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Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Wedding photographer review: Dave Sarabia Photography

Another super late review, but better late than later right?

I don't remember how I found Dave, but I think it was during the time I was pooling content for this post: 10 Wedding photographers for that bright and natural look.

We booked Dave two months before the wedding. Odiba, hindi kami nagmamadali haha. Swerte namin because both our prenup and wedding date are still free on his calendar. We really didn't think we could get a photographer of his level to cover for us in such a short notice, so thank you Lord! Our prenup fell on a Monday, and on a Holiday pa so I wasn't expecting his availability. But thank God he's vacant! Yehey! Dave and his team were perfect. They were right when they said you have to really invest on your photo and video team. He's the reason our wedding looked more expensive. Like 50% more expensive wahahaha. Seriously.


I have no complaints about Dave. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a very skilled and professional wedding photographer. Unlike other couples who like to meet beforehand and get to know their suppliers first before signing the deal, we skipped that formality and just made sure to get a credible one who wouldn't bail on us hahaha.

Related: Wedding Blahs - Preps, reviews, musings, and more

Our prenup location was supposed to be at Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center, but Dave (or Darlene, I don't know who's answering their facebook eh hahaha) suggested against it and offered to give alternative locations within Manila that we may want to consider. Gasgas ka kasi masyado si Wildlife, uninspiring na daw, and they want to give us fresh photos. Naks. That kind of input talaga I really appreciate. That's professional advice goys! So in the end, hindi kami natuloy sa Wildlife. Nag FEU Diliman kami, kasi libre hahaha.

Anyway. The first time we met him was during our prenup na. He came with this wife, Darlene, who's also a photographer, and we did the shoot at our college campus. In fair, they were the first ones to arrive on the location, and partida bumabagyo pa non guys.


It was so nice working with them. Hindi awkward, and they would direct us with the poses which I appreciate very much because we suck as models and we're professional tuods. It's worth noting too that Dave was always smiling and super nice and friendly with us. He didn't mind the heat, pawis, putik, and lagkit all around. We were so tired after the shoot but it was worth it because I knew he really worked hard to look for the best spots for us. Kahit umuulan pa.

With that I believe we were able to get the most out of our prenup and wedding locations. No important detail was missed and it's always a delight looking at his edited photos. They're all very warm, natural, and elegant. :)

The package we got was You Complete Me, it was ₱47k that time. It includes:
  • Prenup session + Wedding coverage
  • Prenup AVP
  • Onsite Photo AVP
  • SDE film by God's Grace Productions
  • Raw and edited photos and videos (we provided the hard disk)
  • Custom USB (which I never followed up, nakalimutan ko na haha)
Well, they completed our wedding talaga. We were able to get all our raw and edited photos and videos after around 4 weeks. We sent him a hard disk (via GrabExpress) and he sent it back within a few days. No hassle whatsoever, just make sure to have more than 100GB of free space on your hard disk.

I full on recommend them for your wedding.

Contact

Dave Sarabia Photography
davesarabia@hotmail.com
0917-903-6185
fb.com/davesarabiaphotography

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Learning Lightroom: Wedding Photos

I've been tinkering with Adobe Lightroom for the past few months, thinking I could learn how to edit our wedding pictures if needed, because honestly I'm worried about the output of the editing hehe. Since we're on a budget and couldn't afford to hire photographers who are experts in my preferred style, I decided to learn.

And learn, I did!


I'm definitely not there yet but I'm so excited to learn.

Here are a couple of my edits. The original photos are all taken from Unsplash. I would've preferred getting unedited samples but I couldn't find a bunch of raw wedding photos! So yeah, these will do.

Here's the before and after of the photo above:


I brightened the photo, warmed it up, desaturated the greens, and made the trees pop out from the background a little more. This is definitely closer to the output I have in mind, and I didn't have to use a preset!

Thanks to the guys at Smart for providing the photos. If you would like to learn photography you should check out their online photography classes and courses. They even have a module on lightroom.



The original photos are already great on their own, they're clear and are frkn stock quality. I just wanted to get some good photos for practice hehe.

I think I have a problem with exposure though. I want to brighten the picture without losing the details of the subject. Tips are much appreciated!

The goal is to produce photos similar to what these photographers do. Long shot, but willing to learn! What do you think?

Saturday, May 13, 2017

10 Wedding Photographers to Check Out for that Bright and Natural Look

As usual, I didn't have a preferred style until I started looking into various portfolios. Then I began collecting ideas and building my preferences, after which I concluded that my dream output is one with bright and natural feels to it, who doesn't?!


To be specific, and nit picky:
  • I want photos that are properly composed, especially if it has people in it.
  • Photos that are bright and happy, but not saturated. In fact I want bright, balanced photos, with slightly de-saturated backgrounds. No popping colors, just pure neutral and organic goodness.
  • I wouldn't check your camera settings (woah there) but I would want raw photos that are well lit. When I say raw, I mean unedited. Please don't piss me off with RAW files haha. I mean I'd ask for them immediately after our event so it helps if the photographer already has a bunch of no-filter good quality shots! Does it help that we're having a morning wedding? Haha Is it too much to ask? Do most photographers shoot RAW? Can't I get my JPEGs immediately? hehe
  • Styled - cos I'm a sucker for aesthetics but couldn't flat-lay properly. For what it's worth, I have fake grass, wooden clothespins, and jute strings for props, yeah?
  • Stock quality - yes I'm arte like that! I want stock quality photos. Char but not quite.
Finally, shempre di pa ko tapos, post-processing matters a lot to me because this is where the final output is getting brewed. I want photos that don't look filtered. There are photographers who churn out albums that look like they've been slapped with just a preset, and boom, done. No further effort made balancing each photo. Presets are great, they're the first things I learned when I started tinkering with Lightroom and I thought they're magic. But they're not everything. Vignettes, HDR, and dark and grainy cinematic effects are not my thing too. At least not for a wedding.

So with all these demands, I'm proud to present to you my 10 favorite local wedding photographers - based on their portfolios , as I haven't been blessed with the opportunity (and budget) to work with them (ETA: we got Dave Sarabia and our photos are perfect!!!). Also, they're responsible for turning me into this nit picky ass. But I swear if I get to work with any of them, they wouldn't hear a word from me, just tears of joy and snorts of laughter ('cos I hear they're a delight to work with as well).

In no particular order:

Disclaimer: All photos are from the photographers' respective online portfolios and rates are for the first quarter of 2017. 

ALSO (ETA) just so you won't get disappointed why this and that photographer isn't here, I noted down mostly 1) those we considered booking, 2) those whose portfolios struck me personally, and 3) of course those who came in my radar while researching. I'm aware there are hundreds of talented photographers out there, but 10 won't be enough to feature them all. Consider this a modest promotion based on what I've been exposed to so far. I'm not up to lurk in the wedding industry forever, this isn't a wedding blog lol.

Let's go!

1. Daniel Talavera Photography
Investment: ₱35,000 to ₱75,000
www.danieltalavera.com
photo@danieltalavera.com

2. Mara and Mike Photography

Investment: ₱25,000 to ₱70,000
www.mmphotoph.com
inquire@mmphotoph.com
facebook.com/M.MPhotoVideo

Aaaargh! I'm so tempted to get them!

3. Chestknots Studios
Investment: ₱78,800 to ₱136,800
www.chestknots.com
chestknots@gmail.com
instagram.com/chestknots
facebook.com/chestknots

4. The Perfect Grey Photography
Investment: ₱30,000 to ₱80,000
www.theperfectgreyphotography.com
theperfectgreyphoto@gmail.com

5. Foreveryday Photography
Investment: ₱75,000 to ₱120,000
www.foreverydayphoto.com

6. Law Tapalla Photography
Investment₱35,000 to ₱70,000
www.lawtapalla.com
www.facebook.com/LawTapallaPhotography

7. Team Benitez Photo
Investment: ₱70,000 to ₱110,000
www.teambenitezphoto.com
www.facebook.com/teambenitez
www.instagram.com/teambenitezphoto

8. CamZar Photography
Investment: ₱50,000 to ₱155,000 (with video tie-up)
www.camzarphoto.com

9. Dave Sarabia Photography

Investment: ₱22,000 to 57,000 (with video tie-up)
davesarabia@hotmail.com
facebook.com/davesarabiaphotography

ETA: WE GOT THEM AND WE COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.
10. Bob and Zab Photography
Investment: ₱40,000 to ₱80,000
www.bobandzab.com
www.facebook.com/bobandzabphotography

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That's it! I had fun curating this list, and layouting them as well. It was suuuuch a dreamy experience going through each of their portfolios. 

Did I miss anyone? I'm aware there are still tons of great photographers out there who's forte is this style so if you think there are more who deserve to be on the list, feel free to comment and let me know! Who knows a part 2 is coming? ;)