Living Under Imagination

Last February 1, Gina Lopez, the Managing Director of ABS-CBN Foundation, launched a signature campaign to save Palawan from both illegal and legally-questionable (allegedly, some politician’s hands were greased to approve the mining contracts) mining activities in Palawan.

The goal is noble, and the ideals are lofty. Indeed, that which they are fighting for is quite dear to my heart.

However, whether we are fighting enough or not is a question that I have to ask. The title to this blog post actually has two meanings: 1) We are far from the goal of 10 million signatures and 2) Having signatures just isn’t enough, 10 million or otherwise!

Last April 28, Ms. Lopez called on the President to present the campaign and educate him on the perils of mining, to which the President basically responded that he’d get his Cabinet to “look into it”, and to refine policies on mining.

Refine policies on mining?! Are you kidding me?! These mining companies aren’t wasting any time digging away. Why then are we? We can’t afford to sit patiently and wait. We have to keep the pressure up on the President and whoever is in the way of true environmental progress.

You can be sure I’ll be looking for ways to put more pressure on our politicians, so stay tuned. If you know of any politicians who can help, or who best to approach or send mass emails to, or if you have an idea on what other ways we can do to help, or if you simply are not afraid to get shot for being an activist, kindly post your info and ideas in the comments section below.

In the meantime, you can sign the petition at http://no2mininginpalawan.com/ We have less than 1.4 million signatures as of this writing. Post a link on your wall or tweet and retweet. WE NEED A HELL OF A LOT MORE.

I reposted Gina Lopez’s letter below. You can also view it at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/insights/01/31/11/appeal-gina-lopez where it was originally published.

It's official! I'm a photographer!

Everyone has seen them. More and more people have them. You know, photos of people who buy a brand new DSLR, get introduced to the world of photography, and inexplicably can’t find a better subject to shoot than themselves in front of a mirror holding a camera up to their face?

So, in honor of that time-honored tradition, here’s my take on making a declaration that I, too, am a photographer as well. Call it what you want, a satire of photographers, if you will. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve also taken a photographer’s self-portrait back in the day, but thank goodness I had the sensibility not to post it for all to see. Trust me. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

So here’s a challenge: I would love to see all of you take the photographer’s self-portrait to a completely different level. Post a link to your pictures down in the comments section or post it on our Facebook wall and I’ll post the best ones I find here on my blog. And don’t forget to overlay the words “I’m a photographer! ‘Coz I have a picture holdin’ a camera!” on the photo (how you layout it is up to you).

Start shooting!:)

Tripod curls using a heavy-duty tripod

As I mentioned last time, in a few days me and my buddies are off to our Northern Exposure trip. Since we’ll be travelling by bus, we’re going to be foregoing the luxury of trunk space and instead we’ll have to rely on our backs to carry all our luggage.

It’s important nowadays for photographer’s to stay in shape. This isn’t only for outdoor photographers to keep up with the rigors of on-location work, but also for studio photographer’s who might find it easy to just kick back and relax in the comfort of your studio. Fortunately, you can do these exercises without having to go to the gym and using equipment you might already have.

Disclaimer: I am a photographer, not a trainer. Do these exercises after consulting with your doctor or trainer.

Read on to start getting in shape.

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I’ve been shooting photos for a long time, all the way back to the film days. But until quite recently, I’ve never allowed my photos to be viewed the way they were meant to be: on printed paper and preferably framed. So this time, I was finally able to create something that I could give to some friends.

Read on to the section ‘How Do I Get One?’ to find out how you can get one of the remaining few framed photos. (more…)

I’m going to start offering a photography 101 class in the coming weeks. This will be an introductory course intended for those new to photography and will still be applicable for intermediate-level hobbyists who want to improve their craft.

You don’t need to have a DSLR to enroll, although you would benefit more from the class and understand some of the technical concepts more if you do. You can bring any film or digital camera from as high-end as a D3X down to a humble Holga. Flash is also not required, but if you have one, bring it on the second session.

Topics that we’ll be covering are:

• Introduction to Photography
• Basic Concepts and Theories
• Composition
• Natural, Studio, and Outdoor Lighting
• Color Management Basics
• Intro to the Business of Photography

For this pilot class only, the class fee will be only P2,000. The next batch of students will have to wait till next year and will have to pay the full price of P3,500. The pilot class will only have 15 students, but among the 15 students, up to 5 will be invitational so that leaves only 10 slots for you guys.

Tentative date of the class will be on Dec. 13 & 20 at Talayan, Quezon City (Near Araneta Ave. & Quezon Ave.).

To register, please email me first with your fullname, cellphone number, and email address. If you make it to the 10, I will send you where to deposit the 50% reservation fee which you will have to pay within 2 working days. Due to the limited slots, no reservation means the next in line gets your slot.

I’ll see you guys there!

It’s been two weeks since Ondoy’s (Ketsana) onslaught and a week since Pepeng (Parma) gave us a scare. And we’re just about returning to normal life. While we’re thankful that the flood didn’t reach the 2nd floor and that none of us were harmed, the flood nonetheless was devasting to our house.

Flood At the Gate

It was about lunch time when I got up from working on the computer. My brother went out early to go to school, and our maid, also in college, spent the night out finishing their thesis. I went down to feed our 2 shih tzus when my mom called me outside. She asked me to relocate the cars because surprisingly the flood had just touched the line of our gate in our driveway! Normally, when there were heavy rains, the flood usually only reached the bottom of our drive. So I moved my Astra and my mom’s city about two houses uphill. Problem solved. (more…)

Hope Of The Future

Yesterday, August 5, was declared as a non-working holiday. I had it all planned out: meet with Mrs. Harvey of Adphoto in the morning, meet with some business associates in the afternoon, shop for some office clothes in the evening, and then exercise a bit at my brother’s condo before going home.

And yet, it’s probably the thing that I had NOT planned that was the most rewarding. It was the day that President Cory Aquino, one of the greatest hero’s of Philippine democracy, was to be put to her final resting place. After my meeting with Harvey at about 11:30, I went to Osmena highway to take a peek, parked my car, and stepped out onto the streets. There weren’t that many people there yet at the time. (more…)

I found a nice website through one of my friend’s blog; it’s called Lakbayan and it maps out places in the Philippines you’ve been.

Apparently, I haven’t been going around enough! I only managed to get a measly rating of a C- Traveler.

So, in order to remedy this situation, I really should start loading up on gas, saving up my money, and start going places so I can improve my traveler rating, at least within Luzon for this year.

Along with some of my batchmates, we’ve already been planning on getting dive certifications later this year. But that would most likely just be in Batangas, which I’ve already been to quite a few times in the past so that doesn’t help my grade out that much. Still, when we do become PADI-certified divers, it sure would open up several photographic opportunities for me.

When I had my intro dive in Dos Palmas, Palawan, I brought my underwater SLR casing with me. But since it was my first dive, for fear of drowning, I didn’t bother worrying about taking deep water pictures at the time.

This year, a more realistic goal perhaps would be to go up north, perhaps Ilocos Norte. Or North East to the Nueva Viscaya/Ecija provinces. Or maybe take a cheap flight south to Catanduanes. I’ve read a lot of good things about that place in Mabuhay (the inflight magazine of Philippine Airlines) when I came from Shanghai.

How about you guys? How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Here’s a link to my Lakbayan results, which I hope I’ll get to update soon.