Published in Digital Photographer Philippines!

Good news to myself for Monday - I got my copy of Digital Photographer Philippines #9 and 2 of my photos got published in the Readers' Gallery! They featured Philippine Festivals for this month, and fortunately, they picked 2 of my photos from the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo! Woohoo!!! I am so happy! =)

Thank you, DPP (Nino, Nick, Pilar)!

Go grab your copies of this fabulous magazine to see my photos. Of course, the best things to see in the magazine (aside from the photos, of course), are my personal photo and write-up. I still laugh at myself for writing that down and submitting it! Hahaha!

The latest issue (pictured here) should be out in newstands later this week.

Here are the photos that were published (click to see the full version):

Flicker Flash Slideshow!

A nice way to share your Flickr photos to your website or blog - use Flash slideshow! Here's an example of a slideshow from my latest uploaded photos...

- Mike Lao's Flickr -

You can view instructions at this page.

My New Lens - 85mm!

I finally bought a new lens last Friday! It's the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Here are some pictures courtesy of www.photozone.de. I couldn't afford the f/1.2 L version, so I just got this. Can't wait to shoot Dinagyang this weekend with this lens. Keep you posted on the photos I will get!


Btw - small world. I bought this lens from a fellow Ilonggo who also graduated from Sta. Maria, same high school I went to!

My New Toy!

I have been thinking of getting a new lens and I finally did get a new one last Saturday! It wasn't an easy choice because I went over my budget. But then, people said it's a good investment.

So, what did I get? Ta-nan....it's the Canon 17-40 f4 L lens! They said it's a good walkaround lens and I kinda like the wide-angle coverage. Other options I had in mind were:

• Tamron 17-50mm f.28
  
• Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L
• Canon 24-105mm f4 L IS

The last 2 are really out of my budget. :)

I'm happy because I feel that my camera looks 'professional' now! hahaha! Can't wait to try this out when I go to Indonesia this week. I'll post pictures later on.

Here's a picture of the lens, courtesy of amazon.com:

Lightroom Killer Tips!

For those of you using the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, check out this new site from Matt Kloskowski called the Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips!

It's a videocast and you can subscribe it in iTunes or view the videos from the site itself.

Go check it out! I downloaded it immediately when I found out about it. Also, if you haven't done it yet, go download Adobe Lightroom now for free!

Aperture 1.5 Trial Version

Big update from Apple - they made a trial version of Aperture available to everyone! Is this a move to compete with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom? I think so. Lightroom is offered for free (since it's still in beta), and this is the only way for Apple to attract more photographers to use their product.

My initial impressions - Lightroom is very simple to use and light on the machine. Aperture requires more processing power. Aperture's interface seems to have been designed for advanced photographers. Meanwhile, Lightroom has the simple menus like presets to fix white balance, etc. I will find time and post my comments on Lightroom's latest version (beta 4.1).

Apple also posted an update to Aperture (version 1.5.1 now).

Links:
Aperture -> www.apple.com/aperture
Lightroom -> labs.adobe.com

Check out my Photos!

Check out my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_lao/sets

I will be updating that soon with new pictures from the following events:
- Pet & Trixie's Wedding
- Boracay Trip

Watch out for it!

Starting Out in Digital Photography

In the past couple of months, I've been a student of photography. Yes, I was finally bought another new gadget last July - a digital SLR! I got enticed by Stephan's Canon EOS 350d so I got one for myself.

Anyway, here are a few sites that have helped me so far...

1. Photoshop TV -> http://www.photoshoptv.com
Subscribe to their videocast if you can! Their episodes are pretty amusing (c/o Scott Kelby who always makes fun of his co-hosts). Anyway, they do give out a lot of tips in Photoshop (and how to fix your photos), but most of all, they sometimes have tips on digital photography.

2. Digital Photography School Blog -> http://www.digital-photography-school.com/blog/
Very very good site that gives you tips on how to take better pictures, etc.

3. Adobe Lightroom -> http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/
If you want a very simple tool to manage your photos and your workflow, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is the way to go. Check out the product now! I will provide a different post for this product later on. But right now, Beta 4 is one big leap from beta 3 in terms of performance.
>> just as I am posting this (Oct 20), beta 4.1 just came out!

4. Digital Photographer Magazine -> http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/
This originated from a UK, and a Philippine version is available. The current issue (issue #4) is probably the best that they have in terms of providing tips to people on how to shoot. If you can, pick up the latest issue. It has tips from the popular wedding photographers in the Philippines. The link I have points to their site where you can actively participate in

Go and check out these sites!