Yep, it's time for another workshop for me and this time I attended
A Workshop by Toto Villaruel. Some of my friends ask me all the time, why do I still attend workshops since I've already been shooting for a hobby for I think four years now. My answer is because I need the experience, specifically, the experience that the pros on the field share in their workshops. All workshops offer basics on photography and there is nothing new on it since aperture, shutter speed and ISO were linked together. But what's new is the techniques and ideologies that each photographer follow when they shoot and that is something I'll only learn if I shoot a lot or if I attend workshops.
I really don't want to do events photography, let alone do a wedding, but what I'm interested to learn on this workshop is portraiture and creativity. Well, creativity can't be taught but one can get inspired by attending workshops. Toto is good at both. He admit that he didn't learn photography from any school and he's self taught but he was a photojournalist before and I'm sure that experience taught him more than any school can teach. When he was starting to learn the ropes of wedding photography, he was a member of Imagine Nation, a photography group that mostly does weddings and coincidentally where my former college professor Glenn Tan is a member of as well. That is where he learned the tricks of the trade. Jaja Samaniego, a guest speaker in the workshop, also came from Imagine Nation and also does wedding photography. More of them on my previous
post.
So about the workshop. There were 13 of us students in batch 1 and most already have backgrounds in photography. Some already shooting weddings, based from their Facebook profiles. We were given handouts for the topics to be discussed on the workshop but it was bundled together with photos from the speakers. It was like I a brochure but with beautiful photos and summarized topics. I think it was a nice touch and in away cements an idea to the the students saying "this is what we do and we do it well and we know what we're saying.".
The workshop started with us jogging through the basics of photography as everyone is already familiar with the technicalities. After Exposure and Light, the remaining topics were mostly drawn from the speakers' experiences on the field, which is the very thing that I'm looking for. There were a lot of examples and stories in between each topic explaining to us why they adopted this and that or why they think that something is important or not. It was very educational and fun at the same time because it felt like I was talking to a
barkada.
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| cameras used by Toto. Both Toto and Jaja are Nikon shooters using manual focusing lenses |
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| Toto Villaruel |
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| Jaja Smaniego |
We had the lecture in the morning, KFC fully loaded meal for lunch, then in the afternoon, we went out to shoot with three models. I liked this part of the workshop as well because I remember most photographers always say, just go out and shoot and this is what they basically did. There was a graffiti wall near us and thats where our first location was then we headed to the railroad tracks. Yes! The railroad tracks! (I always wanted to shoot in the railroad tracks!) It was a bit uncomfortable for me walking around Makati with a DSLR but I figured that we're a big group anyway, we're all safe. I wasn't actually prepared for the shoot and I had a blank mind, trying to determine what I want to get in my camera. So I just went out and shoot. When we were already in the railroad tracks, I was just walking around admiring the location and didn't really concentrated on the shoot. Stupid me. But it was still fun!
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| Pilar, Bruce, Jill |
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| our second location! |
On the second day, we all came back with 3 of our best photos and we showed them to the rest of the class and had the speakers critique our work. Their comments on my photos were mostly the cropping and I admit, I suck at it right now. How I wish I have a 5DM2 or a 7D that can give me 100% viewfinder. Then we went to the last part of the workshop which was post processing. Toto and Jaja don't shoot with RAW files and they don't always retouch their images. They capture their photos as is and just like what Nathaniel Salang said to me on my first basic photography workshop, get it right in your camera!
On the afternoon, we went out to shoot again but this time, we're all paired with one another and our task was to take a portrait of our partners. Then on the last part, the 3 best photos from yesterday's shoot were printed and was awarded to their respective owners. Congratulations to those who won!
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| Nicole with her dog whilst we wait for others outside. |
To summarize the experience, it was a fun workshop and something I would want to do again! Not only was I able to meet one of my idol photographers but I was also able to learn from him and his colleagues. I was able to shoot in one of the locations that I always wanted to visit (although I wasn't able to maximize it) and I was able to meet new friends. It was a bit tiring because I don't really shoot outdoors that much but I must say, this workshop rekindled my love for photography.
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| Our teachers with the models. (From Toto's Facebook) |
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| A Workshop Batch 1 |
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| Jaja, Nicole, Toto |
PS: Another thing that I learned from this workshop is that I really want a full frame camera, a couple of 1.4 prime lenses and that freaking iPad that they used during the lecture. :)
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