Pepin Ordona

Putting a Face Behind the Photos

2009-06-18T20:54:00.004+08:00

I've been into photography for more than a year now. Thanks to my sister for the DSLR, btw!

The problem with being a photographer is that you're always not in the picture.

Now that I have some toys (strobes) to play with, I decided to take a self-portrait.

I think it turned out ok. ;) What do you think?

Shutterspeed: 1/160
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 100
Focal length: 70mm
Gear: Canon 400D, EF-S 55-250mm

Strobist info:
580ex II with 1/4 CTO at 1/8 bounced off reflective umbrella cam left
430ex as rim behind me

An Expectant Father...

2009-06-01T22:18:00.004+08:00

I ran my first full marathon last Sunday. It was an experience I never expected.

To keep the story short, I finished the race in 08hrs 30mins.

That's quite long, compared to the world record of 02:03:59 by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and to think that my target was to finish in 6 hours.

I was running for 3 hours and made it to the halfway mark. Sadly, my knees started to scream in pain. I guess my knees were not ready for that much pounding.

I walked it off hoping to recover and be able to run the last few kilometers. Unfortunately, trying to run simply forced me to stop and rest until the pain subsided. I finally decided to walk all the way since I covered more distance walking than running AND resting. Still, I had much distance to cover, so eventually, even walking was a pain.

So from the halfway mark, it was a grueling 5-hour walk to the finish line. Yes, for 5 long hours, my mind was telling me drop out of the race. "Quit! Quit! Quit!" It was the easiest thing to do to get away from all this pain and find immediate relief.

But I had to keep moving forward. My pride was not the only thing at stake. I dedicated the run for someone who's worked hard beyond 8 hours. This little someone started the race last February and the race will not end till November. Now that's a long marathon!

So to my little one, I hope you can be proud of me.. because your daddy, like you, never quits.

I'll see you at the finish line.

On The Grill

2009-05-29T22:11:00.007+08:00

I took this shot for a photo-contest with the theme, "Yellow".

I knew that yellow bell pepper are a common sight in stock photography, so I decided to shoot it differently.

Here's what I came up with:

Aperture information: f16
Shutter speed information: 1/200
ISO: 100
Strobist info:
- 580EXII on shoot through umbrella cam left, full power
- white reflector cam right
- 220ex with tons of colored and ND gels below subject, full power(you can't dial down the power settings on this flash, hence the ND gels)

I planned to have coal and flames underneath but my place is a fire hazard. I'd rather be safe.

Maybe I'll revisit this shot again. Probably not capsicum anymore, but still revolves around grilling.

Update - 2009.05.31
I posted the setup shot in my Flickr.

Streets of Saigon

2009-05-28T00:37:00.002+08:00

Just a few more pics for this set. Only a few came out nice. :(

I tried out Mr. Danny Santos' style during my visit in Vietnam.

I wanted to understand this style and see if I can do street photography.

Untitled

Untitled

Maglalako (street vendor)

So far, I think #3 is my best shot. I have tons of shots but does not have that much impact.

I think Danny's style requires a good location and lots of luck.

Saludo ako sa iyo Danny!

Let me just end with this:

Saigon from Above

More of Saigon, Vietnam

2009-05-24T01:03:00.002+08:00

been quite busy so I could only upload these now..

Bac Ho

Statue of Bac Ho in front of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (Notre Dame Catherdal)

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (Notre Dame Catherdal) in Ho Chi Minh City.

I used HDR for these but blended them well with the original files(-2, 0, +2). I didn't want them to end up looking unnatural so I kept the HDR more subtle.

See my "Saigon, Vietnam" set on Flickr.

Happy 9th Birthday Chantelle!

2009-05-22T00:30:00.003+08:00

Happy 9th birthday to my beautiful niece!

You've grown so fast! We miss you so much!

I'm sending my gift to you through mommy, so have fun shopping! ;)

See you when we get back to Manila!

(pics taken by my sis)

Saigon Cityscape

2009-05-14T10:01:00.004+08:00

I went for a short visit to Vietnam. Over the weekend only and it rained!!! So I wasn't able to go out that much.

Let me start out with these.. taken as a project for my architecture workshop.

Saigon Centre

Caravelle Hotel

Opera House (HDR)

I'm happy my HDR of Opera House turned out well. The others, I couldn't make HDR for the others because the exposures had so many different motorcycles in the shots.

more to follow..

Revisiting Bali in HDR

2009-04-17T22:55:00.004+08:00

I've been wanting to try out HDR but I haven't really been able to make it work.

I was a bit frustrated that I couldn't get it right.. but I think I finally nailed it.

Here is a shot of the Royal Temple in Bali, Indonesia that I took last December.

Below is my first successful attempt at HDR.

Comments and criticism is appreciated.

Good thing I kept bracketed shots even if I had no idea how to do HDR back then.

When to Expect What You're Expecting

2009-04-07T21:08:00.008+08:00

I missed Anne's checkup last Saturday. because I was at cooking class.

When I got home, Jumbo was so excited to show me the latest ultrasound!

Technology is so advanced nowadays.

I was surprised that in the first ultrasound, it detected a 1mm baby.

The latest one above showed how old the baby is and when he/she's due.

The Bestest Gift Ever

2009-04-06T22:19:00.004+08:00

I will be receiving the bestest gift ever..

The round thing at the lower left is the waterbag. Inside it is the baby, 1mm big!

The ultrasound was taken last March 21, 2009.

My Journey Begins

2009-04-05T13:55:00.001+08:00

Anne and I flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia last February to celebrate my birthday and our first wedding anniversary.

It was such an early trip, that the sun wasn't even up. We planned to catch up on sleep on the plane.

I'm not the type of person who can sleep just about anywhere but I was glad to be awake that time. If not, I would have missed this this magnificent view..

Little did I know that there's bigger things ahead for me..