My Mini-Studio
Since I noticed that I keep on taking pictures of objects, decided to make myself a mini-studio. The first item for my mini-studio (aside from my camera) is the light.
Using a desktop lamp, have to make a filter to diffuse the light. So, using a hard board plus a tracing paper (and a rubber band, paste and scotch tape), I came up with a makeshift diffuser. Not bad!
Now, what else to add for my mini-studio... c",)
Mongolian Feng Shui
It would be an adventure of sorts as I decided to go to the
SM Mall of Asia (MOA) by using the public transportation system! For one, always went to MOA with my brother's driver in tow... this includes the time we have to go to
The Esplanade to watch the
World Pyro Olympics.
My first ride is the
Metro Rail Transit (MRT) stopping at the Taft Avenue Station. Left the station by passing through
Metro Point Mall. Then, asked the guard at the ground floor where I can take a ride to MOA. He kindly pointed me along EDSA where, according to him, there are jeepneys plying the route. I then crossed Taft Avenue to wait for a jeep. Caught one which plys the Malibay route.
At the MOA, alighted the jeep by the
Hypermart where I was able to catch a glimpse of a Mongolian restaurant (there's no more Mongolian at Glorietta's Food Choices... Tsk! Tsk!) where I had my lunch.
The real reason I wanted to go to MOA is buy me some Feng Shui items. Since it is a bad year for me, wanted to buy a coin containing my "allies" and have it in my bag (knapsack). This would attract people born on the year of the snake, ox and rooster to me, who may eventually may help during trying times. (I already have my secret friend, monkey, in my knapsack.) Also, because of the merger (of BDO and EPCI) and the uncertainty it brings, wanted to have a monkey-elephant charm bracelet. So, went first to the
World of Feng Shui for the Ally Coin, and
Charms and Crystals for the bracelet.
My short adventure trip ended as I decided to take a taxi back to
Ayala Center from MOA. (The clincher was the long line I saw at the Taft Avenue MRT station to buy a pass card.) Hehehe! Just did a little window shopping at
Glorietta, waiting for the 5PM Mass.
Attended the anticipated Mass and we had dinner at
Friday's where my friend treated us for her birthday. We had Buffalo Wings, Southwestern Chicken Ceasar Salad, Chicken Alfredo, bottomless Dalandan and Mocha Mud Pie. Burp!
Looney Friday
Being a Friday, we would not be in our office uniforms. So, I'll be in my Friday "uniform" of pants and blouse with either my short leather boots or my brown "Cherie" shoes that looks like a a loafer but is not. Hehehe! Thus, automatically wore the loafer that is not a loafer.
Mid-morning, while on the phone, that's when I noticed that both shoe has a slit on its side, as if a knife cut the leather. Even the person I'm talking to on the phone learned that my shoes needs repair as I reacted as soon as I saw it! LOL.
Lunch time, immediately went to Ayala Center to buy me a pair. Bought one from
Naturalizer and wore the pair as soon as I bought them. Hehehe!
After office, with my new shoes, walked from the office to
Ayala Center. The shoes sure feels good! Hehehe! Went immediately to
Glorietta Activity Center where a show of
Looney Tunes will begin at exactly 6PM. There were already a lot of kids (and kids-at-heart) there. After the show, the kids were able to go on stage and have their pictures taken with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, Tazmania and Marvin the Martian.
Chinese New Year Birthday Party
It was said that the Year of the Pig would be a bad year for those born in the Year of the Snake, Ox, Tiger and Rooster. Thus, decided to go to
World of Feng Shui and to
Charms and Crystals to help ward of the negative energy on the first day of the Year of the Pig.
There are two ways to go to the shops. First, go to Ortigas via MRT and visit Charms and Crystals at
Robinson's Galleria and World of Feng Shui at
The Podium. Or go the
SM Mall of Asia where you can find both shops in the same mall. Opted for the latter.
Was at the SM Mall of Asia even before it opens. Already, dancers who will perform the Dragon Dance were already at the entrance of the Main Mall. As soon as it opens, went to the second floor, turned left, out the exit (I should have known, shouldn't have waited at the Main Mall's entrance for the mall to open) and turned right. First stop was the Charms and Crystals where I was able to buy a Quan Yin Dzi with Smoky Quartz bracelet. Next stop is the World of Feng Shui. I wanted to buy a 9 Eyes Dzi Bead with 8mm Citrine Faceted Donut but the item was out of stock. Left them my mobile number once the item is available (I hope they remember to inform me). In just under an hour I finished my shopping and headed home (borrowed my brother's driver to bring me to and from the SM Mall of Asia).
Had an early lunch and proceeded to
Kentucky Fried Chicken at Jupiter Street, Makati City where my friend's kids would be celebrating their birthday. The usual, I am the first on the scene. Would have done some good if I am an investigative reporter/journalist and I would be first to get the scoop! Hehehe!
After the children's party, hitched a ride with my friend to
The Landmark where I bought some things. In time, too, as the department store is having an up to 50% sale.
For my Sunday, this Sunday is definitely busy...
The Messengers
After skipping a movie weekend (I attended an Adobe Photoshop CS2 Basics last week), am back to watching a movie. This week, it's
The Messengers.
A drama horror thriller, a once abandoned sunflower farm came to life when a family of four moves in and makes it their home. There were lot of scenes that would surprise you... my seat mate keeps on shouting when a scene surprises her. Hehehe! Almost nearing the end, one would learn the reason for the mysterious events occurring in the house.
After the movie, looked for a red purse where I can put my blessed coin. Good thing the Chinese New Year is tomorrow, there are small stalls at the mall which sells Chinese items where I found what I was looking for.
Attended the anticipated Mass and had dinner at
Heaven 'N Eggs.
And More Photoshop
Finally, the last day of the workshop... I can say, I did learn a lot.
Now back to my list of things I've learned.
- MASKS: You can inverse the selection in QUICK MASK by double clicking it. Press X to change background-foreground, Q to toggle QUICK MASK.
- To duplicate the BACKGROUND LAYER, drag BACKGROUND to "Add New Layer".
- If you want to change the color, you may create new layer and change BLENDING MODE to COLOR.
- TYPE: To finish what you are typing, press CTRL+ENTER or click the check mark in the OPTIONS BAR.
- Typing a long text, CLICK and DRAGE then type within the selection.
- POINT MODE are used for labels
PARAGRAPH MODE are used for long texts
- Using TEXT MASK is masking a selection in letters.
* You may use the selection as lettering to another image.
* You may use GRADIENT in the mask.
- To make another layer with same selection, LAYER>LAYER VIA COPY (or CTRL-J).
- LEADING is to adjust spaces between lines of text
KERNING is to adjust space between letters of text
TRACKING
- To copy the effects of a text to another TEXT LAYER, choose the TEXT LAYER, press ALT then drag to the next layer.
- To change text from a vector to a bit map, RASTERIZE.
- Use RULER to know the size (found in the OPTIONS BAR).
- To "reset" dialog boxes, press ALT (it changes the "cancel" button to "reset").
- For overexposed or underexposed images, IMAGE>ADJUSTMENT>SHADOW/HIGHLIGHT.
- To remove unwanted image in a picture, FILTER>VANISHING POINT.
- PEN TOOL: If you want the direction line to appear, click and drag. When you want to adjust using the direction line, press CTRL and click the direction line.
- PATH is created when PEN TOOL is used.
- PEN TOOL is used for smooth surface of an image.
More Photoshop
Using the pen and tablet during the workshop makes me "crave" to own one. Good thing, at
PCCI, they give a student discount.
More new things I've learned...
- To copy a SELECTION, press ALT then drag.
- While selecting,
ALT to subtract
SHIFT to add
SPACEBAR to move selection without moving image
- When PAINTING, choose a selection to color.
ALT+BACKSPACE to fill with foreground color
CTRL+BACKSPACE to fill with background color
- Double click the BACKGROUND LAYER to change its name and to change it to a regular layer, then delete all "white" areas retaining the drawing/outline for it to be transparent (to make it a COLOR LAYER). The COLOR LAYER should be below the drawing to be painted on.
- Another way to select is to use COLOR RANGE.
- Even if you select all the "white", there may still be "white" areas. Use DEFRINGE (or use SELECT>COLOR RANGE and maximize fizziness).
- When using PAINTING LAYER and using a selection tool, be sure to check "SAMPLE ALL LAYER".
- Working with Painting Tools
a) Open Donald picture.
b) Duplicte the picture and close the original.
c) Double click the BACKGROUND LAYER and name it DRAWING.
d) Use SELECT>COLOR RANGE to select all the white pixels in DRAWING LAYER. Delete the white pixels. Lock DRAWING LAYER.
e) Create a new layer and name it PAINTING.
Place PAINTING below DRAWING.
Make PAINTING the active layer.
f) Select the MAGIC WAND TOOL.
Check "contiguous" and "sample all layers".
g) Use the MAGIC WANT to select an area fo the drawing.
h) Choose a color from SWATCHES or COLOR PICKER or COLOR PALETTE.
i) Fill the selected area with color.
j) Use DODGE or BURN to lighten or darken the colored areas.
Adobe Photoshop CS2 Basics
Today would be a fun day for me. For one, I would be learning something I like. Although I have some knowledge about it, hope I can still learn new things.
Thus, it's off to
Philippine Center for Creative Imaging (PCCI) for the first day of my three day workshop on
Adobe Photoshop CS2 Basics.
These are the things I learned today...
- It takes to know the shortcut keys.
- Resetting Photoshop: Press-hold the keys (SHIFT + CTRL + ALT) immediately after clicking Adobe Photoshop.
- Set-up History to 300 (Preference>General); but take into consideration your PC's memory. Default is 20, maximum is 1000.
- Shortcut keys:
[ for a smaller size of brush
] for a bigger size of brush
CTRL-Z to undo
ALT-CTRL-Z to undo again
TAB hides the palettes and toolbar
CTRL-SPACEBAR zooms in
ALT-SPACEBAR zooms out
- You can add color to swatches: use EYEDROPPER and drop it to the SWATCHES PALETTE.
YOu can delete color in swatches: press ALT + click on color
- To combine palettes choose the tab bar in one palette and drag to the status bar/line of the other palette until a "rubber band" appears at the bottom of said palette window.
- To save your arrangement of palettes, etc., save WORKSPACE (WINDOW>WORKSPACE>SAVE WORKSPACE).
- When rotating while cropping, use CROP tool, move ROTATION POINT in one corner, move cursor outside the image to rotate.
Another way to rotate is to use the RULER in the TOOLBAR, click 2 points in th image, ROTATE>ARBITRARY (there would be a value on the mesurement of the RULER) and click OK.
- When changing image size, use BICUBIC SMOOTHER in the RESAMPLE for a bigger image size and BICUBIC SHARPER for a smaller image size.
Into It
As promised,
Tatang came and travelled all the way from Cavite in hope of getting answers to our question, whoddunnit?
There were four who acted as medium. The first two sessions were made in the other house, the last two are in our house.
With the first, they were able to talk to the
mangkukulam but she managed to get out. What can be heard is a voice of an old lady.
With the second, the same but it immediately left.
The third is my niece. She felt something and after the session, she was crying but she does not know why she is crying.
The fourth is the staff of my brother. As soon as
Tatang saw her, he said the if it won't work with my niece, she would be the next medium. He knows that her third eye is already open and would be a good medium.
And she is! But not what we expected. The
Nazareno was the one who entered her and what he asks for is prayers from my brother. He would be protecting him (my brother). After the session, my brother's staff had the chills as she is feeling cold. When we touched her, her hands are cold.
After which, they made
hilot to those who went to our house and cured them from their ills.
Been surfing and found this site of
PhotoWorld Manila. Hope it would be OK if I paste the article I read from their website so that I would not forget...
MIND OVER METER
LOOK MA, NO METER
CAMERAS TODAY are so technologically advanced that you’d wonder why they still have metered manual mode at all. (Even the name by which the mode is known, “Manual Override,” is a sneaky way of saying, “Automatic is the natural scheme of things; manual exposure is seditious.”)
So why bother going manual, anyway? Let’s look at a couple of reasons, both perfectly sensible.
1. You’re shooting a series under the same lighting (heck, last time I looked the sun was still 93 million miles away, so there’s no light falloff from Marikina Valley to the Banaue) and want to keep the tonal values the same across your images. An automatic meter reading would change slightly as it reads differently toned scenes.
2. You’re shooting scenes with either specular highlights such as shimmering lakes or dark holes such as shaded forests.
3. (Oops, did I say a couple of reasons?) Due to humidity or errant electromagnetic charges in the atmosphere, your trusted meter starts behaving strangely.
So what do you do in these situations? Use the exposure meter in your head, otherwise known as the “Sunny-16” rule, which is applicable from midmorning till mid-afternoon, around 9:30–10:00 a.m. to 3:30–4:00 p.m.
To make this rule work, you determine the intensity of sunlight by looking not at the sun or the sky but at the ground.
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
LET ME JUST repeat that: To make this rule work, you determine the intensity of sunlight by looking not at the sun or the sky but at the ground—specifically the shadows on the ground.
Set your shutter speed to 1/ISO, where ISO is the shutter speed number closest to the ISO sensitivity rating of your film or image sensor. For example:
1/250 sec. for ISO 200
1/500 sec. for ISO 400
1. Bright sun, distinct shadows
If the shadows have distinct, well-defined edges, use
f/16 at 1/ISO sec.
(See also Scene 5 below, same light intensity but in the shade.)
2. Hazy sun, soft shadows
If your shadow on the ground has fuzzy edges—visible but with soft, feathery edges, use
f/11 at 1/ISO sec.
3. Cloudy bright, no shadows
On a bright day, when shadows are invisible or barely visible, it means the sun is hiding behind clouds, and your scene is being lit by sunlight bouncing off the sky, like a studio umbrella, and filtered through the clouds, like a studio softbox.
f/8 at 1/ISO sec.
4. Heavy overcast, dark clouds, no shadows
This is like Scene 3 above, except the clouds are dark not white.
f/5.6 at 1/ISO sec.
5. Bright sun, open shade
When your subject is in the shade of a tall vertical structure such as a building, with the bright sunlight or sunny skies of Scene 1 overhead, this is called open shade. The subject is in shade but is receiving light coming in from three directions, if not four (top, front, left, right). Notice that this last qualification excludes enclosed shades, such as inside garages, or in alleys between buildings.
f/5.6 at 1/ISO sec.
6. Bright sun, distinct shadows, beach or snow
This is exactly like Scene 1 above, except you’re shooting on a beach or snow. There is additional light bouncing off the beach/sea or snow, therefore you need to close down one stop from Scene 1,
f/22 at 1/ISO sec.
If your lens does not have f/22, then stop down the shutter speed:
f/16 at 1/(ISO × 2) sec.
For example, for ISO 100 you will set either
f/22 at 1/125 sec.
or f/16 at 1/250 sec. (ISO × 2)
THE SHADOW SIDE OF THE SUN
The "Sunny-16" rule explained in Part 2 works largely:
* between the hours of 9:30-10:00 a.m. and 3:30-4:00 p.m.
* for the so-called "master shots" and "wide shots" which take in much of the scene, rather than closeups of particular subjects.
What if you wish to pick out (zoom in on or come close to) a subject such as a person or tree or flower? There are some tweaks you need to be aware of to capture the subject properly.
7. Bright sun, distinct shadows, sidelighting
This is the same as Scene 1 in Part 2, where you learned to use f/16 at 1/ISO sec. But when you zoom in on a subject which is sidelit, your concern is not a wide-shot scenery, where shadows are left as shadows and highlights are left as highlights, but an isolated subject, part of which is in shadow. To keep detail in the shadow side of a sidelit subject, add one stop to Sunny 16:
f/16 + 1 stop = f/11 at 1/ISO sec
8. Bright sun, distinct shadows, backlighting
As you go around your subject to the side opposite the sun, you need to add two stops to Sunny 16 to avoid underexposing your subject. The sky or scenery in the background will overexpose, of course, but that is typical of the exposure adjustment given backlit subjects in bright sunlight.
f/16 + 2 stops = f/8 at 1/ISO sec.
CAVEAT FOR DIGITAL CAMERA USERS
For the “Sunny-16” technique to work, you must make sure to turn off the auto ISO function and set your camera ISO manually. Remember that the shutter speed setting for “Sunny-16” exposures is the reciprocal of your ISO, expressed as 1/ISO, and you’d get wrong exposures if the camera automatically switched ISO sensitivities without your knowledge.
Into The Supernatural
Broke my usual routine of watching a movie... all because of the activities which happened this week.
28 January, Sunday
My brother was twice brought to the emergency room of Makati Medical Center today. A week before, he was also brought to the emergency room.
When he was brought first thing this morning, he insisted that he be sent home after the doctors checked on him as he has a meeting in the afternoon. He prevailed and was sent home plus the medicine's he has to take. But his afternoon meeting went pffft! as he was still not feeling and he can't make it. Then, he was rushed again to the emergency room where he was finally confined in the hospital to do a series of tests and be treated.
29 January 2007, Monday
Visited my brother at the hospital after office. Just in time as his surgeon, Dr. Pastores, dropped by. The result of my brother's ultrasound has been released, and based on it, he has gall stones. But his gall bladder is swollen, along with his other internal organs. Odd thing is, symptoms due to the other internal organs are not being experienced by my brother. According to his surgeon, normally, he would be doing a laparoscopy. But since my brothers stones are scattered and his internal organs are also swollen, he has to do an open surgery to see if there are other organs affected.
30 January 2007, Tuesday
Visited my brother again at the hospital after office. I did not know that he is also expecting visitors that night from Naic, Cavite. That's when I learned of the odd things that went that day.
* Somebody brought a picture of my brother to the "healer" (we call him Tatang) to ask him if my brother has a fighting chance if he decided to run in the coming election. Tatang said that he has, 60-40, but he added the one in the picture is sick and the doctors do not know the cause of his sickness.
* At the hospital, a nun was doing the rounds of the patients to pray-over them. She also visited my brother. When she was about to start praying, she fell--losing consciousness. Everyone were at a loss and the nun has to be brought to the emergency room. When the nun was dispatched from the emergency room, she requested that she be brought to the chapel to pray.
Finally, my brother's guests arrived. Tatang, with two of his companions, were there. We have to close the room's door so that the nurse who check my brother from time-to-time will not disturb us. Tatang made tawas to my brother by putting a piece of paper with vicks vaporub on it on my brother's forehead. When the paper was removed, an image was formed. He did this several times and saw several images on the paper, saying that several people were responsible for the sickness. One of those in the image is holding a pointed stick and they even used an animal for the spell. He then "healed" my brother.
While my brother is being "healed", he is experiencing odd things in his body. There's the boiling he feels inside his body, there's also the heat from the hands of Tatang, etc. When Tatang was through, he said that "alam na nila" (translation: they know)--meaning, the one who is doing it already knows that my brother is being cured.
And my brother? He felt better... much, much better.
Next would be pulsuhan my brother's relative so that we would know who was that one who initiated that my brother be made sick. But it was getting late; thus, decided that my niece and I would go to Tatang at his house in Naic, Cavite on Friday.
31 January 2007, Wednesday
That morning, I asked Manong, my brother's driver, on how was the trip back to Cavite. That's when he told me about the big black dog. He said that he doesn't believe those things; but, something happened on the way back to Tatang's house. On the way, he had to hit the breaks really hard as he saw a big black dog with piercing eyes in front of the car. He knows that given the speed of the car, he would hit the dog even even if he tried to stop the car. But no sound was heard--a car hitting something or a dog yelping--it's as if the dog just disappeared. Tatang, who was sleeping at that time, woke up and said that he should not have stopped since there was nothing there. Good thing, no other car was following them or that the car they are riding did not turn turtle.
02 February 2007, Friday
Took a half-day off since I would be accompanying my niece to Cavite. Left the house around 2PM. Arrived at Tatang's house between 4 to 5 PM. There were already a lot of people at his house waiting to be healed. What I witnessed that time, as well as what happened to my niece during the session, no one would believe.
While my niece is pinupulsuhan, I spent my time taking pictures around the house of Tatang--of the fields, of the dirt road, etc. It took a long time before my niece, who acted as a medium, fell into a trance. But the mangkukulam who did the deed is strong as he/she keeps coming and going out of the medium. My niece had to go to three sessions, hoping that we would be able to talk to the mangkukulam. Finally, it was decided that I be the one would act as the medium. But first, they put tawas on me. They also found something! During the session I saw something, but somehow, I keep "opposing" on what's happening. And we stopped. They just asked me to burn the paper for my tawas and I have to face the smoke.
We also bought a pangontra and have asked Tatang to bless/pray for it. Before we left his house, he asked that Manong to honk the car's horn three times to keep our journey back safe.
On the way, we had our dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken and proceeded to the hospital. That's when we told my brother what happened that day. That's when my niece narrated what she experienced during the session. It's also when I shared what I experienced and what I saw. We're the same!
Tatang would be coming again this Sunday at our house, hoping to continue the session until we know who was responsible. This is also for him to check the house.
03 February 2007, Saturday
Would have watched Charlotte's Web or Blood and Chocolate. But, decided to buy first the things on my list. Besides, the 2007 Photoworld Manila is on exhibit at Glorietta Activity Center.
My list? Incense, incense holder, a long chain to hold my pangontra. They said, no one should touch or see the pangontra other than yourself. That took some time.
For the Photoworld Exhibit, I was able to catch a short seminar (20 minutes) by Jun Miranda of PCCI on Adobe Photoshop. The incident was funny because when Jun Miranda asked who is already using Adobe Photoshop, I raised my hand. When he saw me, he grinned. Hehehe!
Attended the anticipated Mass then we had dinner at Italianni's.
