PoW! 42nd Week

Here are this week's FPC's PoW!s, in no order of preference:

"Naked Art 2: Asian roots"
by: Ian Ong
No Exifs Available

Editor's Comment: . . . simply for the colors, and the curves, and the composition, and the pose, and the patterns, and the way it makes my eyes look around the itsy-bitsy details and the . . . on and on and on. Simply beautiful.

"24 Hours of Flickr Manila"
"Through the eyes of a child" (Suggested)
by: Little Mix Mix
No Exifs Available

Editor's Comment: I make an exception this week on technical quality, to make way for this very significant photo shared into the pool. We are all familiar with this photo. Yes, it is dark. It is also an ordinary group shot taken with "just" a point-and-shoot camera. Yes, it is the 2nd most interesting photo of the "Flickr 24 in Manila" event, and during some days, it was no.1.

Yes, it made it to the flickr blog http://blog.flickr.com/en/2007/08/27/two-down-two-to-go/.
Yes, it was taken by Mika, the daughter of Pat, an FPC admin.

But what does it REALLY mean to you? For me, it is more than what we SEE it is. I faved it not because I look gorgeous. In fact, I look like a burnt charcoal. I faved it not because there is a beautiful, sexy model showing her "best assets." I faved it because I like how we are one big "family" in this photo. It reminds me of how we always have fun when we get together. When we do, we are all like children with expensive toys, sharing them or hoarding them, liking yours or envying the other's. But above all the gears, It is the spirit of belongingness that brings us together, with kindred spirits around us making us feel like children in our home, where you can be yourself whatever gear you have.

Imagine this photo as a solo shot of you. Would you care putting a pink star over it? I think that it is fitting for us now to think of how far we have come, how good we have become at taking pictures, and the relationships that we have formed being a flickr and FPC member. Now, look at all that through the eyes of a child.

"Flame On!"
by: Lenard Po
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125, f/14, 97mm, ISO100

Editor's Comment: What caught my attention with this shot is the creativity of using a lighter for a portrait shot. It has always been interesting to capture a flame. Check out how the flame danced. Wonderful details and portrait. Its a fave!

Flickr 24 in Manila: Grand Party!

Straight from the Naked Art shoot at Megamall B Megatrade Hall 3 in the afternoon where we shot bands and body-painted models, and from the Montalban Zoological Park (Avilon Zoo) with loads of shots of tarantulas and poisonous scorpions on our CFs, we head off as the contingents of Flickers Photo Club (FPC) to the Ayala Museum to join other Flickr members in welcoming Yahoo and Flickr staff.

We came to welcome them on their "Flickr 24 in Manila" stopover, but they threw us the best of surprises! At the registration table, we were greeted by Yahoo/Flickr staff with a loot paper bag with the "YAHOO!" logo. Inside was the "24 hour of Flickr" coffee table book, a flickr shirt and a bunch of button pins and stickers! We could have went home after the bags were handed to us! Hahaha

Of course we wanted to go inside and meet the Flickr team, especially fellow-Filipino Manny Ventura, from whom we got the personal invite in the discussion threads. Going inside with my wife and 3 more of us, we saw our fellow FPC members already intimate with the food and drinks!

Then almost out of nowhere, there was in our midst a short, amiable guy welcoming us. He said he was Manny V.! Oh! I didn't expect him to be looking that young; his avatar looks older (which he might need to change therefore! Haha). We shook firm and a brief conversation ensued between us and him. Someone with a Polaroid camera (I should look his name up, I know!) came over, took shots, and gave the out-of-cam prints to us! Cool! I handed him my cam and asked him to take a group shot of us.

We let Manny go as he has a lot more people to welcome, and we got down to business, i.e., food and drinks! There was a cafe-ful of them! The bar was open for all, and the food was just inexhaustible! We found our table and made it our "food station." Many more FPC members and other flickr members came in. In fact, the cafe was just filling although we were already 30 minutes late. I had a short chat with Sir Jimmy Hilario (known in flickr as "Stitch") and introduced him to my wife (they already met at an earlier party, I was reminded! LOL). Sir Jimmy is an Admin of the "Philippines" group, where we originally, vicariously met online. I saw also Bingbing and Jolengs (also coming from Megamall), admins of the group.

A short program went underway. I got over the other side to listen but couldn't get through. And the public address was too weak I cannot hear the parts. I met Stevie at the bar and had him take a shot of the proceedings because he was tall. Three shots and they all were the same, with the walls and ceilings occupying much of the frame! LOL! I looked at him and by the looks of it, he must already have been "very intimate" with the lips of the beer glass! (Photo below was shot by Stevie, with walls and ceilings cropped out) I found Ian and had a shot of them. Then I took blind overhead shots of the program through the crowd. The program was over in a while, but the commotion had just started! Flickr is giving away FREE PRO ACCOUNTS (costs about P1,250 per year)! In moments, Tara, who was in possession of the "For You" cards was swamped with flickr people, both PRO and Non-PRO alike! My wife got one for herself and I got my niece, who I am teaching Photography, one of them cards, right off from Tara's hands, after we were photograph by Little Mix Mix.

Pat, one of the FPC admins, came in with her daughter Mika(k.i.f.a. "Little Mix Mix") about 8:00 pm. Pat gave Manny the promised FPC shirt. He had no camera but Mika has his PowerShot A620 in her hands. It became hers in an instant! And she loved taking photos of the crowd with it in her hand. Pat handed her a lens cleaner once in a while, and she would religiously wipe the LCD screen. Mika became the darling of FPC and the darling of the crowd! Everyone would pose for her. Later on, her photos would be flickr-blogged (blog.flickr.com/en/2007/08/27/two-down-two-to-go/) and become the most interesting photos of the event.

Then Mika suddenly "had it" and egged her Daddy to leave. Without our darling, we turned to and made fun of ourselves! The projector was spewing colorful lights and the projector screen provided an interesting background for some creative shooting. We had group photos in front of the screen. The light would play different effects and it was quite exciting to look at the photos and see how the light had hit the subjects. Then, we got bored of group shots and made shadow action figures on the screen. Of course, there was only a short span of time we could amuse the crowd before we get considered annoying! Haha

After that, the stairs, where we shot several group photos. My flash would not let my camera fire up (later on I realized it was short of battery, having been fired from morning to night). At the stairs, five of our members was playing tantrums and decided to have their souvenir shots taken with each one of them on a stair up to the landing. I had a good shot of them and it really appeared to me like a shot for a band album so I put title and description like it was a band album photo! It made it's way to the flickr blog too! Cool! We had some fun too with the "Mickey ears" (the flickr blue and magenta circles), too!

We met a few more important people. Ingrid, Lyn and a lady from a popular daily. Cody too. He was taking a shot of the projector screen when I found him; he pointed his camera at me and I also got a shot of him. Then 3 members who just got their "For You" cards from Tara arrived and posed flashing their cards with Cody. There's much more I can remember but I must already be sounding boring! Haha

Yes, the "Flickr 24 in Manila" event was a sorry-if-you-missed-it party for flickr members. Thanks to Yahoo and Flickr for the food-drinks-and-giveaways-charged flickrmeet! Coolest one ever that happened in the Philippines! -- RER

To view all "Flickr 24 in Manila" photos, click HERE
To view FPC-only "Flickr 24 in Manila" non-exclusive photos, click HERE
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Here are some comments from FPC members (most in Tagalog):

Thanks to tara. Actually, salamat kay JC na sinamahan pa akong humingi kay tara ng free pro account. at sa lahat ng mga taga-FPC, Philippines, atbp. Di ko na-meet si sir Manny. Or baka na-meet ko kaso sobrang gusto ko nang umuwi at i-activate ang free pro account ko. hehehe...

Late kami dumating ni small wonder. Wala kaming freebies na yahoo! bag. Hingi na lang ako kay Lyn. Ang laman ng yahoo bag ay libro. t-shirt. Malamang may mga stickers at kung anu-ano pa. Sayang di namin naabutan. Ang lapit lang namin sa m-cafe kaso may trabaho pa. Tumakas lang:) at bumallik upang i-activate ang pro account na bigay ng flickr. woo-hoo!

Masaya yung event:) Nakita ko lahat ng mga nasa likod ng iba't-ibang pangalan sa mga larawang kabigha-bighani. Kaskasan ng siko. Barilan ng camera. Ang gaganda mga lente nila! iba't ibang camera. May lomo. May homo. May old school film cam. May polaroid. Powershot, Cybershot. at kung anu-ano pa.

Minsan lang ako mag-blog [sa FPC discussion thread]. usually sa Multiply. Baka kopyahin ko to at ilagay dun. Kaso wala naman silang pakialam sa kung ano man itong kasiyahan ko ngayon:)

Maraming salamat sa Yahoo, Flickr, FPC, Philippines, at mga ka-flickr. Salamat sa inyong mga ngiti. Kita ulit tayo sa susunod na grand eyeball! hehehe...
-- Addikkk


PRO extension na 'to!!!

Actually, madaming natuwa at nagulantang ng namigay sila ng free PRO account. Kahit kami nakapag-extend for free din! Sarap pa ng food, appetizers, lalo na open bar! Woohoo!

Thanks to Flickr, FPC, Sir Manny & to all the Flickr guys!
-- Erxkulotz


Ang astig nung event! libreng book, libreng shirt, libreng food, at me libreng pro account pa!!! thanks to flickr! :D nice to finally meet a lot of online buddies in the flesh! :)
-- Redsago


Ei guys! Just got home from the event. Whew!!! Sooo many freebies. It's an awesome experience meeting the people who made the flickr. And also once again bonded with the ever cool cool people of FPC... rock on guys!!! yahoo!!! c",)

And yes! Yes! Yes! The food and freebies are great too!!! I got to take home cool flickr shirt, lots lots of stickers, souvenier key chains, coffee table book of the 24hours [of] flickr, a polaroid picture (with the official flickr logo -- take note -- hehehe), and the cool goody bag of yahoo. And YES! THE FREE FLICKR PRO ACCOUNT!!! (Thank you sooo much sir Manny)... yay!!! It's really worth going in there. Tthe people behind flickr are great and very warm and friendly. I feel like i'm with the stars... awww!!! I hate to leave early... waaahhh!!! They are still in there... :D
-- *JC*


Sa lahat po ng nagpunta sa event... nice seeing you guys again... especially those na hindi ko pa kilala... hehehe
-- Lothariel


BIG THANKS TO FLICKR!!! Was nice to see and chat with other Flickr pips around.
-- webzer


Thanks sa PRO account!!! :D
-- Ryuji23


Hahaha! Nakahingi din ako ng isa pang pro account. Daming free stuff. And i was surprised napasama sa photo exhibit ang photo ko. Kakatuwa. Nice meeting you Pat, DGM, Jobaracuda, angrylittleboy... Yung iba hindi ko na matandaan pero FPC rocks!
-- EdzL


Thanks to sir Manny V. And to all flickr guys for the pro account and goody bag!

Galing ni Mika. May kakampi na si kuya Pat! :P
-- LadyShutter

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Grabe busog ako sakaka-kain ng finger foods/appetizers. Naka-kain siguro ako ng 100! Yun roast beef salap din!

Nice seeing everyone again and meeting new ones =D
-- John Edward

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THE BEST PARTY EVERY! Free food, free drinks (open bar), free shirt, free sticker, free book, free lens cleaner, and finally, FREE PRO ACCOUNT!!!! Thank you flickr!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Woohoo!!!
-- Ian ong

-End-

PoW! 41st Week

Here are this week's FPC's PoW!s, in no order of preference:

"Civil War"
by: PowerPee
No Exifs Available

Description: The Icon (Captain America) is about to get barbecued...

* I just received news that this picture won the 1st ever photo contest at the 6th Philippine Toycon. God is indeed good to me. :)

Editor's Comment: To not honor Perry's work on FPC PoW! will be a shame. This is appropriate time to celebrate and be proud of a masterpiece, a work of art, which Perry has seem to have perfected over the course of time, since his formal lessons on creative lighting. What makes this winning photo click is obviously the suggestion of action making the lifeless figures come very alive, with the appropriate facial expression.

"My Paper Flower Dream"
by: Glenn Mendoza
No Exifs Available

Editor's Comment: Not all subjects look good when rendered in black & white. But who would have thought that a colorful flower (even though a paper flower at that) would look this good without color?

For those participating in FPC's theme contest for this month, this photo is a case study. Excellent contrast, wide tonal range, great lighting revealing all those texture details. Bravo!!

"Stairway to Heaven?"
by: laz'andre
No Exifs Available

Editor's Comment: the key to the shot's "pow" value is very fundamental to photography: composition.

It takes a keen eye to spot the subject. a good appreciation of symmetry to frame the mural and creative talent to include the birds and some sky in the shot!

FPC July Photo Contest Winners

Here are the entries and winners of the FPC July "COLORS" Theme Photo Contest.

"The Entries"

and here are the Top 3 Winners for the month of July:

3rd Place Winner

"Makulay na Bubong"
Photo by: redhatkeeper

2nd Place Winner

"Flippin Flops"
Photo by: dark_ghetto28

1st Place Winner

"At Rainbow's End"
Photo by: rarerimages by shutterbugrer

Congratulations to the Winners!

Watch out for our FPC August "Still Life" Theme Photo Contest. Thanks for dropping by.

PoW! 40th Week

Here are this week's FPC's PoW!s, in no order of preference:

"Point Reyes"
by: born19june
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi, 1/200, f/16, 37mm, ISO400

Photographers Description: Point Reyes is a prominent cape on the Pacific coast of northern California. It is located in Marin County approximately 30 mi (48 km) WNW of San Francisco. The term is often applied to the Point Reyes Peninsula, the promontory bounded from Tomales Bay on the northeast and Bolinas Lagoon on the southwest. The headland is protected as part of Point Reyes National Seashore.

The cape protects Drakes Bay on its southern side. The headland is largely drained by Drakes Estero. Inverness Ridge runs along the peninsula's northwest-southeast spine, with forested peaks around 430 meters (1,400 feet). West of the ridge, the land flattens out and the vegetation turns to scrub. The Mount Vision Fire in 1995 burned part of Inverness Ridge.

The peninsula is a popular recreational destination for the nearby San Francisco Bay Area, especially for hiking on its many trails and sea kayaking the shores of Tomales Bay and the coast.

Vegetation native to Point Reyes includes Bishop pine, Douglas-fir, coyote brush, monkeyflower, poison oak, California blackberry, salal and coast redwood, among others.

During the Cold War, submarines repaired at Mare Island Naval Shipyard were tested in the shallow waters off Point Reyes following shipyard repairs. Navy safety personnel used a small monitoring and communications hut on the peninsula for monitoring submarines during these sea trials.

Point Reyes Lighthouse was used as the radio station for Antonio Bay in the John Carpenter film "The Fog".

Point Reyes lends its name to the town of Point Reyes Station, California.

Editor's Comment: Is Titanic the Movie making a comeback? This photo has a very striking composition. And is just awesome in all aspects. Great Work.

"beauty @ work"
by: [2]rokbot[2]y
Sony DSC-R1, 1/320, f/8, 71.5mm, ISO160

Editor's Comment: There have been many shots such as this. And obviously there are probably photos beyond the pages I have scoured that are more striking than it. But among the ones shared recently, this one has the blessings of both tonal and compositional excellence. Immediately, when you see the thumbnail, you will invariably like to look at the big picture.

"duck"
by: scubapup
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 1/500, f/5.6, 700mm, ISO800

Editor's Comment: This aint no ugly duckling. I would call this a beautiful duckling. Wonderfully Captured. This can be a lovely painting hanged on my living room. :)

PoW! 39th Week

Here are this week's FPC's PoW!s, in no order of preference:

"Love Boat"
by:Ogiecute
Nikon D80, 1/250, f/10, 10mm, ISO140

Editors Comment: This photo plays tricks on your eyes! One glance and you'll think it's a grounded UFO! Evidently, the positioning of the foreground subject in relation to the sun creates the effect of a glowing cockpit of a craft. There's a lesson. Once in while, it pays to pay attention to how you put things in the frame and a little imagination can make an oddly ordinary scene like this, a hit!

"Muffins"
by: Rey Nocum
No Exifs Available

Editor's Comment: I know this is just an ordinary shot. but so what. The photo served its purpose. It made me hungry and craving for muffins! :D

"Friendship"
by: Joanne Curlah
Nikon D80. 1/100, f/6.3, 52mm, ISO100

Member's Comment: For me, what makes a silhouette photo effective is the fact that you don't see the usual elements like faces and expressions found in photos with human subjects but somehow still manages to intensely convey emotion. For this picture, it is hard to miss the bonding that these two boys are enjoying. So innocent… yet so meaningful.