By Maan D’Asis Pamaran PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE WEEK Arvin Alivia As a portrait photographer, Arvin Alivia’s mission is to bring out the best in people. “Photography to me is all about capturing the most beautiful version of each person, place or object. It is an unending quest to look for the best angle, light, and emotion.” The first camera he held was the family’s trusty instamatic film camera as his tool for taking random shots of people and objects that caught his fancy. He remembers playing with the camera as a young boy and then having his shots developed in a photo lab. By his early 20s, he had his first SLR, a Nikon F60, and this rekindled his interest in photography. “I started to read books on photography and just shot birthdays, events, and places I visited. Surprisingly, that camera still functions well today,” he chuckles. By then, he was hooked. Digital cameras made it easier to practice shooting, he says. The budding enthusiast initially enrolled in photography workshops in Manila, then decided to take the leap to the Big Apple by signing up for the professional photography program of the New York Institute of Photography. “From a hobby, I started to get paid photography jobs in events and portraits. At that point, I gathered my two photographer friends, Laya Gerlock and Dr. Ian De Vera to put up our photography studio along Panay Avenue in Quezon City called LSG studios,” Arvin shares. While his first love is landscape photography due to its technical aspects, he realized one thing, “You can’t make mountains smile,” he laughs. “You must wait for the perfect light and moment to take that perfect shot, and let’s admit it,not a lot of people can make money from landscape photography. Here in the Philippines, only a handful of well-respected landscape photographers can do it full time.” Having realized that, Arvin shifted his focus—literally and figuratively—to shooting portraits of people both in natural and artificial light. “It’s just fun to shoot pictures of regular people and when you see that feeling of joy in their eyes when they see their photos, it just makes you feel good inside.” No matter what the subject, he says that an effective photograph should always be clear and crisp, simple and the most beautiful version of the subject. He also makes it a point to spread positive vibes on his shoots. It is a good thing that taking photos gives him the warm fuzzies, too. “In my experience, especially in shooting people, it is the subjects’ mood that is more important than the photographer’s. I believe that as a photographer, we should always disengage our emotions while shooting and just be positive and uplifting for a good session.” “I don’t really have a single mood of my photos,” he hastens to add, but most of his subjects tend to stay away from drama anyway. “It really depends on what the client wants or what is suitable for the client. But, I have observed that we Filipinos are almost more beautiful when we smile. We love to smile and our smiles are always genuine and happy.” On the technique side of things, he likes shooting both in monochrome and color. “I even like shooting infrared photos for landscape. Digital is the way to go. The technology has really advanced exponentially that no lighting situation is impossible now to get usable photos,” Arvin discloses. He formed the Isabela Camera Society in his home province in the North, but has since become inactive when he based in Manila. One of his proudest moments was in connection with his hometown heritage, though, as he joined a photo contest in one town fiesta in Alicia, Isabela and won first place. “I shot an old church in that town. Veteran landscape photographer Noli Gabilo and my idol in landscape photography Jay Jallorina judged that competition,” he shares gleefully. Arvin admits that he has slacked a little bit on the craft since becoming an entrepreneur, but has started taking photography seriously again. “At this point, I feel that I have so much more to learn and I intend to relearn my skills and practice weekly in our studio. My goal is always to take more beautiful photos of regular people and hopefully be a celebrity photographer in the future.” He adds that the appeal of celebrity photography is that they are already “beautiful people” and therefore easier to shoot. This is not to discount the joy he feels in making his regular clients feel special when they see how amazing they look in his shots. “The wonderful emotions that a photo brings to people’s hearts is truly priceless.”