Spaghetti Wiring

When a car is passed on to several owners, chances are the wiring is a mess. How do I KNOW? just a hunch, hehe. Well, at least this is true for us here in the Pilipins.

I got Indra early 2009, sort of like a gift to myself for my hard work in Singapore.

Well, with the “knowledge” (I still feel lacking) I have right now, thanks to my constant browsing of the technica section of grupotoyota (GT), I would say I was pretty dumb back then & was just intoxicated with the thought of having a blacktop (BT) 20v engine…that I bought the car amidst my wife’s vehement objection. Heck, I didn’t even know what version it was! All I knew was that this engine was awesome, oozing with torque in every rpm, well, sort of–starting from 3k rpm until it hits redline which is about 8.3k rpm. What I didn’t consider back then was how the engine got into the car. To cut the story short, not all engine transplants are the same, as I would learn later on, the engine re-wiring should be done meticulously. Since I got Indra with the engine installed, I didn’t know what troubles lay ahead of us.

Again, learning the hard way, I found out that Indra was missing a T-connection to the brake & manifold pressure and that she was running in “limp mode” since she didn’t have an oxygen sensor as well. I also had to change springs since the lowering springs installed were just cut to lower the car. It was purely form…& no function. I simply let Shaggy of Autotech handle all these things for me.

Recently the power door locks & windows one by one started to malfunction. Argh. This time I though of doing it my self, or destroy-it-yourself (DIY) so they say.

Upon opening the door panels, I found out that the oem door harness is still working!! But there was another set of harness for the generic door triggers (gun-type). Basically Indra had 2 door triggers & 2 sets of relays working at the same time!! whoa.

I wanted to purge the door lock wiring system & use the oem harness & relay. So I went and bought the materials, then went to soldering back all the severed lines & putting in a new gun type trigger when necessary. I also had to remove the extra wiring harness used by the generic type triggers & relay. In doing so, I came across the alarm wiring, and . . . oh . . . its beyond words. hahaha.

Since I was already working with the doors, why not fix the alarm spaghetti wiring as well right? It seemed like a sound judgement, though my back didn’t actually agree. It did hurt for quite a few days after all.

Thanks to Monching, for his alarm diagram & invaluable help in troubleshooting my crappy wiring. Thanks to Reggie for the digital multi-meter…it is like a decade and a half until I finally made good use of it! To Donna for supporting me in my little endeavor by buying me a trouble light–yes, its that yellow thingy up there, & last but not the least to Migs & Ethan for constantly “monitoring” my progress & snatching my tools every now and then; come to think of it, every time I chased them for my tools, I did get a good back stretch and a much needed break.

See all those wires, tapes, connectors & what not? I can’t believe Indra can run without them!! talk  about lightening. hehehe

Prenup: Art & Kara

Art & Kara…& their make-up artist–Nice

to be fair here is our part ;p

enjoy!

Resonance Photography

I always knew what I lacked in photography. Back then when I was just starting to shoot weddings, it was the pose during portraiture, the lighting and sometimes due to the confusion and tension–the settings in my camera! ROFL  Just imagine the photos back then… 😦

I guess its true what they say…no mountain too high… for I surpassed them all. Ok ok, so I lied. A little bit. Ok, huge, bigtime. I confess, I am clueless when it comes to post processing when compared to my peers!! I always wanted to learn, but as usual, I did not have the luxury of time, after all, I still had my “regular work”. I would rather shoot with all the lights set properly than to correct them in the PC for hours which to me seems like an eternity, seriously.

I always admired the vibrant colors in other photographers work that brings their photos to life. Sometimes it is the lack of color that imbues their photo its classic look, almost like warping us back in time. I remember there was a time when textures became such a big hit & I saw what post processing is all about — communicating emotion…but I had no idea how it was done!! argh

All this time I felt like cheating myself whenever I would need to correct my photos, I sort of became like a purist — the key phrase  is sort of, hence I added a couple of flash units and tried to learn lighting, strobist style. I did manage to master the basics & a few advanced tricks. Sometimes I come up with really surprising results too [I get surprised too–I did not know I can do it! sweet]. This lighting stuff however takes its toll in the form of missed moments while I am setting up my lights and all.

I admire, no I envy other photographers for their skill in post processing. I had to read a lot of online materials to learn about the different techniques to come up with various effects. I came to read on duo, tri, and quad toning, sepia, hdr, dave hill effect, and a lot of other stuff…in the end since I did not keep a notebook while learning the different processes and due to the fact that I took about a month to go back to post processing, that I end up forgetting the previous technique!! darn. Then came Lightroom. Now, I can do some decent post processing without having to lose my mind in the process.

We all learn something new every now and then, I did, but it took me sometime to understand and put together the basics to finally wrap my head around the holistic idea for my photography.  For me, at the end of the day it is not what equipment you use, nor the type of light you trigger, or the texture or technique you apply for post processing that matters; right now what matters most is to express and make others feel the moment as I did when I took the photograph…that is RESONANCE PHOTOGRAPHY.

Im Kix.

What’s your story?

Candy in duotone

Timeless kiss

more photos at my other site. Enjoy!

Wedding: Eugene & Wilsie

will be updating this post later on…just sharing some photos… enjoy!

more photos tomorrow after my track day–my 1st by the way. wish me luck and that Indra comes back in one piece!!   ;p

Pandoras Box

I was trying to archive another set of photos & accessed my old 1TB external hard drive, then after a while, my antivirus started detecting a trojan. Since my current anti-virus can clean it, I felt confident and continued with my layout work.

After the incident, Donna used my PC, then it crashed!! We couldn’t get it to boot for 2 days, not until today.

Seems like I just opened Pandora’s box and I have no choice but to do a clean install on my PC.

Wedding: Bim & Gen

I first met Bim way back in 2005/2006. They posted a looking-for-photographer-ad in our egroup. I thought they were a soon to be wed couple, but it turned out they were a video team known as PlayBack and was looking to offer photo services as well.

Fast forward to April 2008, Bim & Gen asked to meet up with me to present my samples to a prospective client of theirs. I arrived 25 minutes late for I left my license and had to go back home. When I arrived they said that the client left to take a walk for a while. Then after waiting a few minutes and making me all sweat with guilt they finally blurted out that THEY were the client!!

After a few weeks later they asked if it was ok to have a back-up photographer shoot during their wedding. I started working as one, so I had no problems with it.

A few weeks/months pass then I learned that their backup photographer was MangoRed–and they insisted that I would still be their main photog!! I knew right then and there that it is all bull. hahaha. Why box up MangoRed into working with my style? We had to reverse roles!

For more photos, check out my other site here

Ninong?!? hahaha. Thanks for the cake, Migs & Ethan really liked it :p

cheers!

my first BILLBOARD!

need i say more? its my very fist billboard!

Im happy = its a first for me! :p

Im excited = did i say its a first for me?

Im nervous = in every shoot, i always try to anticipate the unexpected…

I made sure that my gadgets were prepared for the shoot at hand. I even rented big lights for this project & added 2 extra assistant as well. I already had 2 Pocket Wizards (PW), & 1 PW Max, but I still rented 2 PW just to be safe. I brought about 8pcs of 8GB Sandisk Extreme III & about 6pcs of 8GB Ridata CF cards–just to make sure. I brought every conceivable gadget I could think of that I might need–from large background clips, lightmeter, light stands, tripod etc

The call time was 12 midnight, at around 7pm in the evening, the art director from the consulting firm called up for some last minute details. He casually informed me that he cannot make it there. He asked me to call him if I needed any help or further clarification regarding the shoot. He said I can call him before 10pm, before his bedtime.  He said he needed to be up early for an important meeting  the next day, hence he cannot make it to the shoot.

Every ounce of excitement and happiness simply slipped by me and was replaced by a swarm of butterflies that flew around the meadows in my stomach.

I guess I never prepared for that part….being an art director. LoL.

All this time I thought I was paranoid. LoL

more photos when the billboard gets released

test shot while setting up the lights

RAW Shooter

A lot of people get confused when I say that I shoot RAW. Most of the time they shoot me a blank a stare or sometimes a confused look. That is fine.

First off, what is RAW anyway? According to Understanding Digital RAW Capture

…raw isn’t one single thing. Rather, it’s a general term for a variety of proprietary file formats—such as Canon’s .CRW and .CR2, Minolta’s .MRW, Olympus’ .ORF, and the various flavors of Nikon’s .NEF, for example—that share important common features.

A raw file is a record of the data captured by the sensor. While there are many different ways of encoding this raw sensor data into a raw image file, in each case the file records the unprocessed sensor data.

Basically RAW is a file format just like a jpeg, tiff or gif.

The next question would be why shoot RAW and not just use jpeg?

Since RAW is unprocessed sensor data, I have control over several camera parameters before converting to JPEG–like saturation, white balance, sharpness, digital exposure etc. For me, the biggest factor is my ability to remove most color casts when I shoot RAW via its custom white balance. Then I just apply the same parameter to a set of photos and I am good to go.

Is there any down side of using RAW?

When shooting RAW, you will most likely be using the full resolution of your camera. Say if you have a Canon 5D with a 12MP, your photos will weigh in something like 12MB per photo!! Imagine the amount of CF cards your photos will gobble up in one wedding. Not to mention the hard drive space you need to store them while post processing them photos. Add to that about 3-5hrs of conversion for a batch of 500 photos [depending on your PC’s capability]. This does not even include the time of tagging and setting your parameters per photo.

I must say that I am rethinking my post processing workflow. Yes, I do love the features that RAW provides, but I do not like the way that it takes so much of my time.

I did some mix-matching with my shooting style and post processing and found out that I can shave several days off my regular schedule. Sweet.

In fact in a recent event I covered I was able to deliver the photos with full packaging right after their dinner. I am hoping to do the same for my wedding gigs . . . soon! 😀

less Post Processing time = more COLORING time!!

Wedding: Poj & Faith

A long overdue wedding for posting….well, I guess its better late than never.

This couple asked to have a transport themed prenup. During our shoot it is not that hard to deduce their favorite color. Funny, they had this obsession for the same color even before they met. Now that is really one cool serendipitous event.

I never realized how deep their love for the color until their wedding day. See for yourself. Don’t you just love a wedding that is unique? Well, I do. enjoy

Wedding: Gil & Jaycee

Ok, its really hard to back track, so I guess I will just quote Jaycees words this time ;p :

“Kiko has been a close friend since college. Binata pa lang siya e friends na kami. We used to tell each other ang mga love life namin when we make tambay sa CompSoc tambayan, or we go to Gilmore for his PC stuffs, or madalas pag sabay lang kami umuuwi at hinahatid ko siya sa kanila. Hehehe. When he got married, kinuha niyang ninong at ninang ang parents ko. At nung nagka-anak siya eh, kinuha niya naman akong ninang.

Kiko started photography as a hobby and we discovered na may talent pala si mokong. Hehehe. So ngayun, ayan na siya, serious na ang mga rakets niya. I really love his shots kasi more into details siya. He was really the one in mind for back-up photography kasi nga para makuha yung details na di kinukuha ng main photographer. Nung una akong nagtanong about his rates, he didn’t know na it was for me. Hehehe. Pero nung nalaman niya na para sa akin, libre na daw. Yeeyyyy!!! Buti na lang naalala pa ni Kiko na driver niya ako nung college. Hahaha. Joke.

But Kiko started working abroad and we are not sure where he will be by the time of the wedding. So for now, he is still our back-up photographer.”

taken from Gil & Jaycees wedsite

Well, that is her side of the story. Actually I knew she was inquiring about her wedding hehe, but I wanted to be sure that the couple really liked my style & output before offering my services as a gift. I guess it is really difficult to say “NO” to a gift specially if you’re a Filipino. Seriously, I’ve heard a lot of stories from clients who have booked me in the past regarding their “gift photographer”. Honestly, I didn’t want that to happen to Gil & Jaycee.

Here are some of their informal shots. enjoy

for more photos, please visit my Multiply site.

I was shooting the bouquet, when i saw Jaycees dad...i knew i had to capture this image

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Thanking the Groom

Balae talk