Silky

Silky
Originally uploaded by BUroKHUli

I bonded with Adrian & Jhea for their engagement photoshoot and decided to have a little fun with the street lights before we leave.

In this photo, I asked them to hold steady for 5 seconds for to get the effect I wanted on the background. Holding my flash at 1/4 power, I fired to burst, one for each model to light their faces. Worked out well after 4 takes.

Fired Up

Fired Up
Originally uploaded by BUroKHUli

Another one of my photos wchich made it to the Top 10 - Sidelight Category, Sinulog 2008 Photo Contest

Great Time

Anna Andrada
Originally uploaded by BUroKHUli

Standing between me and my winning piece is Anna Andrada herself who decided to show up later to see her photo in large format during the Sinulog Exhibit 2008 at SM City Cebu.


Photo courtesy by:
Regel Zamora

1st Place - Sinulog Queen Category 2008 / Anna Andrada

1st Place - Sinulog Queen Category / Anna Andrada
Originally uploaded by BUroKHUli

This year's SINULOG Festival was a blast. Compared to last year's festivities, it's more of a surprise. To start with, there are over 22 contingents who joined this year's mardigras. And a few other new comers to give more of a blast. Anyway, what really excited me, us photographers is the annual SINULOG Photo Contest. This year, for the third time in a row, I won first place for SINULOG QUEEN CATEGORY, winning it twice in a row is hard enough, and the pressure is on me. There are over 500 or close to 600 photographers who joined the competition. It's a tough environment, you'll have to think of ways to be more creative and be more aware of the things going on around you.

To make matters worse, the new batch of photographers this year are highly equipped. I saw two guys using a SUPER TELEPHOTO which I think would really give them great shots over us. Photographers from Singapore, our neighboring country are so well in to it that I think they brought every photographer's gear with them. It's an amazing sight, and makes me wonder if I do have a chance.

Below is a photo of a friend photographer from a local paper (CEBU DAILY NEWS) standing right next to me on a ladder. Yes, that's how tough it is to shoot the Sinulog this year. And I bet, next year is gonna be worse.


It's a week long photoshoot for me, and maybe for some others who are as addicted as me, in one way or another. The point is, that this is the only photo contest in our city that draws international attention. It's a great feeling. I wish there will be more like the SINULOG.


Here are some of my favorites shots during this week long festival.





(left photo): One of the runner-ups for the Free Interpretation Category, Tribu Iliganon on there cool costumes. They are last year's contenders who won a place at top three, in the same category.

Romance

Romance
Originally uploaded by BUroKHUli

I learn different things everytime I shoot different subjects. But what really makes me smile, other than captured moments, is black & whites. Timeless as it seems, I would do anything just to shoot in black in white.

My portrait for Denise & Jae

Fun Read

Here's something that really cracked up me. I was on my way home from a photoshoot and grabbed a taxi cab. Beat, I told the driver to drive me to our place and closed my eyes. And then he started asking me which way to, so I told him just drive your way where the traffic is light. And it happened, it was his perfect timing, he then told me that his in a hurry to go back to the hospital to get back to his son who has cancer. Well, it didn't really bothered me, I'm not the charity type of guy, or maybe I was just so damn tired.

To keep a long and boring story short, here it goes. With my eyes closed, I still managed to talk back to the driver and asked him about his son. Told me a lot of things like blood type, how talented his son was, where he came from, and that that day, he was driving without his license just to get the extra bucks. The most awkward part I think was when he mentioned that he was pissed off by this donor because he's not selling the blood to him for his son, that another buyer who has the money was about to pay him right then and there. Angry about the current situation, he grabbed his screw driver and charged at the donor but was stopped when the hospital security officer fired a warning shot. (this is the part where I smell bullshit) He eventually was forced to beg for his son's life and asked the donor to give him until 7pm to come up with the money. I, felt like I am the wrong person to handle this situation, so I grabbed my phone and pretended on calling someone. Shortly after that we arrived, I couldn't be more reliefed, I grabbed my wallet and paid him a little extra not because I pity him, but because it's a long drive and I always pay extra. Then I told him "goodluck on your son".

Two days later, I was hanging out with my friends when one of them talked about this latest hoax taxi driver's have been doing. The exact same thing that happened to him happened to me. When I asked him if he can tell me about the driver, he gave me the exact description of the person and the taxi his driving. What are the odds :)

I hope that cab driver hits a dead end!




Best regards,
Allan Restauro
http://www.allanrestauro.com
Mobile: (+63)917 323 6501

Firmware Update

I was cleaning up my system and noticed that my 10D has an outdated firmware. So, I googled the latest version and downloaded it to my cf card. It's the scariest 5 minutes of my photographic life (LOL) ever. As the progress bar slowly went up from 0% to 100%, I can't help but imagine the possibility of failure. Then it all ends up with a useless camera that's worth thousands of pesos. And *ting* Firmware Update Complete, the LCD display says.