waiting

this shot was taken with a camera phone while in the metro of Paris, Etoile (e-twah-ley )station. :D

the weather seems to be wacked this days, as i was expecting it to be summer already, the climate change factor again cane into place, its raining! again? in march! kind of unusual to what we are accustomed in the past...

well, the week has been ok, sort of backing up the files ive accumulated in the past.... astonishingly... ive accumulated (with some of jpeg file albums copied from friends on trips and vacations) more than 80 GB of jpegs and RAW files since 2006 up to now! WOW! so it'll take 20 or more DVD's to back up these :-|, but, i dont mind :D, i love the hobby and it's whats keeping me sane and stress free :D

seriously now, i need to make time to EDIT THOSE TRIP PHOTOS..... @_@

Have a great week ahead!

Ingatz to all
pislabRaken'rol! :D

6 elements of Mt. Pulag

Click This for a Larger View of the Photo

well, this is my first post of the year on this blog :D, the past 4 months, ive been really engaged in travelling to different places and using my gears, camera tools and hoping to hone my skills in taking good photographs... photographs of landscapes...

i still havent posted the past trips that we had, but i will have to post this first as this was a memorable and longest stay in the outdoors yet...

so our trip this past week was in Mt. Pulag, the summit of Mt. Pulag is 2,922 MASL, there were 14 of us in our journey to the summit. the weather was cooperative with our group not to mention that we were lucky than the other groups that have gone up the summit. we stayed in Camp 1 ( Babadak Ranger station on our first day ) after going to the breifing at DENR, the ride was rough, very rough... it was so rough that it was the first time i got a headache during rides. anyhow, we settled and make camp for the night at camp 1, it was raining that night, and our tent was having moisture control problems :D anyways, morning came, and i survived my first camping experince in a tent! wohoooo!!! hahaha :D

and so after eating a heavy breakfast, packed our things, got our strong porters, then we break camp and the long trek started, it was the longest trek i ever had, i think it was more than aprrox. 8 kms climb from camp 1 to camp 3 with no lunch stops in between, just rests and frequently munching cloud 9 and trail food, enjoying the view of Mt. Pulag and endless laughtrips and stories along the way.

so along the way to camp 3, we were greeted by climbers descending the mountain, and locals passing us by while we were trekking (newbie climber here :D) we passed by the mossy forest, then passed by the grasslands and alas! after several hours of trek, Camp 3!!! we settled our things, maked camp and got some rest... there was an optional sunset assualt, but due to bad lighting conditions, we just rested from the long trek we had :D

Fastforward to day 3 sunrise summit assault >> at the summit, it was FOGGYYYY!!!! :( anyhow, i did get some sunrise shot, but not that grand due to the fog... also, we did not get to see the sea of clouds at the summit due to the heavy fog, on the brighter side, we made it safe up to the summit and made it home safely also, and i survived my first Mountain Climb! hahaha :D and survived my first camping :D

The climb was a great experience for me, while descending Mt. Pulag, i was recording in my mind how granduer natures design was, i was thingking how few persons only see the beauty of that mountain, how one needs to slow down things in the busy stressful urban life, that you get to share these things and experience with friends and exchange exoerineces with them.

I salute our Team CL11 for conquering Mt. Pulag, and the fact that we were prepared to endure all that for the passion and the addiction to landscape photography :D

Till the next adventure guys and gals

Ingatz to all :D

PS. well... As for the 6 elements, its the grasslands, the mossy forest, the mountains you see, the sea of clouds, yourself, and your compainions during the climb :D (it's the 6 elements as per Me! :D have a nice Climb :D)

Year Ender notes for 2010

Click This for a Larger View of the Photo

Year Ender notes for 2010

the days of the year 2010 are numbered, as we count down its just less than 2 days and 2010 will expire, but the memories of it will remain as usual hahaha :D

i remember, it was a slow start at the beginning of 2010, as recession was still crawling all over the region, but i think, we held on well, for us Filipinos and for most of my colleagues and friends, i think we did a pretty good job making it thru 2010, were resilient, what can i say more :D

for my side of the story... i started with a new company... again.. and the trend of my tenure in a company is getting shorter and shorter, hahaha, although my bosses that hired me migrated to another work... but that's ok :) got to meet new friends at work, expand my network, also met new early waking late sleeping addiktus laugthtripping trek and nature loving and adventurous landscape photographer buddies (you know who you are! ) nice to have met and shoot/shot with you guys, got to discover new places in EU for a span of two weeks namely Brugge, Belgium, Paris, Amsterdam, Ghent (still backlogged on PP'ing photos for this EU trip) of course never forget the Crashing waves at Aurora and the amazing sunrise we had in Quezon!.... hope we can keep this up guys! :D good to see also good friends tied the knot! and having little versions of themselves :D... to cut the story short... all is good in 2010 at least for me, i do also hope you had a good 2010 year to.


i would like to propose a toast...

for the Man Above that always provides (Thank You!)
for a good year to come
for the new friends that well meet
for the hardships that we'll overcome
for the new places that well discover
for the increase in our salaries that we'll recieve (hopefully....)
for the new opportunities that we'll have
for the memories that we'll create
and for a Great 2011

KAMPAI!!!!! :D

*drinks bottled water in office* :P

Happy New Year!!! :D


I'm Having good vibes for this coming 2011 :D


* photo above is taken at Mag-asawang Bato Pagbilao Quezon in Monochrome... and hopes we can be resilient like these when problems arises*

Euro Trip: Part 2 Ghent, Belgium

Click to View High Res Image Link for Pano Shot Above :D

well, lets continue the misadventures that happened during our trip, lets go to Ghent! :D

ok t'was a cloudy afternoon when we went to Ghent, i was expecting the whole day to be sunny but as we went there thru train, we can see scattered dark rain clouds in the horizon towards our destination :(... oh well, lets just make the most of the trip :D

Link on Album in Facebook

after exiting the train station, we took the local tram, which was operated by de lijn, dropped off near Veldstraat st. and just wandered around, it was noon time, so we headed for a local sandwich shop for our lunch. There's a lot of Architecture you can see in Ghent, old buildings, facades, old beautiful churches and a castle, and some choclate shops too :P it was drizzling that afternoon as we have assumed it to be, clouds were gray all of a sudden as we were wandering around Ghent.

The main landmark in Ghent is the Graslei and Korenlei, they are the two main quays in Ghent, they say in the olden times, the houses and buildings that can be found in those quays are used for trading. Boat rides nowadays can take you along the canal.. but we did not try one. on the food trip side, we tried the Amadeus restaurant in the Patershol near the Gravensteen ( which was also know as the castle of the counts ) which serves eat all you can Ribs! after two full slabs i think.. i refused the third offerings of more ribs of the waiter :D also tried a local pub there... forgot the name, but it located near the underground parking in the Center of Ghent, we tried the large humongous glass of Kwak beer, and before you can try it, you must give them 1 of your shoes that they will hang it somewhere so that you will not run off with their special large glass of theirs. :D

another first experince in Ghent is the hail.. it hailed and we took cover under st Michaels bridge Graslei side, the hail was twice as large a a rock salt :D

Ghent's a great city,.. lots of history in it... you can actually wander around the and cover the whole city within a day... Anda colleuge of ours showed that Ghent is ranked number 7 in the lonely planets best cities for 2010 :D lucky me! :D


Ingatz to All! :D

Europe 2010 Trip, or side Trips :P

Side Trip Part 1: Oudenaarde

Link on Album in Facebook

This will be a five part recap on the what i have experienced in the 5 cities or towns ( please correct me if im wrong ) we've stepped our foot on the European continent. First will be Oudenaarde, then Ghent, then Brugge, then Amsterdam and Lastly.. my Favorite... Paris! :D

My Stay in the European continent lasted for 14 days, with the gracious blessings from the Man Above and with the help of my counterparts on Calamba plant and Belgian colleagues, I was set off to Belgium! Wohooooo!!!

To be honest, when i heard of the news that i was selected to be trained in Belgium for a Tester training, i quickly researched on the places that i can go quickly experience, who would not be excited? its a chance of a lifetime to go Europe, and when you're at Europe, you can easily access all places by land or by air in just less than 5 hours :D and also as they say also in Belguim... everything in Belgium is within 45 Mins.. you want to go to Brussels... 45 mins.. you want to go to Ghent... 45 mins *lol* :D

So first on the list.. Oudenaarde! There's a ON Semi site in Belgium, a Fab house also.. i think, which houses 4 inch wafers to my knowledge. Our Training will be held there in the plant. Our HQ for two week, and Base for our trips, hahaha! :D


Here it goes!.... Oudenaarde

When we arrived at AMS Schiphol (ishkiphol) airport, i already felt the cold weather *brrrrrrr* 2 weeks this cold.. i said to my self. then we Hopped on the Plane (btw, im with two pinoy collegues Natz and Agot) to Brussels where a taxi would pick us up to drive us to the hotel in Oudenaarde. The Hotel room was cozy, just enough amenities to survive the stay, a heater, three lamps, a Big Bed, TV, minibar, Toilet/Bathroom :D ( weird thing there was no light bulb in the ceiling ) anyhow... i slept hoping that it would be a sunny day the next morning....

viola... wish granted! sunny morning indeed.... took breakfast at the hotel, with 4-5 kinds of diffent breads like in the French Baker's stalls back here in our country then we headed out....
Link on Album in Facebook





It's Sunday... its like a ghost town... not much people on the streets, maybe they're out on vacation :P The food is great here... we ate Rabbit meat cooked in local Oudenaarde beer, also tried the Deer meat, good food... of course... kind of a little expensive, but it's the only restos we can find open during our stay, they have big servings on every plate in tandem with mashed potatoes or fried fries... their fries here are not oily, maybe a different kind of oil they use here... so i think fries to eat here in Belgium are healthy... i found also the stroopwaffels that i was looking for... its a 2 belgian waffle that has a syrup ( honey or caramel) squeezed in the middle of the 2 waffles. Local bakeries here are like French Baker stalls in malls, wooow..... and they sell a huge amount of assorted breads! with matching chocolates:D... stores here closes as early as 4 pm except for restos that provide dinner and pubs... Also Tried the Beers here and it tastes far more better than he local beers we have back here in our country. Every beer here in Belgium has it's own special glass to go with the beer, and take note... they have more than 350 different kinds of Beers!!



Bike lanes are every where, a lots of roundabouts... and confusing intersection traffic lights ( confusing for me :P )!, strict road rules are followed or else youll be heavily fined... , if you flash your headlights here, it means you'll give way to the other car, they dont use their car horns very often... if somebody use their car horn on you, it means they are very mad, maybe youve broken a traffic rule or you did not give way to them in the road... , there are no gasoline boys to fill up your gas tanks, so i tried filling up our rental car during our stay, hehehe. They take care of their history very well, they preserve and restore their buildings even their city hall or Staduis as they call it is very well restored when you see it in the outside.

overall, Oudenaarde is a beautiful town, lots of history in it, great architecture and of course the most important thing of all.. Great company... Great Food and Great BEERS!!!! CHEERS! :D

seems like im gonna need an apple :D

My spyder has arrived! Thanks again sir Jo!
i wanted to try it immediately so i dug up
my archives for the past year, good thing
they told me to always shoot in raw, hehehehe

this shot was taken during last years trip in Ilocos.
It was a 20 mins trek or less to Kabigan Falls.
using my trusty kit lens, i took this shot, now
i have edited this with all things i learned from
CL 7.0 and past photography seminars.

The shot is under exposed, ... kaya babalikan ko tong
falls na to :D

plus i dont know if its me pero parang may kulang
pa den, hahaha :D , still craving for a 15" apple
to complete my arsenal :D and still to refine those
tips i learned...... field trip ulet.... sama nyo ko :D


Ingatz to all
Rak'en Rol :D

The Payong Payong Point and Lian shoreline Experience

Since I'm still having hangovers of the CL 7.0 adrenaline rush,
no other topic comes into mind other than the things that happened
Lian :D

Early morning of the first day, got to meet personally new found
friends *dahil kinapalan ko na lang ang mukha ko para maka carpool :D*
Che, the one Jay informed me to contact for the carpool (salamat
nga pala ulet Jay!) and her sister Anna, a Chicago based free lancer
who is savoring her last weeks of vacation here in Pinas by having
a series of photography seminars :D.

As expected, the travel time of 3 hours to Lian (appox 100 km from
Paranaque ) was enough for a short breakfast along the way + some
stop overs to keep our bladders from bursting. We made it just in
time :D

During the lecture, Sir Jerry Tieng arrived, surprisingly he was
also a participant of the workshop. I acquired my D80 + accessories
thru his online site :D *discount naman dyan....*

By past 3 pm, we are preparing to go to the site where we would apply
what Jay and Edwin discussed during the lectures. Going to Payong
Payong point we have taken a short ride by car, a short boat ride
plus a lot of rock trekking :D.

But the part where the adrenalin rush came in was when the sun was
setting, it was setting so fast, i haven’t yet found any foreground
for my composition yet, to make it worst, it was high tide! waist
deep!, *knee deep lang sa ibang participants hahaha *my camera
backpack's bottom part was wet due to the incoming little waves,
in a nutshell... i did not get a decent shot of the sun setting,
but, its alright, babawi ako ulet sa payong payong point.

going home.. at the resort, dinner was served! plus a short briefing
and a lecture was held before we hit the sack,

woke up before 5 am, as i had only 4 hours of sleep dahil sinumpung
ako ng allergic rhinithis ko! *dapat nakapag dala ako ng vicks para
ipahid malapit sa butas ng ilong ko, hehehe*. Anyhow, exited to
catch the sunrise, to try my luck on getting a decent shot in the
morning, the location was the shoreline, a short walk across the
shoreline, so when we got there, Edwin gave us some tips on proper
use of the filters, then shooting galore! then after the shoreline
shot, post processing time!

The workshop as great, it exceeded my expectations, i thought it
will just be a simple workshop on how to compose and use filters.
Experiencing first hand on how to find the perfect moment, finding
the right timing, finding the fine light, exploring, made the real
difference. Plus the use of PFE also made a difference :D

*two thumbs up isasama ko na yung thumbs sa paa ko 4 thumbs up na :D*


Kita Kits sa next shoot!
Ingatz to all :D

Chasing Light Weekend :D

Met new friends during this Trip/workshop for Landscaping Photography
which was held this weekend in Lian Batangas, The was such a great
experience, met new friends along the way ( thanks to Anna, Che
and Alvin for the ride! ) Thanks also to Jay and Edwin for the
tons of unshelfish information download to the team!
next step more field trips :D

*two thumbs up* :D check their website at http://chasinglight.multiply.com

This was the cleanest shot i gave for the workshop contest,:D
practice pa :D


Ingatz to all :D

Grade D!

Ive checked my Lakbayan grade for how much ive travelled the
Philippines is this is the result i got, hahahaha :D

Always been in Luzon :D

Hopefully malibot ko ang PINAS!

My Lakbayan grade is D!

Ingatz to all :D

Ilocos eye candies

I still can't get enough of those views that I've seen through this
past Ilocos summer trip. And just want to share these amazing views
that I've seen.

to view more of our trip shots here's a link of my multiply album

http://ebetmagpantay.multiply.com/photos/album/13/Vigan_-_Pagudpud_Summer_April_2009

Calle Crisologo in Vigan


Bantay Abot Cliff Side View


Bangui Windmills


Kabigan Falls


A view of Patapat Bridge


Hope you have a great and meaningful summer just as we did

Ingatz to all! :D

dreaming of backpacking! wohoooo!!!

Been a busy Month, hahahaha, full of deadlines and what nots
anyhow (as i always used to say ....)

dreaming of me backpacking with some tropapips
started when we ( utol and our youngest sister ) bought our
dad a pair of sanuk sandals....

sales lady: sir... may libre pong backpack....ing pag 2 pairs ang bibilhin
ako: aba... ok yun ah....
utol: sana puti yung kulay
youngest sister: akin na lang, madami na kayung bag!...

and so utol bought a pair for himself and a pair for dad which cost
us PPPP.00 petot

sales lady: eto na po yung free backpacking GUIDE!
ako: kala ko ba backpack? backpaking guide pala, hahahahaha
*ngeeeee!!!!*
utol: eh sabi nya backpack kanina eh, heheheheh

so to my curiosity i read thru the photo/backpacking guide that was free
at the sanuk store. naisip ko tuloy bigla na hinde pa ko masyadong
widely traveled sa PINAS and how i was raving to travel to our Asian
neighboring countries.

So the desire began!!! with new adventures in mind and with a backpack
a camera and some tropapips. BACKPACKING for me officially begins!!!
hahahahaha. OK!!! FIRST STOP LUZON!!! or maybe Visayas, hmmmm whichever
comes first, hahahaha.


TARALETS!!!
Ingatz to all :D