the Glimpse

It was totally unexpected. Last November 9, Peter Ryan Go, a good friend from Cebu-Sugbo, the “mother group” of Cebu-based Flickr pools, called to invite me as one of the five featured photographers for a photo exhibition that his photography equipment store, the Photoshop will be sponsoring. The exhibit was to run at the newly opened Parkmall in Mandaue City, from November 15 to November 21.

Unfortunately for me, I had a pre-scheduled trip to Vietnam from November 11 to 15 so I was pressed for time, to put it mildly. Quickly I went through my pictures and selected my top 10 in my flickr gallery and emailed Peter the links of the high resolution versions. Then came the realization that the Canon 350D I am using only could only produce a maximum resolution of 3,456 x 2,304pixels, which would have been fine if the print is 14” wide. This would make the resolution near 250 dpi (divide 3,456 by 14). The quandary is that my photos might come out grainy as the exhibit size is 12x18”.

To the drawing board I came back. I needed to reexamine the choices I made. I had to rule out any crop photos. This was the easy part. In my original list were just two downsized photographs. A majority of my selection were reprocessed using picasa3, the lazy man’s free editing too, which tends to reduce the final resolution. I re-edited the pics using Canon’s free software, ArcSort Photo Studio, just some sharpening or lightening here and there. I did not apply any major changes for fear of downgrading the quality. One photo I even submitted as-is.

When I left for Vietnam, I was anxious that some, if not all photos, would be left out but when I saw on flickr the poster that still shows up my face, then I was relieved. I made it after all.




Yesterday, just a few hours after arriving from Vietnam, unpacking and taking a short siesta, I checked out the exhibit. I was in a hurry, so I only shot a few pictures. I would take some more pictures in my next visit.


My gallery of eight pictures






Do try to visit, if you are in Cebu. The exhibit runs until this Friday, November 21. With me are some of Cebu’s most promising photographers. I am in good company:

Jan Gonzales. Jan’s genre is conceptual portraiture. His expertise in lighting, styling and post-processing makes him a popular figure in commercial photography in Cebu, especially in his mastery of the famous Dave Hill effect. For the curious, the crying model below is Cebu’s speed racer, Matt Guidicelli.




Gerald Yuvallos. A good friend, Gerald is the acknowledged master of the macros in our Cebu-Sugbo flickr group. Nobody has more skill and patience to wait on the fly to blow a bubble than he does.




Joseph Ong. In a little more than two years, Joseph has carved a niche in glamour photography in Cebu. His works are featured in local and national glossy publications. Below is his photo of top Cebuana model Nikki Taylor.




Lito Inso. Having won honors in the recent Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), Lito is one of the in-demand wedding photographers in Cebu.



Next: the pictures that I chose in The Glimpse, part 2.