Hollywood FX: Carmine and Lyca Fashion Party

Hollywood FX: Group of Artists and Models hosted its first fashion party at PULSE Live Music Venue. The theme was in connection to the upcoming movie of the year "Breaking Dawn". Everyone was encouraged to come in the best twilight character portrayal.

I was one of the official photographers during that event and this is what I wore for the event.

This dress has been hanging in my closet for almost a year now. I finally had the chance to where it. I completed the outfit with white stockings and strappy Maryjane shoes..

Here some of the photos I took during the actual fashion show.

All I can is that the event was a blast. Thank you Hollywood FX for believing in my skills. 

My Doodle

I've been bugging my friend Xiao who happens to be very good in doodling to make me a doodle that I can use for my site. If you have read my previous posts, Xiao modeled in one of my concept photography "A Doll in the Attic". As a gift, Xiao promised to make me my own doodle. It took her forever to finish one for me but I was still happy she was able to finish it. Check out my doodle.

I just love the way she described me in my doodle. In fact, I have the exact same color of beret which I bough from Forever 21. I absolutely loved the details that she added like the camera and the long hair (my hair isn't that long yet by the way..) I will definitely conjure a life like version of this one soon..

Check out some of Xiao's other works her blog http://www.xiaodoodles.info/.

My First Take on Kids Photography

One day, I decided to take a picture of my most favorite subject, my youngest son, Zachary. It was really fun since the pictures really turned out great. For this shoot, I used Aperture Priority Mode with the widest depth of field. Photographing my son was a great joy since he was so cooperative. He is very happy and sweet little boy. Here are some if his photos.

Aperture Priority Mode

Finally,  I have ventured into trying out the aperture priority mode. I must admit before I could completely understand the technicalities of this mode, I had to read so many online resources about aperture. I enjoyed this mode and it helped me control the sharpness of the my photos. Here are some samples of the photos I took:

Happy with my Canon EF 50mm Lens

I recently bought a Canon EF 50mm 1.8 Lens for my Canon 1100D camera. Before I bought the Lens, I did some research first. Yes, it is the cheapest lens you could find yet it is very cost-effective. The moment I pressed the shutter button, I knew I made the perfect choice. It is small compared to other zoom lenses but its main purpose is for portrait photography, which is what I want to concentrate it on. The lens cost me around $150 which was just within my budget. The images taken with the Canon EF 50mm are sharper and more precise. Here are some of the first photos I took with the Canon Ef 50 mm Lens:

Benjam's 5th Birthday

Scrapbooking Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com


Today is Benjam's 5th Birthday. He is my second son and we never celebrate his birthday without the traditional Filipino treat known as "Lechon". Lechon is a whole pig roasted over open fire and once its cook, its golden red color is a sight that would set your mouth's watering.

Every year as my sons grow older, I think back to the days when they were just babies. Benjam was a very big baby. He weighed around 4.4 kilograms when he was born. As he was growing, I noticed that he was very different from Lucius (his older brother). He was more social and he practically smiled at everyone. His favorite food is ice cream and he loves to drink Coke. One think I will always love about him is his sweet nature. I hope and pray to God that he will grow up to be a very successful and happy individual. And while he is still young, I will do my best to give him everything he needs. I love you Benjam and Happy Birthday.

Red, Vans and Rayban

For many weeks now, I have been bugging my brother to pose in one of my concept sessions. Basically, I  like to take pictures of female models the most, but I don’t want to limit myself in that aspect.  For this concept, I asked my brother to dress like Bruno Mars from the video “The Lazy Song.” In fact, my brother has a video where he impersonated Bruno Mars singing the “The Lazy Song.” I saw the video once but I couldn’t locate it in facebook anymore. If I could get my hand on it again, I will post it here in my blog soon. Anyways, I took the picture at my dad’s house. The weather was perfect for a photoshoot. Even though my model was my egocentric and narcissistic brother, the overall photography session turned out great. I actually asked my brother to do two sessions with me that day. I will post the pictures for the other session on my next blog.

You can also view more images on my photo blog. 

Model: Edward Tesoro

A Doll in the Attic

At last, here it is, the result of my first ever photography session. I must say, I am very much pleased with the results. My concept here is "Doll in the Attic". Unfortunately, we were denied the advantage of an actual attic setting, so we just had to make do of a rooftop setting. But so far, the results still turned out as I hoped they would. There was much light and the weather was perfect for the shoot. The model (Xiao Prieto) looked so pretty and she did great in her poses. She was very professional and she knew what poses I wanted to get from this concept session. This photo session didn't cost me anything. I had the dress hanging in my closest for the longest time and I thought it would suit this concept the best. I designed the dress myself and it was made from a plain black dress I bought from the flea market for only .50 cents. I just added the baby collar and the other white seams. Since, I'm a sucker for make-up, Xiao just choose her pick of colors for this shoot.

I first thought of this concept after I saw Xiao (the model). Here pretty dimples and round eyes really had me thinking that turning her into a doll would be the best photo concept. Thus, " A Doll in the Attic" was born. I had much fun with this photoshoot and I hope my readers would enjoy the pictures as much as I do. 

Model: Xiao Prieto

MUA: Xiao Prieto

Designer: Jessie Villegas

Photographed by BenJessie

To view other images from this concept, please visit my photo blog. 

Is There a Need to Enhance Images with cs4 Photoshop?

As of the moment, I have taken photography more seriously. I’m slowly learning the different tips on how to enhance my photography skills and how to capture images more beautifully in the right way. So far, I have learned that it is all about your camera settings such as the ISO, the shutter speed and the aperture. I have been reading numerous online tips and watching online tutorials to teach myself the different tricks. So far, I have been happy with the results. For me, the pictures I have captured are beautiful enough that they won’t need any form of enhancement. I always believed that the perfect picture doesn’t require much editing. But as I was watching online cs4 photoshop tutorials, I wanted to try it out with the images I just took. It turns out, cs4 photoshop is a tool that can both destroy and magically transform a picture into something more than words can explain. I’ve been amazed with this tool. At times it is easy to use but there are times you won’t miss your dose of frustrations. Some effects are fairly easy to accomplish as long as you know the basics.

For me, cs4 photoshop is a fun and an amazingly powerful tool. There are numerous ways you can get around with photoshop cs4 and if you are doing photography, this will be your best friend. While I was practicing editing or enhancing the pictures I took, I found that some pictures looked more alive than the original one.

Here are some of the edits I made:

Before:

After: In this image I used the Gaussian Blur Effect to give the image more texture and softness.

Before:

After: Here I just softened the image a bit and erased the stick near the model's face.

Before:

After: In this image, I wanted to particularly focus the model's face alone making everything else blurry.

Before:

After: In this image, I wanted to bring out the subject a bit by stripping away the darkness.

After:

After: In this image, I added some lighting effects so that it would look like that the light coming from the lamp illuminated the subjects.

Before:

After: In this image, I wanted to brighten up the model's face.

These are just some samples of the images I enhanced. My next goal is to post more images based on my concepts.