Photo Art Color Effects

Another thing I found is the Photo Art Color Effects by Fun Factory. It lets you colorize certain portions of the photo with the tools available. It reminds me of some apps available way back when the first Iphone was making mondo gnarly waves in techno buzz.

The tools are a bit hard to activate, but you get tons of ideas from this app.

More Fun with the Fx and LightBox Cam

This past few days, I've been toying around again and again with my FX and Lightbox camera. They seem to add a different atmosphere to the landscape photos I seem to be fond of.


The Mandaluyong Skyline from the Boni MRT Station

An Almost Empty EDSA, just below the Ayala MRT station

At the Ayala Triangle Park, just before the sun rose up high.

...what the...

Android Cam Crazy!!!

I recently purchased an Android phone with a 2MP camera... I know, not the kind of specs I usually go for but beggars can't be choosy (yeah, thats right...I'm a beggar).

Looking at the Samsung Android market, I found a lot of cool photo editors and effects...most of them are embedded on the phone camera so you have the option of using the software as a way to capture the image.

There's the classic Pixlr-o-matic by Autodesk, which is well know not only to web heads but also to Iphone users also. Its easy to use interface with variety of effects can give a beginner a golden touch when taking photos.

The Lightbox app is also like Pixlr but with additional effects. The 'Lomo' and 'HDR' settings are a joy to use.

For a varied look into the different types of camera, there is the FxCamera which lets you choose the type of camera, from ordinary, to Toy Cam, to Polaroids, and much more. With a nifty 'Symmetrical Camera" which lets you play with the same photo twice.

There's still lot of apps I have to go through, and I hope to find a good app out there that would help even a beginner like me create better visuals for their hobby.

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(Lightbox's Lomo filter)

(Symmetrical from FXCamera)

(Toy Camera from FXCamera)

A Party on Manila Bay

Our UAP chapter (UAP-CBD) held its Christmas Party last December 3. What made this party different is we had it on a yacht, held while we were cruising the calm waters of Manila Bay. It was a happy and memorable experience.

a view of SM Mall of Asia from Manila Bay

Just in time to witness the weekend fireworks show at Mall of Asia from a totally different standpoint.

The city skyline as seen from Manila Bay

The small yacht anchored beside us before we casted off.

Thanks to my officemate, Flo, for lending her Nikon 3100 for the occassion.

More On Alternate Flash Diffusers

A bit content about the cigarette carton diffuser I made a few months back, I started experimenting with a few more configurations.

I also found that a few layers of tissue paper is good for making a soft daylight glow.

And white thin carton, which I made from a cigarette flip top box, create a variety of soft hues from yellow to orange depending on the distance from the subject.

with the bare flash

a soft white tone from the 'tissue diffuser'

a soft orange glow from the 'white carton diffuser'

Toys of Brutality (part2)

The last 'Toys of Brutality' series was successful, My son and I decided to give it a go one more time. This time, with more ferocity, with more brutality...

"I'm gonna shove this way up yer spinktah..."

Back breaker

A view from the door peephole

My fist...you face (advanced edition)

"Viscera Stomping Boots... Lobo style"

"Curb stomping!!! Yeah!!!"

"Its about time your face met my boot!!!"

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MUSIC OF BRUTALITY

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The guys after a tiring day of photo shoot

Makeshift Flash Diffuser

I saw in one online resource that almost any translucent object can be turned to a flash diffuser or filter. In one example, they used an empty carton of cigarettes as a diffuser.

I made one just like it. but with a few alterations

While the cigarette box in that webpage was closed, I put a little hole on the top to act as a reflector.

When the cardboard was closed, the resulting shot was red. That means the other colors of the spectrum was not getting out. That's why I added the hole, to reflect the other colors upward providing the hues needed to make the flash white.

In outdoor ambient lighting, the flash appears 'cream' or off white. In total darkness, it shoots off an orange, reddish tone.

Well, still needs more work.

(using ordinary flash)

(with my home made diffuser)

Toys of Brutality

I got a hold of some of my son's WWE action figures. We then posed them, then I got the idea to take pictures...mostly using the built-in macro settings to give the focus on the action and the action figures. Spice them up using Pixlr's Pixlr-o-Matic to give it a rugged, warped, pulp fiction feel to it.

("Who's next?")

("MY FIST...YOUR FACE...")

("Take your face pounding like a man...")

("MY FIST...YOUR FACE..." ver.2.0)

Flash Diffusers

Sometimes you see those little translucent plastics covering the flash component of a camera. That is called a diffuser. It scatters the light from the flash bulb, giving off a softer tone.

(without a diffuser, the light is very direct and intense, not good for portraits)

(picture taken with a make-shift flash diffuser)

You can use a variety of plastics to use as a diffuser as long as its translucent. For this photo, I used a DVD case that was white and translucent.

Another Cool Effects Editor from Pixlr

Those wunder guys from Pixlr is out with another cool effects tool... this time, it helps you make faux-vintage photos.

I don't know if this was here for a long time, since I use the Pixlr editor and Pixlr Express exclusively, but this 'new' thing I found on their website is sure to add another dimension to your creativity and artistic sense.

Its called the 'Pixlr-O-Matic'.

For those who don't know yet, Pixlr provide quality image editing tools that are online and easy to use. If you can use MS Paint or Adobe's Photoshop, you can definitely use the Pixlr Editor for your basic photo editing needs. And for the creative ones, Pixlr Express has a lot of effects and tools available to jazz up your photo.

Pixlr-O-Matic has a 3 step process to enhance your photo. The first step is applying the effects, which are almost the same feature you can see with Pixlr Express, and more. The second step is superimposing digital damage, watermarks or scratches or such, to your photo. The last step is laying in the frame...either using damaged edgings, or stylized boarders, its up to you to decide.

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Random Pics

(can someone please teach me the correct settings or how to shoot a dusk scene)

("...here's lookin' at you kiddo...")

(hehehehe...pipes...)

Recover Deleted Files from your USB Devices

I like to keep my camera's memory clean. Every shooting day, I immediately transfer my files to the PC then delete the ones in the camera.

But most cameras store their files of different folders, which makes it hard for you to track down. Like a moment ago, I accidentally deleted my movie files after transferring my photo files. I happened a lot in the past, and although I resolved to be more careful, you still tend to slip up from time to time.

No problem, right? just look in the Recycle Bin. But the Recycle bin doesn't cover USB drives, removable drives and network drives, so really have to be careful with these kinds of file management.

In comes a downloadable freeware from the good guys at Pandora Recovery.

They have free version that specializes in recovering media files, which is good for your USB DSLRs, digital cameras, bridge cameras, and so on.

So keep this wonderful and useful program afloat by donating to their website.

Shutter experiments and then some...

(using one of the fun scene settings on the X500 called the 'Sketch Mode')

(shutter priority test at night)

taken by my wife, while I was staring into nothingness

(using the X500's panoramic shot mode)

But using the X500 at night, in the dork, shows the X500's weakness when it comes to low light level photography. Up close, these pictures are pixelized with color dithering in dark areas. Indicating that the sensor is overcompensating for light.