Nathaniel Salang talks about Sony Alpha Pilipinas and International or SAPI for short, his photography workshops and his Sony genes.
Gerome Soriano
ok let's start with SAPI
Nathaniel Salang
ok
Gerome Soriano
Sir Nathaniel Salang, please introduce yourself? What is your background? How did you got started on photography?
Nathaniel Salang
Background: I studied Philosophy at UP. I started out as a copywriter for a PR firm.
After that, my firends and I formed a Promotions and Events management company
In my PR and...., I was able to work with professional photographers.
When we were doing events, we worked with lots of female models.... these models submitted photos to us when they were applying for jobs. Many of the models were rejected outright because hey gave poor photos, even if they looked really good in person.
I decided that presenting good photos to my clients (decision makers) was key to making my life easier.
Just in time, somebody "pawned" his flim slr... very timely....I decided to study photography so i myself could be the one to take the pictures of models...... good photos ---> more models would get invited to interviews ----> less effort for me...
that's how it started.
NEXT.
I bought the film slr that was "pawned" to me, by the way... and I used it when I was studying photography
It was a Minolta 5xi
Gerome Soriano
do you still work in PR and events or are you working full time as a photographer
Nathaniel Salang
I left my PR job in 1996...... started the events company in 1996......... started learning photography in 2000........ started earning from photography in 2001....... closed down the events company in 2006
started teaching in 2008
so... now I am working as a full time photographer and teacher
Gerome Soriano
how did digital photography affect you when it came?
Nathaniel Salang
When i was studying, film pa pero it was also the advent of digital photography. I decided early on to try digital....... so aside from my film slrs (I also bought a Minolta 600si body for 30k... in Camerahaus), I also bought a 2 megapixel Sony Mavica CD 1000...... P40k that time....
I made sure that 2 megapixel camera would pay for itself..... and it did, many times over....
a dslr was too expensive that time..... my other option was the Fuji S1 Pro.... P100k body
Looking back, I think 99% of my total earnings in photography came from digital
Gerome Soriano
wow! so how did end up with your current sony gear?
Nathaniel Salang
by genetics, hehe
Gerome Soriano
?
Nathaniel Salang
and by chance din....... My father owned a full manual Minolta film slr.....the camera that we used in our office before was a Minolta 3xi....... Minolta 5xi was the camera that was pawned to me.......
I never held a Canon or Nikon.......
I only owned Minolta cameras so I went with that.....
When it was time to choose a digital camera, I really liked the Mavica CD 1000 becase it was big and looked like a serious camera......... and besides, it used rewriteable CDs
I was just waiting for Minolta to come up with their first DSLR so I could resume using my Minolta lenses and ditch Sony...... unfortunately, it took them ages to come up with the Minolta 7D.......by the time I was ready to get a dslr, there was
already the Sony A100..... that was my first dslr
Gerome Soriano
ahahah. SAPI. how did SAPI got started? was it your idea?
Nathaniel Salang
No, it started out sa Multiply wherein i was one of the earlier users locally (since 2004).... the Multiple group was started by Jose Luis Carag, I think?
It was in 2008, I think....... somehow they found out that i was a Sony user...... I think it was Jay Galleno...... they invited me to the Multiply group and made me one of the admins........
then sometime ago, Facebook became a phenomenon and we just naturally shifted everything to Facebook
Gerome Soriano
How did SAPI look back then? Was Sony Ph already engaging the group back then?
Nathaniel Salang
It was a full time online group.... not like other camera or photo clubs na may physical meetings....... that's still how it is now, only bigger
Sony phils......during the Multiply days, none....
Gerome Soriano
but SAPI does have occasional meet-ups did that happen back then?
Nathaniel Salang
The earliest real Sony involvement I can remember was when some of us were invited to the launch of the NEX 5....... Marielle Panay was in charge of the Alpha and NEX brand...
Back then, yes.... we had some... group photo shoots.....
studio and location
I got introduced to Sony Philippines because one of my students back in 2008 was a Sony employee........
the current brand manager, Marj David, was also one of my students.....
Gerome Soriano
You meet a lot of people through your workshops. Aside from the growth in numbers of SAPI members what other changes in SAPI have you seen.
Nathaniel Salang
The growth in numbers of SAPI members is in part due to the increasing number of Alpha and Nex cameras. There have been more talk about Sony cameras. There are more cameras. There are old camera users of other brands that are starting to use Sony cameras... usually Nex cameras are their first Sony cameras.
Gerome Soriano
can you tell more about your photography workshops.
Nathaniel Salang
I teach the basic concepts of photography..... applicable both to film and digital
It's a three-day workshop.... either three Saturdays or three Sundays, 9am to 6pm
Participants come from all walks of life........ ages 10-to 70+
Batch 93 graduated last Sunday. One participant was using the latest Sony full frame camera, hehe
Gerome Soriano
ah
you offer only one kind of course?
Nathaniel Salang
Basic........ that's fun to teach eh...... everyone has almost zero knowledge... I like the thought that i will be installing the foundations of all their future knowledge ion photography
Every now and then, I offer some advanced workshops but only to graduates of my Basic course.
By the way, I have an Fb group wherein most of my past students are now members...... it used to be a Multiply group.
It is through that group that I try to make sure that I can still be of help in guiding them in any way i can as they progress in their photography education
we have more or less regular photo contests..... It is through those contests that they get to hone their skills.....
Photos taken by Natahaniel Salang's students during the seminar
Gerome Soriano
parting thoughts. please invite the readers to the SAPI group and into your photography workshops. advice for new sony camera users
Nathaniel Salang
Hello, folks. If you shoot Sony and are looking for like-minded people, I would like to personally and digitally invite you to join SAPI...... it's where we talk about photography in general and Sony Alpha and NEX in particular. If you need help about your camera, it's the best source of knowledge when it comes to shooting Sony.....
Nathaniel Salang
If you need or want to learn photography, allow me to personally and digitally invite you to attend one of my regular Basic Photography workshops. Your camera brand doesn't matter. I promise to demistify your camera for you. By the end of he workshop, the camera would be your slave......you can make it do what you want it to do.
Nathaniel Salang
As of now, I still announce my schedules at my old website, http://thaniel1.multiply.com/
The next batches will start mid to late January.
ok na?
Update: Batch 96 (Makati) starts March 17. Click here for details.
Gerome Soriano
yeah
thanks for the time Sir Nathaniel
Nathaniel Salang
yep... if you want to talk about IPR, (next time naman) for next time
Thanks
Gerome Soriano
yes that would be great
Nathaniel Salang
If you need or want to learn photography, allow me to personally and digitally invite you to attend one of my regular Basic Photography workshops. Your camera brand doesn't matter. I promise to demistify your camera for you. By the end of he workshop, the camera would be your slave......you can make it do what you want it to do.
As of now, I still announce my schedules at my old website, http://thaniel1.multiply.com/
The next batches will start mid to late January.
were finished?
Gerome Soriano
yeah
thanks for the time Sir Nathaniel
Nathaniel Salang
yep... if you want to talk about IPR, for next time
Thanks
Gerome Soriano
yes that would be great
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