mik toldoya photography

Anawangin Cove, Zambales

2010-02-22T09:16:00.002+08:00

This may be quite timely now. It's starting to get really hot. And the smell of summer outing is already here. :)

Now, a lot of people are thinking where would be nice to go this summer. There are numerous but something is quite new - Anawangin Cove. Surprisingly beautiful and surprisingly near. 30 minutes only from Pundaquit Beach by bangka (small native boat). Pundaquit Beach is only 45 minutes from Subic. :) But if you live somewhere Visayas and Mindanao, it's not really near. ^_^

How to get there? Pundaquit Beach is located in San Antonio, Zambales. Just ask the folks in Subic what direction to drive. Basically, it's going the direction of Iba, Zambales. When you reach San Antonio town proper (located along National Road), turn left... mmm... anywhere there basically. LOL. There are series of streets and corners but it's ok to ask for directions. It's not really hard to find your road. When I drove there last time, I turned left from the National Road, turned right on the 2nd street, then turned left on a street with lots of resort-this-way tarpaulins and billboard signs. ^_^ We went straight, followed the road, until we reached Barangay Pundaquit.

From Pundaquit, you have three options where to stay and what to do.

1. Check-in at a Pundaquit resort and arrange your tours. We chose this one since we'll be staying for 3 days and we wanted to have an air-conditioned room and nice parking space. And we have kids with us. We arranged a whole day trip to Anawangin Cove the following day.

2. Look for paid parking lot then go straight to Anawangin and spend an overnight stay. Anawangin Cove is open to campers and hikers. No electricity there but there are quite decent comfort rooms. Just find your spot for you tents. Entrance fee to Anawangin, by the way, is Php 50.00 per pax. The cove is not commercialize so bring food and drinking water. There are small vendors there, however, selling snacks. There are tents for rent as well.

3. Arrive in Pundaquit and arrange a whole day island hopping to Anawanging Cove, Capones Island, etc. This tour costs around Php 2,100.00 per bangka or 5 pax. There are bigger boats you can rent. But if you have your own yacht or jet-skis, that would be very lovely. ^_^

Boat trip to Anawangin cost Php 800.00 per 5 pax. What's nice is it's imperative for tourists to wear life vests. Each bangka has their own assigned vests. You'll feel safer. Don't get too late in the afternoon as much as you can. Waves were very big that time when we went back from Anawangin to Pundaquit. Scary. Quite an adventure but scary still since we have kids with us. The safest way to travel is early morning.

Now, the photos. :)

Some Pundaquit photos:

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your summer!

Isdaan - Gerona, Tarlac

2009-11-09T15:24:00.003+08:00

The place isn't new. I've been into it quite a lot of time as well. Sadly however, I'm not enjoying their food much anymore. But I enjoyed shooting it last week. Just sharing some snaps using Panasonic Lumix LX3.

My M93R

2009-10-27T09:21:00.002+08:00

I miss airsoft. I still have some stuff with me and this baby is one of them. My beloved sidearm - KSC M93R gas blowback. This baby scares a lot of s%&* out of tangos/enemies. Scary sound and it hurts. :) Sadly, I just don't know when will time permits me to play airsoft again. I have so many hobbies lined up.

Anyway, this was shot using my point and shoot again. Casual shoot... again. Handheld... again. I took this when I was having some shooting-people-around time and I'm glad it's still working great. I need new sets of green or red gas though. Background used here was a 10-wheeler tractor head with 40-foot trailer. I asked Manong Enteng, our truck driver, to move the 40-foot trailer so I can use the tractor head's rear for the shoot. He was obligue. Just kidding. ^_^ The trailer wasn't attached in the first place so I have a ready background. :)

Mean airsoft machine:

Marquee Mall, Angeles City

2009-10-27T07:42:00.003+08:00

Just sharing a short trip at Pampanga's newest mall - Marquee Mall in Angeles City. These photos were shot few days after its soft opening. Just casual snaps using my point and shoot handheld. My family and I were just there to see the mall and have dinner. It's a nice mall and it's quite big. I like the stores design. This, by the way, is owned by Ayala something. ^_^ The mall also has the biggest CDR-King branch I've ever seen! What I also like about Marquee mall is its grocery or supermarket store; first time I saw it when I was on my way to Subic last week. It has big International section where you'll find some of the nice grocery items you'll see around the world. My wife loves cooking international cuisines. She spends hours in this grocery section. Shhhh...

Diamonds Stand Out Forever

2009-09-26T09:06:00.003+08:00

I miss shooting. It's hard to squeeze-in time for shooting lately. I also missed a wedding shoot with Ryan Puno last weekend. But I'm sure he has great images coming up on his blog around next week.

I was really itching to shoot last night. With limited equipment, I told myself it shouldn't stop me.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix LX3 (point and shoot camera)
Lights: a flashlight
Model: a tiffany ring
Background: home-made study table
Lighting method used: light painting

Pwede na siguro pang-poster. :)

A dull garden

2009-08-14T08:03:00.002+08:00

I was in a mood to shoot anything yesterday afternoon. The only thing around me that time, however, was a dull 40x20-ft garden. No signs of flowers and no landscaping done. There should be something, I told myself. Indeed there is. Two very small flowers barely noticable and an abandoned coral. Name of the game is to capture these subjects with superb details like texture using a point and shoot camera handheld. Two out of three images were very good. Not bad.

Moral lesson: If you love shooting, it shouldn't stop you from shooting anything anywhere. Challenge yourself and have fun. Also, try macro photography for those who don't have time to go places and shoot. You'll have lots of fine subjects in the comfort of your home. :)

Tri Mo Shawarma

2009-07-21T11:48:00.003+08:00

Pampanga always has the best shawarma. I'm sure a lot will agree with me. ;-) But there's one humble (but famous) shawarma outlet in Lagro, Fairview that serves this -

A sizzling shawarma. :) If you happen to drop by Fairview, ask around about this Tri Mo Shawarma outlet. Or let your GPS guide you (14°43'11.97"N 121° 3'55.81"E). ^_^ Just don't get too much of their white sauce. Too tasty.

Now, I'm really hungry.

Buying your first DSLR

2009-07-21T09:04:00.005+08:00

I did quite a long entry on my blog yesterday regarding P&S camera. I'll try not much today. Writing isn't really my thing.

Anyway, let's talk about buying your first DSLR. I know a lot of you are somehow wanting to get their own DSLR now. It's becoming quite trendy nowadays but you do know it'll give you outstanding photos. Definitely. So what are you waiting for? ^_^ Ah yeah, you should wait for me to finish this blog first.

1. So what brand should I get? It doesn't matter much honestly. Basing on experience, you'll produce outstanding photos regardless of the brand. But if you happen to have the chance to select, choose between Canon and Nikon. I've chosen Canon but that's just me. Canon has great service centers here in the Philippines. It's easy to find them to have my lenses cleaned, calibrated, etc.

2. What model? Both Canon and Nikon made models below their supposedly entry-level models. They're fine except for some Nikon models where you can't use some Nikon lenses on them. Not good. Aside from that, any models will do.

3. What lens to buy? Kit lens is fine. Kit lens is the default lens that comes with the camera box. It'll teach you a lot about how lenses behave, thus helping you choose wisely your next lens purchase. Now if you have that extra budget to burn for a much better lens, I would suggest save it for now. Give yourself some weeks to study the kit lens. A lot of people make the mistake of buying expensive lenses ending up telling themselves they weren't the lenses they need.

4. Do I need an external flash? I highly recommend it, however, don't rush on it. Give yourself few weeks to study "flashless" photography. You'll see how your camera and lenses behave under low light situations. Another great opportunity to learn. Then again, you can always buy your flash anytime you want.

5. What other accessories do I need to consider? Yes, you'll need to seriously ask this question for yourself. Aside from the camera itself, you'll need a camera bag, a UV filter (not the cheapo ones) to protect your lens' glass, an extra battery, and a dry box (storage box/cabinet for your camera). The total cost of these accessories alone is about Php 11,000.00. You need to include this in your checklist.

I think that's about it. That's your initial guide in getting your first DSLR. :)

What's the best camera?

2009-07-20T07:32:00.010+08:00

Some friends were asking me lately what camera is nice to have. It may sound as a simple question but things are revving up inside my mind. Why? Because I want them to have that perfect camera they're looking for, while knowing the fact that there isn't exactly one. But let me share some basic features to look for in a camera.

For point and shoot (P&S) cameras, consider the following features:

1. Minimum of 28mm or below optical zoom. Not only it'll allow you to shoot in a tight room, but it'll also allow you to shoot landscapes or buildings and basically a lot of stuff creatively. Most P&S has a minimum of 35mm optical zoom. Here's a comparison between 28mm and 35mm. Here's a creative shot done by a Canon P&S with a 28mm optical zoom. Olympus, Nikon, Panasonic and other brands have cameras with 28mm or less optical zoom so it isn't something new.

2. 12X or about 336mm or simply a long range optical zoom. This will allow you to reach out to your target from a distance. It'll also allow you to create bokeh or background blur when shooting people or objects. It's good also for landscape photography. Some P&S has this but don't have 28mm or below range. But there are some that have both. Another thing, I would recommend is to turn off digital zoom. While it allows you to add more zoom range, image quality suffers.

3. Aperture of at least F2.8 or wider. Wider means anything below F2.8 - F2.0, F1.8, etc. This will allow you extra capabilities to shoot under low light conditions. It also helps in creating bokeh or background blur when shooting portraits or objects. Again, only few P&S has this feature but it isn't something new as well.

4. Camera hot shoe. Here's how it looks like. It basically allows you to use external flash. This can be optional since some of you might not want to have something on top of your camera that's bigger than the camera itself. But this is very useful if you want to achieve ambient lighting while using your flash. Quite tricky though. You might need to do manual settings with your flash and P&S camera. Therefore, this is really optional. Maybe I should have not included this recommendation here. ^_^ Go get a DSLR if you want to use external flash since they can automatically control the flash output.

5. Face-detection feature. While this is not really a must feature, it's a nice bonus. Making sure faces are not blurred. You don't want to miss those beautiful smiles. :)

6. Anti-camera shake feature. P&S are prone to camera shake or blurred images due to its limitations under low light situations. Anti-camera shake feature will somehow help you.

Other recommendations:

1. Extra battery. Never miss moments with a drained battery. You may also consider P&S cameras using AA batteries. AA batteries are available everywhere so in case you are out-of-town and you ran out of batteries, it's easy to find a replacement. When looking for rechargeable batteries, look for Eneloop or GP ReCyko.

2. Wrist strap. LOL. But kidding aside, it's really safer to hold a camera with a wrist strap. You don't want being bumped by someone accidentally, especially in a crowded place, and see your camera go on a date with someone named gravity.

3. Take good care of your P&S. Camera technicians call them disposable cameras. The cost of repair for a damaged P&S is almost the same as the price of a brand new P&S.

4. When purchasing a P&S, consider its warranty. It should have at least 12 months warranty. It somehow gives you a sign that you're not buying a cheap-quality item.

5. Get a tripod. While you may think a tripod will just hold the camera for you, it's actually a very big factor in creating high quality and creative images, especially if you are using a P&S camera. It's very technical though to use a tripod. Hehe, yes, you may be surprised but it really is. I hope I can share these technicalities to you but it'll take me the whole day to write them down. I'm now thinking of hosting a one-day basic photography workshop for P&S users out there. What do you think? You don't need a DSLR to come up with great images. :)

6. Join my workshop. LOL. No, just a thing that came inside my mind. I just want people to get the most out of their P&S. I'll wait for people to force me to have one. :)

7. Read your camera's manual. A lot of people doesn't know it comes with basic photography lessons. The manual will show you how the camera works, and at the same time, teach you the basics of photography. Check it out.

8. Read number 6 again. LOL. Ok, I think I have to stop now. Maybe my mind is already drained. I wish to tackle choosing the right DSLR for you but it seems, I won't have that time for now. My last recommendation for the day, which is number 8, is to pamper whatever digital camera you have now. Take snaps of important events and persons around you. Memories taken by your P&S are more expensive than the most expensive DSLR cameras out there.

Time to prepare for lunch. Till then.

Tempura

2009-07-15T12:18:00.002+08:00

My food trip didn't end with the tacos salad. I soon met my parents in SM Pampanga and they invited me over for a nice dinner at Tempura. This time, my camera was ready. No touching of food yet.

And I wish to share one important rule of thumb in photography that I just learned yesterday - Don't shoot if cooking have started. Not a good combination.

Bigger is better

2009-07-15T07:28:00.003+08:00

I've been blogging around but I miss the point of improving my blog page. Not today. I'm making the photos bigger. Good for the readers. No more clicking of photo to enlarge. And bigger is, most of the time, better. This also applies to photo prints. The bigger the photo, the more you'll appreciate it. Try it.

Photo for the day: a treat from Art and Ann Bautista. ;-) I met them yesterday in San Fernando and I miss my hometown, especially my friends. By the way, San Fernando is so much cleaner and organize now. I salute the local municipality. Anyway, going back to the treat, I mixed my tacos salad already before I thought of taking a photo. O:-)

Kubo 2009

2009-07-04T12:17:00.004+08:00

We visited my sister-in-law's farm in the mountains and I noticed an old bahay kubo. One of the rarest I think. And I wonder if our children will ever experience the Philippines' humble beginnings. The photo below may answer just that.

My first HDR. Didn't expect it.

2009-06-30T17:24:00.002+08:00

I was doing basically nothing this afternoon. Just finished watching Top Gear then I tried playing with HDR once again. HDR or High Dynamic Range imaging is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of luminances between light and dark areas of a scene than normal digital imaging techniques. That's from Wiki. The first time I tried it was like two years ago. My outputs were, well, horrible. Then on, I told myself this isn't for me. Photography is a vast talent and skill. You can't win them all. Then again, today was a great day. I got my first great looking HDR! Surely, I'll be producing more later on. :)

Original

HDR

:)

The Dark Side Curse

2009-06-18T11:48:00.002+08:00

Some of you know well our super kulit and cheerful Papu. Here he is:

Those were the good old days. He turned into the dark side...
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A visit to the Divine Mercy

2009-06-16T07:22:00.002+08:00

Wifey and I took a break from work last Saturday to visit the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan. It wasn't my first time to visit but it's my first time to shoot around. I got only a few shots since some sections of the place were closed. I wish to go back there, not only to shoot, but to pray more. Feels nice to pray there. Everywhere there. Just walk around and pray, pray, pray. Go get the spiritual renewal you've been eyeing for lately. About 2 to 3 kms only from Marilao Exit of NLEX.

Some Brian and Lhieza Wedding Album Layouts

2009-06-13T09:10:00.003+08:00

I kinda miss doing wedding projects. Since I got really busy with our other business, I put a hold on events photography. Surely, I miss it. But it's one job that's really tiring. I hate events photography for that. LOL. Nonetheless, I'm already accepting some wedding projects for early next year. I might have one as well before the year ends. I hope and pray that my other business would be stable by that time. Godspeed to me. I have lots of catching ups to do. :)

For now, here are some album layouts from Brian and Lhieza's very romantic wedding. :)

Thanks for visiting. :)

Instant Mami

2009-06-05T17:49:00.002+08:00

Wifey cooked instant mami for afternoon snack while it was raining cats and dogs. And it was a lot more! You won't look at instant mami the way you tasted it before once you have tasted this:

I personally love that Chinese balls something we got from Ongpin.

BTW, pic was taken using a new camera. New camera, great new beginning. :)

Fontana Leisure Park 2009

2009-05-25T15:40:00.003+08:00

My wife and I were fortunate to take an off from work. We made side trip at Fontana Leisure Park. It's getting better and better. :)

I'm starting to like landscape photography. :)

Visita Iglesia 2009

2009-04-15T18:29:00.002+08:00

I'm back. :) Too busy. Yeah right, lagi naman ganyan huh. :) A lot happened the past weeks. So many changes. Lots of challenges. And more stressful days ahead. But hey, I'm glad I got to shoot again. It's been really a while.

I'm fortunate to spend the Holy Week with my family in Pampanga. Thursday, we started by hearing Holy Mass at St. Paul in Sindalan. Then we went off to Lourdes Heights, Pilar Village, San Agustin, St. Jude Village, San Vicente (no Blessed Sacrament yet), Betis, and Bacolor. Traffic was really terrible from Bacolor to Betis. We got frustrated but... it's Lent. So we all calmed down. It was very tiring when we arrived home. But it's ok. Worth the sacrifice.

Here are some snaps. :)

Brian and Bethz Wedding

2009-01-16T22:10:00.002+08:00

After sharing some pre-nup shots of a very dynamic couple, here comes their wedding. :) This was held last December 14, 2008. Exactly a year after I married my wife. :) It's not easy to drive home to my wife in Bulacan late night after a whole day of non-stop shooting but it's worth it. :) Going back to the dynamic duo, here are some great shots from their special day. Some of the photos below were taken by master Ryan Puno - my partner in crime. :)

Thank you, Brian and Bethz. I'm thinking if I'll share their album here once I'm done with the layouts. I think the couple will be very glad. I'll ask them first. :)

Coming soon... Art and Ann's wedding photos. That is if they'll allow me to post some. I'll ask them first as well. :) Here's a preview:

It's a military wedding.

Goodnight for now. :)

Too cold

2009-01-16T10:52:00.000+08:00

It's been really really cold the past days. Even I have been very cold with the thing I love doing most - photography. My wife and I got very busy with our business that I have to trim down my time with photography. I miss shooting honestly. I'm very grateful, however, I was able to cover two nice weddings despite my hectic schedule. I'll post some pics later. :)

January 1 to 3, my wife's family and I went to a family trip out of town... without my cameras. :( We went to a Laguna Hot Spring private resort, spent the night there, travelled back to Tagaytay the following day, visit the zoo, then visited Caleruega. Very beautiful sceneries. It was going to be sunset as well. Perfect for strobist shots. We were about to go back home when everybody decided to maximize the trip by going to the beach in Matabungkay, Batangas. Sadly, I kinda hate that place. I would not recommend visiting it. The locals are scary, particularly, the "ahentes". They'll do anything to close a deal with you and a resort. They'll get commission from the resort. But they're doing it in a very wrong way. I told the resort manager it's very wrong. I straight-forwardly told her we might not go back again unless they do something with the "ahentes". In fairness, they have good beaches especially the one in an island. To sum up, we went to a lot of beautiful places without me bringing even one of my cameras. :( The reason behind it is all my memory cards are still full of pictures from Art and Ann's wedding. I failed to transfer them to my PC since it crashed.

With all these stuff happened recently, I reflected if I'll have to put my photography into hibernation and to focus 100% on our family business. A feng shui master, however, told us I should continue with photography. I have what it takes and I will succeed. I don't know how can he say that since he didn't even see one of my photos. I got flattered with that however of course. :-D So what's my decision? Tuloy ang ligaya! :-D I went to Canon Makati yesterday and they'll clean, calibrate, and recondition my equipments. All my cameras are still under warranty so all services made to them are free. :) And I have to pay P500.00 only for a lense calibration. ;-) In short, my equipments will be good as new! It's definitely a good sign. :)

Good news from heaven the angels bring

2008-12-24T13:56:00.007+08:00

"Good news from heaven the angels bring,
Glad tidings to the earth they sing:
To us this day a child is given,
To crown us with the joy of heaven"

A blessed Christmas to all :)

~ Mik and Tere :)

Brian and Bethz Pre-nup Photoshoot

2008-12-12T22:35:00.004+08:00

I did text Brian and Bethz this morning and they gladly allowed me to share some of their prenup photos. :)

Big thanks to the couple! From the day I met them, they're very fun to be with. Full of laughter. 101%. ;-)

I'm back. :)

2008-12-11T23:06:00.002+08:00

It's been a while. :) I'm finally writing again. Some of you may wonder what the heck happened to this blog. The simple truth is I only haven't used my camera for quite a long time. :-D I attended activities and went to different places but I didn't shoot. Why? My camera is just too bulky. This is the reason why I envy people with point and shoot cameras. These cameras are small and you can bring them anywhere and shoot almost about anything. How I wish I have one as well. :( Yes, quite ironic since a lot of people wish for DSLR's instead. :) Reality rule # 76: What you don't have is basically what you'll be looking for. :) So Mik, why don't you buy one? I don't have the luxury as of this time sad to say. I have to invest more on photography equipments and I have to help my wife with our other business. Speaking of my wife, here's a photo I took of her in our recent trip at the Lakeshore, with our dog named Casper. Casper the friendly dog. :)

Ahihi. :) They joined me when I had a prenup photo-op recently. I wish I could share some prenup photos I took but I have to get the permission of the couple involved first. I'll text them up tomorrow.

I wish to close by sharing something. It's been VERY stressful and SERIOUSLY challenging the past weeks but I thank God there's always a reason to smile. He is the reason. It should work with you as well. :)

Goodnight and God bless! :)

For Multiply Users

2008-10-31T10:47:00.002+08:00

Reposting the last image for Multiply users. :)

Ava Revisited... Revived

2008-10-30T23:58:00.006+08:00

I'm sure most of you are familiar with this photo:

It's the one on my blog's title space. :) I took this photo last May 2007. The model's name is Ava. It somehow made a trademark in me since I used it in my very first calling card. I personally like this photo.

Tonight, I was really a "tambay" and I decided to change my computer's wallpaper. I used our friend Google to look for superb/amazing wallpapers but I didn't find any interesting ones until I found this image:

It's not really eye-catchy but I felt "kiliti" with this image. :-D Out of nowhere, I decided to play with this image with Ava's photo using some techniques I learned in the past and the result was amazing! I mean I like it as far as I'm concern. I felt I'm like an artist tonight. Random thinking/thoughts. Manages to come up of something out of nowhere. I mean it's hard to find two photos that will combine nicely at least. Here's my new wallpaper:

I hope you like it, too. :)

Renovated

2008-10-24T19:41:00.010+08:00

I didn't like the first design I made for my website. It's actually funny and some of you may agree. ;-) A photographer's website that doesn't have a gallery. :-D And I feel it's full of wordy crap instead. So I decided to make it a real photographer's website and make it simple yet complete.

Designing a website for your company is really hard. You tend to look at others' websites and get ideas from there. Not bad but you'll find out one way or another that a lot of website elements aren't really needed. So you're better well-off designing out of the box. That's ok. As long as you are delivering well your company, why not. In my part, I just need a portfolio and contact details. But I feel I need to include "Rates" so visitors will immediately get ideas about my services as well. That's about it! I hope you like my new website. It's really simple.

http://miktoldoya.com

Let me know anytime if you have a suggestion on how I can make it better.

BTW, since the final design of my website is really simple, it's also a lot cheaper. :) It's like live a simple life and you won't have much headache. :)

Art and Anne Pre-Nup

2008-10-17T19:48:00.011+08:00

Here's my childhood bestfriend's wedding coming soon. :) December 27 is gonna be a military wedding. Something different and I'm very excited about it. :) Here's the pre-nup photo session we did last week. Or was it the other week? Anyway... :)

I certainly enjoyed this shoot. It was very tiring, too. I concentrated most of the time during the shoot. I did prepare for it and it's worth it.

I'm also glad Art and Ann are on a high mood. Love is in the air. It's the main ingredient for the best pre-nup photo session a couple will ever have.

Nail them!

2008-09-28T01:16:00.004+08:00

Well, literally. Here are just few of the stuff I shot for a construction company recently. I never knew such nails exist. They look like missiles and believe me, there's even a bullet used as nails? Wala lang, naaliw lang ako. :-D

I want to thank boss Errol (a former co-worker) for reminding me that it's always nice to go back the basic. During my jewelry shoot prior to this, I was like "if only I have that four studio lights I need...". Errol reminded me about taking advantage of what I have now and stop with those "if only". With those in mind, I did a good job with just natural light by the window and two flourescent lamps overhead. You have to love photography. You don't need expensive stuff to come up with pro-level shots. :)

P.S. I still need to get those lights! :-D

Another jewelry shoot but this time...

2008-09-12T23:47:00.008+08:00

... let's post more than two or three photos. :-D

But first, it's been a while. I really miss shooting but I made a promise (oh boy, I hear someone shouting "is made to be broken") to shoot more from now on. I have a new shot list: HDR. But let me not talk about that for now. So how am I? Mmm... saying the phrase "been very busy lately" is so "plastic". :-D Ok, I have been busy with my wife and our business. It is simply time consuming to plan, strategise, decide, worry, and all, and see the outcome. I'm enjoying it however. It's just that I miss shooting. Let me squeeze in HDR tomorrow and I'll update my blog right away. And oh BTW, I've been quite busy also with Friendster. :-D I freakin' don't know how to use it. :-D So I won't be sharing it for now. I'll try improving it first. I hear some of you laugh... yeah, laugh! :-D A very good friend was actually laughing hard when he found out I have a blog, I have my own website, but I don't have a Friendster account. Even a 5-yr-old gal has a Friendster account! I was speechless. :-D So anyway, before I get this typing to nowhere, here are the photos I'll be sharing. It's a photoshoot for my wife. She'll be selling her sister who is abroad some jewelries. So basically we'll be sending these through email first... then fly to Australia. Not! ;-)

Here's an interesting subject. My wife wants me to emphasize on this ring and I sucked. The first pic below was the most decent already among my repeated shots. Others we blurred. And this one is somehow blurred still. Good thing, I used RAW. :) RAW files are great to enhance. It saved my butt. :)

Before:

After:

The photoshoot turned out not so bad. Photographers however will criticize these photos as awful. They're right. I only used two lights for this shoot. I will need at least four lights. And to really please my fellow photogs, I'll need that 27k lense. I'm poor. No budget for those. I have to save up. Someday... Someday... :)

Nix

2008-08-23T20:25:00.004+08:00

This is so late. :) Beth, please tell Nikki here are the photos. O:-)

Beth, Ryan, and I took a break one afternoon to shoot Nikki and Maix. It was kinda unplanned so we decided to shoot at Clark cemetery since it's pretty close. Very close... to SM so we can eat right away afterward. :-D It was our first time to shoot after hibernation if I can call it that way. Good thing, Beth has so many ideas running inside her mind. I'm very impressed with her preparations. I was kinda unprepared that time. I even ran out of batteries in my camera. I failed to charge it the night before. I don't know what I was thinking. :-D We plan to shoot again sometime in the very near future. Maybe then I'll be more prepared. It's really no joke to have a shoot like this. I wish I could have more great shots. :)

Nix photos for now... :)

8-8-8 Wedding

2008-08-10T16:44:00.003+08:00

Churches were packed with couples getting married last August 8. For some, it's a great number combination. And one of the couples to tie the knot that day was a family friend. Quite unfortunately though, I'm not the one who covered the event. They already made reservations long before I went full-time. :) I was only with my mom since she's a Ninang so I find myself with no company at all. This is where my camera comes in. Great companion. :) Here are some of our gigs:

I was also quite bored during the reception so I just played around.

Very lazy evening

2008-08-06T00:44:00.003+08:00

I just finished writing that Apple fever thing. I have a lot of things to do tonight instead of that. Job-related. It's just that the weather is making me VERY lazy. It's cold and rainy outside. It's very quiet everywhere in our place as well. I just hate it when it's like this. Not the weather. But my laziness! :-D It's gonna be a lot of catching up tomorrow. :) I have to go to bed now even if I'm not that sleepy yet. Good night. :)

Apple fever?

2008-08-05T23:47:00.007+08:00

Disclaimer: This is no way an ad for Apple products... if it is. :-D

I just bought the 2nd iPod Shuffle for the week. It's for my mom. The other one was last weekend. It's for my wife. I also bought two Altec Lansing BXR1121 speakers for both iPod(s). The result, priceless music and sound experience for the two most important women in my life. :) iPod has always been the leading MP3 player. Second is Creative. When my wife and I were checking some MP3 players last weekend, I can't see that smile I'm looking for whenever she tries those "China-made" players. I then told her this isn't what she's looking for. But having a half-Chinese partner, they want whatever is cheap. I asked her to try the iPod instead. That's where the smile I'm looking for appeared. I told her that smile is priceless so we'll take the iPod. She was about to react about the price but I told her it may be pricey, but the experience is priceless. What a great excuse to buy expensive stuff huh. :) I asked her if she wants the Nano (iPod video is just too expensive for me). Again, her Chinese instinct punched in. She said she doesn't need that small screen. I told her she can watch movies with it. She said it's gonna be no way she'll be watching movies with those tiny screens. That was like a slap in my face. :-D So it was the Shuffle indeed.

My mom has the bluish violet color and she simply love the sound also. So it's like Apple fever is getting along well with me or us. What's next? iPhone 3G? Mmm... nah. But I'll be using a lot of Apple products now especially in my job. Will I be putting Apple stickers in my car's windows? Mmm... nah. Will I be getting iPod Touch in the future as photo viewer? Mmm... nah. I still want the Epson P-series. So you see, Apple is great but not all the time. Therefore, I can say I might not have that Apple fever still.

How about Bose fever? Me want that. :-D Someday... someday!!! :)

Uploaded!

2008-08-01T01:36:00.004+08:00

While the revised design of my website is in the works, I decided to post the first design still. I've been too busy with a lot of things lately and I can't find time to sit for the new design. I think this is gonna be good for now. :)

http://www.miktoldoya.com

I hope you guys like it. Feel free to email me anytime for comments and suggestions like how can I make it better, etc. With regard to the gallery, I'm trying to learn something but the set of codes I need is making my mind go crazy. So please bear with me. Gallery to follow. :)

Shifted... to Mac :)

2008-07-26T01:28:00.007+08:00

I finally shifted to Mac. Thanks to Ryan. Super kulit kasi! :-D But it's very nice really. Maybe I need a day or two to get used to it. I'm good with that. The other exciting part is the rig is FAST! Core 2 Duo at 2.0 Ghz with 2 GB of RAM upgradable (and usable) up to 8 GB. For now, 2 GB is more than enough. The processor is not top-of-the-line but it's very powerful already for my job. I tried multi-tasking "to the max" a while ago and it doesn't consume even 25% of the whole memory. I also tried loading 800+ images I took on an event last weekend and the pictures simply showed smoothly all at the same time. No more waiting. With my Core Solo, 1GB RAM WinXP, it's very sluggish. Not the PC's fault. It's powerful. Memory management is the problem. I won't have problems layouting wedding albums now. No more excuses not to finish them when I need them. :-D A bonus to that is a 22-inch LCD monitor and superb music output by Altec Lansing's VS4121. Sweet. :)

Paging kong Marco... this is the real thing now. :-D Kong Marco is a very good friend who also helped me A LOT with PC softwares before. And we played with a particular program that will transform my XP into a Mac. It's a skin. It's Windows XP but the interface is Mac. It's a cheap software and it instead damaged my operating system (OS). All hell breaks lose and I reinstalled everything. Windows, all my programs, and I even did a bloody hard drive partitioning, which I really don't like doing myself. Trying-hard Mac-ing. :-D But no more of that now. I'm a real Mac user now. Job calls for it as well. :)

BTW, I'm sure Elle will be very happy about this also. She's one of my makulit Mac friends who also tempted me non-stop to shift. ^_^

Coming Soon...

2008-07-20T00:25:00.007+08:00

... is mik toldoya photography's own website. :) It's long overdue actually. We've been developing it for weeks already. Version one is currently uploaded somewhere out there in cyberspace but it's on a testing stage. I have some beta testers helping me how to make it... somehow nice. :-D A friend suggested the background color isn't nice. We decided to work on version two then. A completely new design! Sounds crazy huh. Indeed. :-D Hopefully, we can pull this one off the soonest time possible. Wish me luck!

http://www.miktoldoya.com

I just came from a shoot. Corporate event. Very tiring but fulfilling. I'm gonna be busy reviewing the photos tomorrow and I still have one wedding album layout to finish. Just four pages away and I'm a bit lazy now. :-D Honestly, layouting a wedding album is sometimes draining/exhausting. Or maybe I'm just a perfectionist.

My bed is calling me now. Ciao! :)

Moi Paella

2008-07-15T22:15:00.004+08:00

It's been a while! I have to admit, it's kinda hard being an event photographer. Projects are usually months ahead! Although I'm good with that. Patience is a virtue. :-D I'm like a farmer waiting for my crops. Anyway, I'm glad I have a shoot this coming weekend. A batch reunion. Is it considered as a corporate event? The last one I had is also a corporate event two weeks ago. Two days of very tiring shoot and I really mean it! I was with my buddy photographer Ryan. There's so many photos that it makes me lazy to browse them. I'll post some photos from it sometime... soon. :-D

Now on to my topic, my wife cooked something special for me today. ;-) And it caught my camera's attention as well. :-D

"Moi Paella"

Do you think it's delicious? IT IS!!! :-D The best paella I had. It's jam packed with ingredients and she knows the taste to look for. :) Here's a secret for guys who wish their wife to get the kind of tastes they're looking for: Treat your wife regularly at your favorite restos and somehow discuss with her about what could be the factors why a certain dish is so delicious. Guys, it's a win-win situation trust me. :-D

The Countryside

2008-06-26T03:07:00.009+08:00

I was invited by my sister-in-law this afternoon for an ocular inspection of some hectares of lot her friend is selling along a mountain. Although I was busy doing stuff in front of my PC, I decided to take my camera for a walk. ;-) The place we went to was really remote but we have researched that the area will be developed very soon. I've read in the newspaper two week ago that our government and a Japanese contractor already signed a contract to extend MRT from Edsa to San Jose del Monte. San Jose del Monte is a really big place but it's not developed. I did wonder why since it's very near Metro Manila. Now, I can smell development all around the place.

For now, let's visit the virgin mountain. I was greeted by this guy with a smile on my camera. Simply nice. You can see through him how life can be so simple and yet very happy. At this point, by the way, we have to walk and leave the pick-up truck somewhere out there. ;-)

I took like 20 shots of this guy on different angles since I have a homework re "man at work". I was going around the river for the right angle. :) I notice suddenly that the group I'm with is gone. Gotta catch up. It was kinda funny since after crossing the river and climbing a hill, there were three roads going to nowhere and I wonder where they are. I left my cellphone at home and I was thinking of shouting. But I feel no one will hear me or people who will hear me will just laugh at me. :-D So I just decided to go straight. Very remote. I crossed another river, ran over muddy hills, and good thing I found them. I wasn't wearing my slippers anymore since it was very slippery. But I did enjoy that. :)

We continued walking and I continued shooting.

Somewhere here, you'll see in the future about 200 hectares of MRT development and possibly another SM mall since Henry Sy has about 100 hectares here according to the realtor. There are also a lot of politicians with big names who own big properties here. No wonder... ;-)

While having a quick break, I continued looking for something interesting to shoot. Here it is. With God's perfect light, this guava will have to be a big star someday. ;-D

Here's a shot of the river on our way back...

I somehow didn't like the water in the river. Maybe because I experienced Coto Mines. :-D Looking forward of going into that place again someday. :)

Here's a very interesting subject I caught. A white gumamela. I'm not sure if it's very rare or maybe it's just me. :-D

Ok, it's 4 AM now. Time for bed. Goodnight. :)

Mom's Birthday

2008-06-22T21:32:00.007+08:00

Mom celebrated her birthday the other night with only about ten guests in total. It was a simple celebration yet a very successful one. My wife and I went home from Bulacan to help her prepare for her big day. Our gift included going to the public market at 4 AM with her. It was one heck of a job since our body clock's sleeping time is 2 AM. ;-) We enjoyed the trip however. I should have bought my camera as well. Too many great subjects to shoot. :)

Everybody in the house were working the whole day for the few lucky guests. My wife cooked and prepared most of the food. Of course, it won't be complete if I won't have my camera with me to shoot what's cooking. This is something I'd like to share with our family members abroad. >:-) I think the meal was a complete range of around the world dishes. They're ALL delicious and cooked well! Pork Pocket paired with Mashed Potato, Crab in Oyster Sauce, Tanigue Steak, Italian Chicken Wings, Fettuccine, Fried Drumstick, Tokwa't Baboy, Sashimi and Crab Sticks (gift from a friend), and a bunch of Maki (also a gift). Fruits served were ripe mangos, Indian mangos with bagoong, ripe papaya, and pineapple. Dessert is Buko Pandan. Yummy. :) I remember we also bought BIG prawns but we decided to keep it for now. Too much already. :)

Food photography is one of the things I love doing. Food styling is another but it's not easy. I'd leave it to the food stylists.

Happy birthday, madir!

Something fishy

2008-06-09T20:44:00.004+08:00

I miss shooting lately. I've been doing more work in front of my PC instead. Post processing photos, layouting wedding albums, surfing for new gadgets, YMing, reading blogs, youtube... the hardest part of the business! :-D But I'm already getting used to it. :) Good thing I was able to take a break last weekend when my wife and I toured her family to Subic's Ocean Adventure. It's their first time. Very busy businessmen. And it was my turn to enjoy the aquariums once again. :) I love shooting big aquariums. Beautiful subjects but very challenging. Very difficult task. Different lighting situations, lighting colors, and almost no lights. I pushed my camera and lense to the limit just to aim for sharp images. Well not really since I didn't go as far as ISO 1600 but I was able to managed some good shots. I'll do some ISO 1600 next time and maybe I'll get more great shots. I can't wait also to visit Singapore or Hongkong for their aquariums. Simply the best.

It's my second time to visit Ocean Adventure in two weeks time. I wonder how's Manila Ocean Park doing now. When my family and I visited the new place last March, we felt we just burned money. Nothing much to see unlike in Subic where you'll see a Dolphin show, a Sea Lion show, and more for the same price. There are also too much bubbles or dirt floating in MOP aquariums. I can't get clear images. I mean the water isn't "crystal clear". Although I would understand it's just new and needs more improvements perhaps. Here are some images I took...

See what I mean? Or maybe it's just me and wrong camera settings. ;-) I'll try again next time... if! :)

Dowell and Anne Nuptial

2008-05-27T11:05:00.006+08:00

It's my privilege to shoot a friend's wedding. I've known Dowell for years already and I just got surprised to learn he'll be getting married. I thought he won't be anymore. I was right after all, he's a chickboy. :-D Lucky girl is Anne. I just met her on the wedding day itself. Very "childish". I mean she's full of energy and smiles. Ryan, who accompanied me (very kind guy), and I enjoyed our bridal photoshoot that we already forgot all about the wedding ceremony. :-D

It's a great day as Ryan always mentioned. Indeed. We've learned a lot and we were able to maximize our love for this job. It was very tiring and terribly hot that time but it's all worth it. We were at the church balcony at the end of the day, enjoying the wind, congratulating ourselves for job well done, and enjoying being served with food and drinks and all. Unlimited. :-D There's so many visitors but the food keeps on coming. ;-D

Here are some snaps...

The chalice above is what they used in the wedding ceremony. It was a personalized item of Fr. Mon Torres. Very detailed design and it's darn heavy. I bet it's also very expensive. I think it's a combination of gold and platinum.

I didn't post photos of Dowell. He's very camera shy. :) But here's a bonus photo. ;-)

Nice for avatar, huh Rye? :)

I wish to share more but I haven't processed them yet. I have to finish three major backlogs first. Maybe I'll just update this again next time. :)

Random Shots

2008-05-22T16:41:00.008+08:00

I drove to Fontana a while ago to meet my cousin and his family. While waiting for them, I took my time to relax at the clubhouse's lobby. I also looked around for any interesting subjects that a photographer can shoot. Nothing much, I told myself. It's just sala set, and big pillars. But that triggered me to take up a challenge. I was bringing my camera so I decided to play a game. Shoot whatever I can from where I'm sitting without lifting my butt. :) Good thing, a kid started to play and run back and forth. :)

I'm starting to like shooting kids portrait. They're so natural and innocent. :) I'm sure his parents will love these photos. :)

Then I just turned my head left and right and here's what I got.

Not bad at all huh. Moral lesson from the experience is you can produce great random images from wherever you are sitting or standing. :)

Time to reformat my memory cards. Wedding shoot tomorrow. :)

Avii turns 18 :)

2008-05-21T21:54:00.004+08:00

I was browsing my files and I almost forgot about this cool event held last March 29. This debut celebration was somehow the hippest I've attended so far. The occasion was a very good mix of rave party and formal debut (complete with 18 roses and wishes). Venue was at the luxurious and cozy Mimosa Hilltop in Clarkfield, yet, they were able to pull off one great informal event.

Nope, she's not the debutant. She (or he) was one of the hosts for the event. :)

The debutant with some of her favorite friends.

I used to dance like this way back... NOT! :-D

Avii's transferring somewhere far so...

That's her mom. Lovely. :)

Avii was full of energy the whole night without losing her composure. :)

Dance performances were everywhere. Very talented young guys (Geez, I'm old?). :-D

And more dances... :)

Brent Matthew turns ONE

2008-05-16T20:04:00.002+08:00

Another 1-yr-old for me. :) Proud parents Kots Bino and Yvette celebrated their eldest's 1st year last Sunday. :)

Megadike Mountains

2008-05-08T20:14:00.004+08:00

The stretch of Megadike is Mik's most favorite place in Pampanga to shoot! There's simply so many interesting subjects and locations to shoot. If I'm to shoot for a car company, I'll do it here. If I'm to shoot outdoor glamour, I want to do it here as well. If I'm to shoot clouds, this is my favorite place. If I'm to shoot other nature's beauty, no doubt, this is the place. This is also a nice place to shoot Pampanga's country side. I've been inviting my friends to shoot here but time doesn't permit us for now. I can sense it'll be in the very near future. ;-)

I drove many times already over Megadike and I always appreciate the beauty I see around. And I keep on saying to myself "If only... if only... if only I have my camera with me...". :-D But I made sure to bring it a while ago to shoot something and I didn't go home empty-handed. ;-) I was driving from Clark after doing some chores and the first interesting subject I found are the mountains. I made a panorama but I don't know if you'll like it. Not much processing done but just to give you a glimpse of how it was. It was cold and the view was simply amazing. Nature at its best as always.

**Hmmm... flickr resized my panorama. It's nicer if you can see it upclose.

Then the clouds caught my attention. Whenever I drive over Megadike, clouds formation is oh-la-la most of the time. Rain or shine. Although you won't be able to appreciate clouds formation that much during lunchtime. Take your lunch instead. ;-)

Here's something that I might hang in my room soon. Have it enlarged and printed on metallic.

On my way south, lightnings were visible from afar. Unfortunately, I don't have a tripod and longer range lense with me so it was a wrap. So I'll add in my list above "If I'm to shoot lightnings, this is definitely the place". ;-)

Thanks for viewing. :)

Maix

2008-05-07T18:54:00.004+08:00

Months ago, I was invited by a friend to shoot glamour. Not yet my field as of the moment but maybe very soon. ;-) She was doing a portfolio for a model named Maix or Mika and it was an honor to be there and given the opportunity. It was a great photoshoot since we don't have studio and lights but we just made good use of God-given light and a white room with ample windows. :) The results were not bad. My friend Elle, the one who invited me, is also the stylist. She's full of ideas waiting to explode and I can't wait for more photoshoot with her. :)

Glamour photoshoot is not that easy honestly. Shooting the model is just half of it and that alone is very hard already. I did a lot in the image above (Portrait101) but I know I still need to do some more. I think you'll see me do more works like this in near future. Love it! ;-)

Les and Azee

2008-04-30T11:18:00.002+08:00

Now it's time to post a wedding. :) I'm also getting excited with wedding events since I'm eyeing for that one good lense to arrive soon. ;-) What lense is it? Secret. I just don't want to get too excited about it. Patience is a virtue. :-D I can use that lense for many occasions but it will be superb on wedding events also. :)

This was Les and Azee's wedding last March 29. I was Ryan Puno's backup photographer. This was one of the very solemn and touchy weddings I've attended so far. You can feel the emotions flow around the venue. It was a nice experience and I'm sure for the couple as well.

Did you like the layout? :-D It was my first time to do a wedding layout. I was actually adapting simple techniques only but with a kick. It took me quite some time to do it last night but I learned a lot already. I'll practice more and by the time I get a wedding project soon, I'll be able to layout the album quickly with feeling. LOL.

Basti turns ONE!

2008-04-17T12:48:00.004+08:00

This is my first official 1-year-old birthday coverage of the year! I thought I'm done with 1-year-olds. ;-) I'm actually happy about it. Celebrating the 1st year of these children is something. As expected, Basti's birthday is one big celebration. A lot more kids this time. :) This is also my first time to use a color management technique on events which improved my photos. Colors appeared correctly overall. In short, people don't look like aliens. I mean at times, skin color in photos may be reddish or yellowish. Others may not notice it but once they see a photo with properly managed colors, they will know the difference. Professional photographers know this but not all. But I enjoy this technique. :)

Thanks to daddy Albert and mommy Kaye for their great hospitality during the event. They keep on telling me to get my food and I wasn't even done with my job yet. :-D Very cool couple. I'm sure Basti will be the same. Phsically, he looks like his dad and mom well mixed. Would you agree?

Here are some snaps:

Precious Stones

2008-04-13T12:07:00.002+08:00

I was browsing through my files and I almost forgot about the jewelries shots I made for a client. This is one of my first product shots using 3rd party lighting. Learning stage. This was a rush work since the client needs the photos to be sent abroad the same night. I immediately thought of using a black background. No need to look for a location. With trial and error, I was able to do the job. :)

Notice the price tags of the items? I didn't remove them so you can plan ahead when to give your wife or girlfriend or another significant others. ;-) I wonder when can I get my wife with one? :) By the way also, don't buy jewelries abroad. They're too darn expensive. This is why balikbayans prefer to get their jewelries here. :)

Mik the commercial photographer. Sounds good. :-D I don't know. Well yes, but I find events more enjoyable. Maybe because of adrenaline rush and all the smiles you see around. :)

Capstone

2008-04-13T00:00:00.006+08:00

I know you'd agree that it's so hard to go on with "life as usual" when a loved one went ahead of us. It was very challenging in my part also since I have so many projects at the time (I had to cancel some but it's ok) and I tried very hard to be professional. I thank my clients for their support, although I really don't require them. Business is business. But I'm glad they showed me they're still human. :) Most of all, I also want to thank kang Abel and Lee for taking care some of the jobs assigned to me. Rarely you'll find friends who will really help without conditions...

One of my homework for quite a long time already is shooting ceilings. These are works done by a local company named Capstone Steel & Trading. They need to have a company portfolio and new designs for their brochures. I never knew such company exist here in Pampanga. There may be others out there but these guys are good. You'll see from the photos below how amazing their works are. I haven't seen ceilings to be these good. I'm already considering to have one design for my room. :-D

I enjoyed working with this company. I learned a lot from organizing time and stuff to handling stress. But most importantly, I'm glad they liked my photos. What I need to improve though is meeting deadlines. :-D One major cause of not meeting my deadline is sub-contracting. It's simply out of my hand when they promised me something but they didn't do it. But I thank CSTC's manager Engr. Gil Lacson for his patience and understanding. Other bosses will simply shout at you. But Mr.Gil is simply a cool guy. Very humble, too, that's why his team like him very much. I'm almost done with my projects and I hope I'll have a passing grade in terms of overall performance.

Interior design shots is one of the things I certainly love doing. I also plan to invest more on equipments that will improve my shots. For now, here are some photos I love... :)

Till then, my brother...

2008-04-03T21:59:00.009+08:00

Thank you to all my friends and family friends who showed their all-out support and given their prayers to my late brother, Peter Karl Lawrence. My family and I will never forget each one of you. I'm glad to know he has so many friends also who love him so much. Our family don't find it easy to recover for he is the youngest in our family. But with God's grace and all the people around who loves us so much and continually praying for us especially for Pete, we are being blessed with strength, wisdom, and hope. We miss him very much.

We love you, Pete! Enjoy your life in heaven! Till then, my brother!

Hehe...

2008-02-25T00:39:00.003+08:00

Hungry?

I think that's the best lechon photo I've seen so far. :-D I was in a mood of getting that one perfect shot for this lechon and it took me around six shots before I got this. I was very happy. The sad part is I was already hungry and the event I was covering hasn't started yet. I usually eat at the end of the event, or sometimes I don't eat since it's not really my job to eat. I was hired to shoot. That's the reason I have Fita stocks or KitKat in my bag. ;-) I have to be honest, being an event photographer sometimes is really hard. I was enjoying my shoot until my tummy started to "krug-krug" again while I was taking photos of the guests while getting their share of the oh-la-la lechon. Poor me! :( But gladly, I was able to get some slices before it went kaput. I was offered to rest and eat. Gap, the videographer I was with, and his assistant were also very hungry during the coverage. Yesterday was the first time I got really hungry during an event coverage. Unlike before, I simply enjoy shooting the food. :)

Enough with the lechon! Some of my friends are complaining why am I sharing very few shots everytime I write my blog. The reason is I simply can't post photos of people without their permission unless they are celebrities. Yesterday was Mr. Felix Cabais' 76th birthday. I don't know exactly how to describe him but once you see him, you'll see immediately that he's a very loving father to his family and to almost everybody. A person who is strong willed and full of wisdom. He's kuya Abel's father-in-law. The children of Mr. Cabais and their family successfully made the surprise party. Here are some stills from the occasion. :)

Happy Valentines!

2008-02-14T19:09:00.004+08:00

When I woke up this morning, I was in the mood of shooting a Valentines-inspired photo. Too many ideas came inside my mind. I'm no artist but I somehow felt (maybe) how artists think before making something out of basically anything. So I went outside and looked for anything interesting to shoot. There's nothing to shoot. :-D I just see chairs, tables, plants, dirt, pile of junk, etc. I mean it's not like Sonya's Garden where you get to see a lot of nice subjects to shoot. But somehow it didn't stop me from shooting still. I saw some rocks and I thought of taking some snaps. Then I told myself Valentine is nothing without a heart shape. I looked for it and found none. Heart-shaped rock, heart-shaped wood, heart-shaped shadows, none! I actually gave up and just took the small heart-shaped pillow I gave my wife last year. I went outside and I saw this green bench which I think is perfect to pair with a red. The result was nice but it's kinda lame. That's where the "rocks" photos came into place. With a little PC help, I came up of the image below.

Happy Valentines Day! :)

12th Hot Air Balloon Festival

2008-02-11T17:15:00.000+08:00

Nope, I didn't go there. Well, that was my original plan. :-D I was really hesitant of going since I quite know it'll be just the same as last year. Moreover, I was disappointed since the event this year wasn't as good as last year's. Actually, the other year was much better. And the year before that is even greater than the other year. I've attended this event for years already and the only thing that improved were the balloons. I love the balloons this year. More colorful and they're a lot! Congrats to the balloon flyers for a successful showdown! What everybody missed though were the UK para gliders, there were less RC flyers, less planes, less choppers, less shows, less beers, less excitement overall. The gap between shows takes 15 to 20 minutes. Quite boring. I hope the organizers will read this to hear my side. Their main theme is a whole weekend of everything that flies. I hope they'll show more latest choppers and planes doing a showdown next year. And I feel I'll participate a lot next year. I don't know. I just feel it. ;-)

By the way, the reasons I went to the event this year were my family and friends. I enjoyed the company of my friends on day 2 and the food. Day 4, I enjoyed the time with my family and... yes, the food also. :-D My visit was entirely a photo-op for my family and some with my friends. I didn't have the mood to shoot but I was able to manage some good shots since as a hobbyist also, my conscience is telling me that I should get that one good shot. At least one good shot. So I said ok-ok. I was lucky to have these.

"Silip"

"Silip din" :-D

See you in next year's event!

Rent

2008-01-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, let's not talk about photography today (something new huh). :-D Let's focus on "mik toldoya" as an everyday life. Omit "photography" for now.

While I was very busy doing my homework few weeks back, my brother keeps on watching this movie called Rent. It's a 2005 musical film. An adaptation of 1996 broadway musical. Nice songs. Superb voices. One great movie. "Rent" is quite a controversial movie. Watch it. Not only you'll be touched by the music and voices, you'll love the movie itself. It's not something like "Sound of Music" or "Mary Poppins" musical films that we got used to when we were young. It's a film that's simply... touchy. Sorry, can't think of any other words to use. O:-) Ok, it's a movie of young friends struggling on issues like drugs, HIV, love relationship, and homosexuality. I'm not a good movie critic so just watch it. :)

Here are some clips. See how the songs and performances got my attention.

See what I mean? :)

Calibrated finally!

2008-01-23T21:25:00.000+08:00

Now, my monitor is calibrated! And now as well, I'm very shy with some of the photos I posted here. :-D

Just to give an idea to those who haven't heard of monitor calibration, it's just actually making sure that the color you see in your monitor is correct. The white color should be white color and not blue or violet. Skin color should be an actual skin color and not something that's yellowish. In the photography world, it's very important. Color management is very important. But in the other world, it doesn't really matter much. :-D So why I calibrated my monitor then? Because I'm a photographer and I'm in the photography world. Sounds very logic huh. :-D But people know how to appreciate photos and colors. They might not notice properly managed colors, but they can see its beauty without them knowing it exactly. Natural instinct.

Cheers. :)

Carmela's 18th Birthday

2008-01-10T18:46:00.000+08:00

While I have my leisure time now, I'll keep up with my backlogs. :)

After my trip to Baguio and a day rest, it was my pleasure to cover a lovely debut celebration held at Shangri-La Makati last January 5. Carmela Bustos-Briones is one simple gal blessed with loving parents and siblings, as well as cheerful friends and prominent family friends. It's the best debut celebration I've been so far. I was shooting with Ryan Puno and Alvyn Cahili's team. We're like four photographers and two videographers and assistants. We started shooting around 2:30PM and it lasted until past 1AM the following day. Non-stop. Very tiring? Suree!!! :-D But I enjoyed it. It was great working with Ryan and kuya Alvyn's team. No dull moments. Always on the move. :)

Here are some photos:

Most of the guests were Kabalens. And there's this singer who I think is also a Kabalen who never fail to amaze everybody with his voice. A tenor singer like Josh Groban named Lee Lorenzo. I'm not sure with the first name. If any one of you knows the person, let me know his name and I'll correct this blog.

Time for dinner. TTFN. :)

Baguio Jan 2, 2008

2008-01-10T14:59:00.000+08:00

I greeted the New Year with a Baguio trip. :) It's my wife's first time to be in the place. My first time also to drive around with no guide but managed to visit all the tourist spots. Thanks to a 50-peso map I bought in SM Baguio. :) But a lot of my friends also recommend commuting. Taxi fares in Baguio are cheap. And no more long driving. :)

I consider my trip as a travel photography. What I noticed when you do travel photography is there's not much time for you to double-check your camera settings. With the bright daylight, it's hard to tell the quality of the images even if you have a big camera LCD. Therefore, I learned to check the camera settings before going out. And try not to ask someone to hold the camera for you. I did that and they accidentally messed up the settings. It cost me some great images. :-D

Another thing, it's hard to mix family quality time with travel photography. :-D I was not able to do much creative shots since my goal that time was to capture moments with my wife. :) I was, however, able to manage some good shots while she does shopping or while sleeping. :-D Here they are:

The first one is my favorite. Very artistic photo. It's not editted. No tripod used. No need since I took it not on an evening, but mid-afternoon. ;-) The second one was taken 7AM from our hotel's balcony. The last one, well, just took it for stock. :-D

I'm back. :)

2007-12-27T23:08:00.000+08:00

After being out for almost two months, I'm finally back. Glad to be back. :) So where I've been? It's a long story. Ok, let me just describe it...

Now, you know. :) Big thanks to our family, relatives, friends, our ninongs and ninangs, Fr. Mon Torres (a very good friend), Mimosa (especially Jayne), Chapel 2, Mixed Elements (coordinator), Vic Sison (main photographer), Alvyn Cahili (videographer), Mr. Lansangan (musical director), my legendary choirmate (Edna, Art, and Lodiver), etc. Of course, thanks to our Big Boss who just celebrated His birthday the other day. It wasn't easy for me and Tere but He was there all the way with us. :)

So now, I'm back. :) What's new? Nothing much really. I actually missed a lot. No giant lantern pics for this year. No SM fireworks photos for this month. No nothing. :-D But what I do have is a new lense. Yeap, I've upgraded my beloved kit L-ense. :-D It's now a certified L-ense. ;-) It's very heavy and the new range is new to me. I'm loving the color and sharpness! I'm getting used to it little by little already. I'll be a backup photographer on a debut at Shangri-La Makati on January 5 and it'll be my lense's first official project. Wish me luck. :)

I want to share some photos I took three hours ago. Jewelries. I like what I did, however, some results were "nyarp" when zoomed very closely. Shots were taken handheld (left my tripod at home). What I'll do is reshoot the items once I'm back home then share them here. :)

Got to go for now. Belated Merry Christmas! :)

Testing 1-2-3

2007-11-23T23:24:00.000+08:00

Hi guys! Sorry, I haven't updated my blog yet. I never knew getting out of my day job will make me a lot busier instead. :-D I have some new photos and stories to share but they're still in my camera. They're called backlogs. :-D Anyway, just dropping by to say "Hey, I'm still here! I hope things are ok there".

TTFN. I need some sleep. I promise to update my blog frequently... as promised. LOL.

Cassy and Von-Von's

2007-10-19T11:38:00.000+08:00

The day after A380, I had a photoshoot. It's Cassy and Von-Von's 1-yr-old and 2-yr-old birthday (respectively) celebration. Big thanks to their proud parents for trusting my skills. Actually, we were two photographers so the same credit goes to my partner Abel. Ate Josie has always been a good friend. The birthday party was a blast! Everybody enjoyed the event. And the food? Three big cakes from Goldilucks, Jollibee, and another one which I'm not sure of, two lechons (plenty for everybody in the house), and four super luscious menus placed on big chafing dishes. Not to mention good mushroom soup and desserts. Sorry, I got carried away with food. I just enjoyed them (after the event that is). ;-)

It feels good to shoot again. My hands got tired again with bringing my camera. I'll be upgrading some gears soon and there's no doubt my camera will be MUCH heavier then. Good for the muscles. ;-)

Here are snaps from the event... :)

So when's the next photoshoot? I don't know. :-D

A380

2007-10-16T08:25:00.000+08:00

After weeks of "stand-by" mode, I was able to get a hand on my camera again. This time, to capture a huge visitor. It's Airbus' biggest commercial plane A380 or what they call Super Jumbo Jet. From the name itself, it's bigger than the Jumbo Jet (Boeing 747) and it's no joke indeed. It's completing a certification flight and I was very excited to see it. As of today, Airbus already delivered its first A380 to Singapore Airlines and it's scheduled to have its first commercial flight on October 25, 2007. It's fully-booked already even before the hand-over. :)

Here are some snaps of the humongous aircraft I took at Diosdado Macapagal Airport, Clarkfield:

The last two pics are my favorite. :)

It's my first time to shoot an airliner. I learned you can make a plane look small or look big through your photos. It's in the manner of handling and positioning the camera. Both wide and telephoto lenses applies. I can't wait for more airliner photo-ops. :)

Zzzz...

2007-10-11T10:12:00.000+08:00

No new posts. I know this is really starting to be boring. :-D I haven't been shooting lately. I think it's already two weeks since I really had a photoshoot. Been very busy with advertising jobs (prints) on the side and my day job is consuming 12 hours of my time (wake-up at 4AM, I arrive home 4PM). Photography is what I love doing more. In this regard, I'll quit my day job soon and start shooting instead! :-D I know it's not that easy and it took me a lot of time to prepare. Now is the time. Now if anyone of you knows how to write a resignation letter, help me to create one. :-D It's time to shoot more... and post more! :)

Reflection

2007-10-02T06:47:00.000+08:00

This is a nice photo to share. It's a reflection of a Barasoain Church replica at Nayong Pilipino Clark. I love the effect I did in this photo. It looks like a castle at dawn. The other interesting thing here is how I shoot it. Just go figure it out. :)

Sarah's favorite

2007-09-27T08:46:00.001+08:00

This is a glamour portrait of Sarah. Believe it or not, I took this during a wedding portraiture workshop under Mr. Vic Sison. Yes, you may ask what's this kind if image doing on a wedding portraiture workshop. As every photographer knows, you'll get more than what you expected when sir Vic shares his knowledge in photography. So here we are ending up doing glamour portraiture at the end of the day. It's just a bonus actually. :)

This shot is perfect. Although it's blurred, it's still an art. As if it's meant to be that way. I remember the works of another legend named Manny Librodo. Some of his works are really "not good" in the photography world but still, he's proud to present them and you will actually see the beauty in them. He's a real artist. That's the same beauty I've seen in the photo below. It's also Sarah's favorite. I, therefore, believe this photo is perfect. :)

"Precious Lips"

I have more shots of Sarah but I haven't processed them together with her escort that time named Jeremy. I'll post more as soon as time permits. O:-)

Her name?

2007-09-18T06:31:00.000+08:00

A lot of my friends are asking who's the girl in the wedding gown? Her name is Sarah. She's a student of Holy Angel University. Ok friends, that's all you need to know. ;-)

My first wedding glamour photoshoot

2007-09-10T10:18:00.000+08:00

First, it was a wedding proper itself. Second, a wedding fashion show. Now, I have a wedding glamour photoshoot. Seems like nothing is in order. :-D I'm proudly to share my first wedding glamour photo! I'm sure it's not a perfect one but I'm happy with it. :) I took this pic the other weekend when I attended a wedding glamour photoshoot workshop facilitated by Mr. Vic Sison. I learned a lot! As usual however, the day was too short. Thanks to sir Vic for unselfishly sharing his knowledge again.

The most challenging part about the photo is white balance. Actually, this photo is very dark with my camera set at +2 saturation, +1 contrast, AWB, and ISO 1600. In other words, it was a disaster considering that I'm also using the kit lense (don't get me wrong, I love my kit lense). :-D I just somehow tried my best in my PC to come-up of this. I also wish I have Spyder2express. I'm using a new rig using an LCD that's not calibrated. My old CRT is more dependable now. Anyway, I will try to improve this. I haven't tried printing it.

For now, feel free to share what you think about the photo.

Cheers! :)

Event Photographer

2007-08-30T09:14:00.000+08:00

I'm starting to really love this kind of job. I enjoy doing it and I'm improving. There are a lot of challenges but I'm learning to overcome them. Camera settings, flash settings, available light, venue space, wall textures, etc. It's also nice to see people smiling at you. Well obviously, yes, they will smile. LOL. The latest event I covered is a 1-yr-old birthday party. It's my 3rd 1-yr-old birthday party coverage since I started event photography 3 months ago! Fourth one is on October. I wish to get more. :) Here are some photos from the recent shoot:

Thanks to my best bud Badette and fafi Brye for putting their faith in me. I'm no veteran but I'm very happy they loved the images. It's flattering to hear words like "I want them all printed!!!" ;-)

Optimus Prime!

2007-08-27T11:39:00.001+08:00

Meng, a good friend of mine, bought himself a toy. It's literally a toy. :-D It's a 12-inch Optimus Prime. Yeap, the Autobot daddy. My fiancee will definitely kill me if I bought myself one of these. It's not a cheap toy but it's just that boys will always be boys regardless of the age. Ladies, please understand that. ;-) Meng is very much in love with his Optimus Prime so as a tribute, I took some pics of it using my mini studio. :)

Feel free to email me if you wish to see the rest of the set. mtoldoya@yahoo.com

Cheers! :)

Done with the crab!

2007-08-27T06:20:00.001+08:00

The month is almost done and I'm also done with the crab. :) After starting from scratch, I found out that I still end up very similar to the first one I did. I guess I was doing the right thing after all. :) I asked a bunch of people about it and they all liked it! One comment from a friend though is the reason for cutting the main subject has to be compelling. I appreciate that one. But I did cut it as I meant it to be. :) I have some criticisms/comments with my own work also but I didn't hear them from those people so I guess I passed the test. But I'll keep on improving! By the way, the people I asked are consisting of businessmen, photographers, computer geeks, and caterers. I'm done with the crab! LOL. Below is the final image. The print output of this one is simply "yummy"! :)

Still confused... with the crab!

2007-08-22T14:37:00.000+08:00

I was able to revise the crab shot last night. Still, I'm not satisfied with the output! It's basically the same as the 1st one. But I'm not giving up. I'm positive I'll fix the problem. I printed a hard copy of this photo from a photolab and it went very well that's why I'm really confused again. LOL. Maybe it has something to do with the photolab machine. ;-) But what I'm seeing is I have a problem dealing with white balance. It involves the use of a gray card and calibrating my monitor. I hope I can have my monitor calibrated. :(

I'll meet my friends Lee, Beth, and the others tonight. We have this photo/art project for an exhibit we'll have on September. I'm excited about it since this will be my first exhibit. Let's see what photos we need to get. I think they assigned colors for each of us. :)

Going back to the crab, I'll get back to him tomorrow evening. ;-)

Confused

2007-08-13T07:40:00.001+08:00

We had a special dinner last week and I ran quickly in my room to take a shot of my meal. I shoot in RAW. Somehow, I'm not happy with the outcome. But before I go with the shoot details, I wish to focus on 72 dpi. Some photographers prefer to post images online at 72 dpi. What I did is I used 72 dpi at 500x333 pixels. I think that wasn't a good idea. Just click the pic below. Nyarp. :-D But I have a workaround here. I'll post a more improved copy of the pic below when I have the time. It's a busy Monday for me. :)

Criticizing my own work, I think white balance is an issue. It's my first time to shoot using a mini-studio and I discovered setting the white balance is very crucial. Anyway, practice practice practice lang... :)

P.S. Confused... coz this crab pic is giving me a hard time justifying my work!!! lol. I'm looking for areas of improvements. I know there are. I'll show this to my friends for C&Cs once I'm happy with my pic. :)

Shooting Jewelry

2007-08-07T08:53:00.000+08:00

My "boss" and I bought some photography gears for product shots last Saturday and I started shooting last night. First in the list is my mom's jewelries (the reason also why I needed to acquire the gears) and believe me, it's not that easy at it may seem! I need to practice more and purchase more stuff needed to get what I'm looking for in the shoot. I'll see what I can get from the mall later. :)

At play

2007-08-03T07:09:00.000+08:00

While thinking of product shots, I thought of taking a first step. I haven't bought my equipments yet for a mini-studio but out of nothing to do, I paid a tribute to one of my toys. :)

Survey #1

2007-07-31T08:54:00.000+08:00

I received one reply from my survey. "yes boss! your pictures are great!" One down! On with getting more. I'm promising these clients that I won't be stopping to improve my skills for them. :)

What's Next?

2007-07-31T08:45:00.000+08:00

So what's next after the stage shot. For one, I will need to do more stage shots before I can say I'm a stage event pro. I'm thinking of product shots now. This is challenging since I will need to set up my mini studio. I'm excited about it. I'll try it later if I won't have a meeting with a potential client in advertising. :)

I'm really starting to get bore with work. I can't wait to go full-time with what I love doing more. Planning is very crucial at this time. Too many things to do and consider but I'm excited at the same time. Wish me luck! :)

Stage Shots Revised

2007-07-30T20:48:00.000+08:00

Time to upload the final images for the stage event. Nothing much done here but I think that'll do. :)

Survey

2007-07-30T14:09:00.000+08:00

I started sending out survey to my previous clients so I'll know how I really did with my shoot and what to improve more. I want to know what they look for in a photographer. It'll help me a lot. Let's wait and see...

Re Stage Shots

2007-07-30T13:48:00.000+08:00

My greatest mentor, John Chua, told me one time not to come up of "satisfactory" photos. Always show people "great" shots! I'm thinking about my stage shots shared a while ago. I'm not satisfied with what I've posted. I should do PP and come-up of the final images before sharing anything. That's what I'm going to do tonight. It really bothers a lot if my images are just "satisfactory". On the other hand, I enjoy a lot when I have great pics! It's one super big self-fulfillment. :)

Stage Shots

2007-07-30T13:16:00.000+08:00

This is the first time I tried using the kit lense with 580EX on a stage event and it went well! I love the result. It lacks sharpness but a little PP will do. Not bad for the kit lense. It almost work like a 2.8. Some professionals may not agree but I'm just making the most out of what I have now. Those are pro shots (after PP that is) and I know they'll agree! I'm excited to shoot more stage events. My "boss" also bought me an omni bounce to improve lighting. I can't wait to try it! O:-)

Wedding Fashion Show

2007-07-20T07:03:00.000+08:00

Here's one of my "making-ups". This is a wedding and lingerie fashion show which was held in Angeles Beach Club Hotel in Angeles City. Such a beautiful hotel. The rooms are so much better compared to other hotels in Angeles and Clark. Shhh... :) I learned again a lot in the event. Lighting was difficult (not much ceiling to make the bounce) and I'm still using the kit lense which is poor for evening shots. I repositioned myself and I was still able to get some decent shots. I can't wait to upgrade my lense. I'm enjoying fashion photography. :)

Here are three pics only. There are more behind the scenes shots (dressing room) but I promised the models that it'll be for their eyes only. :)

No updates yet...

2007-07-17T08:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I promised to make-up with photo updates. There are no updates as you can see. O:-) Something came up and I needed to attend to it. I'm trying to close a deal with a company for their advertising needs. This is also what I love doing and I'm enjoying it. I just hope the big bosses will like my work and move on with the project. I already have a wedding photoshoot, kiddie b-day photoshoot, and now, advertising. I'm really enjoying. I'm learning a lot.

Going back to my promises, I hope I can come up of some photos tonight. :)

It's been a while...

2007-07-16T13:21:00.001+08:00

I promised myself I'll be updating my blog with new photos but I failed. As much as I want to make-up, I don't have my images here at work. I have been too busy with quite a lot of photoshoots and projects. I hope I can share something tonight. I have added my blog in my "to do list". :)

My 1st wedding photoshoot

2007-06-27T12:16:00.000+08:00

It was my privilege to assist my friend last Friday to shoot a wedding. I learned a lot. Thanks to Juan for inviting me over. I think I'll enjoy events photography. I'm now thinking also of investing more on equipments for events. Anyway, here are some photos using the famous kit L-ense. Just click photo to enlarge. :)

Nayong Pilipino Clark

2007-06-19T20:58:00.000+08:00

Nothing much in here huh

2007-06-19T09:12:00.000+08:00

Yeap, you're right. But what I plan to add first is our photoshoot at Nayong Pilipino, Clarkfield, Pampanga yesterday. I will try uploading some photos tonight. I never thought it's that beautiful. It's still under development but they plan to have a grand opening in Novemeber.

I'd like to thank the Lightroom peeps together with our friends Elle, Nheys, and Rachel. It's a simple photoshoot bonding thingy but we enjoyed very much, which is more than what we've expected.

Welcome to my blog!

2007-06-19T07:18:00.000+08:00

I hope you'll enjoy the stay. Thank you for dropping by. :)