Life Lessons from The Queen of the Skies

 I recently watched a documentary on the history of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, and I was struck by how insane, stressful, and virtually impossible the challenges were that the engineers faced, betting the entire company on a plane that may never take off. It ended up revolutionizing air travel, putting more people in the skies than anyone ever imagined. It was a contentious, seemingly unwinnable battle from start to finish to put that plane is the sky --- yet all we see and experience is the joy of flying in a world-changing airplane.

I'd have to say my #1 takeaway from the past year or so from personal experience, reading books, and watching documentaries like that, has been that my expectations for how easy accomplishing anything would be --- how much time and work it would take --- have been all grossly, stupidly out of touch with reality. Good things take time, work, and persistence, and great things take an unimaginable amount of them. Period. And even then, with all of that, success isn't guaranteed one bit. That is precisely why great things are so uncommon in the first place.

Even though we all already know there's no such thing as overnight success, I think most stories of success we read about still fail to do justice to the amount of sacrifice and persistence required to achieve anything. So now the task is to have your work ethic and stomach for enduring false starts and failure catch up with your sky-high ambitions. Not easy, but if you believe you're born to fly, you don't have a choice.

All About Metal Prints! What, Why, and How to Prepare Your Images

Metal prints are one of my favorite ways to display my photos! While traditional paper prints will always be my go-to for maximum consistency and archival quality, metal prints provide me with a modern and striking way to display my work at large sizes. My best and largest metal prints are currently on exhibit at WeCube Inc. and I invite everyone to come check them out, and attend my artist night on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017 at 7:30 pm.

In this video tutorial, I explain:

• What metal prints are and how they are made
• Reasons to consider printing on metal versus doing traditional framed paper prints
• and how I prepare my images to get the best results for my metal prints.

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My two newest 20x30 inch metal prints

For those who want to try metal prints but may be scared of the relatively higher cost, great news:  Photobook Worldwide has given me a discount code for 60% off on metal prints valid until March 31, 2017! Just create your metal prints at www.photobookworldwide.com, find your local website (I use www.photobookphilippines.com) and input AARONPALABYAB under voucher code.

And don't forget to share your metal prints with me via e-mail or one of my social media channels!

Come to my artist night for my Elementals Exhibit!

Quick post to invite everyone to the artist night for my Elementals exhibit next Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 7:30-11:00pm at WeCube Inc., 4th Floor Coherco Corporate Center, 116 V.A. Rufino St., Makati City! If you have Facebook, please click "Going" on the event page here.

It'll be an intimate evening with a relaxed atmosphere, where we can discuss art and life over drinks! I'll give a short talk as well. Hope to see you there!

My first exhibit and a free workshop!

So stoked for my very first public exhibit! Check out my mini-exhibit featuring my Elementals series, which recently received an Honorable Mention in the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2016 under the Professional Fine Art Landscape Category. It will begin on Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 and run until the end of February. The venue is WeCube Inc., 4th Floor,  Coherco Corporate Center Bldg., 116 V.A. Rufino St, Makati. 

I will also be displaying a number of large format metal prints from my "Becoming" series that I'm very excited to finally share with the public.

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My artist night will be on Jan. 25, 2017. Online invitations will be sent out by and by. This event is open to all, free of charge.

NOTE: The metal prints are on display in the lobby and are available for viewing any time. However, the "Elementals" pieces are housed in a room that is sometimes booked privately. To be certain you'll be able to view them, contact WeCube Inc. in advance of your visit at 750 8806 or hello@wecube.ph.

Sign up now for the Gear on the Go Workshop!

I'll also be doing my first free workshop during the exhibit! Come sign up for Gear on the Go: Case Studies in Shooting While Traveling to be held on Jan. 21, 2017, 1:00pm-4:00pm, at WeCube Inc. (same venue as above). Slots are limited so you must sign up to guarantee a slot.

This workshop will be free of charge and I will also be announcing details and taking signups of upcoming out-of-town photo workshops then as well. Hope to see you there!

Hyperlapsing around Manila

Here's "Manilapse," my first piece for 2017! Teaching myself to hyperlapse on a day around Manila last year. Turns out it's hard work to shoot and even harder to edit cleanly. Practice, practice!

Locations:

0:00-0:12 Rizal Park

0:15-0:25 Quiapo

0:26-End Around Manila Bay

All shot on a Sony A7RII with a Canon EF 24-105 L IS on a Metabones adapter and a Sony FE 24-240 f3.5-6.3.

Back to Heaven

A time-lapse micro short exploring the idea of how it feels to go home, put together using footage I had been saving but never got to add to. Warming up for a longer piece in 2017. Shot by Taal Lake, Batangas, Philippines.

(At time of posting, for some reason the 4K option isn't appearing, but 2K is still available.)

Find What You Love... and Shoot It

A quick tidbit of wisdom from Chris Burkard once again, as shared on his interview with Everyday Carry:

“To all you hopeful photographers out there: love what you shoot. I spent a ton of time early in my career serving the needs of editors, magazines, etc. But once I finally focused into shooting what actually made me happy and brought me joy, my career skyrocketed. I also realized what I was good at and stopped trying to convince others that I could do everything. That is really important. Don’t try to show an editor tons of images that reflect a broad variety of work. Focus on what is most important: your best work. The stuff that shows what you specialize in. It will help you become a better curator and editor for your own work. The worst thing you can do is try to tell people you can shoot everything well. You’re hired because you are a specialist in a certain area, so the sooner you realize that the better.”

— Chris Burkard

A Smartphone Tripod Adapter That Doesn't Suck: MeFoto Sidekick 360 Review

Today I'm doing a quick review on the MeFoto Sidekick 360, which I just stumbled on in Samy's Camera in San Francisco. Doing a lot of smartphone photography content lately, using a cheap smartphone adapter has just been a pain: they're impossible to level on a Gorillapod, not usable in portrait orientation, and are just poorly built.

The Sidekick 360 makes setup and leveling a breeze and its Arca Swiss compatible base means you don't even need a tripod plate to use it - no fiddling with screws! Watch the video above for more info.

The MeFoto Sidekick 360 retails for $30 and the larger Sidekick 360 Plus retails for $35. For buyers from the Philippines, find it on Lazada here (affiliate link).

Milky Way Post-Processing Demo: "Under Guiding Lights" in Adobe Lightroom CC

Back with another tutorial/demo video! In this video I take you through the relatively simple process I used to edit this photo entitled "Under Guiding Lights."

For more tutorials, click here!