PHOTOGRAPHY, THEN AND NOW

I remember this picture of a rotating carousel at night which won me our organization's Grand Prize for Best Photo.

This was taken in the early 1990s with my Pentax SFXn SLR camera... no not Digital SLR yet!

Come to think of it, this was scanned from a simple picture with no Photoshop editing and most of all, people were not yet so much into Photography. 

It was just interesting because of the play of lights as the Merry Go-Round spinned...I wasn't even so sure of I had a tripod, but I must have used it!

Then, photographers were correlated to simple men who would take pictures of you in parks and the like. 

This is a far cry from the present day photographers who are usually affluent and can afford all the gadgets needed or most of all, who just want to have the whole paraphernalia, including the editing works! 

Actually, photography has already elevated into a different level of science and art!

My grandfather on my Mom's side was already in the photography business and during the 40s and 50s, he already had a Studio in Cebu and usually gets the Studio Portrait shots, Family pictures and of course, Class Pictures! Don't forget... they also had the great talent of retouching!

My Mom at their Studio wearing a creation she made herself

I remember the Black and White shots and the Sepia, too!  Now, these are effects made during post-processing!

my parents

In fact, my Auntie Gening even used to lightly paint the Black and White photos manually just to give a touch of color. 
And here is a picture with family and friends...I wonder what camera they used!

The models had their traditional pose and of course, the Mona Lisa smile.

My Mom... with annotations written in ink

And here is an interesting picture of my Dad at work.

1958

When we were kids, we usually had a very formal Class picture usually on the stairs to make sure everyone is seen.

These days, it is hard to get a formal class picture and there has to be several wacky shots!


And when we graduated or for yearbooks, it had to be the retouched black-and-white photo!

I learned to love Photography more in 1987 when I bought my first own camera in Japan (when I was a Philippine Delegate), the Pentax IQ Zoom 70, which I read from Newsweek was the world's first compact zoom-lens camera. This still used the film and this was the expensive part - developing the photographs.

with my co-delegates to the ASEAN- Japan Friendship Program... few months after our Japan trip and using the Pentax IQ Zoom 70

This picture was taken from this compact zoom lens camera. See the date stamped on the photo!

But, I have become a "CHRONICLER" as my Junior, Kaye R. De B. said. I am more into documentation rather than the artist-photographer nor the director type! I am also more into the classic photos and prefer less editing, but maybe, I really don't have the luxury of time.. and talent for this! 

Autofocus and SLR cameras have gone a long way. It is now digital with all the increase in megapixels as well as in-camera editing, weather proofing and ease of editing and sharing. Now, everyone can take a picture with their cellphones! 


In 2007, I would never forget my Sony Ericsson K800i cellphone which I used partly for our Dubai trip, when my camera batteries drained.

taken at the Ibn Battutah Mall in Dubai using the Sony Ericsson K800i

And of course, the newer cellphones have better cameras which suffices if we forgot our digital camera!

At the Colosseo in Rome as taken from my HTC One X cellphone

Technology has exponentially changed and made photography more easy, more accessible, more cheap and as my friend said, "First thing one does in a DISASTER is no longer to run for your life... Now, take a picture first before running for your life! Then post in Facebook as soon as possible!"

As I said, PHOTOGRAPHY has leveled up to a higher level of SCIENCE and ART... and COMMUNICATION!!! 


This is our way of sharing how we have been, what we have been doing and what we are interested in.


I wonder where Photography will go in the next decades and how it will amaze us more !!!