Tuesday, June 16, 2009

classic english landscape


© Joselito Briones


this picture's taken in dove dale. i thought i'd try to make it look like an old english painting.


XXX

Monday, June 15, 2009

do try this at home


© Joselito Briones


i don't know why but i cook almost everyday but rarely take photos of the food i make. maybe i should always set up the camera even before i started cooking, i think usually by the time i'm done in the kitchen i always just want to eat it quickly.


© Joselito Briones


today's food is home-made potato gnocchi and braised oxtail. i made the gnocchi earlier in the day (i'm kinda messy, as you can see), the oxtail a few days ago (always better reheated), i decided to take out the bones and just serve the meat and sauce. would've been better if instead of the basil i used fresh sage fried to a crisp, but i don't have any sage today. ah well, next time.


XXX

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Gau in Bakewell


© Joselito Briones


This photo of Gau was taken in Bakewell in front of the snotty cafe.


XXX

Saturday, June 13, 2009

the one who refuses to go away


© Joselito Briones


Back in London. Wil and I went to Putney to look at the house that he's buying. It's a lovely semi-detached in a quiet neighborhood. We did the measurements, which wasn't very easy because the old woman who owns the house is still there - together with all her stuff - most of which are breakable.





© Joselito Briones


First thing that I thought of, since it's obvious that Wil loves having friends around, and everybody invariably gravitates toward the kitchen/dining room anyway, is to suggest to convert this garage, next to the kitchen, to an informal dining room. He's currently enrolled in a car-sharing program and has no immediate plan to buy a car, and visitors can always park in the driveway.





© Joselito Briones


Photo above is Wil talking with the current owner (not shown). At first glance she's the typical old lady, nice and gentle and proper, but when you talk to her it becomes obvious that she's always calculating and that she's rather cunning. All the time that we were there, she kept offering Wil stuff that she won't be taking with her (usually junk) and her effort in making everything sound appealing was just admirable, albeit ineffective. Wil was fuming when we left because she insisted to extend her stay in the house by a few days, at Wil's expense (he'll have to rent a place to stay those extra few days), and brushes Wil off with "Oh I'm sure you got friends who'll accommodate you! If not I've got friends who'll put you up." Shrewd, if not cunning.


XXX

Wall Street Series


© Joselito Briones


This finance website from Poland used some of my photos.
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3

Thanks :)


XXX

Friday, June 12, 2009

Wil at Harthill Hall


© Joselito Briones


This is one of the NUMEROUS photos I took of Wil and everyone else who joined the gathering at Harthill Hall. It would be fun to put it side by side with the original photo and play "spot the difference". haha!


XXX

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Duplicity


© Universal


Saw this movie tonight at Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz. Smart dialogue and great chemistry between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Some predictable outcome (SPOILER ALERT!), i.e., when you see that Wilkinson's character became the moral one among the characters, and this being a holywood movie, you just know he's gonna be on top in the end. Over all tho a very entertaining movie.

Verdict: recommended.


XXX

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

food stuff


© Wil


I've almost forgotten this, but since Wil is the only one who comments on my videos, i had to go check his videos too, no? done by Wil from another trip (early last year), this time in some posh restaurant in Chamonix.


XXX

Monday, June 08, 2009

And the award goes to...


© Joselito Briones


Good news! My sister Irma, ("Neh" to the family) was awarded the "Global Achievement Award" in her company. She's an industrial engineer managing production in Africa and the Middle East of products distributed in mainstream U.S. markets (Saks, Target, GAP, etc.).

Congratulations, Neh! We're proud of you!

(Photo taken in Dubai)

XXX

Saturday, June 06, 2009

white belt tip - color adjustment


© Joselito Briones


In the latest issue of "Contact Sheet", the newsletter for iStockphoto contributors, a short tip/article I submitted was used:



*****
Color Adjustment
By: attator

Adjusting the colors of an image also changes its actual or perceived luminosity. If it's only the image's color that needs adjusting, this can be done without touching the luminosity (contrast, brightness) by instructing the software to limit the adjustment only to colors. RAW format processors, for example, usually have an option to apply noise reduction only to colors, thereby instantly solving the problem of chroma noise while preserving the texture of the image. In Photoshop, it's also easy enough to duplicate the main layer and assigning the new layer as "color" and do all kinds of color shifts and adjustments to this color layer. Still in Photoshop, just before saving the file in jpeg format, while still in the color layer, a simple localized gradual desaturation can be applied by running repeatedly (as many times as required) an action that goes:

* select - color range - out of gamut (to adjust only colors that are out of bounds, leaving the rest in their full colorful glory)
* select - modify - expand - a few pixels / select - modify - feather - a few pixels (to avoid banding)
* modify - image - desaturate - a few levels down

Repeat as necessary.


*****


Photo above was taken in Miami on a recent trip, I used the above process to push it to maximum saturation without going out of gamut.

XXX

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Back to London


© Joselito Briones


Today we drove back to London. On the way back, we went to Haddon Hall and Hardwick Park ("Lady Spencer's Walk" and the grounds full of cows and cow shit>. As it was when we went to the Peak District, Ronnie and Jerome (photo above) were kind enough to give us a ride. They dropped us by Wil's, then after some time to take a quick rest we met up again in their flat in Baker Street and from there, dinner. Indian.


XXX

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

macathon


© Joselito Briones


This is what we usually do at night, after dinner. Curiously enough nobody brought a windows notebook.


XXX

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

lovely dinner


© Joselito Briones


After Dovedale, we all went back to the house for the dinner that Ann's group prepared. It was most excellent. Salmon and vegies on bread and olive-filled mini pastries for starters, perfectly done roast leg and shoulder of lamb and potatoes for main, and Eton mess for dessert. This is what holidays should always be like.

Photo above is Jerome carving one of the two big pieces of roast. We finished all of it.





© Joselito Briones


Chow time!





© Joselito Briones


Ann and Chris making the dessert.


XXX

Monday, June 01, 2009

Dovedale



© Joselito Briones


Today's outing is in Dovedale, to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the Peak District. It was all about leisure walks and setting up a picnic to eat and soak up the sun.




© Joselito Briones


It turned out to be a popular thing to do among locals and tourists alike as there were quite a lot of people there. Enough to give a very lively cheerful atmosphere but not too much to ruin the place.




© Joselito Briones


Another group photo. I'm sure there's a video version somewhere in my files. I've snapped too many photos to keep track.


XXX

Sunday, May 31, 2009

group photo


© Joselito Briones


After Chatsworth, we all went back to the cottage for dinner. The system was that the guests (everyone but the two birthday celebrants - Marco and Wil) were divided into two groups who would take care of food in the house. Today's group in charge is lead by Ronnie. For dinner we had pork stew with potatoes. I'm excempt from doing any of the cooking and serving duties as I was the token photographer.

After dinner, I asked everyone to put on the best clothes that they brought for a group photo in the living room, to commemorate the gathering. Left to right: me, Mati, Chris A., Michael, Ann, Marco, Ronnie, Wil, Gau, Chris O., and Jerome.

XXX

Chatsworth House


© Joselito Briones


This was taken yesterday, with Ann and Chris, in Chatsworth, where we spent most of the day. The site was used for such films as "Pride and Prejudice", "The Duchess", and "Wolfman".


Next: Dovedale

XXX

Harthill Hall


© Joselito Briones


This is the manor that we're staying in for the weekend. It's called "Harthill Hall". The fact that it has a huge functioning old kitchen that has an old country feel (solid wood table and bench that could sit 12, chandelier, the works) is already a wow, but that the whole place, including the two living rooms and 6 bedrooms, are done in the same way, is just great.


© Joselito Briones


Photo above is Ann working the kitchen.


Next: Chatsworth

XXX

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Bakewell



© Joselito Briones


Video above was taken in Bakewell, a small village-town that's pretty. Unfortunately, the cafe shown above called "Ricci's", whose outside signboard boasts of having "friendly service" was actually very rude. Half of our group went there first and occupied two tables, and ordered drinks accordingly, but when the other half joined us and occupied a third table (there's a total of 11 of us), they were asked to vacate the table because this is for customers who buy drinks for them, but without asking them first if they wanted to order drinks. Losers.

XXX

Friday, May 29, 2009

Fischers Baslow Hall



© Joselito Briones


Today's lunch was at Fischers Baslow Hall, a one-star Michelin rated restaurant in Derbyshire.



© Joselito Briones


Photo above is the reception area where guests can have drinks while waiting for the table.



© Joselito Briones


And this photo above, in the main dining area, shows (clockwise from left) Chris A., Ann, Ronnie, Chris O., Wil, Marco, Jerome, Michael, Gau, Mati and my pork dish.

Next: Bakewell and Harthill.


XXX

Thursday, May 28, 2009

gherkin lunch video

© Joselito Briones

video version, just gotta show marco and mati too.

XXX

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

lunch at the gherkin




© Joselito Briones


Lunch at London's Gherkin Building today. The very pregnant Pearl extended an invitation to us (dining here is not open to the public, only people working for Swiss Re, the building owner for whom Pearl works, and those they invite are allowed in). The view is excellent, as one can see all of London - and it was a clear day by London standard, and above us was only a spiral dome of glass.

Photo (L_R) Chris, Wil, Pearl.





XXX

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

de-stressing


© Joselito Briones


More birthday greetings. Marco flew in to Portugal from Manila for a bit of R&R, and we'll be celebrating his and Wil's birthday in England this weekend.

Happy birthday Marco!

XXX

Sunday, May 24, 2009

No cat needs saving

 - photo by Joselito Briones
© Joselito Briones


On my last birthday, having mentioned to him that I now want to make a full length film (ha!), supportive as he always is, Wil sent me a big box of books on film making - everything from screenplay writing, directing, story bording, and digital videography. I managed to read through the books in two weeks and was psyched to get started, so I thought what better way to practice skills than to try to shoot footages on our forthcoming trip to the English countryside. Guided by the screenplay writing book "Save The Cat", I started doing a screenplay, planning to use only the (would-be) available resources - friends to be in it, locations we're gonna be in anyway. It was gonna be a totally camp "Emma" (location, location), but it proved too much in the end. The project is cancelled and instead (as per Wil's request) we're gonna do a video montage to a song. It's his birthday, and the weekend trip to the English countryside to celebrate his and Marco's birthday, so yay! Should be fun.

Happy birthday Wil!


XXX

Saturday, May 23, 2009

poker face


© Joselito Briones


This was a test on focus pulling (shallow depth of field, focus shifting from one subject to another). This is a 400x300 crop from an HD1920x1080 video.

j'adore

photo ©Joselito Briones / design: Adapt/Ryan Gello


It's always great when a designer sends me a mail to say he's used one of photos for an ad/design. This one is for a fashion event. Thanks Ryan!


XXX

Monday, May 18, 2009

execution


© Joselito Briones

This is what I get for being too cheap to get a steadicam. Ah well.

Friday, May 15, 2009

bewitched princess


© Joselito Briones

this one is also from lleida, in catalunya. the models were there to have their photos taken, so they were surprised when i asked them if i could shoot video instead. on the first two takes they looked at the camera a lot. then they eventually relaxed and totally camped it.

video taken with Canon 5D mark II, processed in Photoshop Extended.
audio track "revenge" by plain white t's, provided by youtube

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Monday, September 29, 2008

busy weekend



© Joselito Briones


it's summer and people are traveling. a friend, rene (photo above), visited us this weekend overnight. it was a short visit on a short notice so i wasn't able to prepare anything to do a shoot - he's modeled for me before - and anyway it was too hot i didn't feel like doing anything but stay in and sleep. he went out shopping with mati. another visitor last weekend was marcus from london and his boyfriend, who dropped by on their way to ibiza. tonight it's mike from singapore, who's currently doing his euro tour (he was in london and iceland, and passed by berlin on his way to poland). i took an iphone photo of us at the restaurant where we met (tony roma's - for the simple reason that it was right there at our meeting place - the marlene dietrich platz) but when i switched phones (the new iphone arrived finally! and no hassle from delivery guy this time) - the photos were lost. it was actually the first time i met mike, but we're in the same email list that regularly gives updates of what everybody's up to, so we've been corresponding for some time already.


XXX

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A change of color



From shooting to being shot. Frieder and the Habbekrats team filmed a commercial video for a special line of Asics shoes that changes color when exposed to the sun, and decided to include me in it. The video includes MTV Deutschland VJ Patrice (ex of pop/soul/rock diva Anastacia) - he's the one riding the bike.


XXX

Sunday, July 13, 2008

donath


© Joselito Briones


it's becoming our regular thing to do dinner at donath cafe trattoria on a weekend. we like the place a lot. it's good home-style italian food, no frou frou, nothing fancy, the crowd is not the pretentious type, and the staff is very friendly. that it's a couple of minutes walk from where we live is a plus :)

the owner was also very nice to let me do a stock shoot there with another photographer a few weeks ago (photo, above, is from that shoot).


XXX

p.s. the people from tineye dropped me a thank you note note for what i said the other day. there's no goodie bag, but they were nice to allow me to invite some people (it's by invitation only for the meantime while still under development) who wants to try out their awesome image search engine. if you're curious to try it out, give me a holler and i'll send you an invite!

XXX

Friday, July 11, 2008

floren gallery

© Floren Caintic


remember i once told you about floren putting up his own gallery in hong kong? it is now a reality. he calls it floren gallery, and recently held a successful group exhibit of filipino artists based in hong kong, called "alternatibo".

and the timing of this post? his birthday, of course :)

happy birthday rene!


XXX

Thursday, July 10, 2008

holy macaroni! batman, is that you?

- photo by Joselito Briones

© Joselito Briones


did the ikea thing (buy useless must-buy things, eat tasteless food) last weekend. just about everything was available in black. is black back? i didn't get the memo. even the gloves i usually buy for dishwashing are now available (only) in black. ok it's latex and it's matted, so not really shiny black but more like lead charcoal. either they've finally caught on to the emo thing, or they're riding the barack popularity wave. and seeing how popular ikea is, don't be surprised if you find black in just about every household you visit, at least in germany.

i ran out of the old tangerine-colored gloves last night so i tore open the new black pack (even giggled a little: black latex gloves, hi hi). lo and behold, i like it! now i know how batman feels when alfred is out running errands and he's got to do the dishes himself. of course after nearly dropping the plate i was washing i just snapped back into reality. the magic was gone. some wise guy once said it's not the mask, it's the process of transformation. that process ended abruptly, unfortunately.

home dining tip #12: get yourself proper pasta plates. even mediocre pasta tastes good in one. it makes the food look special. it makes the serving look less (you'll feel less guilty in gobbling the whole glob of whatever trash you put in it), and it gives you a feeling of "there's something special in the air" which is, sad to admit, the only time we ever go to a restaurant that uses this kind of plate. the one pictured above (really big and heavy) is from manufactum, one of my favorite shops in berlin.


XXX

Monday, July 07, 2008

image search technology



© Joselito Briones


thanks to tineye's ubercool search technology, i've recently found more of my imges in use, including the front page of msn.com's swiss site (unfortunately already changed to a different photo):

cosmogirl.com
zigonet.com
openroad.tv
healthtalk.coom
hubpages.com
hoax-slayer.com
real-restaurant-recipes.com

XXX

Saturday, July 05, 2008

models, inc.



© Joselito Briones


am now totally sold on using professional models, not exclusively, of course. it's just so easy. it's difficult to take bad photos of them, they know how to love the camera, they come all groomed, and at least here in berlin, they come on time. :) one even came with a viktor & rolf goodie bag for me when he picked up his copy of the photos. how cool is that? :)

photo above is of david , whom i photographed a couple of weeks ago.

XXX

Sunday, May 04, 2008

photos coming out

bored - photo by Joselito Briones


© Joselito Briones



Some of the photos I've taken are starting to show up in some online magazines, including the one above, in "Women's Health":

womenshealthmag.com
cosmogirl.com
boston.com
eurorizen.be
mcflight.de
voyageetbusiness.com
primus electronics



XXX

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Image of the Week

 - photo by Joselito Briones
screenshot of iStockphoto.com website


Woo yay!!! A photo I took of Daniel made it to the site's Image of the week feature. :)


XXX

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Our Story Now Begins

 - photo by Joselito Briones
© Joselito Briones


Yep. Finally happened. I got my copy a couple of weeks ago. Have a listen.


XXX

Friday, October 12, 2007

Jane's, before

© Joselito Briones


Beautiful day. Mati and I decided to take photos of Jane's living room, where we'll be spending the next few days, before we completely mess it up. Sort of a before and after picture. I'll try to post an "after" picture later. I took photos, above and below, using the Olympus E500Jane's living room, Jackson Heights, New York - photo by Joselito Briones, while Mati used his Voigtlander with ultra wide-angle lens.


© Joselito Briones


I've shown you a photo of this living room before, of course, in case you're wondering why it looks familiar.


XXX

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Jason Bourne

Matt Damon during the Bourne Ultimatum premiere in London - photo by Joselito Briones
© Joselito Briones


This is another photo from the "Bourne Ultimatum" premiere in Leicester Square in London the other day. My guess is that one wouldn't think him a celebrity if one bumps into him somewhere, he looks like your everyday nice guy next door. He's constantly got that almost-shy constantly apologetic smile on his face. It's a credit to his acting and on-screen persona that he can carry both art films and action blockbusters.


XXX

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Ha!

© Joselito Briones


Am still here of course, spending most of my time in Wil's kitchen (photo, above). I know I owe you quite a lot of stories already, but I'll try to do it little by little, or maybe not. Am not really good at backtracking. I'll just show you photos of things that I've been seeing here in London.


XXX

Star appeal

Julia Stiles  - photo by Joselito Briones

© Joselito Briones


I was in Leicester Square to buy tickets for a West End musical and I stumbled upon the premiere of "Bourne Ultimatum" in Odeon Theater. The stars of the movie were there, including some other celebrities, so I was just happy snapping away.

Photo above is of Julia Stiles, who's now been in all three Bourne movies. She's very beautiful in person, and seemed nice enough to fans. Oh and her hair, perfectly set.


XXX

Sunday, July 29, 2007

And, jazz... feet...

jazz feet - photo by Joselito Briones


© Joselito Briones


I spent most of the morning on my back, trying to get the perfect pose for a picture, a la "jazz handssss....", only with my feet. I can't even remember where I bought this pair of socks.

I also don't know which is more troubling, that I have such colorful socks, or that I have socks with individual toes, or that I can spread my toes like this.

In the afternoon we did our grocery shopping for the whole week.


XXX

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

ROTFLMAO



Ann emailed this. So funny!!!

According to the poster: (byronfgarcia)
"1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! just a teaser."


XXX

Sunday, July 15, 2007

The Fall of Bastille



© Joselito Briones


The photo above is of Ronnie and Jerome, taken during the Regent's Park picnic that followed "The Fall of Bastille" (a.k.a., their official partnership registration here in London). I've got way too many photos on that day, having had 3 separate events to commemorate the occasion... the ceremony itself in the city hall near their apartment in Baker Street, this picnic in Regent's Park, and a Boat trip along River Thames.

This was taken 14th of July, Bastille Day. We didn't tell either Ronnie and Jerome that we'd be able to make it to celebrate with them, so they were very surprised to see us during the ceremony.


XXX

Thursday, July 12, 2007

London trip confirmed

© Joselito Briones


Mati has been for sometime asked by his company to work in England again, but he hasn't really been agreeable with the terms they offer, so he's declined it (and it's in some other city, not in London). This time they offered him a short-term assignment instead (6 weeks) in London, so he took it. I've also got several things to do in London (Ronnie and Jerome's partnership ceremony, Wil's housewarming party, iStock minilypse), so I'm tagging along. So yeah, for the next 6 weeks starting Friday, Mati and I will be in London.

Photo above is one of my absolute favorite places to visit in London, the National Portrait Gallery, taken during my recent trip there. Okay, it's actually the building behind the ornate wrought iron street lamp and kiosk. I've always been fascinated by the human face as photography (and drawing) subject, and this place has a treasury of the different styles different personalities have been portrayed.


XXX

Friday, July 06, 2007

Dark Room

modern office building in Erlangen - photo by Joselito Briones



© Joselito Briones


This time I made sure the film rolls are in my bag, before going to Frankenlabor. Managed to do a bit of grocery shopping too. Photo above is a building I always pass by on the way to the supermarket.

I had the apartment all to myself. I used the toilet as a dark room to process the Tmax 100 films that I used in New York and California, with Rodinal (I only brought the Ilford XP2's to Frankenlabor for processing, I don't have the chemicals for that).

I think most of them turned out well, they're now hanging in the walk-in closet. Can't wait to scan them.


XXX

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Green

© Joselito Briones


Eric phoned with a very exciting news. He finally got his green card! That was pretty quick, and he himself was very surprised, he wasn't expecting it until after he comes back from his upcoming trip to the Philippines.

Photo above was taken last time I was in New York, in Central Park, close to the Metropolitan Museum.


XXX

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Summer fun

© Joselito Briones


This is another scan, of one I took in Union Square, in New York. The moment I pointed my camera to them, these kids just started making faces.


XXX

Popular Posts