Manny Fajutag, 39, is a UAE based Filipino photographer who was recently named winner of the Open Travel category at the Sony World Awards 2013 for his photograph titled “Rush”. Fajutag is a qualified helicopter mechanic in Abu Dhabi who has also served 10 years in Philippines Air Force. He started photography with a point and shoot camera and sharpened his skills over the years through photography courses and a lot of experimentation.
Award winning photo “RUSH”
GEAR: SONY NEX-5N; Nikon D300s; Nikon D4; Sony A-77 with 16-50mm f2.8 lens.
LENSES: Nikon 10.5mm fisheye; Nikon 50mm f1.4; Nikon 85mm f1.8; Nikon 105mm f2.8 macro; Nikon 24-70mm f2.8; Nikon 70-200mm VR-2 f2.8; Sigma 35mm f1.4; Sigma 12-24mm wide angle; Sigma 50-500mm
FLASH AND ACCESSORIES: SB 700 speed light; Ring flash; Strike finder Pro (lightning, sound and laser trigger); Square ND and Graduated filters; Video LED light; Benro tripod; Benro mono pod
FAVORITE LENS: Nikon 24-70 and 85mm because they’re good on low light; great for landscape and for portrait.
HOPE TO BUY: 600 mm lens so I can shoot wildlife and sports photos
PREFERRED CAMERA SETTINGS: My camera setting while on the field: Jpeg format, ISO- depend on the
light and situation, white balance using Kelvin, auto focus and I shoot on ‘aperture and shutter priority’.
POST PROCESSING TOOLS: Lightroom 4 and Perfect Photo Suite 7
PHOTOGRAPHY ADVICE TO OTHERS:
Be familiar with your camera and the settings.
Read books and magazines on photography and attend photography workshops.
Learn how to post process on Lightroom, Photoshop or any other software, and join to photo sharing website like 500px, Pixoto, etc
Enter photo competitions.
By Shahid Saeed
