Quest on photography

by ray


I was surfing channels last Sunday when I came across Richard Quest's show on CNN. When I tuned in, Quest was talking to someone while flipping the pages of a coffee table book. Immediately, the photos on that book caught my attention. And after hearing the words "photograph", "camera" and "photographer", I set down the remote and made myself comfortable.

It turns out that Quest was talking to Raghu Rai, an Indian photographer who has spent his career taking photos of India. Rai is a member of Magnum Photos, an internationally known photographic-cooperative.

The show continues with Quest interviewing great and well-known photographers today. After talking to Rai, he went and interviewed Anne Geddes, the famous baby photographer; Frans Lanting, wildlife photographer; a supermodel who loves being behind the lens as much as being in front of it; Darren Lyons, a celebrity photographer in London; and wedding photographers Alisha and Brook Todd who talked about the trend nowadays of using photojournalism styles in capturing events like weddings.

Later, I read on the CNN website that, earlier in the show, Quest also interviewed National Geo photographer Steve McCury (idddolll!) and famous fashion and portrait photographer Patrick Demarchelier.

It's always nice to hear how the Great Ones started out, to learn about their techniques, and to be inspired by their works.

- Ray

Not Bad for a Weekend

by albenks


Nothing tastes better than fresh Friday airconditioned office air. Uhh-hhmmm... In a few hours, i will be wiping away all traces of this week from my memory with some nice food and a drink or two. Probably put in a partial harakiri in there, for good measure.

It didn't help that Monday and I got off on the wrong foot. which pretty much ruined the remaining days of the week. Sorry Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but your sister M was a real B.

But Friday.. oh Friday i will always have a sweet spot in my heart for you. Just thinking about you makes my gums numb... and that's a good sign. There is nothing like a good weekend to wipe away a whole week's mess. The real challenge however is how to make the most out of this little slice of time.

I'd like to inspire myself by recalling what i did last weekend. On Saturday, I attended a friend's wedding... quite refreshing. But even as a guest, it's hard to concentrate specially if you get so used to shooting weddings. my trigger finger kept twitching.

Well, Sunday was a little more exciting for me. We did a shoot for one of my old orgs in college and it was a real nice trip. I enjoyed the shoot mostly because someone else was holding the reins. I just love it when someone else is responsible for me.. Thanks to my old buddy Francis (and I mean old, he's either 28 or 64, it's hard to tell), I think it's going to turn out real great.

What's it about? Well, it's a short video message we were hoping to show during the 32nd Anniv Night of our old org, UP Batangan. That's right, ladies, I hail from Batangas, also known as the Land of the Rising Sun. No, that's Japan. Well, google it if you really want to know what we're known for.

Anyway, it was a pretty sharp concept. The visual style is crisp and the message, golden, thanks to our wonderful writers. Can't really tell you much more except that well, aside from you'll probably sprout goosebumps when you watch it, organizing everything took a lot of work. First, it's was hard to get everyone together. Let alone contact the, let's just say, 'more mature' alumni population. And second, the challenge of weaving all these personalities, from different generations, into one grand evocative narrative.

Ok, enough promoting. Here's some snaps:


We had some pretty young alumni showing off their pearly whites here.

Francis( in black) making ever-so-slight posing adjustments. Actually, i really don't know what he's doing here. probably just posing for the camera.

Tata, my brand-new wife, or as I call her, Big Boss. From the look on her face, she looks like she can get used to this.

Yep, that's right. I like to put on a ton of makeup and look gay. Exactly the look I want onscreen.


Kudos to Francis the producer and all around nice-guy. Thanks Big Boss Apaul for keeping my batchmate in line.

The Batangueños as we finished shooting . Ok, the guy to the left isn't really from Batangas. But his accent is pretty damn close. So, well.

With our production crew.

Thanks to all the alumni who took the time to go to that weekend shoot. Special mention to Tiano, Ella, Joan, Redel, Eugene, Carina, Apaul, Francis and everyone who helped organize and put this thing together.

Also, our gratitude to the production crew who helped us through these dark times.

Now, to edit down.

Why do we do this?

by albenks


So many times, I get people coming up to me and asking me how this all started.

It always brings me back to that evening almost 3 years ago, in Baguio.

Cold, frustrated by our careers, and mostly because of the tapuy in our young beautiful heads (we were eighteenish then), we decided that the only way to get true joy out of work is to do something that makes you feel good and makes you feel alive (naks!). And to make it last, make sure you do it with people that you like.

Fast forward to 2008, we’re still here and we still feel alive during shoots. In fact, that’s about the only time we really enjoy working.

You see, the red pixel is essentially a group of friends who really just enjoy photography and editing any stuff we get on tape. We’re not going out there trying to make a killing. We have full-time jobs where we pour in the same undying love and dedication. Haha. I have to stop. That’s funny.

So, on top of all the albums and the prenups and the videos we have to produce, we also have to think about our real careers. And yup, it comes with all the complications. Mainly, you have to deal with the boss. No other four letter word can bring so much shivers down my lying spine. If making creative excuses for not coming in to work was a sport, I think we’ll be bagging our first Olympic gold. Singles and relay.

Come to think of it, the red pixel is really just an escape for us. A mini-vacation from the everyday DTR-signing, keyboard-stomping, lunch-munching, lunch-hurling, officemate-annoying, aircon-freezing drudgery of office life. Not that I have anything against work.

I guess everyone wants to have a piece of that. Who doesn’t?
We do what we can.

So, here we are.

by albenks

Two reasons why you might be reading this blog: 1) we’ve worked with you before and you were just curious how we’ve been doing, 2) you got drunk and fell asleep in front of your computer; your subconscious takes over, orders your fingers to type in “romeo jalosjos” in the search bar, and jackpot! you hit this site.

If you belong to no.1, hey, welcome! How you doin? We had fun at the shoot. Hope you liked the photos and the video. Oh, you did? Good. Now, listen, you need to stop sending us iMacs and jewelry. You guys don’t really have to do that. We appreciate it but.. we don’t have that much space to keep all that stuff, really. A bedroom can only hold so much Rolexes. You know how it is. I guess we’ll just have to send them back. Sorry.

OK, enough drunk blogging. Chances are, you fall under visitor category no.2. which means, you’re still wondering why you’re here and you’re starting to get more confused.

Ok. Let me set you straight. This site is everything about the red pixel. Who?! What? Exactly…Nobody knows who we really are. We had three years to make sure of that. Why?

Well, aside from six different bosses who will not hesitate to violate our bodies when they discover that we really weren’t sick when we called in with explosive diarrhea from time to time, we figured it’s really better to stay under the radar. We really didn’t think too much of this internet fad anyway. I mean, give me three people who know how to work this Internet thing. Well? I thought so. This internet thing will die. Any day now.

-albenks