Postcard from Hong Kong

With this blog post, I wish to offer my sympathy to the Hong Kong and Chinese people whose loved ones -- perhaps a friend, a brother, a mother, or a daughter -- perished in the hostage-taking that took place at the heart of my beloved Manila.The images below have been taken last year from various tourist spots in Hong Kong, during a 3-day trip which thankfully, did not require that I fear for my safety or of being discriminated against.

Clockwise from the top-right image: Tian Tan or the Big Buddha at Ngong Ping, Lantau Island || Bruce Lee Statue at the Avenue of Stars, Tsim Tsa Tsui || a Buddhist woman offering prayers at the Po Lin Monastery also in Ngong Ping || a bicycle parked at a sidewalk around noon time in Mongkok || souvenir T-shirts for sale at the Ladies’ Market also in  Mongkok district

I pray that the people directly involved or have in any way influenced the result of the tragic incident will do everything in their capacity to cooperate, to speak out in truth and be willing to pave the way for justice, even if that will cause them their positions of power. I pray that the government and the police force will be able to identify clearly what their faults have been and be able to learn from these shortcomings so that ultimately they can work together and prevent anything similar from ever happening again.


As I pray for justice and truth to surface, I also pray for the family members and relatives to be able to find a path of forgiveness and acceptance rather than a path of blame, bitterness or hate. Only with forgiveness can there be genuine peace.

Time Capsule 2/365: Anawangin Sunset

Title: Anawangin Sunset
Venue: Anawangin, Zambales
Description: One of only two photos taken during the golden hour in Awangin. Shot with my Olympus e-500, right before I went to the poso to take a bath. Submitted as entry to the Western Digital Time Capsule Contest for their "Environment" theme. The photo won me $500 worth of camera supplies, with the help of all my good friends who voted for me.
Date: January 2009

at the thunderbird resort in poro point

went to thunderbird resort in la union with my friends to hopefully take contest-worthy photos and get the chance to win cash prizes. from the main town of san fernando, we took a tricycle and a jeepney ride going there and was dropped-off at the main gate. the journey from the town took 20 minutes, but in order to get to the hotel we had to walk another 15 or so minutes. it was tiring, but the view was truly breath-taking. immediately i thought, it was a good decision to include this visit to thunderbird resort in our short itinerary.

situated in a scenic cliff at poro point, the resort is quite huge and is the only one in the province that offers 5-star accomodation to its guests, including a mediterranean-inspired hotel, a golf course and a casino. the beach however, did not seem bum-worthy nor surf-worthy. yes, it had waves but the shore seemed too rocky for you to even walk on easily.

upon getting to the resort, the first thing we did was look for a place to somewhat "disappear" into. there were already too many photographers in the pool area and in the lobby and we didnt want to further contribute to the chaos. we left our baggages at the reception and walked a little further to the where the golf course was (which was prohibited to photographers, by the way). a few minutes later on, we found ourselves walking an unusual path. after crossing a concrete road and climbing slightly upwards we arrived by the side of a huge rock, on top of a small cliff and we're all standing a few feet away from the edge! looking down i can see the waves angrily crashing onto the rocky foot of the cliff. i had to ask myself this: what have we gotten ourselves into?

knowing that i was at a restricted area, i felt quite embarassed and quickly prompted my companions (mavic and skip) to hurriedly take photos and go back to where we're not unallowed. i dont remember bringing out my camera to shoot. i was too afraid to fall off or get caught so i held on tightly to the rocks and made sure my feet are on stable ground.

half-excited, half-anxious... the edge seemed too close for comfort!

so having walked all the way to the cliff and back, i was quite exhausted and decided to stay by the hotel cafe, order some ice cream and watch the sun go down. from where i was, its easy to see the other photographers do their thing. some brought their own models, others strobes and light stands and there's this one who brought a ladder, the necessity for which i could not fathom, since the photographer was really just shooting at the sunset... a tripod would have made more sense, perhaps?

skip, mavic, yeye and me at the thunderbird resort in poro point, la union

anyway, as you can infer, i was not able to take any photocontest-worthy photos but i did have an awesome time at thunderbird. no thousands of pesos won for me, but at least i get to enjoy my ice cream, the lovely sunset and what seems to be quite rare these days: good times with good friends :)

inviting you all to checkout thunderbird's website for more information. it maybe too pricey for you to stay overnight, but a visit to the resort is definitely worthwhile.

the great Fort EB

...the goofy bunch at the Fort EB...

...nothing to do but make pa-cute...

upon realizing days beforehand that we needed new activity partners, mavic and i decided on joining the great Fort EB organized by an active DPP member (mic narra) last april 4. each one had to pay P250 for our permit (which was good for an entire day) and our official ID. we were allowed to shoot at anything within the fort bonifacio area except the sculptures and serendra (but i know some of us shot at them anyway, hehe).

the group is a mix of serious hobbyists and aspiring pro-photographers from different backgrounds. some are working at call centers, some have businesses of their own. but we have one common goal that day: meet fellow photography enthusiasts and try to learn a new thing or two about our chosen craft while having fun.

the permit allowed us to shoot even at the construction sites which was something i have been dying to do for a while now. that was the first area mavic and i went to and after shooting for almost an hour there, i thought i had enough and felt that the day was worth it already. i will be posting something about it in my photoblog sometime soon, hopefully.

after the construction photos, i thought these pa-cute photos are the most fun to shoot. the idea came from the strobists amongst us, lead by mark, who was the person responsible for arranging two flash units on each side in front of us. soon after a few minutes of setting things up, we started jumping in front of the light sources one by one. a few minutes more and we were all jumping up and down, synchronously, and trying to come up with all the wacky poses we can think of. the goofier the better.

it didnt bother me that mavic and i were the only females in the group. i did not feel awkward at all. all i wanted was to have fun and to shoot some good photos while doing it. and fun was what we had.

for me, the EB was a blast. a much needed relief. i cant wait to join the next EB and shoot again with my new found strobist friends.

the one with gino and marjo

thanks to the organizers of aperturista's first ga, i was given the chance to shoot models at my alma mater. something i've always wanted to do ever since i started photography. i enjoyed shooting that day so much, that i stayed longer than i originally intended to. shooting with the other 20+ photographers was a challenge given that we had limited number of strobes, triggers and models at the start. but once you get the hang of it, you can concentrate on the subject and start having fun. salamat to the make-up artist (Julius Uy) and the models (Gino Cabrillas and Marjo Guzman) for putting up with us! i never heard a single complaint from the models even though there were instances that we would ask them to repeat again and again what they have already done before -- sit on the ground and look pensive, stand-up and face the wall then look at the camera, etc. at times we had to repeat their poses simply because we were not able to trigger our flash. i never heard them complain although they seemed tired at some point. galing, very impressive attitude! i hope to see them again in future shoots. nakakatuwa talaga.

anyway, sana matuwa rin kayo sa mga output, folks. there's more in my multiply site. feel free to check them out. thanks and God bless!

Gino Cabrillas

Marjo Guzman

water drop

water drop
Originally uploaded by gezelle

here's something i shot last night at my father's bathroom. i had to fire flash in order to freeze the motion and to highlight the ripples. read the full story from my photoblog.

let me know what you think!

this is how we party

hip hop
Originally uploaded by gezelle

here's a favorite from my christmas party set and would like to share to everyone. these are accenture employees who participated in a hip-hop dance course offered by the company for free. i enrolled in a dance course myself but unfortunately, was either too busy or too lazy to attend :p

some people really look good when they dance. some are shy but some look so free. for more photos, click on this photo and view my Flickr set.

by the way, you can also send my photos as e-cards by clicking here. hope you find one you think is worth sending over to your friends or loved ones.

lastly, i would like to announce the creation of my photoblog, "pinay and photoholic" -- this site will be obviously dedicated to photography and should already contain photos from my Flickr album and that of my brother's as well. really can't decide yet what title to give this new blog. my friend suggested, "photoccucinta" and i actually think that's cute, haha!

one lonely planet

...imagine an abandoned and deserted world...

i wanted a set that would depict a world that has been deserted and abandoned by its people, whether by choice or other reasons. here's the closest picture i can come up with. most photos are black and white, but some have been rendered with colors. my favorite ones would be "guardpost" and "crooked". please click on the above photo to view the gallery.

all photos taken in UP Diliman Campus on the first day of 2008. the reason why i wanted a set like this is so that we can realize how a single person can make a difference in this world. imagine how each of the picture would look like if there was at least one person in it. anyway, im sure you get the idea. let me know what you think of the photos :)

have a happy and blessed new year everyone!

year-end party photos

here are a few photos from our year-end party held at the PICC last August 25. except for Hale and Mocha, most of the performers were participants from the various Manila Delivery Centre dance courses. the performances weren't that great dahil parang kulang sa practice... goes to show how we all are busy with work, hehe! but just the same we did have a lot of fun which is what's most important :)

i submitted some entries for the photo contest (sponsored by our club) that night and although i didn't win, 2 out of 3 were highly commended. sayang, no? it would have been nice if i had won :)

the dj and his operating table

tuning the guitars before the hale performance

upside down (highly commended)

hip-hop dance (highly commended)


champ of hale

ayun lang, folks. hope you enjoyed them!

chinese cemetery walking tour

bago matapos ang buwan ng hunyo, nag-sponsor ang aming photo club ng walking tour at sa pagkakataong ito, sa chinese cemetery (malapit sa la loma north cemetery) naman kami pumunta. malapit lang ang sementeryong ito sa bahay ng lola at sa pagkakaalam ko, meron kaming mga kamag-anak na dito nakalibing, pero sa kabila nito hindi pa ako nakarating duon. wala akong inaasahang makita ruon kundi mga mosuleo, mga anghel na estatwa at templo pero ganon pa man, excited pa rin ako dahil natatandaan ko ang sinabi sa akin ng kaibigan kong dayuhan na mahilig din sa photograpiya, na isa sa paborito nyang lugar sa maynila ang sementeryong ito ng mga intsik. kaya hindi ko na talaga pinalagpas ang pagkakataon.

halos apat na oras kaming naglakad sa loob ng sementeryo (sinuguro naming matapos bago pa dumilim) at sa loob ng oras na ito, sa pagkakaalam ko, wala naman kaming nakita o naramdamang kakaiba... salamat na lang talaga dahil baka di ko kayanin kung sakaling may lumitaw na kung ano sa kung saan man... sa likod, sa gilid o sa harap namin o maging sa isa sa aming mga larawan. hay, buti na lang talaga!

ilan sa mga paborito kong kuha ay ang mga sumusunod: yung apoy, lotus flower, si juvy na nakasuot ng t-shirt na "i love HK" at may dalang payong, si lola habang binabasa ang nakasulat sa puntod ni apolinario mabini, pati na rin ang harapan ng templo at ang gothic-inspired na mosuleo. dito nga raw nilibing nung una si mabini, pero inilipat na ang mga labi nito sa batangas sa kanyang lalawigan. ilan pa sa mga kakaibang nakita namin duon ay mga gothic-inspired na mosuleo, libingan na itinulad sa arkitektura ng CCP at ng isang simbahan sa loob ng UP Diliman (malapit sa infirmary), libingan na may nagbabantay na sphinx, at libingan na hugis pagong! nakita rin namin duon ang libingan ng may-ari ng restaurant na "ma mon luk".

aliw talaga ako sa walking tour na ito, sana matuwa rin kayo sa mga litratong kinuha ko. click kayo dito. salamat!