My Laguna Photowalk with D60KREW

So there you go, I've got more but it would not really be good for the site since it would crawl a lot if I did put more of it here. Maybe soon I'll put the direct link for my photos here so you can all get to see em. Here's the KREW by the way:

From R-L: jake francis vince alex xander joseph Harvie kris Me carlo cid ray bangge me roy bambit olee Glenn
Group Hug PIC courtesy of Ms. Bambit

Along with my obsession with photography comes the arduous task of editing and post processing of all the shots I made in the Laguna photo walk with the D60 KREW. This was one awesome trip but I am still sick from it now but I don't regret the decision to come and enjoy my time with them. I got some of my pictures which I would like to show you now. Maybe it will load a little slow but bear with me alright?

This was taken on a fountain inside the premises of the Pila Laguna Church. It was floating on the second level I kinda pushed it in the water before I took a photo of it. Nice huh?!

This was taken inside the garden of the Rizal Shrine. They say that most of the plants and trees they planted there are all based on the former ones that existed in Rizal's time. I was a little disappointed about the shrine's color (they painted it green) but this Gumamela flower just POP in this scene. I've kinda been good at MACRO shots but never insisted going this path. Maybe soon when I get the hang of it I'll probably pursue it. But for now I like Glamor/Fashion and portrait shots more.

This is an untouched photo taken inside the Pila Laguna Church, it was raining outside so we were all trapped taking pics inside the church. I used flash but it kinda bounced off the gate where this was, it resulted into a nice shadow effect.

This was the church in Liliw Laguna where only a couple of us took shots. We were hurried by the other KREW so we kinda only took a few.

This was inside the garden of the Rizal Shrine. This was usually the place where Rizal and his siblings played during the day. It seems they were pretty well off at that time. Their stuff were kinda neat for an old family.

The Need to Rest

I'm so tired after that trip to Laguna and it was also really hard to get a decent shower at this time in the office. The shower room is also cramped with stuff from other employees and the lockers we have were not sufficient to hold all our belongings. I still got that handy towel wrap so I do not get the floors and corridors wet. I run from here to there but it was good I did not have to suffer like the rest of them; as I came well prepared.

I stuffed my filthy clothes in the laundry bag and I will get them to the washers early tomorrow morning. It is just so convenient to have one! I want to be organized too so this bag is really helping me a lot. Maybe after this, I would need to go home early because I need some sleep. I have been awake for about 29 hours when it strikes 6:00 AM. I just hope this would not affect my health. I never got sick for almost a year I guess and I would not want to start now. I do not have my own nap mat in the office because it would be troublesome for me to go from here to the other building where our sleeping lounge is. But I really need to get some sleep and get some rest after that exhausting photo shoot this morning. I better get some on line stuff so I would be better tomorrow. I have not incurred an absence in 5 years from the office and it would not be so nice to break that just because I am sleep deprived. My body can only do so much; I hope it would not be calling in sick tomorrow. I would be really disappointed if that happens so wish me great health and good luck!

D60 KREW Conquers Laguna!

Us @ Petron Treats @ South Super Highway

I literally just got off the van and went back to work. Geeze! This was one fun day... I guess I enjoyed the company... the small laughs in between and the jokes that cracked me up. The D60KREW just conquered Laguna!

From Left to Right: Vince, Jake (sorry tama ba? hehe) , Xander, John (that's me!), Vangie, Carlo, Francis (slightly hidden), Cid, Olee, Roy, Alex, Ms. Bambit, Ray, and Rye (I'm a lil hard in remembering names sorry if I misrepresented anybody! heheh)

It was a hot ride but I guess that doesn't matter anymore since we all jumped into this awesome photo shoot. Early morning at 2AM I woke up and never slept again because I know I'll probably never wake up if I did. Went to Cubao around 4:30 AM and met some of the guys and gal and got out of QC at about 5:15 AM. We went back to Eastwood since we forgot to fetch Cid in C5. Met the others at the Sucat exit and waited for Olee in the Petron Treats Station along South Superhighway. We started the journey in Calamba, Laguna where the country's national hero Jose Rizal spent his childhood... the green paint on it was a little disappointing... but the things inside the house and the facade was greatly appreciated by me and my peers. I got a lot of macro shots also done on the garden outside his home.

US D60KREW @ Rizal Shrine!

There was also a nipa hut where the young Rizal and his siblings usually play. The beds, tables and chairs inside the home were old and rustic. The porcelain inside the cabinets were all heirlooms of the Rizal family and had some inscriptions on it that it was passed on from generation to generation. It was nice too see that!

D60KREW @ San Juan De Letran Calamba Campus

The second stop was a couple of landscape shots inside the San Juan De Letran Campus in Calamba which was a few kilometers away from Rizal's house. It was nice to see the landscape and the mountains behind it. It was definitely breathtaking. Although we were a little tired already we still managed to go to another one after that.

Boy Scout's Camp @ Mt. Makiling Laguna

US @ Philippine High School for the Arts on top of Mt. Makiling, Laguna

The third place was the boy scouts camp in Mt. Makiling, the path was really steep and the curves were really that hard to maneuver in. I didn't have that much photos there so we went on an overlooking site at the top of Mt. Makiling where the Philippine High School for the Arts was on. The place was grand but most of the views were blocked by human high grass stalks called talahib. It was really nice to see some sort of a basin inside Laguna De Bay. Aside from that, the lake also had an island in the center of it that had casinos owned by the Governor of the province. It figures why she won the elections! Where did she get the money? Go figure!

That's not my problem anyway! So, the next stop we had was in UP Los Baños. Even if we did not have that much photos in UP, it was at least nice to be there. I mean, I've never been there believe me or not. We ate lunch at the outskirts of the campus and everyone was sizzling under the sweltering heat of the sun! Ouch! I'm a negroid again!

Speaking of SIZZLING... I ate a TBONE straight from the hot plate. It was tough but what can an ordinary carnivore do in this day and age... of course eat chicken from Rye! Heheh Man! It was a lot to chew and swallow in one sitting. I guess everybody else was hungry at that time, and a lil bit sleepy too after that. I heard some suggesting a 30 minute siesta but that wouldn't really work... so we hopped on the van again; and went to our next destination Pila, Laguna.

We tried our best to get some old houses in the D60 cameras that we had but after a few shots outside we all went inside the church to pray and get some of those evils off. I don't know if it was me or something in me, but it suddenly was dark outside... a few drops, then lightning and thunder... drips a little... then the whole cats dogs and the zoo fell down. We were all trapped inside the church for a good hour or so because if we went out we would probably have had all our gears wet. That would not be a pretty picture! I got a few excellent shots there that didn't require that much post processing but since I'm not at home yet at the time I'm writing this novel LOL, I would probably be able to post that later ayt!?

After the few rounds of Green Sweet Cold Gulaman from the Rye Foundation heheh... we skipped and hopped to the vehicles again and went to Nagcarlan, Laguna. The specific location was the Underground Graves that the municipality was known for. I guess that is what you call catacombs too right? Well I didn't have time to check that out on Google so I'd let you do that instead hehehe... This was where most Filipinos at war planned schemes against conquistadores from other countries. This was some sort of a secret meeting place. The graves were indeed kinda creepy but the outside was a bit picturesque and very rustic. We didn't have that much paid for entrances because most of these sites we visited were for free and only required donations which can probably range from 6 to 7 million dollars... joke! any amount will do actually! It rained a little but it did not dampen our spirits so we went to our final destination for pasalubong shopping Liliw, Laguna!

It was nice there although it looked like a market of some sort I enjoyed haggling a little with the locals on biscuits and sweets and the Uraro cookies I like. I kinda was confused between this URARO and the ARARO cookies we had in Bacolod... I guess that version in the visayas was sweeter and whiter than this one. The Uraro cookies looked more like butter cookies when baked til golden brown. We even had free samples before we bought anything. That lady who sold us these was quite good I guess, or is it because we were tourists? I dunno! Heheh... We also passed by the Liliw Sacred Heart Church which looked like a ton of bricks! It was nice outside and equally nice inside too. I took some pictures but couldn't post it because I'm still at work typing this in. Darn! I wanna go home! Hahah...

(Stopped for a while and took a shower, reflected on the things we did wrong like shouting inside the church and cursing on one time or the other heheh... changed clothes because I felt filthy!)

Continuing...

Group Hug @ Nagcarlan, Laguna

Everybody forgot to take group hug pictures in Nagcarlan so we all went back to that place and shot a few. Ms. Bambit and Carlo did set up their cams and went on clicking their remotes so we can take pictures of ourselves and jump on a few frames. It was hilarious because Bangge and Roy kept cracking up jokes while doing this... and the other things between trips the whole day heheh.

It was really fun and I had such a nice time with the guys at D60Krew. I guess we all went home with tired feet, but very happy faces because we did enjoy each other's company. The camaraderie and the joy a good shoot can deliver is just priceless! I guess that's what the D60Krew did today, and I hope this isn't the last of it!

Thank you D60KREW for this wonderful trip!

P.S. Credits to photos are from Ms. Bambit Gaerlan

Printing my Digital Photos

This has been a long withstanding task for me since I have not printed any of my photos yet. Yes I know how silly that sounds but I never got the time to go digital printing shops here and around the city because I always have a photo shoot every weekend. Tomorrow is not also exempted because I am going out of town south of Manila. So now you know my dilemma getting decent printing services in this part of the world.

There are more options on line and as a matter of fact a better alternative. When it comes to getting your photos printed, they now come in various designs and sizes. If you could see the difference, they have better output than what I anticipated. The colors are so vivid; the primary colors just pop and appear better than what I see in an ordinary RGB screen or computer. This is definitely the better way to show what I have been doing in photography. My cousin also was talking to me about leaflet printing so they can also use my images commercially. It makes everything so professional looking. I will print some of them now. What a sight to behold!