Brownouts in Makati at this day and age? SERIOUSLY, Meralco?! And they chose to do it last night at around 10PM! That and there’s no 3G signal anywhere within a kilometer radius from the house! No frikken way! I was so thankful that water supply isn’t too dependent on electricity or I would have checked in a hotel just so I can take a shower before going to bed.

So I was in my livingroom lit with 4 candles. I was sitting idly on the couch, sweating like a pig, and listening to the iPod when an idea hit me.

(Please click on the images below for a full 800×600 view)

I got my 21-LED caving light, had all of its 21 bulbs lit, and had its light reflect on the melted portion of the candle opposite the camera. Looking at the images afterwards made me feel really productive, talented, and relevant (as a self-proclamed camphone paparazzi extraordinaire) even if I was sweating like a pig (yes, that’s info is so worth a second  mention). I only used the Nokia N82′s camera to take these. Like a pro photographer with expensive equipment, I have noted down the settings for you, like you cared. (You know how those guys in flickr would flaunt their strobists and manual settings only to give you crappy or images you can easily replicate with a camphone? The settings below are actually for those types, handed to them on a silver platter with a “f*ck you” note signed by me. With love.)

Scene Mode: Close-Up (or Macro)
Flash Mode: Off
Color Tone: Normal
White Balance: Automatic
Exposure Compensation: -.5
Contrast: (three levels down)
ISO: Automatic

That’s about how manual a N82′s settings can get. I have observed that when the bluish-white light of the LED hit the camera’s lens, the flame would seem more yellow. Without the LED, the flame would look dull so I figured, the camera adjusts to the light source to compliment/enhance the image output. Now, how cool is that?!

I know I should be over the N82′s camera already since I could use more intelligent camera functions, the optical zoom, and more than 5 megapixels of resolution. I’m getting there. I’ve been thinking of getting the Lumix ZS3 (reading reviews, comments, and user observations about it, on and offline) for about three weeks now. If all goes well, these could well be the last images that I’ll shoot with the N82 who has greatly served me this past year and a half.

People asked me if these images are SOOC (Straight Out Of Cam) and the answer is “no.” I had to darken the midtones and black colors and tone down the digital noise. I also did a crop for one and an image inversion for the other. Other than those very minor and morally acceptable (duh!) modifications, SOOC.

By the way, these images have titles. The first one is “Bulb” (I like the symmetry on this shot), the second is “Aura” (notice how “wicked” the LED’s reflection got warped at the end of the wick), and the third is “Flora” (the red core of the wick remind me of a blow-up doll’s mouth. Please don’t judge me).

Until next time, and wish me luck on the ZS3. I could hopefully make it more popular than the N82 (yeah, I just took all the credit for its popularity, LMAO!)