It has been exactly two years since I visited the Batanes Islands, the awe-inspiring and otherworldly northernmost province of the Philippines. Preparing for my two-week stay at a friend’s house in Basco, I had every reason to be thrilled for the surprises that the islands had in store for me. Read more. . .

For the longest time, I had been fighting the urge to get for myself a DSLR camera with following arguments in mind: better control of image depth, higher quality resolution with RAW, wider angle, and powerful optical zoom. Those and I’d look cool lugging around a DSLR (come on, who wouldn’t?!). But then, it’s very convenient to just carry around a point and shoot camera. We fish the cam from our pocket and shoot away whenever there’s a need, a habit that became more convenient with the advent of high-megapixeled mobile phones (mine has 5Mpix).

Over the weekend, I’ve immersed myself to learning how to better post-process photos with the use of Adobe Photoshop 7. Yes, they already have CS2 and CS3 but this is the version I currently have. Later in this post, you’ll see that although outdated, Photoshop 7 still does wonders.

My objective for this post is not to show off how I can majestically compose subjects in photos nor would I want to bitch-slap readers with my new-fangled Photoshop skills. With the processed photos below, I’d like to share with fellow point-and-shoot photographers that it is still possible to greatly enhance our “inferiorly captured” photos (something I’d disagree to with my whole being) and take them to greater heights visually.

Photos and the rest of this article through here >>

2008 World Pyro Olympics – Day 2

What’s with WPO and the rain? I do not know. But ever since the 1st WPO, there is always a day or two where it rains so hard either in the afternoon or right when the first participant is ready to lit the skies, and again we’re dripping, soaked, wet!

But just like in the previous WPO’s (especially the 1st WPO), people stood their ground and never left their places, who cares about the rain when you are about to see one of the world’s best fireworks? The crowd started to

Continue reading here and to see the photos of WPO3 Day 2

I just like to make a heads up on PBS readers that I have made my new Photography Blog at my sub-domain.

Let me know your comments and suggestion

Here is my site : Digital Photography and I have also managed to make my photo album that has been connected to Flickr.

A report on the 2008 WPO Day 1 – China and Germany.

With photos taken with Canon PowerShot A460.

Read here!!

Yesterday, I was left alone at a friend’s house and I decided to watch this movie called “Facing the Giants”. The movie is about a high school football team that has grown accustomed to losing. Parents blame head coach Grant Taylor. Taylor blames his apathetic players. And the players blame former star players who transferred to other teams to escape the vicious cycle in hopes of being noticed by college scouts. With Taylor’s job on the line, and his personal life in chaos (he’s growing tired of not being able to provide a nice car and home for his wife, and he’s just discovered that he’s the reason his wife can’t get pregnant), he turns to God in a deep and moving way. Read the rest of this entry

We’ve all been following the news about La Mancha’s World Pyro Olympics, and we’ve all witnessed the delays and changes in the line-up of participants for this year’s WPO. But guess what? Tuloy na tuloy na!! Yes, the 2008 World Pyro Olympics will start this Saturday, May 3rd and there’s no stopping this grand pyrotechnics event in the Philippines (NOT even strong winds and heavy rain – we were there during the 1st WPO, twice it rained hard, but the show went on!)

Go visit my blog now to see the final schedule, the final list of participants, and the posters and announcements plastered all-over SM Mall of Asia, the world’s 3rd Largest Mall.

Read here…

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Ayala Malls

invite you to join

Moments with Mommy

at

Market! Market! Photo Contest

More info on the Moments with Mommy at Market! Market! Photo Contest at Shutter Box Philippines.

Shutter Box Philippines and Kubota Image Tools are giving away not one (1) but two (2) copies of Kubota Artistic Tools v4 which already includes the new Kubota Action Dashboard.

Each copy retails for US$149 but you now have a chance get one for free if you win in the raffle.

More info on how to join the Win A Copy of Kubota Artistic Tools v4 at Shutter Box Philippines.

Is this tight or what?! These, my dear friends, were actually taken on June 1888, October 14, 1888, and January 20, 1889 showing the Eiffel Tower in three different stages during its construction. If this ain’t the shiz, I dunno what is!

See the photo and the rest of this post here >>

The temps had been slowly going up. Nothing drastic, nothing weird – just the normal change towards a very wonderful season. Even the evenings are very agreeable – not too warm but not very cold anymore. How else can you describe it? My spring is here!

Hubbie’s house sits on a lot with a backyard rich with full-grown trees and flowers. The dining room is adjacent to the deck and so during the days we would sit and just watch the birds flying around. We have a mommy and daddy blue jay and a mommy and daddy oriole that we always see hopping from one tree to the other. In the early mornings, if our windows are open, you can actually hear the baby birds chirping. We also hear a pecking sound which we know comes from a woodpecker, altho we haven’t seen it anywhere – yet. On my first spring here in Maryland, we even saw two vultures taking a rest on the neighbor’s roof at the back. Honestly, seeing those buzzards really gave me the creeps, they’re not my favorite creatures in the world.

Read more at http://www.manilena.com

Since Gota Beach beach and its surrounding areas are closed due to “massive development” we had to search for a different spot to camp during our ocular inspection trip about a month ago. Fifteen hours after the traffic at EDSA, we finally dipped our feet in the clear waters of Sitio Manlawi, Lahuy Island. This time, we were blessed with spectacular weather and a fairly interesting sunset.

Sa Wakas, Dagat

Read/View the rest at Pinas or Bust!

Photography enthusiasts and art patrons, especially those who missed the Greenbelt 3 display, are invited to check out the 9 Photographers: Shared Moods exhibit starting today, April 9, 2008 up to April 14, 2008…

More info on the  9 Photographers: Shared Moods Exhibit Extended! at Shutter Box Philippines.

Bodyscapes Photoworkshop Batch 1: Exploring the Nudes

by Ross Capili

April 12, 2008 9AM-6PM

One Workshop Gallery

This workshop designed for advance amateurs (who attended basic photography workshop or have prior knowledge in camera operations already)

9am-12nn: The morning workshop will be dedicated to lighting the nude, conceptualization. All participants will learn how to capture in fine art photgraphy the female form.

1pm-6pm : Creative lighting with paint effects will be the main activity in the afternoon. Participants will do collaborative hands-on body painting with two models and will have the chance to create their own compositions.

More info on the Bodyscapes Photoworkshop Batch 1: Exploring the Nudes at Shutter Box Philippines.

Our trip to Caramoan involved an initial 8 to 9-hour bus ride to Sabang Port which is about an hour away from Naga City, the capital of the Province of Camarines Sur. From Sabang Port, we then embarked on a 2-hour ferry to Guijalo Port, which is Caramoan’s gateway. Because a weather disturbance had just passed, we encountered huge waves which made our sizable ferry bob up and down in hair-raising heights. At first it was fun and thrilling, the girls were even screaming as if they were in an amusement park thrill ride. Then nausea crept in and quieted them.

Porter

View/Read the rest at Pinas or Bust!

Blogs being scraped and plagiarized by other blogs is one thing, but what do you do about the beast that is mainstream media? It’s very disappointing for this type of thing to happen, since television and newspaper companies often consider themselves far more legitimate and reputable than anything that comes from the Internet.

Yet we are experiencing an emerging culture of taking things without asking permission, much less giving proper attribution. It could be a bunch of different reasons, mostly revolving around ignorance, but what does that say about supposedly educated professionals in the fields of journalism and mass media? Where are these people’s ethics?

Continue reading the whole post…

i was watching the daily morning show this morning when all of a sudden im seeing my photos flashed on the screen one after the other….

Continue

presents

Still, Life by Edel Rojas

A Photo Exhibit

April 2-17, 2008

The Alcove photo gallery

Black-and-white aficionados are invited to view Edel Rojas’ photographs of industrial objects taken inside a manufacturing plant where is he currently employed. Also included are candid shots of children that express innocence and joy.

The Alcove, located at the Filipinas Heritage Library, Makati Avenue, Ayala Triangle, Makati City, is open from Tuesday to Saturday (9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). For more details, please call 892-1801 or email cruz.ct@ayalafoundation.org.

More info on other photo exhibits and photography events at Shutter Box Philippines.

Earlier today I was giving a friend contact numbers for photography stores in Hidalgo as she was decided on buying her first DSLR, a Canon EOS 400D. I told her now was the right time to buy since its price is forecasted to drop with the imminent arrival of its replacement, the Canon EOS 450D.

She had a hard time looking for 400D kits as they were all sold-out and the retailers kept on telling her that the model she was looking for was already phased out. She found a 400D body that comes with a free A4 printer for P33,500. She needed a kit.

I didn’t expect the 400D supply to be scarce already at this point. Either the Philippine demand is really high or Canon made it a point not to overlap the sales. I’m sure there are still 400D units somewhere here in the Metro that have not been snapped up yet, most probably in the D-Zone stockrooms. Who wants to buy the exact same camera, that’s exactly the same price, with exactly the same warranty for four thousand bucks more? I wouldn’t. Problem is the main Hidalgo players have ran out of stock.

But there’s a new guy in town.

Continue reading at Pinas or Bust!