Victor Augusteo Photo Blog » Photoshoots

My Journey, My Beginning, My Story

Victor Augusteo — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:52:29 +0000

Sofia @ Imprisonment - one of my best work.

I have been getting a lot of question lately about the story and origin of my photography. Some of my friends even made wild assumption that I’ve been doing this for more than five years. Thanks for the compliment though

This blog post is just to share the story of how I started. And maybe give you an idea how to start as well.

Pre-Manual

As a teenager, before I went to university, I always liked to take travel photos. It helps that my mom and dad loves to travel. We have visited many countries in Europe and South East Asia. Every-time we are travelling, I am always the one who hold the cameras and snap the photos. We were still using some old compact camera. I’m not sure if we still have it or not.

On our last trip (I believe to China) my parents purchased the Canon Powershot S3 IS, which I will be using for much of the time before DSLR.

My parent’s love of travel just instilled on me. After I come to Australia to continue my higher education, I joined the Monash Photography Club. There I learned much from fellow members and the workshops that the club offer.

I still remember the first trip that I went to with MPC. It was a trip to the Yarra Valley Winery trip. Everybody was carrying some huge Nikon or Canon DSLR. I kinda feel envious, but heck, I dont know how they really work and if they make a difference to the picture that I take.

That was 2007.

I continued to use the compact for the remaining of the year. It has served me well. But I have no idea how to operate the camera on manual control until later in the mid 2008.

At December 2007-second year of university, I bought my first DSLR sponsored by my parents. Thanks again Mom and Dad. Its really great to have parents who support your hobby.

I researched long and hard before deciding which camera to buy. Ended up with the awesome D80. How I research will be on another post.

When I bought the camera, I really have no idea how to use manual controls. I just put the camera to auto and started shooting like how most of us started.

Then at January 2008, one event changed my perspective.

The Evolution

One day when I was visiting my hometown in Indonesia, one of my old friend called me to ask if she can use my car to drive to the beach. Of course I asked her why she wanted to go to the beach for.

People who doesn’t grow up near the beach will have a hard time understanding this, but we Indonesian live on the equator. We have massive natural beaches. We have played at the beach since we were babies. The beach is HOT. The sun ray can burn your skin in matter of minutes. Besides, the ladies in Asia loves their skin to be fair, not tan. So usually they go the the beach wearing some protective clothing. Totally different with the western way of beach loving.

We usually go there only during sunset when the sun is not too strong as to avoid burned skin.

Anyway, back to the story. She told me she was having a photoshoot with her cousin. I was surprised. I didn’t know you can have photoshoot at the beach. At that time, my mind was still imagining photoshoot as the glamour and high-class process that can only be conducted in the studio by professional people. Shows you how amateur I was

I agreed to her request, but in return, I got to go to the shoot with her. It was a mind opening experience.

Model: Febiola - The first model (well, friend) I've ever shot

The photographer at that time (Eric) was also visiting our hometown for the holiday. He was good. He bring a friend to hold a mirror – which acts as the reflector.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just put the camera on auto and started shooting her. Eric then asked me, “What settings are you using?”. I was dumbfounded. I said I have no idea what he is talking about. He asked me, “Are you using auto to shoot this?”. I said yes.

Then he give me a 20 second crash course on how to set the camera to manual and give me his approximate setting, and continued shooting.

My result wasn’t that good. It is not the main point though. I was having fun on my first photoshoot of my life.

From there, my love for modelling and portraiture grows.

Thanks Eric and Febiola.

The Love Drama

Linda @ Tanjung Belandang Beach

Couple of days after the photoshoot, my friend invited me to visit the local school. She was giving a dance class for an upcoming end-of-year school performance. I was getting quite bored at my hometown having nothing to do, so I agreed.

There was some fifteen female students dancing with her. All of them was of teenager, probably fifteen to sixteen years old.

Only one struck my attention. It was the one who becomes my next girlfriend for the next couple of months. The story is for another time

Linda @ Hutan Kota

Fortunately, she loves to pose for the camera. We went to numerous places together for photoshoots. I was practicing, and she was having fun.

I learned a lot of posing and camera setting in that month, more than anything I’ve ever learned.

People said its easy to get from zero to eighty percent, but it takes decades to bring eighty to a hundred. I was having my zero to eighty moment.

Too bad at March 2008 I needed to get back to Australia to study, and she has to stay back there in Indonesia.

Linda @ Tanjung Belandang Beach

Farewell, Linda.

Enter MPC

I mentioned that I joined MPC since 2007 before. It was not until I march 2008 that I started seriously learning photography.

We had some really good workshops going on. My personal favourite was the studio workshop, of course.

It was a tutorial room. We had to move all the chairs and desks to the side. It was my first time working with lightstands, 300w lights, octoboxes, umbrellas, etc.

You can imagine how excited I was.

Again, my photos turned out not that great. But it was still salvageable. Its the experience that matters.

I'm sorry I forgot your name o' beautiful MPC model.

We learned and learned together, we bonded in photography. I made some really great friends in MPC.

Future Photoshoots

Outside MPC, I also organised my own photoshoot with friends. You don’t need to spend money to practice your portraiture.

Had lots of experience with a lot of very nice models. Thanks to you guys I was able to get to where I am now.

Oops, Its already more than thousand words, and I was aiming for mere five-hundreds words only.

Until next time.

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15 Photos & 5 Lessons from Melbourne Zoo

Victor Augusteo — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:32:02 +0000

Today I went to the Melbourne Zoo for the first time. We have around thirty something people with varying skill level. Some people have crazy DSLR with 70-200mm with extension tube, some people bring their humble entry levels, some came with compacts, and some come empty handed – they just wanted to enjoy the day.

The weather was really nice, its very rare to have sunny weather in Melbourne winter. Many people are bringing their young kids and babies to the zoo. It was packed and sometimes really hard to approach the animal enclosures from a good spot.

I managed to snap some good photos in there. Lessons to come after the showcase.

Seal. It swam really fast!

Mr Lion is really really lazy. He slept most of the day.

Monkeys playing around!

Mommy Sumatran Tiger is feeling edgy from people looking at her four cubs.

One of the tiger cubs, they are very playful!

My first butterfly house experience. There gotta be hundreds of them in that small compact enclosure.

The little one is Mali. She is the zoo's new star.

Orang utan drinking rainwater (presumably) from a plastic container 20 meters from the ground.

Practicing the monkey style kungfu

Mr Lion is finally awake, look at the angle of the light, its sunset!

Snow Leopard is one elusive cat. This is probably the best shoot I got today. It just hides between branches the whole day.

Trio racoon (?) just chilling out!

Those two crocs aren't moving at all. Probably they are statue

So, what are they doing?

This leopard is blinded on one eye!

I just love his skin texture

Lessons Learned from Melbourne Zoo

1. Go on weekday
On weekend or holiday, zoo is almost always full of people bringing their kids around. Resulting in huge queue in the cafe and huge crowd around animal enclosure. If you come during weekday, you will get all the space and angle that you need to take that awesome shot.

2. Avoid dirty glass
Glass in the zoo is most often dirty. No matter how good your DoF is, sometimes the glass just shows on the picture. Try your best to shoot through the cleaner part of the glass, or avoid it altogether.

3. Use high ISO and wide aperture
The main problem people face today at the zoo is lack of light. Even though it is a fairly sunny day, the light seldom penetrates the ground and the enclosures because of the heavy forest leaves. You really can’t depend on long shutter speed because the animals kept on moving.
Your best bet is to get good high ISO performance camera or get a really fast lens.

4. Be patient
You can’t give direction to animals. They move randomly and without any hint for you. Get your camera always ready to fire.
Today we have some really lazy bear who lie down all day and only showing its face once. We also have a very agitated cat who can’t seem to sit still, it just keep on walking around its cage. These are just some of the opportunities that you have to catch by yourself.

5. If you can’t zoom in enough, just crop it in PP
This is one thing that you just can’t workaround. My longest lens is 200mm. It is long, but sometimes (most of the time actually) not long enough. The best thing you can do during the trip is to imagine how you would crop it, and compose the scene accordingly.

Almost all of the photos you see up the are cropped a lot.

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d700 – reviews and comments

Victor Augusteo — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:51:37 +0000

I was waiting for this package for weeks! Can't sleep, can't eat, always dreaming about it!

The Nikon D700 is Nikon’s, and the world’s, best serious digital camera. – Ken Rockwell

So, how awesome is it?

Oh, if you are upgrading from d80, this crazy camera is really the best ever. I really love the feelings on my hand. Here I will list some of the difference that I felt when I first hold it and turn it on.

Its freaking fast! at 8fps, d700 beats my d80 to dust!
ISO 6400 looks nice and sharp! probably its the same quality as the ISO800 on my old d80. Thus making low light photography a cake!
There is no auto mode! Thank god
It uses CF card, which is probably faster than SD card on my old d80 ya.
Freaking heavy! almost double the weight of my d80 when the d700 is paired with the battery grip.
LARGE 3″ screen. photos look sharp and bright, lots of info can be crammed, awesome.
Extra complicated menu controls. Took me couple of hours reading Ken Rockwell’s guide to fully understand the whole menus

How do you feel when you first open it?

Simple question, hard to describe in words.
I was esctatic. Smiling from ear to ear. Can’t stop showing my teeth around and keep on screaming ‘WOWW WOWW WOWWWW’. Just ask my bro and sis, haha.
Before arrives home, I was away shooting cosplay for uni’s anime club. It was long long and tiring day, setting up the lights and backdrop, shooting, coreographing, editing, printing, and counting money. I was feeling down and pissed off after that. You know the kinda stress you got after a long day work.

But when I see the package on top of the table, the whole stress just dissapeared! POOF! GONE! I am feeling like a child opening my first present.

So hows the shots?

It was awesome. I’m really still trying to get used to the awesomeness of the majestic d700. The menus are different from d80. It has millions of new features that I am not familiar with. I did a fun photoshoot with Nikki and Candice yesterday at the Melbourne Uni, turns out alright, and will post the photos soon.

You mentioned ‘the cheapest on the internet?’

Yes it is. I researched this for weeks and definetely found the cheapest place. It is the BlueFlyMobile store. Price in amazon are around 2,800 while in physical store is more than 3,000. BlueFlyMobile was selling it for 2,200.

Cheap must be bad right? Thats what I thought first too. Looks shady.

But then I went to research some more on Whirlpool forum and other random forums. Turns out that people actually give positive review! Congrats BlueFlyMobile, you got a new customer. yay!

In short, d700 is super freaking mega awesome.

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New photos from my studio.

Victor Augusteo — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:18:46 +0000

One sb-600, one umbrella, one model, one photographer

Click the link below for the whole album

http://www.flickr.com/photos/augusteo/sets/72157623740280368/

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Photos from my new studio

Victor Augusteo — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:21:45 +0000

One lighted by sb-600!

Hey guys, couple of days ago I rented out my girlfriend’s share house garage. Because of the five people living there, nobody has a car, I can use the garage for really cheap. I don’t have any dedicated studio equipment. In fact, I only have:

- 3 light stands
- 2 SB-600
- 1 SB-900
- 2 wireless trigger (from china, $20 each, not pocket wizard class)
- one cheap soft box

well, You can see the photos at my Flickr stream: Click here

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Lis & Indi Photoshoot

Victor Augusteo — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:02:11 +0000

Well, I’m off to Queensland for 10 day holiday in 9 hours. So I just want to share couple of shots I took last week on Monash Photography Club workshop. Both model were contacted from Model Mayhem website.

Models

Indi’s Model Mayhem

Lis’s Model Mayhem

Yours Truly

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The 12 Apostles, Victoria [BIG Rez Free Wallpaper]

Victor Augusteo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:40:15 +0000

For the first time, I’m giving out a HUGE resolution photo as wallpaper. I’ve formatted this to fit 2560×1440 (27″ apple display) and 1280×1024 displays. If your monitor isn’t in the preformatted display, just download the big one and crop it.

Free for personal use. Do not re-distribute without my permission. If you want to refer your friend, just lead them kindly to this page.

Some back story:
I took this photo last Sunday when we go to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria [Aussie]
The wind was absolutely crazy. Its really hard to keep your camera steady. I had to brace against the fence and use 1/200s to get more stability. Took many photos, but only this one has captured my heart and soul.

12 Apostles 2560x1440 Wallpaper

12 Apostles 1280x1024

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Have You Hit Artist’s Block? My Top 4 Source Of Inspirations

Victor Augusteo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:59:52 +0000

You know we often lose all our inspirations,
don’t know what to shoot,
no idea how to compose that shoot,
feeling down,
the lights looks all the same,
and we just don’t want to pick up the camera.

Of course all of us have experienced that before.
And for that, i present you these links to help lift up your spirit,
look for examples,
and to be INSPIRED!

1. Flickr Interestingness
You never know what you will find in here, topic ranges from everything to anything

2. DeviantART Photography
Any kind of artists gather in DA, not only photographer. Their art WILL inspire you

3. Nature
Well, we come from nature, and we will go back to mother nature’s embrace. So get out more!

4. People
You will gain massive inspiration just by observing passerby. Sit down on a coffee shop and look.

So how do you look for inspirations?

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Ryan and Marco at MCC Portrait Night

Victor Augusteo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:03:18 +0000

Ryan @ MCC portrait night. told him to make as scary face as he can, but look like he need to improve on that :p

fighting stance, ready for action!

Marco @ MCC portrait night. He's pretty big guy. you can only get that big if u ditch those cigarette kids!

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Photo Gallery of Oakleigh Futsal Competition Indonesia Vs. France

Victor Augusteo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:34:23 +0000

No, not really, it’s not the countries that is versing each other. The clubs were made of students/people from other countries who love indoor soccer. The lighting wasn’t that great, so I have to use very high ISO to capture this.

Lighting: just indoor lamps forcing me to use ISO 1000-1600
Lens: my fastest lens = 35mm f2
Lightroom preset: SarahJi -> OrangeGarden
Camera: of course my D80

Shallow DoF made the letters stands out

Want to see some action? You got it!

Even at 1/200s you can still see some motion blur!

Lee the playmaker just dribled through the French defender!

The ref gave someone a yellow card, and certainly someone isn't happy with that

Presents... The Dudley Boyz! from Indonesia (and Singapore, Malay, etc) :p

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