Not a Bunch of Photographers, just 2 Hobbyist!

Since Jem and I had been doing some random photowalks for the past few months, little did I know that my aunt would notice it and actually ask us to be the photographers for their mini photoshoot!

By the second week of March, my aunt approached me and asked me to assist them along with Jem (since he was the owner of the camera HAHA). The photoshoot was scheduled on March 25, Saturday, at the La Mesa Eco Park located somewhere in Novaliches, Quezon City. I informed Jem about this and he immediately agreed.

Still, I warned my aunt that we are just a bunch of hobbyist! Still learning the ropes of photography through Google and some guidance from our photographer friends.

Days before the shoot, Jem asked his friend Alfred for some guidance. Like us, Alfred's hobby is photography, but totally unlike us, his skills are on the pro level!!! Like literally, his works are being displayed on various websites but since he doesn't take it seriously, he allows them to use it for free! (Hi Alfred, if you're reading this please let me be your manager! jk HAHA)

On my side, I asked the guidance of my friend-slash-office mate, Sir Chris Sanchez. He is a professional photographer and he learned his skills from non-other than the New York Institute of Photography. He taught me basic model poses and what settings of camera best to use when doing an outdoor photoshoot. Along with that, he also provided me a short slideshow which he uses whenever he teaches his class.

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A day before the photoshoot, I borrowed Sir Chris' spare camera so we can have an extra should Jem's Sony a6000 couldn't take the whole duration of the shoot. He lent me his Nikon V1, a mirror-less camera that is more technical and is somewhat on par with SLRs and DSLRs. I studied the settings the moment I got home and fully charged it. 

The night of March 24, my aunt told me that she wouldn't be able to accompany us due to some conflict with her work! We were devastated (LOL, exaggerating) but nonetheless, there was no backing out now!

March 25, Saturday, I fetched Jem in Ortigas since he just got home from his medical mission. We were told that the meet-up in La Mesa Eco Park would be by 1PM. Since it was already past 12, I simply bought our lunch on McDonalds to-go and proceeded to ride the bus (SM Fairview route, fare is around 40 pesos). We ate our rice meals inside the bus because we both haven't eaten anything yet. We asked the conductor to drop us off at the tricycle terminal going to Eco Park.

We got off at Pearl Drive which was hard to miss since it was a building full of food establishment. We rode a tricycle going to Eco Park, fare was another 40 pesos for the both of us. We arrived in Eco Park at around past 1PM but we were told that the people we were going to shoot hasn't left yet and are still doing their hair and make-up. 

We entered the park and paid for a total of 90 pesos. 50 pesos for Jem and 40 pesos for me since I'm a resident of Quezon City hehe.

Park Rates (image grabbed from here)

We decided to tour around and look for potential places to do our photoshoot. We ended up on Drilon Orchidarium and found a few spot best for whole body shot, close up, and a group photo.

     

Since it was still a bit early and hot, we decided to take a short break and chill for a while. We bought a 20 peso worth of chocolate-flavored scramble. The people involved in the photoshoot arrived at around past 2PM. Little did we know that even an unofficial shoot would require a permit from the park's administration!

We walked back to the admin's office, just outside the entrance beside the police station, and we were asked to fill up a small form. To our relief, we were informed that we wouldn't have to pay for anything! Thank you for the free stuff, Eco Park!!! There were just some rules written on the conforme for you to follow should you conduct a shoot i.e. no shots of the dam, no indecent shoots, etc.

We started the shoot at around 3PM, which was totally beyond our schedule. We had a few problem since the lighting has drastically changed. We decided on using the flash of our cameras to compensate and agreed that we'll simply do post-processing using Photoshop.

Here are some of our shots from our photoshoot. These images are already post-processed.

Due to our unpreparedness, we failed to clean the place up and I had to remove some of the dead leaves using content aware tool in Photoshop which can be seen on some shots HAHA.

We ended the shoot at around quarter to 5PM. Jem and I decided to stay at the park till it closes and we also did our own photoshoot! Here are some of our shots.

That typical pose models use when endorsing a bag HAHAHHAHAHHA we had a good laugh and I think the people around was looking at us thinking we were crazy!!! :))))))))

When it got dark, Jem and I did this for fun! It actually took us long since we couldn't quite get where the frame starts and end :))

Sometime before 6PM, we were approached by one of the security guards who was roaming the area. He told us that we had to leave since the park is already closing. There were no lights around the park so we had to make do with our phones to guide our way back to the entrance. We were probably the last 2 people to get out of the park and luckily there was already a tricycle waiting at the entrance. We shared the ride back to the main road with another couple and we paid 30 pesos for the both of us.

Before heading home, we decided to eat our dinner at Jollibee Pearl Drive. After that, we went to 7-Eleven to have our dessert :> When it was time to go home, we had to cross a pedestrian-lane-free road to be able to ride the bus on the other side! Thankfully nothing bad happened. We rode a bus bound to Buendia and got off at EDSA-Kamias.

Even though were pretty much on the lowest of all levels of all amateurs HAHA, it was still one of the best experiences I have ever had! Truly, working with people whom you just met is quite nerve wrecking and exciting! We enjoyed our job and I hope the pictures turned out well and my aunt and her church-mates would find it OK or even bearable HAHAHA