San Moritz

I had a fun shoot last week with Joselle and Kara. We decided on a local beach with a wide shore so we could go around freely taking pictures. I really love this place because there aren't usually a lot of people around except for the fisherman living nearby. There's a mangrove area which looks really wonderful as portrait backdrops (I've grown an affection to mangroves ever since I saw them up close in Siquijor. They are such wonderful creatures – i like to call them that). And young people from the city usually go here to hang-out and practice skim-boarding (it's similar to surfing but they surf on the shore and the boards are flat).

And the best part is the golden hour. When this place is lit by sunlight during 4 to 5 in the afternoon, the sun is absolutely the best you will not be able to take a bad picture. It's that amazing. We ended at 5 so I got a little crazy snapping photos trying to get the most shots I could get before we headed home because at half past five, that beautiful light would be gone.

Siquijor in film

I wasn't very satisfied with this roll. A bit of disappointment because i was expecting more contrast and vivid colors. I shot a previous set using a roll of solid gold 200 film and it gave me pretty good colors. And I know now fuji YKL is different from fuji fujicolor.

Vivitar PN2011, Fujifilm Fujicolor 100

Enchanted Siquijor

This was my third visit to the island they also call "Isla de fuego" or simply Siquijor as most people call it. It's a place known to be enchanted, scary, bewitched, home to witches and "mangkululam". I myself have also wondered if all these are true about the island but one thing i know for sure is that it is a treasure of a place, one which deserves to remain untouched so that its natural beauty is preserved.

Siquijor is a small island which you can navigate in 3-4 hours riding a pedicab or motorcycle, maybe even less if you don't count stop-overs.

I went with a friend, Karla. We felt we had to go out for at least one summer destination. I was a little tight on budget because i'm saving up for an upcoming trip in June, so we just stayed overnight. We booked an economy room at Coral Cay Resort for 900 bucks (2 pax), hired and haggled a pedicab ride for 900 to tour us around the island. It was a pretty enjoyable and adventurous ride, four and a half hours to be exact, because we stopped and took photos and all.

The most interesting things I saw during this visit were the mangrove trees. They are like these amazing still creatures watching over the sea. I don't think there's a bad angle if you decide to take a photo. If i ever get to go back, i am going to stop and take pictures every time i see some.

Another thing worth seeing is the four-hundred year old balete tree. It's the biggest one in the island and boy, is it huge... and creepy. I stared at it for a few seconds and i always imagine seeing two eyes on the trunk. Good thing there was a small pond with blue water on it's foot. That made it look a bit touristy. But still, it's like the biggest-hugest-widest tree i have ever seen in my life.

So far, nothing scary happened but i still think there's a reason why it is known to be scary and enchanted. It's still best to pay respect to the people you meet and the things you do, 'cause you really never know.

All in all, it was short but i saw some new things i've never seen in my previous visits. And best of all, fare is cheap and it takes only 45 minutes to get there from Dumaguete. There will always be a next time.

from the shores of dauin

The beaches in my province, Negros Oriental, are not white. Most sands in our shore are in the shades of black, gray, brown and very rarely white. If we have white sand beaches, the sand is not powdery like that of Boracay. But one thing good about them is that they have crystal clear waters, especially those in municipality of Dauin.

The one afternoon i went out there for my first maternity portrait shoot, there was an motorized outrigger docking on shore like this one which most likely came from a trip from Apo Island (very good diving site).

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Photoshop Action - Brownie

Here's a simple action which you might want to try. It gives photos a warmer tone, and best used on well-exposed photos. Results may vary depending on how light or dark you use this action on.

Download the action here

I would love to see how your photos come out so please share them by posting a link to it under comments.

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L: grilled and home-made atay and isaw ;  R: saturday morning bike ride