Through a Lens, Clearly

New Contributors–

The column today features seven new readers/contributors who sent in their images in the first two weeks of the new year.

Part-time photographer Eddie Ang shares that he started on photography at 12 with a 110mm Instamatic film camera in the early ’80s. While he took a lot of pictures, he shares: “I didn’t take it seriously in the artistic side; for me it was just to capture the moment and keep it.” It was in 2005 when Eddie decided on going digital. He says that after convincing himself that digital was already on a par with film photography, he purchased his first “expensive” point-and-shoot 3.2-MP digicam only to be disappointed with the results. But that did not stop Eddie from shooting some more. Today, he relates, “I never stop shooting pictures. Sometimes it takes hours and hours of work to get it perfect.” See more of Eddie Ang’s work at http://edphotography.multiply.com/.

Raffy Paredes

Student and newbie photographer Hanzel Enriquez says photography is an artistic pursuit that he believes he will be good at one day. “Right now, I practice how to take pictures with feelings because I believe feelings give life to your portrait,” he discloses. “The subjects that I would like to take pictures of are stolen moments and more on the different emotions of people around me.”

From Cavite City, Richard A. Co writes: “Photography is a hobby of mine since high school, street photography in particular. To be more specific, I often photograph people going about their daily routine.” Two years ago, Ricci says that his good friend TJ Cafuir (also a contributor to this column) introduced him to DSLR. He shares that photography is his medium to “relieve the stress and relax” while running a catering business.

Photography enthusiast Richard Moratin sent in photos taken with his film camera, a Konica C35 EF which he describes as “a compact camera with an awesome lens.” According to him, he always brings this camera along whenever he goes out. His photos today were taken with Kodak Professional Profoto 100 film. Readers can view more of Richard’s work at www.flickr.com/people/rtmoratin/ and rtmoratin.multiply.com/photos/.

From Pasig City, BS Computer Science graduate Robin Lavapiez writes: “I quickly grew captivated by the fascinating field of photography when taking pictures in conventions from my mobile phone started to become a habit. It was then, when I realized a camera phone would never be enough, that I opted to have a DSLR of my own. Not long after that, I began capturing images and moments my eyes found exceptionally interesting.”

However, he adds: “Practicing as a fresh photographer, I have yet to discover more enthralling things about the art of taking photographs.” Other images by Robin are available at rovxz.multiply.com and www.flickr.com/photos/rovxz.

Sheila Dal, an engineer at a semicon factory in Cavite is another hobbyist who has kept to using film. While she’s been interested in photography ever since childhood, Sheila says that she only got real serious with it when she acquired her first lomo camera in November 2008. “It quickly became three plastic cameras and I also started selling films to offset my expenses,” she shares. “In August 2009, I was introduced to rangefinders and vintage photography. Now I proudly own an RF, an SLR, a TLR, all old but still functional ones, and of course my plastic cams.” Sheila is also proud to say that she’s been experimenting with developing her own black-and-white and sepia photographs at home. “Safe to say that I won’t be dipping my toes into digital photography any time soon,” she declares. Her photo contribution today (”Wall”) was taken with a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim camera with Centuria 200 color film developed at home using D-76 B&W chemicals.

Also sharing his work today is Sherwin dela Cruz who works at an outsourcing company. Sherwin writes that he got into photography last year when a friend taught him how to use a DSLR. He says that he’s been posting his work on his Facebook account and reactions from friends have been encouraging. He relates that it was a friend in an advertising agency who suggested to submit his photos to this column.