Weekend of Street Photography

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AT LONG LAST!  After eight (8) years of waiting to finally acquire a DSLR, I finally did from my hard-earned money and was able to use it during the Hot Air Balloon Festival last February.  Nope, the exclamation at the beginning of this paragraph was not from the DSLR (although partially, yes.) But on the recent experience I had.  I was finally able to join and attend a PHOTOGRAPHY class.

So how was I able to join this event?  Thanks to the social media networks specifically Facebook.  One of my ‘brods’ posted this invitation from an organization who will hold a photography class and to be more specific, they will do STREET PHOTOGRAPHY (See the poster on the left side).   I was initially apprehensive since I really just did acquire my new camera and may be said to not even still able to do baby steps in using it.  I actually tried reading references from the internet and even painstakingly watched tutorials from YouTube but to no useful results.  So I carefully thought of attending this opportunity to finally enrich my technical know-how.  After all, I do not want to continually belong the so-called GIANT PENDANT league (read:  people who seemingly use the DSLR as a ginormous necklace, since they are not really taking any good pictures). Next step was to check my calendar to see if I was available as the 2-day class was pinned towards the weekend.  And the heavens seemed have favored on my side as my Saturday was wide open for schedule.  March 10-11 it is and all was set, at least from my side, ehe.  The organizers were the SHOOT THE PEOPLE.  A group of photographers and hobbyists.  Their Facebook profile reads:

SHOOT THE PEOPLE is an organization of photographers utilizing the art of street photography.

What is Street Photography? It has different meanings depending on the concept of the photographer. It tries to capture people's activities, the life on the streets, whatever that amuses your eye. SHOOT THE PEOPLE aims to develop your depth, sensitivity and freedom in photography.
Whether you're a pro or an amateur, using a dslr or a point-and-shoot, you are free to join.

March 10 was a pleasant day with the sun brightly shining and my hopes were high.  I am however very nervous since I was anticipating that there would be some participants who may already have the experience as well as facilitators who may be too ‘artsy’ to have the patience to novice such as me. These apprehensions were all flushed out the moment I registered.  I was greeted with an all too familiar and reminiscent ‘aura’ of my college life.  The organizers were ‘koboi’ so-to-speak or to explain to those who may be unfamiliar to the term, it refers to a characteristic or description of a person(s) who do not have any qualms and are easy to be with (opposite of the famous ‘coño’).  And to top it all, the facilitator Mr. Mark Pineda Jimenez and I shared the same fraternity bond.  So it seemed like I am in for something exciting.  And I was not disappointed one bit.  See our official event ID below.

 The first day was filled with theoretical discussions of the basics of photography.  Things like aperture, shutter speed, ISO and the likes were covered.  Sample photos from famous photographers were also showcased to add emphasis to the discussion points.  By the end of the afternoon, we ventured out for a quick street photography.  It was our sort of ‘test shoot’ for the big photo-walk the following day.  I think I was not able to get pretty good shots from the initial test and needed some tips from our facilitator to come up with some concepts.  Then Sunday came, our official day of Street Photography.  The day was perfect since most of the streets are busy, the Sto. Rosario church is beaming with lots of vendors and people and the market place was filled with people.  We were not disappointed with the many photo opportunities waiting to be captured.  There were some who were more than accommodating and others who were really snub and are intimidated with our cameras.  Just some of the actual discussions were captured below:

Our facilitator --- Mark explaining the concept of diffusers and 'highlighters' ehe..

Inside photo shoot demo... appreciate highlights, mid-tones and shadows..

Learning how to do photo enhancements...

All-in-all the event managed to fulfill my expectations AND MORE.  The approach was simple but personalized.  The tips were very specific to the camera models we had and the discussions were more informal and free flowing.  But what I liked most was how the technical concepts were made easier to absorb.  Plus, we were given a crash course on photo enhancement using Photoshop.  Here are just some of the shots I am proud of.  I will be submitting them to the organizers and hopefully be included in an upcoming exhibit. Ehe, feel free to share your comments (I need them to continuously improve, so please do not hold back, teehee).

And we graduated.... ehe... below are photos to show my batchmates, the organizers and me, receiving my proof of purchase ehe...