HAVE YOU TRIED SHOOTING THE RAPIDS?

A Boy From Pagsanjan.....






Crossing The Pagsanjan Falls.....





"Bangkero Festival".....





After the hectic first two weeks of the month, I am now enjoying the lull. I have been busy shooting during the first few weeks, that I find it strange to suddenly revert back to the norm of staying at home. I have a lot of projects on my plate that I need to to finish. But these are mainly post production work on previous projects that I have. Tomorrow, I shall be shooting once again as it is my niece Marianne's wedding.

I came across old pictures that I took during my second time of going to Pagsanjan, Laguna to shoot the rapids. It instantly brought back the memories that I have of that day. Although I did enjoy the trip, I can't forget how tired I was, how thirsty I was and how swollen my arms were! Yup, I had a serious case of sunburn, the kind which makes one feel like a roasted pig! I couldn't really place my arms at my sides. It was painful to do so. I could only blame myself for it, since I got carried away shooting the day's festivities, the day being the town fiesta. I also had to go through watching and shooting the town's special guests that day, members of FPJ's actor lackeys and opposition mates who held a rally in support of FPJ's presidential bid in the year 2004. Dang! Never again shall I be caught shooting under the midday sun without wearing a sunblock on.

I like the place since there are a lot of photographic opportunities. However, after taking two trips, it will be better if I attempt to shoot the place armed with a better set of glass. But if there is something that will keep me away from returning, it is the exorbitant fees that the boatmen charge for a boat ride to shoot the rapids! What a ride!

A WEDDING MIXED UP.....

Exchanging Vows At The Altar.....




Feeling The Heat.....



Sealed With A Kiss.....



When Doves Fly.....





Another Kiss.....




Entrance To The Reception.....





I messed up my schedule! It slipped from my mind that the Christmas party of our photo club was on the 9th of December. What I thought was that the party shall be held on the 10th, a Sunday. So imagine my horror and dazed look when Bless reminded me that the party was actually a day earlier! Oh man! What a mess!

The coverage lasted almost the whole day. We started at 7 am and finished at 11:30 pm. The wedding was between a Chinese couple, Dex and Pin. And thus tradition states that the reception of the wedding has to be around 8 pm, even if the wedding rite was performed much earlier at 1 pm. In between, Ken actually took the couple to a photo schedule, that included Father Blanco's Garden and Roxas Boulevard. It was interesting to observe him, how he worked and executed each shot. It does amaze me that he has 4 cameras that he uses at his disposal, each with a different lens attached to it. How I wished I have even just half of what he has!

Seeing what the demands are on a wedding photographer, it further made me think about whether I should head towards the same path or not. But I love photography and shooting weddings makes no difference! Photographing events is challenging because of the numerous obstacles that the event presents to the photographer. These are just some of the pictures I took during the day. Let me say that I shall continue shooting more!

A WONDERFUL JOYRIDE WITH B AND B.....

Buboy, Moi and Bless at Paskuhan Village.....




Kaleidoscope World.....



Watching the Lantern.....




Superlolo/Total Entertainer/Multitasker and His Wards.....




The next day, a Sunday and right after the Canon Shootout, I decided to meet a couple of great friends from the club namely Bless and Buboy and joined them to go to Pampanga for the Giant Lantern Festival. I haven't really seen any of these lanterns before so when they invited me to go, I said "yes" immediately. We left around 3 pm and arrived at Paskuhan Village at around 5 pm. To our surprise, the place wasn't really filled with people, which was kind of sad. Paskuhan Village is a large place, I think the local tourism arm of the government must do something to save it.

Anyway, we were delighted to watch a cultural presentation performed by teenaged ladies and headed by a guy/gay that the three of us call superlolo/ total entertainer/ multitasker! He was awesome! He was the host, the singer, the male lead dancer, the percussion player, the kumintang player, the narrator and the leader! All of these, done with such aplomb and despite his age (he doesn't look that young)! In the end, it was quite entertaining to watch him and his wards perform.

We never thought that going to Pampanga to shoot the festival shall bring about a stress free experience! At some point, the three of us were enjoying ourselves, hamming it up as we posed in front of my camera and Bless' and using my remote control switch, fired shot after shot of ourselves, enjoying it as if we were kids who have not seen a camera before! But when the lantern show started, we got serious and began to take pictures of the lanterns lighted, unlighted and how it looked like from its back. We went back to Manila at around 9:30 pm. Hmm, even the ride on the NLEX was relaxing!

Thank you very much Bless for the ride! Thank you very much Buboy for the laughs! And thank you very much to the both of you for the very wonderful company! If shooting events is always like this, life is soooooo sswwweeettt! c",)

THE AFTERMATH OF THE COMPETITION.....

Canon Shoot and Run Entry, Finalist.....





I had a blast in joining the first ever Canon Shoot and Run photo contest. It was fun, tiring but exciting event. Five members from the NAYON Photo Club participated. The objective was to take pictures according to the theme with the City of Manila as the backdrop. There were two themes, with a third one an optional theme. The first is the "Splendor of Manila", the second is the "Heart of Manila" and third being "Only in the Philippines".

The competition started with a briefing at exactly 10:30 am which we were required to attend. Failure to do so shall exclude the shooter from participating in the morning session of the contest. The actual shooting process started at 11 am. Bobet joined another set of photographers, so we, the remaining ones basically stuck with each other. With Lian's husband Von doing the driving for her (and us as well as we hitched a ride with her), we stopped by the grandstand in Luneta Park. Without seeing anything that I can capture that which, in my opinion, shall show the "splendor" of Manila, I walked towards the end of the grandstand and saw the Manila Hotel. I came to an area where the skating rink is now located (after being displaced by that humongous statue of Lapu-lapu) and suddenly found myself in an ideal location. Even I have not seen this area before, but since there were no other contestants around, the sudden realization that I have an original photograph made me feel good. Manila Hotel has been a symbol of luxury since the days of yore so what better subject to capture the "splendor" of Manila than the hotel that carries its name? And the view that I got is indeed unique. It is along the dock where the floating restaurant is located! That explains the boats and the walkway. I then told Lian not to meet me anymore since I already have my potential entry with me as the group decided to proceed to Intramuros for more photo opportunities. Later, during the night, the organizers told us that the pictures that were being shown on the wide screen were the images that made the top fifty for the "splendor" category. My entry was included and it made my participation worthwhile.

The afternoon session proved to be more difficult for me as it was all about people. I had problems with finding ideal subjects since I didn't want to photograph subjects which I perceived to be common, i.e. the cigarette vendor, the sampaguita vendor, the street children. I wanted to show the distinguished people, i.e. the doctor, the nurse, the policeman. But it seems everyone was inclined to shoot the street children, so of to Quiapo we went. As I expected, I didn't have a single decent entry for this theme. My photograph of a katipunero dressed security guard of Fort Santiago didn't make it, I assume, to the top fifty of this theme. Well, better luck and conceptualization next time.

Congratulations are in order to Robert Fontanilla, one of my club mates. His picture in the "Splendor of Manila" category won second place. He went home with a Canon Pixma printer valued at 25,000 pesos as his prize.

CANON SHOOT AND RUN 2006.....

Today, Canon camera users, mostly from Metro Manila, are going to pit skills against each other to see who shall win the Canon Shoot and Run Photo Contest. At stake are a 100,000 pesos as main cash prize while Canon camera gear worth up to 300,000 pesos shall be given away too. Its the first time in this country that a major camera manufacturer has staged a contest as big as this one. If Canon Philippines can be an active sponsor of events for photographers here, my bet is that people will be switching less and less to using the Nikon system, which is getting prevalent nowadays. Nikon users, eat your hearts out on this one! c",)

I really do not have the energy to join this photo contest. But since I have registered, I have to go with the flow of shooting for this contest. Some NAYON members have enlisted for this, among them are Lian, Bobet, Peter and Jerome. I have no information if there are other people who have decided to join this. I do wish that Bless could join this competition but she has other things on her plate at the moment that it would be best that she didn't go (read as: BUSY). Anyway, we NAYON members must get our acts together and plan our actions for the event. To those who shall participate: Good luck to each of us!

I'm still sleep deprived! It does suck that they have to schedule this event during the start of the Simbang Gabi. Its the first day and I have already missed it! I need some more sleep before I wake up and proceed to the venue of the event. I do expect to win something, hopefully a cash prize of 100,000 pesos. Ha! Ha! Ha! That will surely jump start my photography business!

A CHRISTMAS PARTY STORY.....

NAYON Photo club in action.....






A few days ago, the photo club that I belong to had its Christmas party held at Miramar Hotel at Roxas Blvd. I was scheduled to be an assistant of a wedding coverage that morning for Kenneth Uy, thinking the coverage will finish early and I will be able to join my club mates. But it wasn't meant to be! The coverage lasted almost the whole day and I eventually showed up around midnight. I missed most parts of the party that, by the time that I arrived, almost everyone was prepared to leave or was to exhausted that they had to sleep in the bedroom.

It's my first Christmas party with the club. And I do appreciate the fact that this club has rekindled my passion for photography. My experience with my previous camera club wasn't a pleasant one. It became so bad and disheartening to be a provisional member that I didn't have a choice but to quit. Returning to NAYON, I feel, was something I should have done earlier. Here, the ambiance is more informal and laid back. But make no mistake about it! Club members are a serious lot when it comes to photography. Things can get to be very competitive most of the time. However, each member still respect one another so bust ups are rather rare.

I missed the photo shoot! I missed the opportunity to have my picture taken and be included in the NAYON photo on the website. The theme was Hawaiian, so most of the guys wore shirts with tropical designs while the girls wore sarongs. If I was able to come early and join the shoot, I would have nothing to wear since I don't have anything that suggests "Hawaiian" in my wardrobe! But I could have "wowed" my club mates since I was determined to be a "fierce" model ala Tyra Banks (have you seen her change and project her face once a camera is right in front of her?)!

I am grateful since my club mates have become my friends. The level of friendship may not be as deep as what I have with the "PGH Girls", but I do see some people worthy enough of a more profound friendship as I get to know them even more. My prayer for these people is that they continue to be the kind of people that I sensed that they are to be.

To the officers and members of Nayon Photographer's Club, may God continue to bless each one and their respective families this holiday season. May your Christmas be Merry and your New Year be Bountiful!

THE JOURNEY BEGINS.....

A Handshake with the First Gentleman.....



My mother influenced me a great deal in my passion for photography. I do recall that during my growing up years, she would often take pictures of me and my siblings, nothing serious or fancy, just the normal shoot of the family during vacations and during special events like birthdays. I was my mom's favorite model as I would instantly ham it up in front of her camera. Equipment of choice during those days was a Kodak Instamatic, a rectangular box shaped camera that used flash cubes as an added light source. The funny thing about the cubes was that it emitted smoke after the shutter was released and the flash fired. The subjects usually get blinded by the strong flash of light that one has to sit momentarily, to get his bearings. This same smoke was eventually discovered to contain mercury vapors and was proven to poison people hence it was discontinued from the market. Eventually the camera suffered the same fate, that of being discontinued.

My mom then bought a 110 pocket camera. These cams were slim and lightweight that it fits into a man's front polo pocket. It used a 110 film cartridge. My mother would take the camera to school and she would ask me to take pictures. I studied in the school were she taught English at grade school level. She was my English teacher in the first until the second grade. If she was involved in the school program, I took her pictures. If my brother had a school presentation, I took his pictures. If my mom had a new hairstyle, I took her pictures. If my father had his own activities at the Billing Section of PGH, I took his pictures. If I had a school outing or a field trip, I would take the pictures. Soon enough, I found myself more behind the camera than in front of it, unlike what I used to do. I became fascinated with the idea of capturing a person's likeness and transferring it to a photograph. I was hooked, no turning back.

I continued shooting through my high school years. The 110 pocket cameras were still the current rage. My photography was funded by my parents who often requested me to go to this affair or this event with them, so I can photograph them as I listed above. At times, I'd saved enough money from my allowance and buy film for the camera, leave something more for the processing and take snaps of friends at school. Developing charge during those times was around 10 pesos. A single 3R print cost 50 centavos. Armed with the money given by my parents and living within the Sampaloc area of Manila, I'd go to Recto to have the cartridges processed. I can't recall though if the camera shops in Hidalgo existed, perhaps it already did. Having been able to go to Recto on my own from the age of 8, it didn't occur to me to go as far as Quiapo for processing the films, until the costs started to climb up and I was shrewd enough to go shop hopping until I finally reached Hidalgo in Quiapo, the Mecca of photography here in the Philippines.

During one of my trips to Recto, I started to notice these odd looking and bulky shaped cameras as they started to appear along the photo shops. These cams used a 135 film, which was considered to be a professional emulsion back then as only professional photographers who own film SLR's use this film size. However, camera manufacturers saw the potential that the market had, thus produced point and shoots using this film type. And once the trusted pocket camera failed to work, it was time to upgadeto the 135 point and shoot. My father gave me and my brother the money to buy our first 135 film camera and that further fueled my passion for photography.

And the journey continues.....