Saturday, December 24, 2011

My open-air design photobooth is rockin!

Found an interesting site on the web. It kinda gave me that push to continue with my hobby. I do love taking pictures. One day, I just thought why not make a small living out of it. So, I started this simple photobooth. I really don't know what my photobooth style is. All I know is that it looks like you're in a modeling studio where there is an SLR camera on a tripod, studio lights, reflector rise umbrella, laptop, a portable backdrop, and a hidden portable printer. I also get to use photoshop in creating designs for the frames (and I thank that one person who taught me this). Anyway, the printed output is just the same as other photobooth owners. By the way, I started my photobooth business last August 30, 2010. I will blog soon the story behind my photobooth. :)

I thought the traditional box-type photobooth design is better until I found this article.
 

3 Advantages of Open Air Photobooths


By: Neilsen Yu on ezinearticles.com


If you're planning an event and have been doing research on renting a photobooth, chances are high that you've come across two different types of photobooth styles: (1) the traditional (or classic) photobooth and (2) the open-air design, also known as the "CrazyBooth". The two are similar in concept, but in execution, they take completely different approaches.
On the one hand you have the classic, "box" photobooth which we're all familiar with. It is constructed (or assembled) into an all-in-one-box that holds the guests, fires the flash, takes the picture, and prints out the strips instantly. No outside inputs are needed (other than the guests themselves!). On the other hand, you have the open-air photobooth. This setup is like a portable, mini photography studio, consisting of a portable studio backdrop system, studio lighting strobes & modifiers, camera on tripod with remote control, LCD TV for viewing shots immediately, and laptop & printer for printing out photo strips. This setup requires an attendant or two.
Now, obviously both designs each have their respective strengths and weaknesses, and at the end of the day, BOTH will be for your guests a great source of entertainment and leave you with tons of fun captures of the people who came to your event. The goal of this article is not to knock the tried-and-true classic photobooth that we all grew up loving to play with at the mall, but to offer 3 simple reasons how the new, modern open-air design takes a great, classic idea and adds TONS of potential! So without further ado:
REASON #1: MORE SPACE = MORE PEOPLE!
The BIGGEST advantage of the open-air design is that there is more space available! Where the traditional photobooth has a footprint of roughly 40″ x 60″, open-air photobooths can take up as much space as you'd like, with a typical setup being about 8′ x 10′ (96″ x 120″)! Now we're going to be focusing on all the positives of having extra strength, but it needs to be said that the obvious downside to more space is that not all venues can accommodate the space requirements and so for this reason, the open-air design is not for every event!
But for those that CAN handle the extra space requirements, the first positive is that the greater space allows for larger groups of people! No more having to decide who gets to be in the big group picture and who has to be left out. No more worrying about faces being blocked as you cram the box as full as you possibly can (and then some!). Because the open-air photobooth is basically a mini-photo studio, you can fit as many people as you like that are able to stand in front of the backdrop! Seeing 14 people (and even more!) fit comfortably into a picture is a very common thing! And of course, when you've got that many people together in front of a camera, you just know some crazy things are going to happen!
REASON #2: MORE SPACE = MORE CREATIVE POTENTIAL!
Not only does the extra space allow you to include more people, the other huge advantage of having so much space is that you now have creative possibilities that you simply don't have when stuck in a traditional box booth. The extra space allows you to "think outside the box"...literally! Action scenes! groups of people jumping! throwing people in the air! telling a story through your shot! All these are now possible because of the wide-open space that you have available to you in the open-air style photobooth.
See the links below for more suggestions with sample images on how to maximize the potential of your photobooth through creative poses, with ideas for different sized groups.
REASON #3: MORE SPACE = MORE QUALITY!
Finally, one often overlooked or unnoticed advantage that is afforded by the open-air design is the extra quality that comes from having more space, specifically the ability to get the light source a little bit off to the side to create a 3D look & feel to your images.
One of the basic techniques for getting high quality images in a photography studio is placing your main flash a little off axis (away from the camera). This causes all the faces in the image to be illuminated with a gradual shadowing from one side of the face to the other, giving a three-dimensional feel. The physical constraints of a traditional, box photobooth pretty much requires the light source to be a small rectangle, fired straight-on, right in your face.
With the extra space of an open-air design, however, your "mini-studio" photobooth can be set up with as many lights as you like to perfectly model your guests with just the right amount of highlights and shadows for not only FUN shots, but HIGH QUALITY shots! After all, if you're going to hire a photography service, you might as well get fun AND quality, right?
So there you have it, 3 simple ways that the open-air photobooth style brings the potential for BETTER images from the photobooth at your event! If your venue is limited by space, definitely go for a classic photobooth, but if you've got space and are looking for an awesome experience PLUS awesome quality images, contact us to reserve your date today!


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5213675

Sunday, December 4, 2011

What a British Idea!

I met a friend and she came all the way from UK. She decided to stay here for a while (and maybe for good). Anyway, she shared some stories and facts about her experiences in UK. She had lived there for 8 years. And what an amazing accent! She speaks well and communicates well. On one of her sharing moments, she mentioned about this advent calendar that her child really enjoys every Christmas season. It was a December calendar where there are windows for each day of december. And you only get to open one window each day and inside those windows are... chocolates!

So out of that shared idea I thought why can't I do that too? It is really interesting and creative. It is something new for Lara, and she would be thrilled definitely! I just have to remind her that only one window can be opened each day. You know what? She was really excited when she saw it. She can't wait to open the other windows!

Here's what  I did: I inserted cardboard inside the advent calendar so that I can tuck in place the gifts I decided to give her everyday. It won't be expensive gifts because the windows are small. I listed down the things she would love and  bought them one by one. These are button artistic earrings, flat tops chocolates, pretty little hair clips, potchi, hearty messages from me, fortune teller notes (what to expect that day. it could be a call from her loved ones or friends), beaded bracelets, treasure hunt notes, trinkets for keeps, more chocolates, hair bands.. etc. And some windows don't have things inside yet. I am running out of small things to give her. Help! :)

And here's what it looks like:


Monday, November 21, 2011

Trash or no trash

I'm a real sentimental type of person. I like keeping old things, let's just say, with sentimental values. Before throwing things out, I look at them first and my mind would automatically think of ways I can possibly reuse them. I even keep old papers just as long as they don't have writings on the back.
I'm also a bit of a neat freak (okay, some might react badly. YES, I'm one big hell of a clean and neat freak!) I like cleaning my home everyday, even if I'm tired from work. My mop is my closest friend. I don't like clutter. I hate dust. If my daughter has coughs and colds, I blame it on dirt first (no kidding). I like keeping things organized. If you want to piss me off, just go ahead and don't put my things on their proper places.
Is this an OC disorder? Perhaps I have the genetic tendency of having one. I think my mom has a mild case of it. It can help you sometimes but it can be extremely distressing.
Anyway, what am I talking about? I only want to share some ways we can reuse those things we usually consider trash.

Hmm.. that Strabucks on the go..
I now use it as a medicine holder/organizer.


And that toilet paper roll..

How about some of these things?
- an empty tissue box for your plastic grocery bags/brown paper bags
- shoe boxes to organize your bills or letters
- old mouse pads for kitchen countertops
- old contact lens case for your meds
- old-fashioned mugs as spoon/fork holder
- chocolate or wafer canisters for your child's colors and pens
There are lots of ways we can make use of our old stuffs. So better think twice before saying 'sayonara'.



Thursday, October 27, 2011

An old text, but this is what I'm going through now..

Did you happen to experience these kind of moments when you feel like time is too short for you? Or you wanted to do this thing but something is holding you back? Or you're in the middle of letting go of something but you just don't know how to end it or where to start?

I was in front of my computer and then out of the blue I just googled 'Steve Jobs'. I know I wasn't one of those people who mourned when he passed away, but I did sympathized. He was one of the greatest geniuses of all time..

Going back, I saw Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. My eyes skimmed over the words on the transcript of his address. I have read this before. I remember my ex-hubby's dad giving us a copy to read and reflect on (it was not that too much of a big deal to me back then- it wasn't just applicable then).

It's quite different now. I was having goosebumps as I read the lines again. Everything on it was so true to me at this time. It was touching. It was a wake-up call for me.

How come we see things differently after some time? The same with love/hate letters. When you first read it, it seemed like a no-nonsense kind of letter. The kind that you wished to throw away because you know that you are always right. After so-so years, you pulled it out from your deepest, darkest corner, and... the light just seemed to appear from nowhere. You finally understood. There was suddenly a different angle to it. Go ahead and try reading your old letters. It could be letters from you or letters you received..

Here's what he said by the way...(I know it is quite long, but whenever you feel strange, powerless, uninspired.. reading this will help you get back on track)

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

You've got to find what you love.

And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.



Monday, October 24, 2011

Satisfying Juan's Appetite: Koolstix Barquillos en Sorbetes (Ice Cream filled ...

I love barquillos! I remember when I was a child I used to just stare at people eating those crunchy snacks. It was really expensive for us to buy a pack during those times. And when my older sister would buy some for her kids, I was so excited to get a share from them. I remember eating it real slow and just enjoying the moment..
But now, of course, I can always try and satisfy my cravings for barquillos!


Satisfying Juan's Appetite: Koolstix Barquillos en Sorbetes (Ice Cream filled ...: Long, Crunchy and Messy. Barquillos, its one of those snacks that we Filipinos love. I'm not really a fan of eating Barquillos, but hey, who...

Monday, October 3, 2011

My pad's new look!


Just one of my other frustrations - be an interior designer. I like browsing to some home magazines and can't help admiring all the designs and ideas, be it for small or big houses.


BEFORE

I took this shot to remind me of how I felt then when I moved to this small space. I was thinking then, 'how the hell will I fit all my stuffs here?'



So, I went through some sites on the internet for inspirations...





AFTER

And voilà! It's the perfect look for me. I just had to squeeze in on some time and a lot of effort (and a little money, literally).I got the curtains from hypermarket only for a cheap price. I fell in love with the swirly designs right away.I also found those cute wall stickers in daiso (the store with really amazingly low prices). From afar, it looks like somebody painted it. My dad almost got fooled. :)And that black little round stool? That's probably the most and only expensive thing I bought for this pad. Kris Aquino has one of those. And that's the main reason the price of that stool went up! If I have seen it earlier, it could have been a lot cheaper.I bought the throw pillows at SM department store when it was a weekend sale.And that striped sofa bed? I saw it in also in hypermarket for a very reasonable price. I had many options then, but I was really looking for a cheaper one (and a lighter one, so I can basically move it around the house).The wall picture frame was one of my old stuffs from Thailand.Some of the hand-me-downs stuffs here are the wooden two-seater chair, the round center table, and the steel chair.


These were my inspirations....









Friday, September 23, 2011

Shaped and Fashioned by what we LOVE


Beauty essentials that I can't live without:

Olay total effects night cream
(it surely can even out skin tone!)
Olay day cream
Pond's pore tightening toner
Clinique happy body cream (from chel)

And...

What's in my purse?

The FaceShop volumizing mascara
Avon's mini eyeliner in black
Ellana's baby buki brush
(two thumbs-up for this brush! really soft!)
Stila Flushed
PurMinerals Red Ruby
(Stila and PurMinerals are both long-wearing)
Godiva lip gloss
(yes, this one can make your lips soft and supple)
Maybelline blush
Ellana's white chocolate primer
Ellana's peach coffee shake foundation
Ellana's raspberry cappucino finishing powder
Ellana's posh eyeshadow
(All of my Ellana's are in small (1g) packaging. It's a lot
cheaper and can really last for months! And guess what? No
more hassle of re-touching when you have this on!)




Shaped and Fashioned by what we LOVE

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I'm in my 30's and yet...

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I woke up one insignificant day and just started to wonder, 'what am I doing with my life?'

I have done everything I think I want. I've gone to jobs that long before I've been so curious about. I have worked at a call center, I've been to sales and became a supervisor, I have put up my own part-time business connected with events, I recently became a ghost writer and also a researcher... And now I'm a temporarily a WOHM. Temporarily, yes, because 2 weeks from now, I will be entering another BPO company and will be doing something I haven't done before. I guess I'm the type of person who wants to learn new things every now and then. But am I becoming a better person from all of these experiences? Am I gaining success?

Something is definitely missing. A physical exercise perhaps? I haven't been doing any exercise in years. Sometimes I'm thinking of doing a little workout. If not in a gym, I could probably run a few rounds, or swim with my super active daughter once a week. As they always say, 'any exercise is better than no exercise at all'. What's the best exercise for a person with a small body frame?