The Blank Canvas

Marriage is painting the blank canvas with your partner. I had the chance to shoot a model in a gown and I got this picture.

I really love this shot. It says that marriage once you are into it, you need to fill in the blank canvas and paint it, not alone but with your partner. :)

The Queens and Kings

Last March 4 I was asked to shoot candidates for a certain pageant. Far from what I am expecting they were drag queens. Apart from the city view from Guadalupe Bliss, I also had fun shooting them for they did whatever I asked them to do, which made our job a lot easier. The harsh sun didn't stop us to take pictures. Kris Manalo, my accountability partner and classmate in a photography class rendered his help and took most of their portrait shots. We were also asked to judge candidates on who can be Ms. Photogenic. To be fair with the candidates who were not present during our shoot, the organizer handed us their first pictorials and included them in the judging. The organizer, Kris and I gave scores for each candidate, judging all their shots. It was tiring but the day ended up to be a very fulfilling shoot for we captured lots of great images.

Venue: Guadalupe Bliss
Photographers: Juveren Mendoza, Kris Manalo
Organizer: QueSt. Productions

THE QUEENS

THE KINGS

Studio Lighting

Photos taken during our Studio Lighting Session with Sir Carlo Cecilio, one of the photographers of Imagine Nation.

Model: Ruby Angeline Lopez Mendoza (she said it was her first time to model for a shoot. What can I say she acts more than what a professional model can offer. Her eyes were like telling a story, is it her or is it us , the photographers, but I think its the passion of both parties that gave us good result)

MUP: Jo Koo

            

 

Despicable Me 2 (The Viral Minion Song)

Despicable Me, was one of the best animated movie last 2011.

Aside from this guy (Gru) who touched my heart after the movie and, 

 

Agnes' super cute questions

"is this sound kind of annoying"

"its so fluffy im gonna die"- referring to the unicorn

   

and who will forget these cute little minions and their hilarious laugh

and now, Despicable Me 2 

Here is the Trailer with the Minions singing "Barbara Ann"

I just want them to sing LIVE in front of me... :D

Find Your Light

As part of Imagine Nations' Purpose Driven Photographer Batch 13, we had an outdoor shoot at an abandoned building beside LRT station in Betty Go Belmonte. The eery feeling of the building fade away when we saw few other photographers shooting at the said location. Everyone needs to pay a minimal amount to the caretaker.

volunteer substitute model :D

                

           

our model said he wasn't tired after all the jump, turns and dance

     

           

our energetic dancer/model Mark Jim Callos

  

Vibe Dance Crew

if you need energetic dancers, contact them, they're more than dance, they got soul :D

A-B-C-d'-LIFE-Z

“No read no write”, the basic of one’s knowledge and supremacy in most communities, READING and WRITING. Education as its basis, we are urged and pushed by the government to obtain a degree in any field, however, in contrary to their vision of a brighter Philippines, they tend to use education but forgot to set up jobs for the aspirants to work and apply what they studied.

Reading and writing, seems to be the most important thing to start with when you decide to follow what our government is giving us. I am writing this not because I am blaming the government but because I am still unsure of what to do with my life, or what work should I take.

Hoping to find a purpose I enrolled myself to a photography class under Imagine Nation with their Purpose Driven Photographer. The first assignment we had was to take pictures of things that would look like a letter from the alphabet. It was a viral experience for me as I started to scan for objects, I seem to look at every angle of everything as part of the alphabet. I came up with my own alphabet after two weeks and submitted my assignment. Our instructor then told us that the reason behind the assignment is to hone our creative minds, our creativity. On my part, I learned more than the creativity, which I think is never learned. It is in ones vision and is implanted in everyone’s eyes. We all have our own creative view of the world, and in return the world gave us everything that it has to teach us, not only the basics like the alphabets do but also the most advance of all lesson life can offer.

Here is my assignment, and my LIFE’s lesson learned is what I am right now.

Mt. Maculot - Rockies - Traverse - Groto

at night we might see nothing, but at the top we’ll see the lights and the beauty brought to us by technology

Mt. Maculot's trail will always be special for me since the first time I climbed it. The picturesque view of Taal Volcano is famous specially on the Rockies. I had been to the place for quite some time and my first was a night trek. Because of schedule and our thirst to climb, we decided to climb the said mountain with some friends we met at Mt. Batulao. The Maculot trail can be hiked by first time climbers as it is an easy trail tagged by Pinoy Mountaineers as 2/9. However the grotto trail is harder to climb. The grotto trail is famous to believers during holy week.

Any Lemery bound bus can take you to Cuenca Batangas which is the jump-off town for Mt. Maculot. In our case we chose Jam Liner in Kamuning because of accessibility. (Jam Liner in Buendia is an option) However one must take note of the time the bus leaves because they have limited trips. The fare for a one way trip from Kamuning is P155.00, if you are coming from Buendia it will be P135.00.

Once in Cuenca, a tricycle terminal is situated where you just need to ask the driver to drop you off at Manong Manuel’s house which is also called the “Mountaineer’s Store”. From the town, a fare of P20.00 per head will cost you. The driver will automatically dropped you at the Barangay outpost where you need to pay P10.00 per head for the registration. When you plan to traverse Mt. Maculot to Grotto, it is important that you advise either the Barangay or Mang Manuel.

On our case we have two climbers coming from Cavite and because of the misunderstandings they took the Nasugbu bound bus. They were delayed by the traffic in Tagaytay and unfortunately they missed the last trip to Lipa City. Instead of waiting for the first jeepney trip to Lipa, they haggled a fair of P600.00 for a tricycle ride from Nasugbu bus stop to Cuenca town proper.

The start of the trail is easy rolling up until you reach the dried water stream, where few ascents are present. The trail itself is shady and few stop over or rest areas are refreshing because of the vendors offering fresh Buko juice specially on weekends and summers.

This is our second climb for the year so we decided to make it extra special and as requested by our newly found friend, we had a night trek. It took us two hours and thirty minutes to reach the campsite where the famous 7-11 is present. We pitched our tents, and waited for our friends from Cavite who took the Nasugbu bound bus.

The next morning we all woke up late, so we decided to go to the rockies at noon time after we had our lunch then prepared for our traverse down the grotto. Tall cogon grasses greeted us as we started. After almost an hour we started the ascent towards the forest. The trail is slippery and a bit steep which became a challenge for us. Thorny plants which looks like coconut leaves also made our climb a bit more challenging. We reached the peak after an almost two hour trek where mossy trees and fog greeted us. From there on we prepared for a very steep descent which includes two 15-20 meters rappel down. In contrast with the ascent, the descent trail was dry. We reached the grotto just before sunset, on which we just had a glimpse because a mountain is covering it from our sight. After resting we started our descent to town and made the 13 stations our marker on how far are we from the town proper. We  reached Maculot View Resort just before nightfall and a store nearby offered us their bathroom for P30.00 per head to freshen up.

the first rope down grotto

second rappel down

mossy stones down

Our energies refilled after we ate at a local restaurant where the famous Batangas Lomi is served. We headed to Lipa Bus Terminal where we catch the last trip to Manila.

ITINERARY:

Day 1

06:00 PM          Meet-up Jam Kamuning

06:30               ETD Manila

09:30               ETA Cuenca Batangas

10:00               Tricycle ride, registration, Manong Manuel’s house

10:30               Start Ascent

12:00 MN         ETA campsite/pitch tent/dinner

02:00 AM         ETA of climbers from Nasugbu

02:15 AM         Socials

04:00 AM         Lights out

Day 2

10:00 AM         Wake up call/prepare food

11:00               Eat Brunch/pack up

12:00 NN          Rockies

01:00 PM          Back to Campsite/prepare for traverse

03:00               ETA peak

03:30               Start descent

05:30               Grotto

06:00               Maculot Mountain View Resort/freshen up

07:00               Side trip (Batangas Lomi)

09:00               Bus Station bound to Manila

12:00 MN         Home Sweet Home

NOTES: If you are planning a traverse climb, take note that a trek pants and  long sleeves are helpful. Trail is sometimes not visible but a keen eye would realize the right track. Note also, that even though the descent trail is dry, some stones are slippery. Gloves are helpful specially on parts where you need to grab tightly on ropes and branches.

Remember to always pray for guidance before the climb and a prayer of thanksgiving after for the successful climb.