The Traveler meets the Photojournalist

Imagine, having a real-time contact with your favorite Photographer? And is considered to be one of the best Travel and Photojournalists in the country, thus, a renowned to this field?

Well, this is the beauty of having workshops and seminars as you’ll be acquainted and have a real-time access and add-in talks with your preferred Photographers which consequently whet your photography skills. Lucky enough, I reached out the CANON DHUB [An authorized Canon Center] to register myself for the Basic Photography Workshops led by a renowned Travel and Photojournalist, Ms Jojie Alcantara.

Having a photo souvenir together with my favorite Photographer, Ms Jojie Alcantara
and Ms Monique Purswani Libo-on [Marketing Head for Mindanao of Canon Philippines, Inc.]

I decided to join the workshop sponsored by CANON DHUB [Cagayan de Oro Branch] last March 29, 2014 at 2^nd Floor, South Concourse, Lim Ketkai Mall, Lim Ketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City because I yearn for meeting Ms Jojie Alcantara as she’s one of my favorite photographers in the country and hone my photography skills through hands-on experience. Not to mention, she is the favorite Photographer of my grandma.

Some of the official participants during the 2nd Basic Photography Workshops led by Ms Jojie Alcantara
[for Canon DHUB- CDO]

The photography workshop started at 1:00pm with 27 official participants including the members of the Light Seeker [A group of Photographers based in the city] where Ms Jojie introduced us to her photo portfolios and how she managed to shoot such images with precision.

“Ever wonder how professional photographers give the impression on capturing the perfect shot?” This is a general question always asked by amateurs and photo enthusiasts either asking the professional instructor directly or simply afraid to deliver the query and seem to conceal it as a notion.

By simply introducing us to her own image compilation, she let me see the world through the eyes of a well-known Professional Photographer. I reckoned, “this is a good way to develop my digital photography proficiency and artistic vision” as we have some sort of similarities.

Right image shows 2 Canon EF-S Lenses recommended by Ms Jojie Alcantara.
The small lens is the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II (A Prime lens)
The taller lens is the Canon EF 70-200mm F4L IS USM (A Telephoto Zoom lens)

Talking about parallels:

Since I was a child, I already have a bad history of asthma. You can check my “Traveling against Asthma” article HERE. Similarly, Ms Jojie had an awful account of asthma too.

“I had bronchial asthma since 7 and have been to hospitals in and out since my childhood years. It was frustrating and I was really very sickly”- Ms Jojie Alcantara

With such ghastly narration of the past, I established a positive inspiration to others through traveling. This may be the reason why I considered Ms Jojie Alcantara as one of my favorite photographers.

After the photo sharing and enlightenment, the half-day workshop continued by an individual contest using all stages of the art and science of capturing an image through digital camera such as lines and patterns, big smile, up high, down below, reflection, portrait, frames, and even the rule of thirds. After getting our own shot [single shot] given a timely allowance of 15 minutes, she then critiques the images.

Participants from CDO Light Seeker Group as they registered their images as an entry.

We were given a choice to consider what guide we are using for the picture. My entry is more into combining the up high with lines and patterns to showcase an idiosyncratic image and decided to set it on the up high category.

Image above shows my entry- Combining the Up High with Lines and Patterns while manipulating the Colors.

The image above supposedly my entry but i decided not to submit this picture because I used the Tamron AF Lens 70-300mm Di LD Tele-Macro instead of a Canon EF-S.

Each picture was carefully evaluated by Ms Jojie Alcantara together with Ms Monique Purswani Libo-on [Marketing Head for Canon Marketing Philippines, Inc. in Mindanao]. Ms Jojie then commented to every entry and shared her knowledge on how to improve the image by just cropping some part of the picture. She explained and even expounds her photography skills to us on how to make a great photograph by finding and using the right composition when framing a shot combining it with natural light as a great avenue.

Above image is my entry for the main challenge

Then we came to the main challenge- an on the spot photo contest with a theme “It’s More Fun to shop at Canon Dhub”. The challenge is about capturing a happy customer inside the Canon DHUB store. The competition was somewhat-like a bit challenging simply because we only caught one walk-in customer while buying a camera and was given at least 15 minutes. With a single subject, all our entry would somewhat be alike to each other. Then I learned that you just need to maximize your subject to create a distinct image. Some even customized their entries by using alternatives.

On-hand insights during the Basic Photography Workshop:

After event, i tried to combine Colors and Contrast with the Lines and Patterns and above image is the result. I used the Canon 600D with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS II.

- For Amateurs: Not because the workshop is “basic photography” does it mean you won’t gain anything from it. Every step starts with the basic program.

- For Beginners: The workshop is not really for beginners but more likely for the Advance Beginners as the speaker portrayed an insider tips and personal viewpoints of the art and science of photo taking while using information such as “basic” guidelines. It is more on how to make a great photograph rather than how to use your Digital Single Lens Reflex [DSLR], which is fortunate enough.

- Jojie Alcantara’s images portray existence while using foreground, background, and subject all together in a much distinct manner- Often than not, breaking the rule of thirds while presenting a better alternative queue.

- Rule of Thirds can sometimes combine with Lines and Patterns and Color composition. Just make sure you know how to manipulate each guideline.

- Never assume you know everything about your photographic forte. Even a great photographer can sometimes misled with this initiative scheme. Knowledge is consistently revolving.

- Photography Workshops either for Basic, Amateur, and Advanced Professional are great avenues to learn the field. Educating yourself is a must for the niche.

- Just be happy and take photos more often to create memorable experience. Life is short. Take the journey and document it.

The half-day workshop ended successfully with a group photo.

Photo credits: Ms Jojie Alcantara

P.S.:

You may check the pictures during the workshop by clicking HERE.

Images below shows the winning entries of the contests. Please be advised that I took the initiative of capturing the winning photo entries as part of the article.