The Aftermath - Manny Librodo Workshop 2011

It was a rainy morning of April 2, 2011. Actually the rain woke me up. Four of us on the hotel room which they call "Kampong Huts". I didn't get enough sleep because the dinner ended a bit late. I felt bad for my roommates they probably got less sleep than I did because I snore like hell (Hahaha). 6:00 am we had our quick breakfast then headed out to our assigned posts. It's time for us to assist "The Man" Manny Librodo - known for his distinctive style of vividness, details and landscape of textures. With him is the beautiful Kharu - you'll never get enough of her beauty. This lady can reinvent herself on every shoot just amazing, she also does he own make-up.

Rocky Gathercole wowed us with his awesome haute couture designs. I've never seen anything like it it's just surreal. Another model graced us with her presence - Alexia Giensen, also a lovely model. Jacky Forster (former Philippine actress) suppose to do make-up turned out to being one of the model for the afternoon session. There's also the head make-up artist - Jacqie Agabon surprise us with her artistic make-up styling. Not to forget the brain behind all this - Xilver Claire Events headed by Calay de Pedro. Good thing the rain stopped just before the first shoot. It's still drizzling but still bearable (thank god for the weather sealing).

The next day April 3, 2011 is all about post-processing. Manny discussed his workflow and gave a lot of pointers on how he does things and why he's doing it. Hand-outs were given trough email. We tried to help people who's having trouble in Photoshop. Most of them know what to do but sometimes we can't avoid technical errors. Manny makes sure that every attendee is coping with the subject. So he moves from table to table and checks how the students are doing. So far everything turned out well. I have leaned a lot from the experience and I'm looking forward to the next workshop. 

The Aftermath

Here are few photos I took from the workshop. Nothing much but I think Its worth sharing. Gears used - Nikon D700 with 70-200mm F2.8 VRII. No flash. Happy viewing!

‎"Mariposa"

Organizer: Xilver Claire Events

Model: Kharunisia Jazmin

Make-up Artist: Kharunisia Jazmin

Haute Couture Designer: Rocky Gathercole

"Smoke Fixation"

Organizer: Xilver Claire Events

Model: Alexia Giensen

Make-up Artist: Jacque Kate Agabon Duguil

Haute Couture Designer: Rocky Gathercole

Style used: High Key Photography

"Metalexia"

Organizer: Xilver Claire Events

Model: Alexia Giensen

Make-up Artist: Jacque Kate Agabon Duguil

Haute Couture Designer: Rocky Gathercole

Style used: Low Key Photography

"Flight of the Flamingo"

Organizer: Xilver Claire Events

Model: Alexia Giensen

Make-up Artist: Jacque Kate Agabon Duguil

Haute Couture Designer: Rocky Gathercole

Style used: Digital Surrealism

To view complete album visit my My Facebook album and My Flickr photostream. Any any coments and suggestions or questions about photography / visual arts you can drop me an email at lordgyron@yahoo.com or krisgironella@gmail.com. All photos taken by Kris Gironella all rights reserved 2011.

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Glamour Photography with Ukrainian & Belarus Beauties

Glamour Photography (According to Wiki)

A genre of photography whereby the subjects, usually female, are portrayed in aromantic or sexually alluring way. The subjects may be fully clothed or seminude, but glamour photography stops short of deliberately arousing the viewer and being hardcore pornography.

Glamour photography is generally a composed image of a subject in a still position. The subjects of glamour photography are often professional models, and the photographs are normally intended for commercial use, including mass-produced calendars, pinups and for men's magazines, such as Playboy; but amateur subjects are also sometimes used, and sometimes the photographs are intended for private and personal use only. Photographers use a combination of cosmetics, lighting and airbrushing techniques to produce an appealing image of the subject.

The Gears

Outdoor photography is not that hard only if there's enough light and it's not raining. Well actually it rained a bit but  thank goodness it stopped on the actual shoot. The basic gears to bring aside from my Nikon D700 are speedlights and reflectors. Reflectors are very useful on rendering light to your subject just enough to fill light on the dark shades of the body and face makes a very flattering effect. I always bring my Nikon SB-900 and SB-600 and a portable soft box just in case but most of the time I end up using it for more dramatic lighting. There are many ways to isolate the subject either by light or by depth of field (DOF). The most common in subject isolation is by DOF. You crank the lens aperture to the maximum stop or close between F1.4 - 4.0 - it gives a very good out of focus background. Now this brings us to what lens to use. I always use my Nikon 50mm f1.4G and Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro VR for this kind of shoot. Some might react why the Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro VR? It's obviously for macro photography. People who might ask this were either - 1) They don't own one; 2) They own one but they haven't tried portraiture; 3) Just a curious soul. It makes a lot of sense to use this as a great alternative for 85mm (f1.4 or f1.8) or the 135mm f2 DC 'cause you can go very close to the subject for better isolation and if your a fan of "bokeh" this baby delivers a creamy one. I use this lens more often than my Nikon 50mm f1.4G. It's medium telephoto range gives me an advantage to shoot in a distance giving the model space to do her thing but might be limiting on a very tight area. In this case no problemo 'cause it's outdoor. I'm not saying the 105mm f2.8 lens is better than the 50mm f1.4G No! It has a different purpose. I use the Nikon 50mm f1.4 for half body shots or full-body shots and use the 105mm f2.8 Micro VR for head shots and close details (like eyes and lips). If you'll ask me which is the best lens to use I'd say if budget permits - the new Nikon 85mm f1.4G and Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR mark II. That's all you'll need for an awesome portrait, glamour and fashion photography unless you own a Hasselblad then that's a different story.

The Scenario

3 gorgeous ladies in one shoot! What more can I ask for? These ladies can pose, project and having fun while doing it.  Didn't have the chance to know them well during the shoot but one thing I know about them is they're full of energy and spirit. Next time they visit Singapore I'll be there (for sure) to take their photos again.

Alyona Vasilets (Ukraine)

Karine Alkasem (Ukraine)

Natalia Vikhrova (Belarus)

Note: Special thanks to Shel Conte and St. Paul for organizing the photo shoot. Cheers guys!!!

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FHM Model Girl Next Door - Joy Caralde

Joy Caralde - FHM's Girl Next Door Model of June 2007. She came to Singapore for vacation and I'm one of the lucky guys to shoot her photos. Photo shoot was organized by Paul Reodique from MASP - a Singapore based Filipino with a real passion for photography. Here are some of my photos from the shoot.

All photos was shot with Nikon D700, Nikon 105mm f2.8G Micro VR, Nikon 50mm f1.4G and Nikon SB-900 Speedlight (for fill lights). Location - Fort Canning Park Singapore.

*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Fashion Photography

*To view complete album visit My Deviantart Fashion Photography

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