Misty Belardo

I tried applying the same technique I used in one of my earliest artworks as a graphic designer, Prinsesa, to edit Misty's ( @mistygirlph )Photo from my blog entry, Misty.

The original photo:

Here's the final artwork:

'gonna post a tutorial on how I did this piece in a few days...

feel free to comment. lemme know whatchathink.

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UPDATE: the tutorial for this is posted here

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Burst

'wasn't doing anything last night so i edited one of my photos....

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Photoshop 101: Soft Focus

This is just a basic / simple tutorial to achieve that "dreamy" soft focus look in photographs. I usually do this in photos I take for dramatic/romantic portraits and/or wedding photos.

step 1: open the file in photoshop. Im gonna use here the photo I took for my high school friend's pre-nup shoot.

step 2: duplicate the photo in the layers palette. (select the photo then press command+J or ctrl+J)

step 3: with the duplicate of the photo selected in the layers palette, apply gaussian blur.

The amount of the gaussian blur will be tha amount of the "dreamy glow" of the photo. The sample photo here was taken using an 8MP camera. I set the blur here in 15.4 pixels.

step 4: Set the opacity of the blurred layer in layers palette. Experiment. Try what opacity level works for you. I usually set the opacity from 30% to 45% depending on how soft I want the photo to be.

step 5: create a mask for the blurred layer, then use the brush tool (set to 30% opacity) to mask out the eyes and the lips and other important highlights that you want to be a bit sharp. this will make the catchlights in the eyes and the lips to be a bit defined. don't over do it though.

step 6: now select the two layers (click the first layer then while holding command or ctrl, click the blurred layer)

and merge them (command+e or ctrl+e)

step 7: now we're gonna add a bit of contrast to the photo. duplicate the merged layers (select it the press command+J or ctrl+j)

then set the duplicated layer to "overlay" and set opacity the opacity to 8% to 15% whichever would look best.

ta-dah!
now we have given the photo that "dreamy" soft focus look
here are the before and after photos:
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Word Play

Misty shared this weblink to me a few days ago. Its a really cool site. It layouts words to form an artwork. I know for graphic designers out there like me or adobe illustrator users  or even photoshop users, this is a bit much easy to do. but this website made this task much easier by just letting you finish a "word cloud" by clicking. 

You can tell stories or things about you or just about anything. I tried using the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by The Killers, Mr. Brightside and came up with this...

The website's tool lets you choose font types and color schemes for your word art. The webbie is called wordle. hmmm word + doodle = wordle?

go check it out, guys.

click click click!>> WORDLE

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The Sunset (Mike Maguigad Mix)

For all of you beach bums out there. I mixed this song a few months ago. I think it'd be perfect listening to this track while you're in a beach chair, drinking ice cold beer, watching the sunset.

The Sunset (Mike Maguigad Mix) - Andre Harris

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Unwanted Need

and I mixed another song in Garageband... this time I wanted it to sound very haunting. Something that feels like you cannot need what you want or want what you need... the feeling of being in the dark and not doing anything about it. Confusion, scandal, secrets, unaffordable luxuries and self indulgence.

hope you guys will like this track...

but before clicking the play button, you might wanna stop my sidebar player (the ipod touch in the right part of my page) first =)

Unwanted Need - Michael Maguigad

and umn, if you want a copy, just contact me and i would gladly send you a copy. you can find my contact details in the upper right part of my page.

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Quaker Oats

Yey! The site of quaker oats is now up! I did the shoot for this site (mentioned in my entry Misty). I did the portraits and the product shots... pls checkout the site. thanks

Quaker Oats

styling was done by Anton Belardo

makeup by Archie Tolentino

the shoot was directed by Caloy Tirona and Lei of BBDO-Proximity Click here to view full entry...

of scibbles, smoke and torn papers

me

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Anton Belardo

Anton Belardo, a stylist BFF, asked to me edit his photos and i came up with this...

Anton loves mixing and matching/mismatching clothes (he's a stylist, what do you expect?) and accessories and loves cats (he has 14 cats). He also loves doodling and writing whatever things in his cute li'l notebook, he's into pop art and loves Anna Wintour (notice the bob hairstyle). Also, being his friend for years now,  i think he is one of 'em  "dither" guys: indecisive. Dither, in the geek world, means having no sharp edges in bitmaps. I gave the artwork sharp edges to contrast Anton's being dithered. Thus, the artwork showcases all of these traits.

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Laguna

Ok, maybe I'm missing my hometown... the view of Mt. Makiling and the water hyacinths in Laguna lake. I did a quick sketch in Corel Painter. 'did this in less than an hour.

click the artwork for a larger view

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Boracay Sunset

I took photos of the sunset on my last day in Boracay. Here are the photos...

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How I Spent My Valentines

A lot of guys are asking me how did I spend my Valentines. Ok, I'm so pathetic, I know. I went to a coffee shop, ordered a a grilled cheese sandwich and two frappes, sat down and watched Breakfast at Tiffany's in my iPod. The ending of the movie can still give me goosebumps. I was about to cry but then I realized I was in a public place. Ugh. Probably gonna do a DVD marathon if I'm gonna be free this week.

movies for me to watch (again):

Somewhere In Time

Affair To Remember

French Kiss

You've Got Mail

and other chick flicks...

Yeah, pathetic I know. But this is how i get my regular dose of romance... through movies. Who knows? I might end up drawing with pencils and charcoals again if I get depressed. hehe

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Boracay Nights

Here are some photos during my nightouts in Boracay. Everyday, after working, we would hit the showers, dress up and party. As what JP Avendano told me, "you have to work hard... and play harder!"

Well I guess I'm missing a lot then.

Here are the photos... from being sober to being "half way there."

...and of course i'm not gonna post my "already there" photos. those pics are gonna stay in my Mikey's Hall of Shame. hehe

The Sambuca shot in Juice Bar that started it all..

in Hey Jude

after having Lani's surprise dinner party in Monaco Suites

prepping up before getting "lost"

"half way there" in Juice Bar"

Thanks Wan, Lani, JP, Char, Jaydee, Junee and of course Nicole, for making my stay in Boracay super FUN! hope to work with you guys again soon. =) Click here to view full entry...

Palassa Spa

After taking photos for Fairways, i took photos for Palassa Spa in Alta Vista, Boracay. Here are some of the photos.

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Paradise

Just got back in the metro from my trip in Boracay. Here are some of the photos I took for Fairways.

I also took photos for Palassa Spa in Alta Vista. Will post some of the photos soon. Gotta work gotta work gotta meet a deadline. Ciao

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