The Cosmic Boy: Kamaru Photography's first "serious" attempt

Okay, so after goofing with photography last time, we decided yesterday to for the first time do a serious shoot—but not a professional one. Serious, as in producing quality photos that are add-worthy to our very (9x) young portfolio.

The catch is, we only had one camera, a friend (whom we turned into a model overnight), home lights and desk lamps, and various junk to serve as possible props.

Diegs and I were discussing what type of photography we want to engage in. We don't know all the labels for the different branches of photography (fashion photography, landscape photography, photo journalism, etc.), and we're too lazy to research, so we decided to come up with what to call our desired specialization, regardless whether the term exists already or not.

We call it character/dramatic photography. Character, because we make our model portray characters we create (which we usually do on the spot when things start making sense around the set). Dramatic, because there's supposed to be drama—a [fictional] story behind the concept.

So, our photography is not really about the model, nor is it about the fashion, or the set... It's about the character and story. The set is not of less importance compared to the model, nor is it the other way around. The model, like the props and all the other non-living materials present in the photo, is simply an element that contributes to the realization of the concept we have in mind.

This is because the model wouldn't be an interesting character if the set was given less attention, and the set alone wouldn't highlight much drama if the human element is not semantically related to the environment.

Sorry, we in Kamaru love to philosophize and understand our craft to make the most out of it consistently. Know thyself, says some European philosopher I can't recall right now. It's not that we're limiting ourselves. As I said, we aim to specialize in something.

So, here's a picture from our first set. Others are still to be color-graded. The set it belongs to doesn't have an official title yet, but I remember us telling our model to internalize the character of a Movie Bitch (Optical Media Bitch!). Or a Pirated Lady, who is bought for less than it's real value.

"Optical Media Bitch"

Photographer: Diego Marx Dobles
Set Designer: Jason Paul Laxamana
Model: Thea Lelay
Dobles Residence, Redwood Village, Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga

I confess that for the first time in my life I tried to be a makeup artist, putting eyeshadow and other colored powdery substance (sorry, I don't know what they're called) around the eyes of our model. All that was in my head was that putting makeup on someone else's face is just like coloring a poster with pastel or color pencils, which I have always done in the past. Was I successful? I don't know. But nevertheless, I did the job. But I won't credit myself as makeup artist, hahaha.

Here's a picture from our second set, shot in the morning that followed. Others are also still to be color-graded. This one is "Coming Home to Nature."