Legends

Meet The Dawn!

One of the oldest and most prolific OPM rock band I know and admire. Although they've been rocking the music industry since the 1985, it's not until around 2007 that I've been fully aware of their existence. With their hit single Tulad ng Dati and Salamat I instantly became a fan. I've always been a big fan of, well I don't know how to call it but i'll just say, my own vintage rock bands. I love listening to ACDC, Queen, Aerosmith to name a few. But don't get me wrong I am still young (i was born in the late 80's). Man! these bands never get old! After all these years they are still rocking BIGTIME. Although it's sad that most of these bands have lost a member or two, still they continue to be great in what they do. And of course when it comes to OPM rock scene, The Dawn is definitely one of them.

See more photos here: The Dawn @ Tiende 2011

Photocollage

Another photo that I took a while back. I was inspired to do something like this when I saw a photocollage of David Hockney titled "My Mother". He shot a portrait of his mother using several photos from his Polaroid then arranged it to make a complete image. He called them "joiners". Although mine was arranged and stitched digitally, I really enjoyed doing these set that I already have several new ideas for a project using the same technique (of course i'll experiment more). 

Hopefully I can start soon as I am such a procrastinator.

Enjoy.

Just some random pics that I have. Took it a while back around my favorite city.. PASIG CITY :D

where's ronald?

no u-turn

the leader

Cartimar - Documentary Workshop

Ok, so the workshop's been...... AMAZING!!! I really had so much fun and I did learn a lot. Sir Tilak Hettige is one of the best teachers i had in photography. Although not a very technical teacher/photographer compared to other  photography teachers I've encountered (though I've encountered only few), It's his passion and the way he approaches and connects with his subjects that allows him to take amazing photographs. And that is something that I've been lacking, BIG TIME. 

So we've learned all about the technical stuff about photography like the rule of thirds, framing, manual setting of the camera, etc. But all that comes second nature when it comes to Documentary Photography. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying they're not as important at all, go master those technical stuffs, understand them and do practice. From what I've learned, the most important thing about documentary photography is allowing yourself to be put into a position where you can take images that will enable you to successfully connect your subjects to your intended viewers. Do some research of the place, study and understand your subject or the situations that they are in, approach and shoot with an open mind, and most importantly blend in. 

Anyways I'm not that good of a writer so I'll stop writing already. 

Bellow are some of the shots I took during the workshop. It was taken at Cartimar, one of the oldest shopping center you can find in Metro Manila.

LRT 1

Cartimar is well known for the cheap goods sold in there

Palengke after lunch

meet the meat vendor

P.S. My classmates and I took some really good and interesting photos. So the whole class decided to have a  small exhibition of our works. I'll post the details when everything's final already.

Faces in the crowd

Ok, so now I'm excited!!!

Today will be the first day of the workshop that I enrolled myself in, Documentary Photography: An Introduction for Photojournalist. It's been a while since I joined a workshop and Documentary Photography is something that I've always wanted to get myself into. I've always wanted to be a photojournalist but for some reason or another I never really actually try to be one. Well I hope this would be the icebreaker so I can start my quest into hopefully someday becoming a photojournalist.

And oh, here are some pictures I've taken way back. I call these series "faces in the crowd". It was taken during Pres. Cory's funeral and it was special to me because it was my first time shooting something like this. Although i got only a few pics of the actual funeral procession as the security was tight and a lot of people came. I got this series out of it. Enjoy!

My teacher once told me, "A good photograph should tell a story and convey emotions." The moment i heard that my perspective of photography was changed. And my then interest in photojournalism increased. I started from just shooting pictures to shooting stories.

"Good News"

Ok, so i haven't posted for a while. Well lets just say I've been "too occupied" lately.

Anyway.

Recently the Philippines has been visited again by several typhoons. And during those visits a dreadful memory comes along, ONDOY. Though luckily these recent typhoons didn't cause too much trouble as Ondoy did, still a lot of places became flooded and some life has been lost. It's saddens me when things like this happens but that hasn't been always the case. I remember when i was still going to school what a "good news" it was when a typhoon hits the Philippines (Manila to be specific). Classes would be suspended and i can stay at home doing whatever i want to do. I didn't mind what was going on in other places as long as I get a free day from school. But all that changes when Ondoy came. It wasn't the first time i felt the wrath of a typhoon but it was the first time i felt the consequences a typhoon can bring. For the first time our village became flooded, everyone was caught by surprise. I have always been aware of the many areas in Manila where flood has been a problem but I have never been to any of that area, but this time its different, the flood came to us. It was such an eye opener that what was once a "good news" definitely became a bad news. And the fact is our place didn't even got the worst of it.