Ferdz Decena

A Photographer using his DSLR I have been asked a lot on what camera to use or what brand is the best one to buy. Honestly that’s a real tricky question as there are a lot of factors to consider. Being one of the Olympus endorsers in the Philippines I may give a biased answer in a fly so I don’t want to give a specific brand. Here’s an article I wrote for a magazine at least a year ago which I think is still relevant at this time. Since that Magazine never saw the light of its second issue, I might as well publish it here with a few changes to adapt to time. Hope this one helps. — We call it the “Happy Shot” — that one single photograph amongst the many attempts that captured the perfect moment. It may be the perfect smile on a portrait. The best light on a landscape. Or that unexpected candid action on an event. It’s what every photographer yearns for. The sheer pleasure of taking home the shots that you would be proud to hang on yo...

Allan (Olympus E-PL1, Lumix 20mm, f1.7, ISO 200, 1/800sec) We’re always behind our camera that’s why photographers are seldom seen on our pictures. We can be so absorbed during shoots but while walking on a bird hide path at Candaba Bird Sanctuary in Pampanga , that corridor of bamboo walls was just too scenic not to ignore. So with my Olympus PEN E-PL1 along with the Lumix 20mm f1.7 I thought of taking environmental portraits of a couple of my photographer friends with me.

Seair Inflight Insider's Guide Opener Spread Feb-March 2011 It’s all about Romantic Getaways, Room for Twos and finding the Best Booze on Seair Inflight’s February-March 2011 Issue. Also inside is a walk through Binondo to welcome this year’s Year of the Rabbit. Got a photo on their opening spread for “The China Syndrome”. Check out the rest of the issue’s feature at Seair Inflight’s Facebook Page .

Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 MSC and Box Last October, Olympus finally released the Micro Four Thirds (m43) version of their mid-range telephoto 40-150mm (80-300mm equivalent) lens. On the regular Four Thirds (43), Olympus usually pairs this lens with the regular 14-42mm as a dual lens kit. It took some time for them to release this version after 3 m43 bodies, the only option before was the regular four thirds 40-150mm with the MMF-2 adapter included on a dual zoom kit. But I had a problem with this set up as the lens is slow to focus on the m43rds bodies for me so I decided to get the m43 version instead and see if it will perform better.

Nina and Izah Laugh (Olympus E-PL1, Lumix 20mm, f1.8, ISO 800, 1/400sec) Here’s to continue with my Environmental Portraits Project using the Lumix 20mm f1.7 Pancake with the Olympus E-PL1 . Can I just say I’m loving this pancake lens more and more? Now on this photo, I just love the character of this photo, especially on Nina and Izah’s smirky expression. it makes you just want to go behind them and see what’s behind that evil-looking iPod. Which I did after taking this photo and I won’t tell. As you can see from the setting, the ISO is 800, I would have preffered it to be lower but I just got out from the lowlight interiors of a church and I had no time to change lest I miss this shot.

Chinese Ang Pao (Olympus E-PL1, Lumix 20mm, f1.7, ISO 200) There’s a big lull on my entries from the last one. Well I’m hoping to make up for at least 1 entry per week if I can. There’s a bunch of 20mm environmental portraits to feature here and some articles I’ve writter on photography before. For the meantime it’s the Chinese New Year’s Eve. here’s the traditional Ang Pao or Chinese Red Envelope that symbolize good luck and to ward off evil. Wishing everyone a blessed Year of the Metal Rabbit ahead.