Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito: Rockwell

Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito (literally, “it’s forbidden to take pictures here”) is an organization of photographers and hobbyist founded by Mel Cortez that aims to establish a more photographer-friendly environment in our public parks.

It all started when Mel Cortez was prohibited by a security guard to take pictures of the Rizal Monument in Luneta saying that he needs to have a permit to do so. From then on, Mel Cortez founded the Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito to discuss the different places that prohibits taking pictures. It became a phenomenal group that caught the attention of the media.

Right now, the group is very active on Facebook and already has 10,026 members. I’m also a member of this Facebook page and we continue to discuss the different places that still prohibit hobbyists and photographers from taking pictures.

My most recent “bawal mag-shoot dito” moment was at Rockwell. I watched the Spider-Man movie at the Power Plant Mall but prior to that, I asked two security guards roaming around the Rockwell center if it’s okay to take pictures of the buildings. They said yes. So I took some pictures and was about to take more pictures when a 3^rd security guard (on a motorbike) told me the classic line – “sir, bawal pong mag-shoot dito”. Well, he’s “too-late-the-hero” since I’ve already took some pictures of the place.

Are you also a member of this Facebook group? Have you encounter a similar experience?

[Edit: This article was written before I totally learned about the bad things about the group. The objective is great: for hobbyist like me to be able to shoot freely with a DSLR on public places. However, Mel Cortez and a lot of his followers are professional wedding photographers. I didn’t know this fact when I joined the group. It’s a conflict of interest because professional photographers might abuse the privilege to shoot in public places just like what happened to the Libingan ng mga Bayani when it was used for a pre-nuptial photo shoots.

I firmly believe that there is nothing wrong with the existing laws regarding the fees in shooting in public places. We just need some guidelines on how to distinguished a hobbyist from a professional photographer so that those that need to be taxed will be taxed. BTW, you can learn more about my bad experience with the Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito FB Group here. August 1, 2012']

Technorati Tags: Bawal Mag-Shoot Dito,Rockwell,Power Plant Mall

I Survived The Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg

After much debate, I attended The Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort yesterday.

It was a very tiring yet worthy event. I left the bus station at LRT-Buendia around 5:00 AM and arrived at the resort 7:00 AM. It was my first time at Villa Escudero and Canon Marketing Philippines Inc. made a very good job in selecting it for the venue. It was a very nice place full of flora and fauna, friendly staff and very nice structures and facilities.

The event started around 9:30 AM with a cultural presentation by Villa Escudero (Ifugao dance). It was followed by group picture taking and presenting the first theme for the photo contest. It’s a whole day activity divided into 3 themes for the pictures to be taken. There are 3 categories: Point-and-Shoot, DSLR and Video. The Video category will take 2 more weeks to finish but the event’s highlight was the Point-and-Shoot and DSLR categories.

Each theme was given 2-3 hours duration before uploading (submitting) the pictures and each theme was given after the previous theme’s time is ended. The 3 Themes for this year’s Canon PhotoMarathon Luzon Leg competition are:

1. Structures are the meeting of shapes, lines, forms and towers when they touch housing dreams in their forms, playing tricks to imagination.
2. The wonder of His gifts is abundant in this Villa. It is a sanctuary to the rich flora and fauna. Capture the spirit of nature’s many faces. Show the beauty of our Master’s creation.
3. As light touches the horizon shadows and highlights dance. Capture this beautiful medley. As we witness the rich color of this world.

This event at Villa Escudero is the first of 4 Legs. The Visayas Leg would take place in Bacolod, followed by Cagayan de Oro and finally, Metro Manila. There is confusion whether the participants in the Luzon Leg can still join the 3 remaining legs since one person among the organizers is saying that it’s not allowed while another person is encouraging us, the Luzon Leg participants, to join the remaining 3 legs.

If I heard the speaker correctly, there were 300 expected participants in the Luzon Leg but only around 150 showed up at Villa Escudero. Those who didn’t showed up missed the goodies from Canon – a red T-shirt (I was expecting a polo shirt), a red cap, a red fan from Transcend, a magazine-supplement from HWM, and a lot of brochures from the sponsors.

I also heard that a day tour at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort cost P1,400/person. Wow! Canon also provided everyone a festive dinner and a print-out of 1 picture (letter-size) for the first 100 participants.

After the dinner, came a program which includes another performance by Villa Escudero (Pandanggo Sa Ilaw), bring-me game, raffle, Pinoy Henyo, dancing showdown (featuring Call Me Maybe) and the awarding of the winners from the DSLR and Point-and-Shoot categories.

Overall, I enjoyed my first Canon PhotoMarathon and I enjoyed my stay at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resorts. I would surely attend the next Canon PhotoMarathon.

I’ll post more pictures of Villa Escudero soon.

Technorati Tags: Villa Escudero,Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg,Canon Marketing Philippines Inc

Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg

I received a confirmation email this evening about the upcoming Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg event to be held at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort, San Pablo City, Laguna this Saturday, June 30, 2012. The email said that my registration to the event was successful.

The Canon PhotoMarathon is an annual On-The-Spot Photography Contest being held in key cities in the country.  There are 4 legs to this event – Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Manila. The first of these legs is the Luzon Leg.

I suddenly have cold feet in joining the contest because my composition is not-that-good-yet. On the other hand, the other side of me is telling me to participate for experience sake and to take pictures of the venue. I haven’t gone to Villa Escudero yet.

The problem is, I have a work schedule from Friday night 10PM to 7AM the next day. The participants to the event are required to be in the venue by 6:30AM this Saturday. Not to mention that after our Friday shift at the office, we’ll go straight to our Team Building in Batangas.

We are required to pay P1,000.00 whether we are going to participate in our Team Building or not. I’m not good at attending two events at the same time. If I decided to attend the Canon PhotoMarathon event in Villa Escudero, I’ll have to travel all the way to Batangas to catch up with our Team Building. That would surely be a pain in the butt and to my budget.

At this point, I’m hoping that my team mates at work would cancel the Team Building so that I could attend the Canon PhotoMarathon. We’ll find out tomorrow during my shift if our team building would push through or not.

Is anyone joining the Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg?

Technorati Tags: Canon PhotoMarathon 2012 Luzon Leg,Villa Escudero,On-The-Spot Photography Contest

Reviving Hidalgo Street As Photographers’ Haven

I purchased my Canon EOS 1100D last December 2011. Back then, I’ve already heard about the famous Hidalgo Street in Quiapo as the photographer’s haven. However, due to the stigma attached to Quiapo being a haven of snatchers, I decided to purchase my DSLR at SM Megamall. I am willing to shell out extra cash just to have the feeling of security during my stay.

I don’t know how and when the stigma of Quiapo being a snatcher’s haven begun. I also don’t know if the film Batang Quiapo have something to do with it. To a Bulakeño slash Pasigeño like me, when the word Quiapo is mentioned, three things comes to my mind – the Black Nazarene, manghuhula and mandurukot.

Last Saturday, a photography workshop and contest called Quiapo Goes Anime was held at the famous Hidalgo Street. It coincides with the celebration of Araw ng Maynila (Manila City Day) and I was an early bird to the venue so most of the shops are closed. Not to mention that the Barangay Chairman is very busy for the event and he’s making sure that everything is in order. That’s why I came with these pictures of a very clean Hidalgo Street. I had the feeling that I’m in an open-air Cyberzone and Hidalgo Street is indeed complete with all the equipment and gadget to a photographer’s delight.

I’ve Google some of the pictures of Hidalgo Street prior to the Quiapo Goes Anime and I can’t recognized the place! Take a look at this picture taken from I Heart Manila. I can hardly see the arch.

(Old Picture of Hidalgo Street from I Heart Manila)

I can finally see the arch! Taken last June 23, 2012 during a photo event.

Well, we Filipinos have a mentality and attitude called Ningas-Kugon. We’re good at the start of an event, advocacy, campaign and laws of all forms. The problem is, we can’t maintain the momentum. The challenge now is for the officials of Barangay 306 and the City Government of Manila to maintain the cleanliness of Hidalgo Street. I hope that they’re committed in promoting Hidalgo Street as a photographer’s haven.

In a few months time, we’ll see. I’ll go back to Hidalgo Street and take some pictures. I’ll bring an old digital camera (instead of the DSLR) as insurance.

Officials of Barangay 306, photographers and representatives of the City Government of Manila. Blame them if they can’t retain the cleanliness of Hidalgo Street

Well, the manghuhula are still there but they don’t harm anyone so no worries

The Manila City Band

Thank you SM Quiapo for the wonderful Marching Band

Palm Reading. It’s more fun in the Philippines

Technorati Tags: Hidalgo Street,Photographers Haven,Quiapo Goes Anime,Barangay 306

Araneta Center, Cubao

Since Glenn and I became a couple, I’ve been to Araneta Center, Cubao more often. Glenn works in E. Rodriguez, Q.C. and he’s just 1 ride away from Cubao. I’m from Pasig City and I’m the one adjusting to our current situation. Well, Cubao is still accessible from Pasig City. It’s just an MRT ride from Shaw Boulevard.

The last time I was visiting Cubao frequently was when I was a member of Men’s Labyrinth, a Globe gay clan. That was two years ago. Our meeting place is Gayway, I mean Gateway, and our hang-out place is Starlites. We’ll spend the night chitchatting while some of our members are singing via the videoke. Then I got busy with work and I haven’t been to Cubao in months.

This changed recently, when Glenn became my better-half a.k.a. lover, boyfriend, partner. We usually meet at Wendy's Shopwise. I have a very nice experience with that restaurant that is why I always meet Glenn there. We usually stroll at SM Cubao, Ali Mall, Gateway and ended up twice in Eurotel Cubao. We usually watch movies at Ali Mall Cineplex.

Here are my most recent pictures of Araneta Center, Cubao. A few years from now, it will reclaim its former glory as the center of entertainment once all those proposed condominiums are completed.

BuzzNet Tags: Araneta Center,Cubao,Wendy's Shopwise,Eurotel,Ali Mall

Summer is definitely more fun with NIVEA SUN! My top summer wonder is Ternate, Cavite

In spite of all the major tourist attractions in the country, my top summer wonder would still be Ternate, Cavite.

Prior to 2011, going to Cavite, especially to the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic and Ternate, is a hassle. One should have patience to endure the traffic at Aguinaldo Highway. This has prevented tourist from enjoying the beaches of Cavite and most of them have gone to Batangas instead.

With the completion and opening of The Manila-Cavite Expressway (a.k.a. Aguinaldo Boulevard) in May 1, 2011, travel time to the above-mentioned towns in Cavite was significantly reduced.

This summer is definitely the best time for residents of Metro Manila (like me) to rediscover such beach resorts in Cavite like Island Cove, Puerto Azul, Caylabne Bay Resort, RanRich Beach Resort, among others.

Glenn and I recently had our first out-of-town trip at RanRich Beach Resort in Ternate, Cavite. I’ve enjoyed the trip with him since the travel time is short, the fare is cheaper and the beach itself is not overcrowded. RanRich also has a swimming pool, wide open spaces full of coconut trees and full of birds during dusk. We discovered a lot of things about ourselves and became closer than ever in this beach resort.

Although the facilities of a certain resort would make your trip more enjoyable, it always boils down to the person you’re sharing your summer trip is. In my case, being with Glenn is the best feeling in the world and a simple place like Ternate, Cavite is more than enough to be our top summer wonder.

(Edit: Picture deleted for privacy purpose)

Yup, that’s me wearing the sando. Glenn is the gorgeous guy besides me. This was taken at RanRich Beach Resort in Ternate, Cavite during our first out-of-town trip as a couple.

“Join the on-going Nivea Philippines 7 Summer Wonders contest on FB and get a chance to win NIVEA Sun gift packs, Charina Sarte swimwear, SONY products or a trip for 2 to the Ultimate Summer Wonder! Just click http://www.facebook.com/NIVEAPhilippines/app_180716052039522 to join and vote now!”

BuzzNet Tags: Nivea Philippines,Nuffnang Philippines,Summer 2012,Nivea Sun

Restaurants at Bonifacio High Street

When it comes to fine dining, Bonifacio High Street is a fine choice of venue. It has Balducci Ristorante, Brazil!, Cacao, Duo, Gaudi, Mary Grace’s, Mogu, Murray D’Vine, Sentro 1771, Steltz, Wee Nam Kee, among others.

I haven’t dined in any of these restaurants. It’s just nice to take some pictures of their restaurant’s facade. I hope the foods are great. I’ll probably invite Glenn to one of these restaurants soon to celebrate our 1st monthsary. I hope all goes well.

 

BuzzNet Tags: Bonifacio High Street,Restaurants