here’s a song by  30 seconds to mars, Closer to the edge

As you all know i’ve met, been with and shared my life with so many people although things didn’t turn out as i expected it to be, the experiences and the memories are the only things i have left. Things come and go, lost some, won some but what the heck? that’s life.

When you fall, you begin to stand up again and when you do, you carry on with No regrets.

I may have done shame to my name or to other people. I may have been wrong, I may have been right but i’ll never have regrets doing them, coz the experiences i had are the only things that make me who i am Today.

I push myself off the limits, I am me. I am unique and I am the only Franz Lopez you will ever know.

I went solo with my dad, and by doing so after covering Momentous events of 2007, we then began to cover Celebrities and Famous People among of which are Top Celebrity icons of the 21st century of the philippine entertainment industry and famous Politicians who made themselves known.

Some of which are, Ruffa Gutierrez, Richard Gutierrez, Rhian Ramos, Angel Locsin, Bianca King, Anne Curtis, Kim Chiu, Ding Don Dantes, Marian Rivera, Vic Sotto, Tito Sotto, Joey De Leon, Susan Roces, Manny Paquiao, Claudine Barreto, Gina Alajar and many more..

And also with Politicians & Famous people  like

President Benigno Aquino III, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Senator Manuel Roxas III, Senator Gregorio Honasan, Senator Franklin drilon, Senator Francis Escudero, Jun Lozada and many more.

After going solo with my Dad i began to meet other photographers, Models, Makeup Artists friends and affiliates. I had a vision that would create a new realm of photography experience, a network of photographers all over the Philippines. A project called “Photographers for Change” i started this way back in 2007 where i saw a different and a more defined perspective in photography, using it as a medium to communicate and share reality. This was the very 1st project i ever had and my very own undertaking with me spearheading it.

I shouted out on Multiply back then calling out photographers who would like to share their Captivating images all over the philippines. the respond was successful, it was overwhelming. A lot of people to showed how the philippines is really, back then and how reality can shape up a whole nation with the use of the photographic medium.

Photographers as far as Basilan, Jolo Sulu, Bicol, Cebu, Maguindanao, Metro Manila, Ilocos and etc. Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao Converge and shared their remarkable images and showed that they want change, they wanted to be heard.

In 2008 witht he help of the friends i met with P4C a creative team composed of models, a makeup artist and photographers who are reluctant in the success of our project was established.

I met Ms. Lalaine Odal, a great and Gorgeous Model who’s easy to get to know and fun to be with.

I also met Ms. Daphne Oliveros. An extremely talented and creative artist who’s one of my idols in event photography. her website can be found at

www.daphneoliveros.com

Kudos Pards!

I also met Mr. Mj Cachero, A real talented photographer when it comes to fashion and portraiture

Together we all reacted a pact. That shoot was extremely memorable to me because that was the 1st ever shoot i had together with other photographers who i only me t online. I can say, that they are one of the best photographers in the philippines today.

kudos to you guys and more power!

This was the photograph Daphne took of me when i had the 1st ever shoot i joined

so as an ending line, again i’d like to thank  everyone who have been a part of my early years being serious in photography. it has been a long, 5-year journey. My camera is 5 years now and it doesn’t end here. A whole lot more of learning and experiences are coming my way as i conquer the things i have just been dreaming of 7 years ago.

I am Franz Lopez and the Passion Lives on.

If you would like to listen to it just click on this window below.

Kudos to Bamboo and more power!

So coz’ of this song, I got the inspiration to write again. I thought of writing this blog to share my beginnings in photography and in turn to dish out thanks to the people i’ve shared my passion with. hopefully it wouldn’t be a few fries short of a happy meal.

So to shoot the breeze..

This was me when i was still a kid, I can’t really remember it exactly but i guess i was about year old then. do I still look this innocuous? LOL

I was born on a Wednesday, 25th of May 1988. The year where Rambo III was  released, The 1988 Winter Olympics was held in Canada and the year where George H. W. Bush was elected president.

I was named Francis Charles Dominique Espina Lopez and later known by my appellation, Franz Ran-ran or Siz

When I was young, I loved taking pictures and having other people take pictures of me. I guess photographing different things is my thing. Having seen all of my father’s equipment in photography I guess it was one of the main reasons why I got into it.

Unfortunately I can’t find the very first photo I took! (&$&%#&**$&**^#$!!!!) I guess it’s lost with those rolls of film i have here somewhere.. As soon as i find it, I’ll post it right away!

Canon EOS 1n RS

The very First camera i got was a Canon EOS 1n RS, it was a high level camera back then. If you are familiar with Canon 1Ds / 1D M3, 1D M2, 5D M2 and 5D today,  this was their equivalent. I got it together with a canon 24mm wide angle lens and a 70 – 300 telephoto. This was One of the most recommended SLRs by Photojournalists in the late 90′s along side the nikon f5 and f4 series. It still works today with minor problems, the “A” or aperture mode gets dumbfounded and will trip.. either it works or it doesn’t. I sold the 24mm lens and the 70-300 is now being used by dad coz he’s with the Canon system. So unfortunately, I can’t use it. I ’m planning to get a canon 50mm f1.8 soon so I may be able to revive it again. (can’t wait!) I might also bring it to Canon main to have it checked and repaired.

A little trivia : Are you familiar with the movie Shutter? (i’m talking about the asian version) this was what the photographer was using.

Anyway, it was easy to get used to and wasn’t long until I got used to it.

Year 2007 was where I started to focus on my photography. To pursue it as my passion. “To capture moments in time that will only be there for just a moment. that single moment that you can never bring back. History and witnessing it as it happens.” For me that’s what photography is all about. It was my calling I guess..

And for this passion, I wouldn’t be able to pursue it without the help of my mentors, friends, afflatus and peers.

these are the people that help build up my passion for photography.

Ramon A. Lopez

My father is a Photojournalist. And I consider him as the best photographer I know and has ever lived. This Photo was taken in 1976  in the Late Mao Tse Tung’s Funeral. He was  the Marcos’ photographer then. I’m very thankful for my dad not only because he gave me most of his photographic equipment when I started, but he is the best mentor you will ever have. I remember him saying.. “Photography? It’s how your perception speaks. The most important thing is that every photograph must have a story and a deeper meaning” that moved me into pursuing this calling. He’s always there whenever I need guidance and help in my photography. And hopefully it wouldn’t take long, we’ll be opening our own Studio soon!

Here are some of his photos and his own words as i quote.

“Department of Public Works and Highways ( DPWH ) infrastructure records on accomplished projects from 1966 to 1969 had shown that Marcos created more and better roads, bridges, airports, schools, water supply and irrigation systems than all five of his Presidential predecessors put together. President Ferdinand E. Marcos personally kept vigil by unannounced inspection trips to construction sites and by setting in advance the dates on which he would dedicate the completed works. To stretch the funds available for infrastructure, the President secured road-building and bridge making equipment from US President Johnson, under military assistance agreements, with which to equip ten battalions of Philippine army engineers. These units improved the farm-market roads in isolated areas and laid down concrete roads near the cities. The engineers also helped local citizenry to erect thousands of pre-fabricated school buildings on the outer islands.”

The people had awaited such a leader- and heeded his call to greatness. On election day in 1965, the Marcos hold on the underprivileged was demonstrated by the depth of the Nacionalista Party victory ; Marcos defeated President Macapagal by more than 670,000 votes, and throughout the land, NP candidates swept most of the essential positions, thus giving the Marcos administration unprecedented strength and stability.
Marcos promised to be a leader ” for all the people “.

Malacanang Palace, as seen from across the Pasig river in Manila.
Is the official residence of the President of the Philippines, located at the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila. It is called Palasyo nang Malakanyang in Filipino, and Malacanan Palace when referred to as the office of the president.
The official etymology from 1930s says that the name comes from a tagalog phrase ” may lakan dyan ” , which means ” there is a nobleman there ” , for it was once the home of a wealthy Spanish merchant before it hosted the nation’s chief executive. The Spanish themselves, on the other hand , said the name came from : ” Mamalakaya”, or the fishermen who once laid out their catch in the bend of the river where the Palace now stands. Another source attributes the origin of the phrase ma-la-kan-iyan, or ” where the chief resided. ” A more mundane claim is that the Palace actually got its name from the street where it was located, the Calzada de Malacanang. A summer home originally built in 1802 by Spanish aristocrat Don Luis Rocha, then subsequently purchased by an official and then purchased by the state, became the temporary residence of the Governors-General. GG Rafael de Echague y Bermingham, previously governor of Puerto Rico , was therefore the first governor to occupy Malacanang Palace.
When the Philippines came under American rule following the Spanish-American War, Malacanang Palace became the residence of the American Governor-General. In 1900, William Howard Taft became the first Civil- Governor resident.

Soviet Secretary General Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev accorded Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos full military honors upon arrival at Moscow International Airport for a four days state visit to the Soviet Union.

“No country is spared from natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes, typhoons, floods and volcanic eruptions. The Philippines has not been an exception with no less than 20 typhoons devastating the country in 1970, whenever a disaster strikes, people turn to Imelda Marcos who has consistently shown a compassionate heart during such emergency situations. Mrs. Marcos has a Special Disaster Fund for victims of calamities.”

A warm welcome by a USSR Navy Captain to Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos when he and Mrs. Imelda Marcos visited a battleship cruiser as other Navy officers looks on.

“Si Malakas at si Maganda” Ferdinand and Imelda

Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos meeting with the American Press at the National Press Club and appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and ABC’s Nightline.

The New York Times in its “Man on the News” feature on the occasion of Marcos’s reelection had heralded the Philippine leader as ” a debonair, slender but combative,” with “abounding energy, ” and the most decorated Filipino soldier in World War II, with 22 medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross of the United States. Similarly, Time magazine, after commenting on his “pleasing, youthful good looks, it also pointed out his war record, crediting him with twenty-seven medals.

Hundreds of visitors in Mao suits coming from nearby provinces in China travels to Beijing on weekends to view and pay their respects to Chairman Mao Tse Tung, whose body had been preserved and incased in a special glass case as Palace a guard stand on attention in front of the building. (no cameras were allowed inside)

First Lady and Minister of Human Settlements Imelda Romualdez Marcos as representative of the Philippine government and Libyan Minister of State Affairs Al Trekki signed and sealed the Tripoli Agreement in Libya on December 23, 1976. This undertaking had paved the way in declaring a ceased of hostilities between the MNLF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in contested territories of MNLF proposed autonomy areas in Mindanao.
Further, it initiated in establishing a provisional government that would prepare a referendum-plebiscite for the people of Mindanao to decide the MNLF secessionist issue through democratic means.
Thirty – two years later in this age of global terrorism and kidnappings all over the world including Mindanao, the
Philippine government and the various secessionist groups are still in the negotiating table with no clear sights on the settlement of the issue and sporadic arm clashes and bombings continue in the region.

My Father is a Silent man. With Tons of experience. He and his works will live in our country’s history forever.

Team Real Pinoy

“Team Real Pinoy, or now known as TRP… My Brothers’ Team. This photograph was my very first when I got serious into my photography back in 2007. This photo is really symbolical and meaningful to me not only coz’ it was the first ever photograph of the team, but this was when I got the urge to shoot sports photography and i said to myself that “this is my dream. this is what I guess i was called to do.”

I can still remember myself bringing my rusty Canon EOS 1n packing 2 rolls of film and shooting together with a kid who brought his Nikon with a 80-200 f2.8. I got a bit intimidated coz he was using digital and i was all on film but it didn’t matter it was all photography anyway.

The thing is, it was a real set back for me since I can’t view my photographs and share it as soon as possible. I got my nikon d200 earlier in 2007 ( yes that’s right! bumble bee is 3 years old now! ) I wasn’t able to use it coz dad only bought the Body and the Grip plus the extra battery for it.  So to cut it all short I was clammed up with film even if I really wanted to use digital for my advantage on my brother’s first tournament in Paintball International Manila Philippines, November 2007.

Paintball International Manila Philippines (PIMP) 2007

My very first Paid event. I can still remember me packing 3 rolls of film together with my old 5mp Sony Cybershot for immediate photos and my sony handy cam for this event. Everything was intense! Paintball and Extreme Sports Photography? this was when I really love shooting.

I can still remember myself wearing my old camelbak holding 3 cameras and looking silly. I was even derided by a photographer / videographer I was shooting with. He asked me if I will be able to do everything at once with all the gadgets I’m holding.  During games, I did everything. You name it! I was  shooting video, film and digital photos altogether, but hey! I managed to do them all! hehe

Guess it wasn’t a set back after all. Film really looked different and as I relied on it, I was loving the results. You can never compare it to digital when we curtain raised our shots, color and the organic look of film really looked classic and different.

Special Thanks to the organizers of Pimp. you never let me down when I was just starting. specially Mr. Ruel Davadilla and Ms. Mhay Rondael. I will never forget this moment.

SGV Sports Fest

My Second event, I was now shooting Digital and Film altogether right after i bought my first DSLR lens a Nikkor 70-300. I was slowly making it as i was guided by my father into my career

This event was really big. I think almost a hundred or even a thousand of people showed up for this. It was hosted by the host, Anthony Suntay and the paintball was organized by the PIMP people.

as you can see, film really has it’s “Organic look” and the “3D Effect” which can never be done by DSLRs today. I really can’t forget this day, this was when i got to use my d200 for the first time. I didn’t have that much gears back then. i only had my rusty canon EOS 1n and my new d200. I promised to myself from that day on, that when i get into this career and be successful I would do anything to pursue my dream. I even promised myself that when I get the profit I will really invest on my equipment.

this was the first photo i had during the first photo EB i joined

Looking back, I started with very little equipment (but it didn’t matter). What my father gave me was all i had. If you would ask me about equipments and all? they are just tools. Photographers are like painters, the Cameras, lenses and other equipment are just plain tools. the real camera is within us. our eyes and imagination.

if you have imagination, then you can use your eyes to visualize and then use a camera to record it. it’s that simple. so for beginners, dont be intimidated the same way i did when i started. it’s not about equipment, it’s not about megapixels and such. it’s about you, your imagination and eyes.

Everyone has it, so don’t be pushed back. close your eyes, imagine. Visualize then Capture.

so i guess that’s it for now.. i’ll be continuing this in the coming days! thanks for reading

END OF EPISODE I

After

Before

I know, I know it looks a bit similar to the dragan effect but the colors are not that much bold, and the Texture and fine details are not that much exaggerated. Still looks neutral in a way.

So what is it with people having their own opinions about post processing? For me Post Processing is just away of enhancing the image. I read this book (In fact, I Just finished reading it yesterday) I learned a lot from it. It said that Post Processing should only be done to enhance the subject itself but with Limitations.

Further enhancement like adding a teddy bear to a  child’s portrait and changing her hair from curly to straight, those are manipulations. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for me? Well i had my experiences and to tell you guys the truth.. something Unreal? something Fake? It sounds pretty much negative doesn’t it?

But look on the bright side, It’s just like cleaning  the streets of tondo, metro manila and payatas all at once! I mean who doesn’t want a particular photograph look beautiful? we all want everything to? right? but like i said, there are certain limitations into the manipulation of a photograph. You know what I’m talking about. As long as it’s art we are talking about.

I don’t know what is it about Filipinos joining rallies? Do they get paid or what? well I don’t know. The thing is this rally seemed like a fiesta of some sort.

people were like marching with big old marching bands and banners and stuff. The thing is they were all cheering and were all happy while marching.

I was then beginning to think.. I don’t know if they are there for the real issue or they are happy because they are there participating? Well i guess it’s just a typical Filipino trait that we are all proud about. If we have a problem, just smile and think positive! (GO PINOY!)

hehehe anyway back to the main issue, it’s about the Charter Change in the government. The Congress of our government were in the break of a change in the constitution.

The Administration in the Congress had the votes like 10:1 and back in the Senate it was like 1:10 the congress did not want the Senate to be separated with the voting. I don’t know what’s they’re main purpose? I think, in my opinion they just wanted to have all the votes to have the constitution amended.

That seems pretty much unfair. Well anyway i don’t know what is the real problem with our government? Is it the politicians? Is it the constitution or is it us altogether? We are hopeless. if we keep on seeing people not being serious with what’s happening in our country then we’re doomed, i repeat. DOOMED.

Alot has happened! new toys, new friends and new enemies? (who cares about them! if they’re mad at me about something, I dont care. It’s their problem anyway. they should just mind their own business and get on with their lives) lol

anyway to start off I got a New Lens! the Nikkor F1.4 50mm Prime! got it together with a Nikon L37C filter and a Nikon HR-1 hood

Here is my friend Lianne Having her Pictorial with my new lens hehe

Man it’s really Sharp! and forget about those low speed and high iso night shots. It’s really good for low light photography. The only setback is that it’s not exactly 50mm. Adding up the non Fullframe dslr body it doesnt give out about the exact focal length of the lens. but what the heck!? it’s a real beauty. from the moment i had it attached to my cam i never wanted to take it off. lol

here are some test shots i made.

I even had a chance to meet new friends when I got my new lens, I was able to meet Carl and AJ (both my multiply friends)

This is AJ

AJ is a really talented photographer i mean like bigtime! I’m really in awe of his shots. Hand down master AJ hehehe

This Is Carl

I met Carl in DPP (Digital Photographer Philippines) Forum I really like his sense of humor and he’s a kewl friend to be with hehe hey Carl! Let’s Shoot again sometime! hehe

here are some of the shots i was able to capture during the short EB

“I’m not with Stupid anymore!”

I saw this Lady Sitting on a piece of Flattened out cardboard box wearing a t-shirt that says, “I’m Not With Stupid Anymore!” Maybe the Boyfriend left her? or a Stupid friend finally left her? well who cares! it’s a good capture anyway haha

Saw this men training for arnis? i think it was arnis they were training for? anyway. I’m just not sure what kind. But i’m sure that it’s martial arts they were training for. Anyway it made me laugh my heart out when I was able to capture this particular photo..

Checkout the Guy wearing Dark blue carrying the Guy in Black sando. LOL! timeless piece of CRAP. LOL

anyway i’ll be making another blog about other updates about me so please do check it out from time to time.

meanwhile you can check out my site

for more updates

“Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas”

“Mono Cards”

“Pro Vs Amature”

“Gang of 5″

“Radio Active Cotton Swabs”

“Pro”

“Curtains Down”

“Flowers for the Dead”

“Light of Hope”

“Incense”

“Christ is here”

“Alpha and Omega”

“Follow me”

“Rosary”