gerryruiz photoblog

(Above) Music & photography jamming at Casablanca Studio, Real St, Tacloban City, Dec 28, 2008

Many were either given gifts or gifted themselves with digital cameras this season and whether they are entry level or advanced Point ‘n Shoot (PnS) ones or the bigger DSLR’s, having a digital cam involves adopting a systematic approach on how you work on the photos taken. There are various technical steps involved; nevertheless, it’s important for one to follow a general workflow and to stick to it closely for uncluttered, direction-driven post-processing of the photos.

As my simple New Year’s present to those with new cameras (and to the photography newbies as well), let me share the general workflow I follow after I am done shooting photos (please note these are not hard & fast rules - one eventually develops his/her own way - think of it as a general guide):

1. Transfer Photos from Camera to Computer I move my photos to my Mac using Adobe Lightroom 2 and a card reader.

* When downloading my photos, the following tasks are also done: a) creation of new folder in the proper location in my photo library;  b) renaming the photos; and c) adding keywords and tags for easier retrieval of files.

2. Selecting/Filtering & Discarding Rejects Once downloading is done, I use Lightroom’s flagging option to browse thru the photos, flag the rejects, rate some photos if needed, etc. Then I sort/filter and delete the rejects leaving behind the keepers and some other good ones.

* After deleting the rejects, I also do file renaming and adding/editing new keywords & tags to specific photos, if needed.

3. Back ups Optional at this point (may be done later after editing although not advisable): I do my back-ups by copying these files to an external hard disk using simple copy-paste (in Mac) or using SyncBack (in Windows).

4. Photo Editing Although Lightroom has its own editing tools, I have not had the time to study and use them as I am more comfortable using Photoshop CS3. Directly from Lightroom, I right-click on a particular photo I want to work on, then choose Edit Original in Photoshop. This opens up Photoshop and I start actual editing.

a) Cropping - If necessary, I first crop the photo to my desired size and composition before doing any adjustments.

b) Levels adjustments - here is where I do the initial color & white balance corrections, contrasts, saturation, etc.

c) Main editing tasks - I then do the main editing tasks of removing unwanted sensor/lens dirt spots, distractions, blemishes, etc. Other edits & adjustments depend on what the image needs and what I wish to achieve with the photograph. This could include saturation adjustments, dodging and burning, cloning and healing.

d) Noise removal & other Photoshop plug-ins - it’s at this point where I run Photoshop plug-ins I want for the specific photo being edited.

e) Sharpening - as a final editing task, I sharpen using the Unsharp Mask tool.

d) Bordering & watermark - I then apply my borders & watermark, if needed, using prerecorded actions in Photoshop.

e) Saving - I don’t hit Save it, though, to protect the original file; I use either “Save as” (for high resolution photos) or “Save for web” (for web posting & email.)

* So that the newly-edited photo files are brought back into the Lightroom library, I save the edited photos to a “Watched” folder one can create beforehand in Lightroom - these photos are automatically imported to a folder (mine is called “Auto-imported” folder) inside Lightroom. I then move these auto-imported photos to either an “edits” or “web” sub-folder I create inside the mother folder where the original photos reside.

5. Post/Burn Depending on my project objectives, I either burn to CD/DVD, copy to a USB flashdrive, post photos in the web, email them or I create a webgallery/slideshow (again, using Lightroom) for web posting.

6. Sync Back-ups Since new files are created after editing, I synchronize my back-ups using SyncBack.

I hope this helps. Happy New Year everyone!!!

We have been to Farida De Cadiz’ home a couple of times (specially during fiestas) but I wasn’t aware she was collecting all sorts of Christmas decor - Santa Clauses, snowmen, Christmas trees, etc. - so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a news feature on local TV showcasing her Christmas Home.

Wow! What a Christmas wonderland!

And so a photoshoot was set for the leysamfoto photographers to cover Farida’s Christmas Home!

December 21 we descended upon her residence at Salazar St. and here’s the bounty we got:

Above, Farida entertains a young lady visitor at her Christmas Home.

Wait! There’s more! View the full gallery (54 photos): http://callezaragosa.com/XmasHome-LRGallery/index.html

Happy Holidays, everyone!!!

Over at Plaza Rizal, Tacloban City promenaders young and old get to enjoy the spirit of the Yuletide season  amidst a backdrop of a giant 69-foot Christmas tree.

The tree was lit last December 16, the start of the 9-day Misa de Gallo.

Couples, families and barkadas out to enjoy the cool evening breeze have their photos taken at the park. At the foot of the huge Christmas tree is a small platform where one can have their photos taken. Members of the leysamfoto.com - a group composed of photography hobbyists and enthusiasts from Eastern Visayas - also love to have their photos taken. So it was a perfect opportunity for a group shot.

The leysamfoto.com photo group:

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in Tacloban City!

The Kasadyaan Festival Park (RTR Plaza) was transformed into a Christmas wonderland last Monday, December 15 with the official launching and switch-on ceremonies of the park’s Christmas display and the opening of the Christmas Bazaar and BBQ Plaza.

The Tacloban City government, on the other hand, yesterday (December 16) switched-on its giant Christmas Tree at the Plaza Rizal preceded by a political rally campaign for the HUC plebiscite (photos to follow).

Here’s the scene at the Kasadyaan Christmas Park…

If the full moon last Friday night looked unusually large, it was not your imagination – it was reported in wire agencies that Friday night’s full moon was the biggest and brightest full moon to be seen for 15 years.

I managed to take a few shots, again hastily done, of the bright moon early dawn Saturday morning, around 5:30AM in Calbayog City, Samar.

PBA on its road tour under the current KFC-PBA Philippine Cup came to Tacloban City Saturday,  November 29 providing local basketball fans with a first hand view of an exciting match between Purefoods TJ Giants and Air 21 Express at the Tacloban Convention Center, Tacloban City.

Purefoods handed Air 21 its 7th loss with a final score of 96-88.

It was a physical game. Not only for the players but for the thousands of fans who came in droves. We came in just as the match was about to start and as the Astrodome was fully packed to the brim, it was doubly hard for me to get vantage shots of the game.

View the full gallery (27 photos): http://callezaragosa.com/PBATac08-LRGallery/index.html

It was fun time for young and old Abuyognons alike last Monday, December 01.

The occasion was the annual Switching-on ceremonies of thousands of Christmas lights transforming Abuyog’s Children’s Park into a brightly lit Christmas Park.

After giving the signal to handlers to ignite the first volley of fireworks into the early evening sky, Mayor Octavio Traya, Jr. switched on the park’s Christmas lights amidst thundering tribal music ushering in a dance performance by the famed Buyogan Festival Dancers - this year’s champion of the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival.

The park was instantly transformed into a brightly lit Christmas wonderland - with thousands of tiny kutitap lights and parols (Christmas lanterns) of various sizes adorning trees and structures around it. Several multi-lighted large parols (and one giant lantern) all imported from Pampanga decorated the park’s centerpiece which resembled one giant Christmas cake.

Then it was time for the children’s games with lots of gifts and prizes given away. This was followed with party time for the teenagers with live music provided by a band which dished out popular rock, reggae and other contemporary dance music.

F-u-n for all!

View the full gallery (85 photos): http://callezaragosa.com/AbuyogXmasLights08-LRGallery/index.html

With additional photos by Ludette Ruiz.

Continue reading ‘Switching On of Christmas Lights in Abuyog, Leyte’