Book introduction
- Story-telling
- Musical Performances
- Science Interactive Mobile Exhibit
- Mad Science Show
- Kids Mini Fashion Show
- Party Fun service providers will showcase their skills & talents i.e. magician, clown, jugglers, unicyclers, etc.
- Kiddie salon
- Kids Art Exhibit- Photo Booth Souvenirs
- Outdoor Play Set will be available for free play
- and many more exciting and fun activities!

http://www.caravanoffun.com
organized by KidsAhoyShop.com & Kidsters, Inc.

My First Designs @ Digitreats

Hey guys, check out my designs @ Digitreats.typepad.com. I'm so overwhelmed that Pam (owner of the digital scrap site) was able to include my works @ her site. Imagine, seeing your own designs at one of the most trusted digiscrap designer on the web! That's really amazing! What makes me more prouder is that she compliments my little works. That's so big time for me hearing a very motivating comment from a PRO that my works are beautiful!!!...whew! It's making more inspired to design more and more!..hehe =) Another thing that's making me happy is the continues downloading of my kits at 4shared.com. Plus seeing flooded comments from different digiscrap enthusiast from all corners of the world...It's really inspiring! I'm really happy that they really appreciates my works. Since It's for free, I'm just hoping that my designs would'nt be pirated (yeah, it is also happening in digiscrap online business) and my works are to be claimed by anyone as their own and sell them on the web!!! This is really bad and hopefully this piracy should be stopped!

my textured and printed ABC Skip and Run paper packs

I do hope that this can be the stepping stone for me to enter this online business of digital scrapbooking. Since I'm still just a newbie in designing, I'm giving my kits for free for the meantime. Still need to practice more my skills to come up with a better designs to make some new & beautiful kits. Just need to upgrade my hard disk because it will surely eat a lot of memory space. Not to mention my primitive connection...arrgh!! Im' just annoyed with the available broaddband connections in our country. It's only restricted to a certain area and too bad, our area hasn't yet reached by some of these broadband "nationwide coverage! daw" They are so...so!! haha! For the meantime, need to equip more my skills & hopefully to sell some of my works in different online shop in the future.=)

Unleash your Creativity

I started to try my hands at digital scrapbook designing just last month. I know about scrapbooking thing but not into it. I just don't have the time to go out and buy those necessary kits needed, though I really want to try. So one time while doing my usual surfing, i got into this digiscrapping site. So upon checking the page, i saw these different kits like papers, bottons, ribbons etc., that are free to download. But still didn't catch my attention yet. Until i clicked the galleries...whoa!! i was stunned by those awesome layouts made from those unattractive kits! I was instantly hooked up to these new hobby and I can tell you guys...it's very addicting! In a way, relaxing for me too. All you need to have is a photo editing software (i recommend Photoshop), a basic knowledge of course in photo editing and a lot of creativity. Since I'm into collage making, I am really excited about this new hobby, as it is something I can do more at home with my daughter.

Really a great diversion for me to be able to do something creative yet keep the house somewhat clean and of course taking care of my little one...and oh btw, mind you guys..I'm a full-time mom! Full-time as in no helper ( i had before, but latter decided to pursue her college degree), no yayas (well, let me say..I'm just not that comfortable), no parents (already based in US,hayys...missed them na nga eh), nor in-laws, no hubby (because he's working outside the country as well) involved to help me around!..haha!..yet i can still manage to have these pastime pa...imagine that?..lolz! Well, i have my brother living with me naman but he's also working. I already mastered the skill of multitasking and very effective na in time-management...haha! Maybe i just missed working back again that's why I'm always keeping myself busy na lang by doing these stuff. And of course the passion to learn and explore this new digital work of arts...i'm so loving it!

Well, it's really abvious that I'm really amused and excited to learn this new hobby. It's not more than a hobby, as what ive said before, it's more on a relaxation part for me. Kaya if a really have a spare time, you can find me in front of my pc, busy working again..haha! Working on my daughter's, family and friend's photos and will surely share them here at my site. If I'm already an expert and have an advance knowledge in this kind of digital craft already, I'm very much willing to share my workings with everybody. Then in the future, maybe i can use this new skill to earn some extra cash..haha! Who knows diba?

What is Digital Scrapping anyway?
In case you are just discovering the world of digital scrapbooking...here is the “condensed” version :) Digi scrapping is basically the same thing as paper scrapping...only you create your layouts on your computer using software. The software varies...from the simple to the super complex...and from the inexpensive to the very expensive. Just like you go to your local scrapbooking store to purchase supplies...computer scrappers go to online stores and purchase their digital supplies (papers, eyelets, tags, ribbons and pretty much everything you would see in a “real” store”). We then use our software to place everything where we see fit on the page...and then have the option to either print...or just let it sit on our hard drive or a CD. Have fun scrapping!

Interested to learn digital scrapbooking?

Click HERE to see the basic step-by-step tutorial on how to create your first layout using Photoshop.