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Vintage Superstar: Like Party on Your Feet

And they say nobody does them anymore like they used to.

So tonight, we got an exclusive invite for an adidas End of Season Sale at the Podium where some Stella McCartney and adidas Originals items were sold at up to 80% off the price tag. We stormed the store gates 30 minutes before closing time thinking of buying nothing in particular. I should have been cognizant of the fact that “thinking of buying nothing in particular” would most likely spell danger, yes? No. When Rico bought a pair of shoes, I took to trying on several pairs and in 5 minutes tops, I was already fishing my wallet in front of the cashier.

That’s just half of the story.

When I got home, I Googled “adidas Superstar Vin” and found something extraordinary about the pair I got:

“This latest Superstar offering is a replica of the shoe first introduced back in 1969 in its original colourway.  The shoe weighs in at a hefty £85 but for your wonga you get the original colour scheme and silhouette, a premium leather upper, brushed suede stripes and heel tab, a goldleaf side panel print and the classic shell toe.  The shoe is currently on pre order right now so if your feeling flush track a seller down and get your name on the list!“ – Freeride Junkie for Sole Power (March 9, 2009)

Wait a minute! I now have something of that caliber for 60% off the list price? Get out! I only paid close to P2,000 is why. And it was on sale five months after it was out in the market? w00t! Somebody’s lucky! Here’s another writeup for Superstar Vintage:

“Publicly released in 1970, the Superstar was the first low top basketball shoe to feature an all leather upper and the world famous rubber shell toe. By the mid 70’s, three quarter of all NBA players were wearing them. This vintage version features outsole-pattern laser engraved linings and a special foam padded sockliner. The use of supersoft leather upper makes this the most comfortable Superstar ever.” - hanon shop

They do feel like the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. More comfortable than the Sambas which are my favorite porma shoes of all time! Will test its durability by touring the streets of Bangkok, Thailand in two weeks time. Superstars, do me proud. Thanks Quincy and adidas for extending to us the exclusive invite.

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Productivity is Shooting During Brownouts

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!)

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World Press Photo 2009 Winners on Exhibit at SM MOA from August 17-23

The World Press Photo is an annual contest open to all press photographers and media outfits. For 2009, the Grand Prize went to Anthony Suau of the USA (Time). From what I gathered, the piece that won did not even make it on the printed magazine but was however shown on Time’s website. His entry covered the mortgage foreclosure of late that affected residents in Cleaveland, Ohio. This and the rest of the photos besting 96,268 hopefuls from 5,208 photographers of 124 different nationalities are currently on exhibit at the Atrium of the SM Mall of Asia from August 17-23, 2009.

The shots that will follow were taken during the opening of the third and final stop of the Philippine leg of the World Press Photo 2009 exhibit held on August 17. (please be patient while waiting for the photographs to load, thanks!)

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

I’m a huge fan of  journalism, believing that most human interest stories are conveyed more effectively, thus becoming more relevant, when they get published with compellingly vivid photographs on print. Visually “raw” images encourage empathy, at times even moreso than the long article.

Of all the photos on exhibit, Gleb Garanich’s set taken during the bombardment of a neighborhood in Georgia, Ukraine made me realize that I can never accept the kind of assignment he did. I got to thinking that if I’m to take those shots, I may be violating the privacy of the people who are victims of a very unwelcomed catastrophe. “The least I can do is give them space,” is what I’d think and most probably do. That said, I’m not cut for the gutsy job they do day in and out and I admire their kind, the ones who are focused and driven for the greater purpose of creating awareness.

On a related note, hear’s a good read. It’s an article published by Photo District News on Anthony Suau’s winning the grand prize. It is, by itself, also very much worthy to be classified as something of true “human interest.” Spare a few minutes to read the comment exchange made by phographers, freelance or otherwise, after the main article.
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Ayala, Makati 1203 to 1314 08.03.2009

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12:03 People were already in Ayala waiting for her to pass.

12:52 The advance party carried the color of a dear departed.

13:13 Yellow Pages. No other confetti material can be this appropriate.

13:14 After more than an hour of soaking under the sun, she finally went by. One last time.

SEO is set aside for this post as a gesture of respect. Farewell, our beloved departed. You have done well.

[ The rest of the photos after the jump ]

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Gorillaz CMYK Vinyl Figures in Concert! LOL

Instead of just shooting the new toys the “usual, boring way,” (i.e. with them in the box, out of the box, and propped on a shelf or on the table) I picked my brain for a comp to make this photo set more dramatic and edgy. I wanted to make do a concert scene but all I have is my caving light and I won’t be arsed to create a makeshift concert stage from scratch. And then, after a glass of ice cold Coke, a brilliant idea it hit me!

Since the caving lights (a 21 LED contraption running on 3 AAA batteries) can already serve as a spot light, all I had to do was find backdrops. I searched my photo archives for concert shots (some of the stuff I used I got from the net, tee hee), had the images brightened/saturated then blurred to achieve a depth of field vibe, ran the images on a slide show using MS PowerPoint, had the Gorillaz statuettes stand in front of my LCD monitor, experimented with the LED by lighting up the toys from different angles, and VOILA, I can haz a concert scene in the comfort of my own home!

Try this technique out yourself! Experiment with an outdoorsy background or the beach, the bedroom, a dungeon, anything to serve your purpose if you need to take photos of small objects like toys but you want your shots to look extraordinary. The possibilities are endless!

The shitty thing, however, is I had no choice but to do post processing since the quality of the photos (read, digital noise all over) took a toll from the low and selectively focused lighting.

Here they are, the Gorillaz during a “concert” here at home. Snooty, huh?! LOL Click on the images for a larger view and hover your mouse on them for the caption.

More photos after the jump. (more…)

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Losing to Retail Therapy: A Tale of Awesome. In 2D.

“Depression” can be your bestest, most dependable, and at-hand’s-reach convenient reason to splurge. Use it and suddenly, like magic, everybody empathizes and tells you to “go on ahead and heal” with an assuring smile on their faces. It’s THAT fail safe. As a certified genius, I’m entitled to it more often than the average joe (because I say so)!

This month alone, I got shirts and ties, a video card, and just a while ago, something that I’ve been putting off buying for the longest time and by “the longest time,” I mean 48 hours. In Fritz parlance, 48 hours may translate to a decade or two, give or take a year, of mental anguish.

In hard times like this, thinking about a purchase is a must moreso when the “want” you are about to buy is quite costly. We must think all purchases through. No joke! Thankfully, I’ve developed something to curb impulse buying. The secret is perfecting a discipline whose core component is “great hatred for credit cards.” It took me years, I tell you, to ace it. In fact, I now live and breathe this mantra.

Plastics: they kill the environment.

I haven’t posted anything I’ve fritzparazzied in a while because, well, there’s nothing to shoot. Now, that’s changed. Please click on the photos for a larger image.

As sort of a sneak peek of my spanking new Gorillaz CMYK Vinyl set made by kidrobot, I present to you photos I took of one of the four members of Gorillaz. On lead vocals, here’s Stuart Pot aka 2D. All right reserved LOL and taken using *gasps* a Nokia N82 just like old times.

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Photos and a LOL Vid (No to Con-Ass Ayala Rally)

Thirty minutes after my first video stream, the mobile vibrated a the “Low Battery” prompt. Bummed me out since I went out on full bat from work *sighs*. In my next vidcasts, I’d remember to either to bring a spare (fully-charged) battery or have the phone plugged in somewhere while streaming. Per plurk buddy aajao, “not bad for an initial broadcast.” My thanks to you and those who had to bear with the stream. We had to start testing this technology out on something (no, a scandal vid is out of the question). ANC did a live coverage which I only later on found out. Better quality and more “real time,” since qik.com gave me a 13-minute lag at some point during my broadcast *pfffft*.

Over all, the rally was peaceful. Police were rounding the periphery for both the safety of the surrounding establishments and, most importantly, the rallyists which I found to be a good thing. I felt more secure with them around, really. News said 6,000 people attended. I’d have to agree with this statement, though:

“Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said the crowd peaked at between 13,000 to 15,000” – from Inquirer.net

Some of people holding office within the Ayala circuit would pass by, linger some, and give a thumbs up gesture to people on the street before leaving for their homes. Some, like several of my colleagues at work, stayed on. I’d say this was bigger than the previous No to ChaCha rally held on the same venue, from the POV of someone who was apparently present in both events (i.e. ME).

The thing that caught more of our attention while we were heading out was this tarpaulin laid down on one side of the street where faces of the Congressmen who said “Yay” to ConAss were printed and shown. Bystanders were free to step on their “favorite” Congressmen’s faces. Some expressed their disgust by doing, um, “creative” things on the photos. Please watch the 3-minute video below to know what I mean.
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