A masterclass by famed advertising photographer Mister John Chua set us off on our incredible journey with Asus yesterday at Prado Farm in Pampanga. His short lecture provided the media participants with quick and valuable insights to photography methods and techniques in a fun and easily digestible manner reminding everyone that the best camera in the world is the one that you have with you and that knowledge of the equipment is essential to the development of a good shot. He managed to sandwich multiple elements of photography within a window of less than 30 minutes through slides of his own exemplary work and quick wit.
Two hours later we find ourselves facing a wall of LPG containers welded together almost mysteriously. These gates are the prime example of what Prado Farms advocate – recycling and restoration into art or functional furniture. We were told about it by one of the children of the owners:
Past a serving of delicious soup along with the introduction, we watched artisans of Quiman Trading, led by 4th generation parol maker craftsman Tata Erning, go through the complete process of creating a modern day parol with steel frames, plastic, and paper:
When the parol-making demonstration was completed, we were led to our lunches in teams each led by an Asus Marshall and equipped with a number of tablets among their most recent lineup, here’s what we got:
When the day began with Mr Chua and during the ride to the farm we were told about a photography contest using these new devices with the “incredible” theme in mind as it is stated in the Asus slogan. The contest was simple enough – take a photo, caption it, upload with a hashtag, and register it into a list… the devices however proved to be where the battle is.
The Nexus 7 does not have a rear camera and so using one would require complex maneuvers to get a shot without being in it. What is positive about the device is that the capture rate is very fast and the focus seems to be fixed at hyperfocal.
The Vivotab on the other hand has a rear camera which makes shooting easier, but without tweaking any of the settings within the Windows 8 environment, waiting for the camera to focus properly is quite the chore. Even at automatic, the camera puts out underexposed images more often than not and going manual takes a bit of time because of the nested menus coupled with Windows 8 animations and gestures.
Of course one only needs to get familiar with the settings quickly and the feeling and freedom of taking photographs once again resurfaces. Here’re the shots I entered into the registry using the Vivotab TF810:
While the uploads were being accomplished, we were once again treated to a demonstration, this time of their cheese creation process as well as more food to tide us over the imminent return trip
Asus outdid themselves this time with praises from most everyone in attendance for the innovative way of letting the participants play with the devices in their own time with questions directed to the marshalls who are more than willing to provide the necessary knowledge and assistance.
Truly an experience and destination worth repeating and returning to! Overwhelming gratitude goes out to everyone who prepared, coordinated, and made sure everything was as it should be – Jamie, Eason, Dos, Alfred, and Jave to name a few!
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