Illustrado Scrapbook: Jay Morales & Rafael Dela Cruz

December 4, 2011

Illustrado Scrapbook

JAY MORALES

For hobbyist photographer Jay Morales, capturing memorable moment was the passion which led him to photography. Jay started self study in 2007 in the Philippines. In Dubai, he enrolled and graduated from the Basic Photography class offered by community organization OPPPS and attended relevant workshops. While learning, Jay says, he didn’t only gain practical knowledge in the art, but also a lot of friends who have also become his mentors and inspiration. Currently, Jay has a “365 Days of my life in Photography” project – wherein he takes one significant picture a day. His goal is to try out different techniques in lighting, discover new tricks, and to learn more, as well as share his hobby which is his outlet to relieve stress and homesickness. Jay likes doing portraits, beauty, portfolio and fashion photographs, as well as shooting events and products. He says his style is “lifestyle with a twist or funny take” combined with off-camera lighting.

RAFAEL DELA CRUZ

Rafael Dela Cruz, also known as Bodz to his family and friends, has been doing photography for the last three years now. He was initially engrossed in architectural photography and used to practice nightly using automatic settings on his camera until a friend taught him the joy of going manual. Rafael joined a Filipino Photography Weekend School and continued his learning through books and magazines on the internet. To further gain experience and motivate himself, he volunteered to take photos of finished interior design projects for is company until he got so good at it that his images were used for the official company portfolio. Three years down the road since he started, Rafael professes that he has realized that photography is a continuous learning journey. Always an eager learner, he says that he always studies and observes other photographers in action and tries to learning something new from them every opportunity he gets.