A well deserved rest after a two hour trek up Mt. Romelo to photograph Buruwisan and Lanzones falls was short lived as we decided to make the most out of the day by rushing down the mountain and proceed to the nearby town of Pangil to photograph the gorgeous Laguna de Bay sunset.

Much like the hike up, going down proved to be as muddy as ever. The only difference this time was that gravity was on our side making the descent a whole lot easier. It was still challenging mind you as our legs barely had the chance to recover from the climb. Halfway through, the turbo-strap on my Crocs gave way but we still made great time and were back to the town proper in just a little over an hour. At 5pm on the dot we were cruising towards our final destination for the day.

The highway conveniently led us right to Laguna de Bay's edge which was populated by mini-rice fields. We parked by a deserted house/warehouse by the roadside and quickly looked for an access to the fields for an unobstructed view of the country's largest lake. Fortunately for us, the owners of the first house we approached were more than happy to give us access to the rice paddies located behind the property. Talk about prime sunset real estate!

Time check, 5.45pm. Sunset was scheduled for 6.02pm which meant we just had enough time to look for our respective POV's and setup our tripods and cameras. I struggled a bit to find a good foreground as they were either too far or too plain for my taste.

My good friend and fellow photographer Rebo was kind enough to let me move in front of him for a clearer shot at the quickly fading sun. A few moments later, I found my frame and waited for the show to start.

6.20pm. The sun has set completely from the horizon and yet the sky remained a boring hue. Rebo kept shouting (I was a few meters away) that we should call it a day because it just was not happening . I insisted that we wait a few more minutes. Patience I told him was something we landscape photographers should not be short of.

True enough and as if on cue, the sky suddenly turned from a boring bluish grey to dark blue mixed with red, pinks, yellows and orange. The show had begun and we were right damn smack in the middle of it!

Since we were standing on this little piece of cement walkway, we basically had just one POV to shoot it and yet that did not matter at all because from where we were and with all of that magnificent color, any angle would be just as beautiful.

As I type this, every bone and muscle in my body screams 'bloody murder' with every move I make.

A few days ago we were browsing the net for possible places to explore for our weekly photography exodus. I knew that we only had one day (Sunday) to take photographs which meant our trip needed to be within just a few hours of Quezon city so we can make it back by nightfall. Browsing the net, we soon arrived at the decision to visit Mt. Romelo and photograph Buruwisan and Lanzones falls.  

The trip getting there was real easy since the route was basically the same as going to Caliraya only shorter. We took the Antipolo route passing the towns of Teresa, Baras , Tanay all the way to Siniloan where we proceeded to Barangay Macatad - the jump off point for the hike. Once there, a lady was kind enough to offer their garage for parking. Turns out they own a sari-sari store at the campsite too which was convenient because it meant we did not need to lug additional supplies up. Soon after her son offered his services as a guide which we gladly accepted as we had no idea how to get to the falls.

It was supposed to be an easy trek up the mountain. Unfortunately it rained the night before and as we took the first ascent, our guide casually warned that the trail might be little muddy. Understatement of the year buddy!

In no time at all we we slipping and sliding all over the place. Couple that with some of the steep ascents we had to climb, it was not a pretty sight. Especially for someone like me who hasn't had decent exercise in months! We literally clawed and crawled our way up the better half of the mountain. The latter half was spent sliding and stepping into thigh-high mudpools full of horse shit and pee (No kidding). Eventually it came to a point that we were so filthy that sloshing through crap or mud or pee seemed to make no difference anymore. Oh and a leech mistook my foot for a nice breakfast nook. Fantastic.

I definitely would not recommend to go here for a casual hike during the rainy season.

But with that said, when we finally arrived at the campsite and had our first look at the waterfalls, we knew the journey was worth it.  

There was still a group of people swimming when we got down to Buruwisan's catch basin so we decided to head straight to Lanzones falls which can be accessed in a via it's own water line down stream and right from Buruwisan in a secluded cove. Personally I like Lanzones better because its isolation adds a lot to the mystery.  

Took just a few photos at Lanzones before we decided to make our way back to camp for lunch. Along the way, I was mesmerized by the mini-cascades in the stream and decided to plop the tripod and photograph one of the more sizable ones.

Turns out, Buruwisan was empty when we got back so we took the opportunity to squeeze in a few more shots before heading back to camp. Unfortunately, the sun was in full blast so technically that wasn't the best time to shoot. I snapped one more for posterity anyway :)

After a hearty lunch, we enjoyed the scenery for a while and eventually left a little past 3pm in a race to catch the Laguna bay sunset (I'll post those soon). At the end of the day, though our bodies were hurting like there was no tomorrow the smiles on our faces tell the whole story.   

Another no-fuss, unplanned trip leads to one more memorable adventure and fantastic imagery. It's becoming a weekly exodus for me and my friends. The 7-day cycle seems incomplete without a trip to exercise our photographic needs. This time, the itch led us to San Pablo Laguna where the largest of its seven lakes drew our attention like moths to an open fire.

None of us have ever been to Samaploc lake before but with my trusty GPS, finding a direct route towards the lake was a cinch. And it being a Sunday, the drive getting there was pleasant too. The trip from Quezon city to our destination just took a little over an hour and a half.

I parked under one of the many trees lining the road and stepping out of the car, a cool breeze welcomed us. Coming from Manila's death-grip of pollution this was absolutely refreshing!

We weren't expecting the area to be 'touristy' but within 5 minutes of walking it became clear that the area surrounding the lake was a well-oiled recreational machine with numerous stalls of vendors selling barbeques, softdrinks, chips, drinks etc. And because it was such a lovely day, locals and 'tourists' alike were in full force, enjoying themselves on the makeshift boardwalk and park area around the lake.

The vibe was absolutely festive!

As the sun was still too high up to get good landscape shots, we took the time to familiarize ourselves with the area and walk around a little to look for nice angles to take photos. By looking at the sun, we knew that the sunset would be behind us so we were a little disappointed in that we wouldn't be able to get the colors of the sky that we would've wanted. On the upside though, we took a mental note that if we wanted to get dramatic skies for our next visit, a sunrise shoot is the answer. 

Personally, I've seen tons of amazing images of the lake and as I really wanted to give my takes a fresh perspective I tried to avoid replicating the tried and tested angles. I ended up shooting by the side where the fishermen's houses were and drew quite a bit of attention to myself.  I actually ended up chatting with the local folks more than shooting. All in all, me and my buddies had a remarkable time shooting and exploring this side of Laguna. 

Now, I just have to come back and do that darned sunrise shoot and my Sampaloc lake experience would be complete!

Next time we visit, I'm sure we'll get better light :)

Today was not the best weather for shooting as it rained on and off the whole day while we were at Caliraya. We were almost unable to shoot the famous monitoring tower too since security was tightened after three people drowned at the lake last November and we could not go down to the lake shore for our angles. It's actually f****d up because they drowned just a few meters from the tower - all of them at the same time! Poor souls. We were told that they probably got caught in an undertow and were not strong enough swimmers to fight it. Scary huh? The tower was probably one of the last things they saw alive.

Ok, ok ok -that may be the case but we sure as hell won't let the road-trip come to waste. Besides we were not there to swim anyway right? So with a little persistence and friendly chit chat, the guard eventually let us through.

And then it started pouring. Brilliant.

Which is why I only came away with a few keepers. But it's cool, that's the name of the game. Sometimes you're blessed with gorgeous light. Sometimes you're given crappy shooting conditions:p To make the most out of the situation, I waited patiently until the rain let up just enough to have the clouds part and have the right amount of light shine through, bathing the tower in golden light before triggering the shutter.

Since it was gloomy weather anyway, I decided to reflect this in the image by once again converting the shots to black and white. This time playing around with the darker side of the palette for a dark and brooding feel.   

I was finally able to get some shut-eye last night after a whirlwind road trip. And boy, did that feel great.

Yesterday I shared photos from our Mariveles-Subic trip in glorious color. Allow me to share a few more, this time in the simplicity of classic black and white.

Sisiman bay, just before the golden hour.

The photo above does not do justice to the powerful presence this rock makes.  I was looking for a nice foreground for reference to illustrate the size of this huge boulder-like mass but couldn't find any. Well, there was one angle that would've been great except from there, I couldn't fit the rock in the frame even at the widest focal length of my lens which was at 24mm. So I ditched that and with fleeting light, needed to shoot fast. Scrambling in near darkness, I finally decided to just plop the tripod and pray that this alternative angle turn out alright. Note to self, get a wider lens! :)

We actually missed the sunrise for this location because somebody had to do number two at the very last moment! I won't say who but yeah, that was hilarious. Scouting all kinds of possible locations in Subic for most of the night only to miss it in the end because of 'unforeseen circumstances'. Hahaha! Crazy! :)

_I look at the clock just at it strikes 3pm and I let out a ripper of a yawn. You see, I just came back from an epic sunset to sunrise marathon with my awesome buddies, Mark and Edsel as we took advantage of the long weekend to travel North and take photographs of the magnificent play of light and shadow at Mariveles and Subic.

I have gotten no sleep so far and I've been driving the whole time so you can imagine how dead tired I am. And yet as much as I want to turn in for the afternoon and sleep in for the rest of the day, the photos are just begging to be downloaded and given a quick once over in edits so I can share the fruits of our labor.

We left Manila right around 11am yesterday and headed to Mariveles, Bataan. The plan was to go to one of the Barangays in the Municipality called Sisiman where an iconic lighthouse, very much loved by photographers for it's unique staircase and dramatic backdrop, was located. (I say was because in late 2011, the lighthouse was destroyed by one of the strong typhoons that hit the country). So yes, although we were aware of that fact, it did not stop us from picking Sisiman as our destination because for the longest time, Mark and I have been planning to go visit and shoot the place and the long weekend served as the perfect opportunity to do so. Of course, we were hoping that the reports that the lighthouse had fallen were false too. Because that would make the trip all the more awesome.

The journey was not too bad, even after getting lost for awhile, we arrived at our destination in about 3 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, AND as expected, the horizon was bare. No more lighthouse to greet us and our cameras. What's left was an unremarkable meter tall base that's almost completely submerged in the water - Not what we would call  the ideal subject for a dramatic sunset backdrop. Fortunately, we still had tons of foreground elements to play around with for our compositions. This, plus the gorgeous sunset bathing us in golden light made the journey worthwhile.      

We stayed until 7pm, shooting until the last dying rays of the sun waived farewell and off we went to Subic for part two of our light chasing adventure. Sunrise. 

It was pretty funny because we were heading towards Subic with no concrete plan in mind as to where to catch the sunrise. And I can honestly say that after this adventure, we probably know all the ins and outs of Subic like the back of our hands.

Anyway, I'll tell ya'll about it and upload more photos probably tomorrow or tonight. My body is telling me to get some friggin' sleep first :)

Recently, I was down south to attend a meeting in Davao with my dad. I arrived on Monday but since the meeting was not scheduled to take place until 1pm the next day, I did a little research on interesting seascapes nearest to our hotel before I left for the airport just in case I would be able to find the time to shoot.

Within a few clicks, I found and read about this hidden gem in Matina where a thin peninsula extended itself from the Davao gulf called Punta Dumalag. What made this location remarkable was a solitary mangrove tree situated on a rocky outcrop just offshore creating a stirring  landscape scene seemingly drawn out from a photographer's dream. I was lucky that my friends from Sunstar Davao, Donna and Stella knew the place and promised to take me there.

It's a well documented fact that I never wake up until the roosters have retired for the day but realizing that sunrise would be the only time I would get to photograph this beautiful location, I committed myself to do so - with the help of four alarms.

We arrived at the beach front gate a few minutes past 5am only to find out though that it was locked. Interestingly enough, four other photographers from Manila were there to catch the sunrise too. But we all did not have access to the property.

Refusing to give up, our group composed of myself, my dad and Donna, followed Stella's lead as she suggested that we double back and enter the beachfront via the opposite side of the peninsula.

In pitch black darkness we traversed and hiked the rocky terrain using our mobile phones as makeshift lanterns. Eventually we reached a path that cut straight through the peninsula all the way to the our destination. Funny though because when we got there, the four photographers whom we saw earlier were already there, setting up their tripods. I guess they found a quicker shortcut to bypass the gate :)

Anyway, tripods down and locked, cameras on, filters on standby, we were ready for the sunrise.