Seminar | The Learning Lensman

Framed Perspectives: Pinoy Photography’s 6th Anniversary Event

Nov 102011

The Pinoy Photography Organization recently held its 6th Anniversary event entitled “Framed Perspectives” last Saturday 5th November at the SM City North EDSA.

Almost 600 PiPho online forum members (known as “PiPhols”) had signed up for this year’s event, and there was a big crowd in attendance on the day itself. It was a day of learning, goodies and an opportunity to meet old photography and make new ones.

Free camera cleaning from Canon

There was an entrance fee of P299, which was inclusive of goodie bag, snacks, booth services and entry to the raffle. The goodies included the Participant’s ID, an ID lanyard from Canon, this year’s event shirt and brochures. These were all given in a canvas bag provided by Canon.

The sponsors also set up booths at the event. Canon had their product display as well as free on-the-spot printing on their Pixma printers as well as free camera and lens cleaning. Benro had a display of their products. Snacks were provided by KFC and every participant got a set of KFC Funshots and a drink. The Pinoy Photography Organization also exhibited some of its members’s photos in prints using Canon Pixma printers and on LCD TVs provided by Samsung.

KNJO, Jeric and Tekgik give away a printer.

Forum members KNJO and Jeric were the emcees of the event, and opened it with the presentation of this year’s PiPho.org officers, lead by 2011 President Aids Tecson (Crispyparty in the forums). Veteran members of the organization including founder Regie Fernando (Tekgik in the forums) were also in attendance. An AVP of the Org’s activities this past year was also shown on-screen.

This year’s speakers were professional photographers: John Chua, Maricris Fabi Carlos, Jay Jallorina, Wig Tysmans and Per-Andre Hoffman.

John Chua

Philippine photography legend and Canon Brand Ambassador John Chua of Adphoto started off by speaking about his advocacy, Photography With a Difference (PWD) which seeks to create awareness for the special needs of People With Disabilities (PWDs) through photography workshops and exhibits to be conducted nationwide. These people with disabilities are taught how to express themselves through photography and their bonding moments with their respective families are captured in photos. Mr. Chua talked about the fulfillment and encouraged photographers to join the cause. Many PiPho members are already involved with PWDs and it is hoped that more photographers will take this up.

The multi-awarded Maricris Fabi Carlos

Multiple awards-winning photographer and founder of the Amorsoloesque photography workshop Maricris Fabi Carlos took the stage next, and talked about how she got started in photography and about finding beauty in our everyday life in the Philippines. Her works were shown on-screen, and reminiscent of Philippine National Artist Fernando Amorsolo’s paintings about Filipino life, whom her workshop is named after.

Chasing Light's Jay Jallorina

Expert landscape photographer, Chasing Light landscape photography workshop co-founder and Canon Brand Ambassador Jay Jallorina talked about his chosen field and encouraged the audience to re-envision scenes and shooting situations that other photographers have already shot. He said that we should embrace the opportunities and new techniques that digital technology now offer to help us develop this eye for seeing things in a new way.

The veteran Wig Tysmans

Veteran commercial photographer Wig Tysman told us about how he got started in photography during the film days, and that his original aim in accepting paid shoots was to earn enough money to buy more photography gear. His works were shown on screen and featured glamour and editorial shots over the years.

World photographer Per-Andre Hoffman

Last, but definitely not the least, world-traveling photographer and Canon Ambassador Per-Andre Hoffman took the stage and regaled us with stories on how he took his amazing collection of photographs. He asked the audience not to rely too much on photoshop and emphasized his points by showing shots that he had taken using film. He also said that he is now based in the Philippines because we had a beautiful country. His slideshow of pictures and behind-the-scenes insights certainly capped off the successful event.

Happy Raffle Prize Winner

Throughout the program, raffle prizes were being given away, and these included Canon Pixma printers, Benro camera bags, Benro tripods, copies of i-Mag Photography magazines, Canon accessories, gift certificates and more. A lucky participant also won a Canon Ixus camera given by Lightroom Corp.

There was no model shoot activity during this event, but the very informative talks by the professional speakers made up for this. The organizers also promised that there will be a PiPho photoshoot before the year ends. All-in-all it was day well-spent for.

Congratulations once again to the Pinoy Photography Organization for a successful activity, see you next year!

Where's The Learning Lensman? (Photo courtesy of PiPho.Org)

Were you at this event? Drop a line in the comments box below and let us know how it went for you!

Technorati Tags: event, philippines, photography, pinoy, seminar

3rd Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC 2011)

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Feb 112011

The Astronomical League of the Philippines, Inc. (ALP) will hold the 3rd Philippine Astronomy Convention (PAC 2011) on the 4th week of February 2011. The event has several activities spread across three days, with a different venue for each day.

The first day of PAC 2011 will be held at the National Museum Planetarium in Manila on the 20th of February 2011. There will be two talks/workshops on that day, entitled “How to Choose the Right Telescope and Mount” and “How to Get Started in Astrophotography”. There will also be a planetarium show called Journey to the Solar System, and a hands-on astronomy activity with the ALP members at the Baywalk for registered participants.

The second day of PAC 2011 is an ALP school visit and will have a talk entitled “Search for ET” at the Rizal Technological University in Mandaluyong on the evening of 23rd February. The Rizal Technological University is the only school that offers a college course in Astronomy here in the Philippines, which explains the choice of venue.

The culminating day of PAC 2011 will be held at the SM Nido Fortified Discovery Center (SM Mall of Asia) on the 26th of February. There will be three lecture/workshops entitled “Cosmic Journey”, “Stories from the Stars” and “Search for ET”, as well as Discovery Center shows like “Passport to the Universe” and “Cosmic Collision”. Capping the final day is a hands-on astronomy activity with ALP members at the Astrocamp Observatory, a commercial observatory on the SM Mall of Asia.

There will be a P500 registration fee, which covers the admission to all three days of the event.

Photographers who are interested in shooting heavenly bodies (of the cosmic kind) might want to register for the 3rd Philippine Astronomical Convention and attend the astrophotography talk and hands-on workshop to familiarize themselves with the gear and techniques used in this specialized field of photography.

Those interested may contact the following ALP people below (delete the spaces between the words and “@” sign):

Andrew Ian Chan: chandyman @ astroleaguephils.org
Christopher Louie Lu: clmklu @ gmail.com
James Kevin Ty: jkty @ astroleaguephils.org

More details about PAC 2011 including synopses of the lecture/workshops and ALP contact numbers can be found in the event flyer on the ALP website here. (PDF File).

The Astronomical League of the Philippines was established in 2003 by a group of Filipino astronomers who wanted to develop the science of astronomy here in the Philippines. Visit the ALP website.

Technorati Tags: astrophotography, philippines, photography, seminar

Canon Print-Like-A-Pro Seminar Goes to CDO

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Nov 242010

Canon Marketing Philippines will be bringing its popular Print-Like-A-Pro seminar to Cagayan De Oro City on the 30th of November 2010.

This color management and printing seminar, which will be held at the Mallberry Hotel in Cagayan De Oro City, will be the first of a series of seminars that will held around cities in the Visayas and Mindanao in the coming months.

Commercial photographer, noted photography instructor and Canon Brand Ambassador Jo Avila will be the speaker. He is an expert in color managemenr and printing and will be lecturing and demonstrating the workflow necessary to ensure that what you see on your computer screen approximates the one that will be printed.

This seminar is free and everyone in Cagayan De Oro is welcome, regardless of whether they own a Canon printer or not. There will also be A4-sized free printing at the seminar, so be sure to bring a photograph you want printed in a USB memory stick, CF or SD card.

I’ve already attended a couple of Print-Like-A-Pro seminars previously and highly recommend this for photographers who are serious about their output and want to ensure the best prints of their photos. To know what to expect in this seminar, you can read my recap about a previous Print-Like-A-Pro.

Technorati Tags: color management, pixma, printer, printing, seminar

November 2010 Basic Photography Seminars by Jo Avila

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Nov 042010

Veteran photographer, photography instructor, and current Canon Brand Ambassador Jo Avila counts some of the Philippines’ biggest companies as his clients for commercial photography, and he has been teaching photography since 1994. He currently offers Basic, Advanced and Food Styling/Food Photography courses.

Jo is offering his November 2010 Basic Photography Seminar in 2 different formats: a twice-a-week in the evenings for 5 days starting 9 November 2010, and a special compressed whole-day once-a-week for 2 weeks session starting 14 November 2010. These sessions provides interested parties to pick a seminar that best matches their schedules.

The two seminar formats are very similar in content and will discuss Basic Photography Theories and Principles, Composition, Basic Studio Lighting and Flash Photography, Basic Photoshop and Basic Color Management.

More details on the topics, schedules and fees can be found in Jo Avila’s website. Be sure to check out his FAQ and his blog, also on the same website.

Technorati Tags: philippines, photography, seminar

Canon Print-Like-A-Pro PiPho Exclusive

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Oct 302010

Canon Marketing Philippines held another of its Print-Like-A-Pro seminars at the Legend Villas last Wednesday, 27th October 2010. This particular Print-Like-A-Pro was organized exclusively for the Pinoy Photography (PiPho) organization and forum members. As with all the sessions in Canon’s Print-Like-A-Pro seminar series, this seminar aims to help printer owners and photography enthusiasts achieve the best results possible from their printers.

The speaker for this event was photographer and Canon Ambassador Jo Avila. Jo Avila is one of the better-known photography instructors and his technical knowledge on printing out digital pictures make him an ideal lecturer on the subject. He is also a PiPho member who posts regularly in the forum under the handle “misterkodaker”.

Held at Legend Villas this time around.

This event was announced at the PiPho forums last 15th October and was open to all PiPho members, free of charge. There was an online sign-up sheet and 60 slots were made available to the members. This seminar actually caught me by surprise as it was previously thought that the next Print-Like-A-Pro seminars would be held outside Metro Manila.

I have previously attended the last Print-Like-A-Pro event a month ago, but I went ahead and signed up for it on PiPho. There’s always a chance that I’d pick up something new about color management and printing and I wasn’t about to pass this one up

Jo Avila helps current PiPho Org President Mon Corpuz prepare a portrait for printing.

I arrived 1.5 hour late at the venue (which seems to be a trend for me now with regards to Print-Like-A-Pro seminars). Dinner had already been served and when I got there, attendees were already dining on their set of a salad, main dish of beef and rice, and a fruit platter. There were also free-flowing iced tea and coffee. This compares well with other recent Canon events which had food for attendees.

There was quite a number of attendees this time even with the horrible traffic outside, and this is probably because the invite was through a photography organization.

Canon Feeds You Always, in addition to Delighting You Always.

A presentation on Canon printers was shown on a projector while people were still eating. After dinner, Ace Porlet of Canon Philippines’ printer group gave a talk on Canon’s line of Pixma printers, some of which were on display at the venue. Jill Santiago, also of Canon Philippines, was also on-hand to host the event and raffle off prizes, including USB drives, movie tickets and J-Lo branded sunglasses.

Jo Avila took the center stage soon after, and the flow and content of his talk was similar to the one he gave in the last one. More details about the lecture itself can be found in my write-up of the last Print-Like-A-Pro.

That said, I don’t want to give readers the impression that the lecture was just a replay of his last talk, which it isn’t. I have attended 4 of Jo Avila’s color management seminars to date (this one was already my third for this year), and I knew that I would pick up something new. I wasn’t disappointed in that regard.

In this seminar, I actually learned three new things which weren’t discussed in any of Mr. Avila’s previous color management seminars. These are namely:

The use of Ramp Sheets in color management. You can find out more about Ramp Sheets here.
When to use Relative Colorimetric and Perceptual when choosing a Rendering Intent for printing in Photoshop.
Safe values for use in the White and Black Point settings of an image, as Mr. Avila actually gave out specific numbers for specific usage (e.g. inkjet or for a color photolab)

These three new addition to my knowledge are actually practical in nature and last two are actually something I can readily integrate into my existing printing workflow (even for family prints). I’m pretty sure that these will be incorporated into Mr. Avila’s next seminar, as he’s the type of instructor who readily shares any new knowledge he gains.

Jo Avila shows the audience his color management workflow. Yes, that's a glass of water in the foreground.

Mr. Avila then walked the audience through his own preparations for printing, such as properly setting white and black points, making the necessary adjustments, soft-proofing and selecting the proper options in Photoshop before printing. This culminated in an actual print using a Canon Pixma printer.

A question-and-answer portion followed soon after, and this was made more livelier because some of the attendees knew Mr. Avila from the forums and there was some good-natured razzing going on.

To wrap up the event, everyone went to the front to have a picture (group hug) taken, after which Canon printed out a 4R print on the spot for everyone. Anybody who had something they wanted printed could also do so for free, in both 4R and A4 sizes.

Everyone who attended the Canon Print-Like-A-Pro for PiPho

Canon’s Print-Like-Pro seminar is very educational, and this particular session was no exception. One is guaranteed to learn something, even those who have attended color management seminars.

One thing that should be noted is that Canon does not require attendees of this seminar to own Canon stuff; Everybody is welcome to learn more. If you have the chance to attend one, it’s highly recommended that you go.

Barring any more surprises, the next couple of Print-Like-A-Pro seminars will be held outside Metro Manila. I was told that they will be in Visayas and Mindanao, so this will be something for people in those areas to look forward to.

Thanks to PiPho and Canon for organizing this one.

Technorati Tags: canon, photography, pinoy, pipho, pixma, printer, seminar

PiPho 5x: Pinoy Photography’s 5th Anniversary Event

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Oct 122010

The Pinoy Photography Organization recently held its 5th Anniversary event entitled “PiPho 5x: The Passion Lives On” last Saturday 9th October at the SM City North EDSA Cyberzone.

This event was the culmination of the organization’s 5th anniversary celebration, which started with two PiPho photography exhibits held at Eastwood and Shangri-La malls months before.

Good-sized crowd before event started.

More than 500 PiPho online forum members (known as “PiPhols”) had signed up for PiPho 5x, and there was a big crowd in attendance on the day itself. There was an entrance fee of P300, which was inclusive of snacks, booth services and entry to the raffle and model shoots (more on those later).

Those who put themselves on the online list prior to the event were given priority to receive a goodie bag with the following items: PiPho 5x ID and spiffy PiPho ID strap, black PiPho 5x shirt, a thick Lowepro 2010 catalog, a rigid document holder emblazoned with Tenba, Lenspen and Benro logos, discount coupon from Henry’s camera shop, a Canon Pixma pen, Canon brochures, and a canvas Canon Pixma bag to put it all in.

Canon provided free camera cleaning.

Suppliers also had booths at the event. Lowepro had their products on display, and Elinchrom had a studio strobe set-up at theirs. Canon had the biggest display booth which not only featured their camera and PIXMA printer display units, but also offered free camera cleaning and free photo printing in 4R and A4 sizes to those who had picture files with them.

The event proper began with long-time PiPho member Karl Orteza A.K.A. “KNJO” in the forums and his co-host, someone I recall as being a DJ in a local radio station (I did not get his name) opened the proceedings. They also introduced PiPho founder Regie Fernando, and the organization’s officers who were elected for 2010, led by President Mon Corpuz.

Host Karl Orteza ("KNJO" in the forums) interviews the cosplayers.

Mon Corpuz then gave a presentation on what the Organization has accomplished so far, which was mainly the rekindling of PiPho’s passion for photography, which had been cooled following the disaster that was Typhoon Ondoy in 2009. Among these activities were the Organization meetings which they had opened membership to more new members, photo contests, out-of-town photo trips and other PiPho gatherings.

The event had several talks/presentations:

Attorney Rod Vera, an intellectual property lawyer gave an interesting talk about protecting one’s images from theft or improper usage. Atty. Vera provided information about copyrights, and differentiated the ownership and licensed use aspects of photographs. He also busted some myths regarding copyrights and provided some steps for protecting and asserting one’s ownership rights. Just a couple of days before this event, the photography community was stirred when it was found out than a photographer allegedly got another photographer’s image, removed its watermark and passed it off as his own in Facebook; Atty. Vera’s discussion turned out to be very relevant because presently there has been an increase in the theft/improper use of images without the owner’s permission.

PiPho Org Officers (L-R): Secretary Arvi Ferrer, Business Manager Adrian Tecson, Founder/Chairman Regie Fernando, President Mon Corpuz

Travel photographer Anton Sheker recounted his experiences and gave tips on travel photography. He shared his experience as a beginner and how he grew to specialize in travel photography and Philippine festivals. Mr. Sheker then gave tips on how to shoot in festivals, and described the way he captures the emotions in a festival. As the victim of several of the higher-profile image theft cases, he also recalled his experience with having his pictures used without permission, and how he resorted to the legal system to protect his rights.

Events photographer Raffy Yllana talked about his experience in making videos with DSLRs, starting with his stint with a then-prototype Canon 5D MkII and elaborating on the challenges of doing videography with a DSLR. Mr. Yllana discussed the advantages of shooting video with a DSLR compared to traditional video cameras, and how he transitioned from shooting stills to shooting movies. He also showed clips of his works, highlighted by the one he has made for a local broadcasting giant.

Cinematographer J. A. Tadena discussed making videos with HD-DSLRs but I missed this one as I had to leave early for another engagement.

Antonni Cuesta of Canon helps out a user.

Sponsoring vendors like Digital Walker Zoom, Water Plus and Canon Philippines also gave talks about their products. Canon, in particular, had two presentations. Antonni Cuesta of Canon Philippines’ pro gear talked about the brand’s DSLR technologies and products, and also gave the audience a glimpse of the Canon Professional Services, which provides service and gear assistance to photography professionals. Ace Porlet from Canon’s Printers group gave a talk about PIXMA printers.

As with events like these, there were photo shoots during PiPho 5x. Those who paid the entry fee got the chance to shoot models and cosplayers who were invited to the event. The first general photo opportunity was when the models came on stage and paraded clothes by Folded and Hung while carrying camera bags by Lowepro. Afterwards, the attending photographers were separated into groups that would be shooting individual models and cosplayers.

PiPhols doing what PiPhols do best

A much-awaited part of the event was the raffle were the Benro tripod and Benro camera bag. I missed the major prize part of the raffle so I don’t know if they had other major prizes. Other prizes being given away throughout the whole event included Banana Republic discount cards, memory cards, copies of the 200+ page Canon Lens Work hardbound book.

The included snacks given out were supplied by KFC, which was actually quite filling because each person got a pack with fried chicken bites, fries and a cup of softdrink. It actually served as my dinner.

It was my first time to attend a PiPho anniversary event since I joined their forum in 2007, as I had missed the previous ones because of other engagements. I have to admit that I was quite impressed with how the event was ran, and it had engaging speakers, interesting topics, and great incentives. A very good experience overall and it was with great reluctance that I had to leave before the event ended.

Congratulations to the Pinoy Photography Organization on your 5th Anniversary and for a great event with the PiPho 5x!

Note: Sincere apologies for not having pics of the speakers. This writer left his SD card at home and had to use his camera’s built-in memory which fit only 12 pictures.

Technorati Tags: event, philippines, photography, pinoy, seminar

Canon Print Like A Pro 2010

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Oct 072010

Canon Marketing Philippines recently held a free color management seminar at the showroom of their corporate headquarters in Taguig last 23rd of September 2010. This event is the latest in Canon’s Print-Like-A-Pro seminar series, which aims to help printer owners and photography enthusiasts achieve the best results possible from their printers.

There are a lot of times that inkjet printer buyers get unsatisfactory results when printing their photographs; the resulting prints are usually duller or have color tints very different from what they saw on screen. This is because the way that pictures are seen on a computer screen is not the same as the way they are printed.

Seminar at the Canon HQ Showroom

Color management is the process by which one can ensure that what one sees on screen will be very close to what comes out of the printer.

The speaker for the seminar is photographyer Jo Avila, Canon DSLR Ambassador and one of the better known photography instructors in the country. With his technical expertise and evangelism on printing out pictures and color management, he is a printer ambassador for the brand.

To start things off, Canon also provided a simple but tasty buffet dinner for the attendants; Free food and drinks seem to be a common hallmark of Canon’s recent public events. Due to the heavy traffic that day, I arrived late and missed the dinner.

Photographer Jo Avila explains Color Gamuts

I also missed the beginning of the seminar, as Mr. Avila was already discussing color spaces by the time I got there.

This is the second Print-Like-A-Pro seminar that I have attended (the first one was held at the old Bella Luce studio in Makati a couple of
years back). This seminar is similar to the color management/printing module of Jo Avila’s Basic Photography course, but is less technical and geared
towards educating the general public. While the technologies and terminologies used in this event are mostly Canon’s, the principles and techniques used will also apply for those with non-Canon printers and gear.

The seminar covers the basics of color management and printing, which includes the following topics:

Calibrating and profiling one’s computer display (ensuring that the computer screen is displaying the right colors)
Color spaces / Color Gamuts (basically the range of colors that is available to a specific device)
Picking the right print settings before printing (helpful because some programs like Adobe Photoshop can have an overwhelming amount of options)
Importance of using right inks and paper for one’s printer (Genuine supplies will give best results because they’re designed for a specific printer series)
Tips and tricks in color management and printing

To illustrate his points, Mr. Avila walked the audience through the calibration and profiling of his computer screen using a Datacolor Spyder3 colorimeter, projected his screen so that people could see how he prepares a picture file for printing, and ended his talk by printing the end result of his work process. A question-and-answer session followed afterwards, with Mr. Avila answering queries about color management and printing.

Ace Porlet of Canon and team raffling out prints by Jo Avila

Prizes were raffled off after the discussions. 20 A3-sized prints done on a Canon Pro-series printer and signed by Mr. Avila were raffled off to the attendees. Nobody went home empty-handed as everyone got a Canon PIXMA canvas bag and PIXMA pen each. Canon’s PIXMA printers were also available for printing out 4R/4″ x 6″ prints, free for those who brought CF/SD cards or USB drives with pictures. There were also special discounts for attendees who wished to buy a new Canon PIXMA printer that night.

The seminar was well-attended considering that Canon’s headquarters is relatively out-of-the-way, and vehicular traffic that day was horrible.

Raffle winners with their A3 prints signed by Jo Avila.

I was informed that the next two seminars in the Print-Like-A-Pro series are to be held out-of-town, and will be something for people in the

Southern parts of the Philippines to look forward to.

It was also mentioned that while there are no plans of holding another Metro Manila-based session anytime soon, it is not an impossibility. If another one is announced, sign up for it immediately, as the slots get filled up fast. Registration for this one was closed 2 hours after the event was announced on the local forums and Facebook.

In summary, the Print-Like-A-Pro seminar series is a great way for one to learn how to learn about proper color management and how to get the best possible result from your printer.

P.S. I got to sample the buffet dinner after the event, as there really was a lot of food. Yum.

Best kebab EVAR.

Technorati Tags: canon, pixma, printer, printing, seminar

3rd Canon News and Sports Photography Seminar

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Sep 072010

Canon Marketing Philippines held another session of their News and Sports Photography seminar last Sunday, 5th September, 2010. It was the third iteration of their seminar series, with european pressphoto agency Chief Photographer Dennis M. Sabangan reprising his role as the speaker.

I was informed of this event only a day before, and only because the event was moved back from it’s scheduled date Saturday 4th September to the next day. It was also a surprise to know that Canon had another one of these seminars, and yet it was not announced in the usual places (Facebook or the local photography forums). A fellow attendee told me that it was actually advertised, as evidenced by a graphic announcement, but in another forum (bird-watching forum, if I recall correctly). I suppose that Canon was targeting another audience this time, those who use their pro-level supertelephoto lenses (300mm and above).

Venue at the SM Megamall

This time, the seminar was held at one of the conference rooms at SM Megamall. I had previously attended the second seminar and saw that the new venue was an improvement over the last one. For one thing, the previous event held at SM City North EDSA was held in an empty space inside the mall. We weren’t enclosed, so we could hear the sound and music of another event. A floor-to-ceiling wrap-around window let in a lot of sunlight, so we had a hard time seeing what was being projected on screen. The SM Megamall event in a conference hall with its subdued lighting and walls meant that we had no problems hearing and seeing.

I had expected that I’d be hearing and seeing the same thing again, since this was supposed to be the same seminar with a different venue and audience. That expectation turned out to be right, but there was actually more. I was correct in that parts of the talk and the photos shown on-screen were things that I had already heard and saw last time. However, this time, Mr. Sabangan’s lecture on photojournalism was made in the context of the recent hostage-taking at the Quirino Grandstand.

Veteran Photojournalist Dennis Sabangan lectures

With this unfortunate incident still fresh in everyone’s minds, the context made for a very fascinating and relevent talk. Mr. Sabangan walked us through how he and the european pressphoto agency team covered the incident from the start to finish. He talked about the gear and lenses they used, the angles they took, the timing, and the things they photographed from the start of the crisis to the aftermath. Mr. Sabangan also discussed the ethics of photojournalism, especially when one has to deal with death. Finally, he showed us the resulting photographs, and the foreign publications in which his hostage drama photographs appeared (one of the magazines is a major-major international one).

Mr. Sabangan Chooses Submitted Pictures. To his left is Antonni Cuesta of Canon's pro gear group.

The live critique session followed the lecture. Again, participants were asked to submit two (2) news- or sports- related pictures before the event. These pictures would be critiqued onstage by Mr. Sabangan. Just like last time, there were humorous one-liners (fun for the most of the audience, sometimes not-so-fun for those that don’t meet his standards), but the important thing was that Mr. Sabangan actually explained how each submitted picture could be improved. I don’t think any picture went through him unscathed, not even those pictures that seem to have been shot by pros with really long lenses. One is virtually guaranteed to learn something just by listening to the critique. At the end of the critique session, he picked what he thought were the 3 best pictures, and each of the the owners of those pictures would get a popular lens mug from Canon (there was a no-show, no-prize policy. In case the owner isn’t present, the mugs are raffled off to the attendees).

The seminar is a way for Canon to promote its photography-related products. In fact, the product samples on show in these seminar series are geared towards photography professionals. In addition to demo units of their 1000D, 550D, 7D and 1D Mk IV DSLR camera bodies, Canon’s best and most expensive supertelephoto lenses were also on hand for people to look at, and handle. It’s really something to be able to hold their 300mm, 400mm, 600mm and even 800mm lenses, which can cost as much as a car.

Canon's Supertelephotos from L-R: 800mm f/5.6L IS, 600mm f/4L IS, 400mm f/2.8L IS, 300mm f/2.8L IS

Canon also made one of their multi-function inkjet printers available for seminar attendees who wanted to have prints of their photos. Those who brought CF/SD cards, or USB drives with photograph files could have glossy A4-sized prints. I had a couple printed, and I went home happy with how they turned out.

In summary, this was another great seminar on news and sports photography, and one that even non-professional photography enthusiasts and students can appreciate.

Err... Cheers!

We didn’t go home hungry either. Canon gave every attendee a cold drink and a big doughnut from Starbucks. This was just icing on the cake that was a very good seminar that was worth braving the heavy traffic of a Megamall Sunday.

Good job, Canon Philippines and Dennis M. Sabangan!

For those who missed this one, don’t fret. I was told that they will hold another one next month, and that’s really something to look forward to.

Technorati Tags: camera, canon, lens, News, photojournalism, seminar, sports

Canon News and Sports Photography Seminar

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Aug 122010

Click for bigger version.

I attended Canon’s seminar on news and sports photography last Saturday, 7 August 2010 at SM North EDSA. I found out about only it a couple of days before the event (which was already the second one), when some of my photography contacts in Facebook got tagged in a post announcing the seminar and soliciting news- and sports-themed photos for their live critique session.

The seminar was pretty good. While waiting for the speaker to arrive, there was free A4-size printing of any pic using Canon’s PIXMA printer if you brought a USB drive or CF/SD cards, and Canon’s super telephoto lenses were available for people to touch and shoot with (a la Canon booth at the last DPP party). Photojournalists were also in attendance, including Ernie Sarmiento, Chief Photographer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The speaker was Dennis M. Sabangan, a veteran photojournalist who’s now a Chief Photographer of the european pressphoto agency. He talked about his experiences covering news, sports and wars, and shared tips and techniques he uses in photojournalism. He also presented some of his shots and explained how the shot was taken. He taught us how international newspeople get to crisis sites in other countries quickly, what happens on the ground, and answered all our questions. Mr. Sabangan delivered his talk mostly in Filipino, which was pretty cool.

And then… he proceeded to do a live critique of pictures that were submitted (mine included). Mr. Sabangan went through a lot of pics, so much so that Canon got a function room at The Old Spaghetti House restaurant so that we could continue the live judging over a free dinner of pasta and beef. Yum.

The live judging was pretty funny. Mr. Sabangan certainly has a sense of humor and can deliver zingers (made even funnier because Filipino was used). Do not submit pics for critique to him unless you can handle criticism. He does not mince words, and some egos will be deflated.

That is not to say that it was an unnecessarily-cruel-crash-and-burn live judging session. Mr. Sabangan actually explained why a picture was good or bad in the context of news/sports editorial content. I submitted a couple of photos which I though were pretty good (and other photographers seemed to think so as well), and he pointed out things (timing and framing) that I can improve so that my pics can be more suitable for a news publication.

Mr. Sabangan picked out the top 3 pics (which were very good technically and aesthetically, some must’ve been shot by pros using supertelephotos), and the prizes were limited edition Canon Lens mugs. There was a no-show, no prize policy, and only one winner was present, so two mugs were then raffled off… and went to a man-woman couple who attended the seminar! Lucky guys!

I went home with a new way of looking at my pics, a canvas Canon Pixma bag with lens and printer brochures and a Canon Philippines catalog with prices in pesos (super telephoto for P670K anyone?), two A4 prints of my photos, and a full stomach.

During the seminar I had asked an organizer where they advertised the event. She told me that they posted this in Facebook. Okay… Facebook event announcements are only visible to fans of a company’s FB page. Thus, one has to “Like” a company’s FB page first before one can see event announcements. I’ve told the organizers (which aren’t part of the usual Marketing group that does the Canon events) that they should be publicizing these things in News and Announcement sections of the local photography forums such as Digital Photographer Philippines and PinoyPhotography with permission from the moderators. Hopefully more people show up if Canon decides to hold another one.

All-in-all, it was a great seminar for photography pros, enthusiast and students of journalism and I learned a lot. If there’s a third installment, I’ll be there.

Thanks Canon Marketing Philippines! I’d also like to give thanks to Antonni Cuesta for answering my questions about this seminar before I showed up.

Note: This article is derived for the most part from my original post in the Digital Photographer Philippines forum, and edited for a wider audience.

Technorati Tags: canon, News, photojournalism, seminar, sports

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