Tracy Monsod

When Tracy goes shooting

There’s more to getting ready for a shoot than just grabbing my camera and running out the door. I also take into consideration what I should wear, not in the sense of being oh-so-fashionable even behind the camera, but in different ways.

Like picking shoes. I’d never wear my girly high-heeled shoes, obviously, and I would rather not wear flip flops when shooting, either. My go-to shoes are either my Doc Martens or my trademark Converse Chuck Taylors, simply because they’re the most comfortable on my feet. For days when it looks like it’s going to rain, I opt for my boots so I can easily walk through puddles. Both are also easy to take off when I need to. Yes, I sometimes take my shoes off. Like when I stand on (cushioned) chairs because I’m a small girl.

And because I stand on things that quite often come into contact with other human beings, I wear clean socks for hygienic purposes.

I also tend to wear jeans more often when I go shoot, because it just feels a little more professional. This is the case most especially when Tender Blender goes to shoot at Unilever, where everyone is in office-appropriate attire. On more laid back and/or outdoor shoots, however, I sometimes go for shorts when the weather is insanely warm.

I try to pick shirts with a neckline that isn’t too low, because I want to avoid having people see down my shirt. I have a tendency to do whatever I can to get that perfect angle, even lie on the ground to the point that it looks ridiculous.

When we shoot food, I dig up my white shirts! Some people may think it odd for me to be very particular about this, but the color of my clothes often get reflected onto the parts of the dish that show…reflections. The colors also sometimes affect the color of the photo, especially when using flash (I don’t use flash anymore though, so that’s minus one problem). If I’m out of white shirts, I opt for black. It pays to have invested in a black and white closet all these years, hooha!

Of course, how I dress for shoots is subject to the kind of shoot I’m doing. I was commissioned to document a christening once, so I dressed accordingly to show respect for the ceremony. Another event I shot was western themed, so my client said everyone was asked to come in plaid, and so I followed suit (pun intended). I may just have been the photographer and not a guest, but it’s a big deal to have on an appropriate attire. (:

When I’m done dressing up, there are four things that I immediately look for and put on, or push into my pockets — my watch, my glasses, my phone, and my iPod. I prefer to wear my Hello Kitty yellow orange glasses when I shoot, because my big round black ones often make it a little hard for me to look through the view finder.

At this point, I’m ready to grab my camera bag and go.

I thought about it this morning, and I can actually NOT use my camera bag, given the immensely small amount of equipment I have. Especially now that my old 400D kit lens is somewhat out of commission and I have only one lens to work with, I actually bring very few things with me.

But then again, I think I’d still prefer to have it with me. It just makes me feel a little more professional, plus the great convenience of having compartments in it. I mean, I could stick my camera, extra battery, lens pen, and battery charger into my bag, but it’s just easier to have specific spaces for all these things rather than fumbling around my huge bag for something. Plus I could simply fit my wallet into my camera bag instead, haha.

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At the shoot (especially with Tender Blender), there will be moments when you have a little time to be silly. It’s important to have fun!

Just a disclaimer, this is not a sponsored post! Hahahaha.

We had a shoot today at Unilever, and they had a wall lined with boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts! Because they love us so, they gave us a box which we shared with the Unilever interns whom we’ve become friends with. Being our silly little selves, we switched on our studio light and…well obviously we had a little fun.

…perhaps a little too much fun.

Again, not a sponsored post! We’re just really big fans of Yummy magazine. (:

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Pretty random post, but mostly I just wanted to share those silly pictures of us. It’s downright impossible to have a 100% serious shoot with these guys.

Oh look, it’s (sir) Happy!

I sometimes like uploading random photos of my friends. I should do this more often! Hahaha. (:

Spent the latter part of the evening with Kiks, helping him with some Mother’s Day preps, relaxing over at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and just browsing through Fully Booked.

While it’s my choice of workplace many a time, I’ve always thought CBTL to be the best place to be late at night when relaxing, too. The ambiance is just so homey.

A favorite of mine when I’m hanging out at CBTL is their African Sunrise tea latte. It’s the perfect night cap for me. It’s just the right amount of sweet with a hint of fruity, plus there’s no caffeine so I don’t need to worry about not being able to sleep at night. I clearly remember that I had asked a barista one night at the CBTL near my house what the perfect latte would be for me, given that I liked my drinks sweet, but I wanted as little caffeine in it as possible so I could still sleep well that night. She immediately suggested I try the African Sunrise, and described it to me. Ever since, it’s what I always order at night when I hang out at CBTL. I kind of wish I remembered that barista’s name now.

Whoever invented the stroopwafel should be given an award. You put this little pastry on top of your hot beverage and let it sit for about a minute or two. The heat warms it, and softens the caramel inside. YUM.

While I’m not really the type to go out and party all night like a lot of people I know, I wouldn’t say no to going out and hanging out with a few good friends over hot beverages.

Another photo of the macarons, just because. I ate some more tonight, mmmm. I should really learn to bake these on my own, so that my Silpat finally finds some use.

This completely escaped my mind after I had posted the set on the Bake Buddy Facebook page!

Iyay & I attempted to make cookie cups sometime in December! It was an idea I stumbled upon on the internet, and we thought we’d give it a whirl. It was great fun! Once the cups were done, we scooped some (Caratela!) ice cream into them and had our fill. SO MUCH SWEETNESS, it was crazy! I almost couldn’t finish my ice cream + cup.

At one point, we tried microwaving some marshmallows in another cup. It was pretty deadly. Haha!

Try it out yourself! Just turn over a muffin pan and mold the cookie dough onto it! Super fun to do. (:

One thing I absolutely love about Iyay (the mastermind behind Bake Buddy, and younger sister of Kiks) is her great passion for food. We spent many a time in their kitchen, attempting to make the macarons we so loved, and failed magnificently majority of the time (though what we ended up with were still pretty tasty).

She took up baking classes some time ago, made all sorts of sweet goodies, and shared them with me every time I came over. Eventually, they were finally taught to bake Parisian macarons. AT LAST! Since then, she’s been baking them more often. These sweet treats are always greatly enjoyed by a lot of her friends, so she invites them over to bake with her! I have yet to go over there and learn from my favorite baker, but for now, I’m enjoying the mountain of macarons she sent my way. (:

I’m not entirely sure she’s selling these alongside her ever delectable cookies at Bake Buddy, but feel free to send her a message! All of Bake Buddy’s contact details are on their Facebook page. Go go go! (:

My room is a block of colors.

Just tried stuff out with the only “model” available to me.

This is probably the cutest & funniest picture I have ever taken!

On our Church Visits last Thursday, I spotted this little boy and took a couple of photos of him for my They Never Knew project. He eventually noticed I was doing so, and crouched down in front of me and…well, you can see it in the photo. HAHA! So obviously, I couldn’t include this in my project.

Haha, I love kids. (:

Earlier this week, Karl & I had two consecutive shoots to do. Kiks went out of town on a family vacation for Holy Week, so we were left to try and replicate his magic.

The shoot for Knorr was no biggie — after months of shooting for them, we’ve somehow developed a certain brand of styling the sets for their dishes. Most of the time was spent on talking about life before college. It was a real trip remembering all the crazy things that went down in elementary and high school! I mean, who could forget all the school fairs? And with us coming from neighbor schools (Miriam and Ateneo, of course!), it went without saying that we’d be witness to the same things. The silly fair booths, concerts, the Miriam-Ateneo interaction in second year, we talked up a whirlwind of memories! It was a pretty good afternoon.

The next day, we had a shoot to do in Katipunan. There was an added challenge for us, especially Karl, as the food styling was left to him. It was slightly tense, since the client was hovering over us, but I’d just look through my viewfinder and see the incredibly beautiful diffused lighting brought about by the window’s curtains paired with our reflector and all was well in my head. In the end, we ended up with some pretty good results. I give myself and Karl a pat on the back! Kiks would be proud.

All in all, it was a good two days of work for me & Karl. The good vibes balanced out whatever negative energy there was. There really is nothing like bonding over food, whether eating it, or shooting it.

P.S. Karl’s started a blog not too long ago, do check it out! (:

Haven’t worn those shoes in a while. Wore them yesterday when I went to visit my cousin’s thesis exhibit in Shang, as I was right to assume that it would be really cold.