At my friends' bazaar

Some of my friends join weekend bazaars to sell their handmade goods. (You can visit their page/site here: Onay, Angela, Dian, Jayme)  One weekend, my friend invited me since the venue would be nice for taking pictures. It was in Intramuros, an old walled city in Manila.

Here are some pictures of the bazaar.

This is my friends' stall.

I went around and saw this view of the sunset just outside the compound of the bazaar.

After a while, they started to set up the stage for some performances. I thought this would be a good opportunity to practice what I learned from Jeff Cable's blog post (it was actually his blog that inspired me to create mine) about shooting a music performance.

This picture is a bit dark but I like how the guitarist stands out in this picture.

I saw a cleaning lady among the crowd and I liked the thought that she got to relax, too.

Then I set my camera to monochrome and took these shots.

One of the band members sat in front of the drum set which ruined the frame so I cropped this next photo.

Here is one last shot of the performance.

Learning the basics

I just got my first DSLR. It’s a Canon EOS 60D with 18-135 mm lens. I bought it from an online store Gadget Grocery. When I first talked with the owner, I was informed that they still need to order from their supplier so I had to wait. Unfortunately, Canon has already phased out that model. My options then were to either buy the newer and more expensive 70D or the cheaper 700D. I find 70D too pricey especially since this is the first time I’m buying a DSLR so that was taken out of the equation. I was already bent on buying 700D but the owner generously offered to ask his co-importers if they still have the model I wanted. I agreed and the next day he emailed me with the good news that he found one. I had it delivered that afternoon. Their products are cheaper compared to other stores since, as the delivery guy explained to me, they don’t rent a space so they do not have overhead costs. (I just wanted to promote this online store since the owner really made an effort to get me the camera that I want.)

Anyway, I used to have an Olympus point and shoot which I brought with me whenever I travel some years ago but I do not have any background on using manual settings.  Good thing my friend, LA, has been into photography for a while now and was very much willing to teach me the basics. He gave me a crash course discussing exposure, shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Weeks before I got hold of the camera, I have been reading about these but it was only then that I really understood what they meant. Then I went on a vacation with some friends and brought the camera with me. 

In these shots, my mind was focused on just getting the correct exposure. 

Then I tried wide aperture in taking pictures of these flowers.

We also got to visit our old university.

When I got back home, I noticed that some of the pictures I have taken were out of focus. So the next weekend, I went for a morning walk in UP Diliman. I practiced getting the focus correctly and also tried shooting at fast shutter speed to freeze motion.