Before my trip to the Philippines, an acquaintance of mine, Grace had an interest in photography. So, she requested that I would give her a small lesson on it. Given that this outing was more a learning experience, I decided to do some work on a new style of editing. The area we shot at was in Ybor City, which has a strong historical background in itself. Because of the historical aura of Ybor, giving my photos an antique/sepia look would seem proper.

While we were walking around, we kept running into these old pianos around the street.

Just keep on shooting.

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Tis a New Year, meaning new things, new adventures, including a new business card. It’s a little shy, but once you get to know what it entails, then it’ll become a wonderful asset to you!

It looks sexier in person anyways.

I’ll admit I will not be able to blog as much as I want to due to my other endeavors (medical school mostly). But stay tuned for some photographic shoots of 2010 and a new site layout… as soon as I figure out this darn code.

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I normally don’t vent like this, but wow…. a lot has happened!!!!

After much thought and reminiscing, 2009 perhaps was the most eventful year of the 22 years I have been alive. Even the word “eventful” is a major understatement on all the things I have been put through and experienced in this particular year.

… Starting up photography again… graduating @ USF in 4 years with a chemistry degree… finding work after graduation… becoming alumni of a fraternity after leaving your legacy… realizing what real life is like, despite being in transition from undergrad to medical school… seeing the true sides of people (ugly and beautiful)… life and relationships… realizing how patience is a virtue…. I honestly can keep going on how 2009 really molded me to the person I am today. I don’t know whether or not the person I am now turned out to be positive, or have become cold and bitter.

I end 2009 by going back to the Philippines (my ethnic roots) to visit family and relatives… but mainly to reminisce and absorb the events of 2009 and think about what is ahead of me in 2010.

… Life throws curveballs at you, I didn’t realize life threw that many in such a short time…

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The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) had a charity event to raise funds for their organization. A friend of mine invited me to this event (thanks Michelle). Its the usual filipino event, food, drinks, and dancing…. too much talking though…

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An up and coming filipino organization in the South Florida (miami, ft. lauderdale, boca raton area) requested PPAC to dance in their inaugural ball, rather similar to the Sampaguita Ball I posted earlier in this blog. T’was good times, nice room, fancy environment, food, drinks, dancing, college football picks… not so good though.

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…merry early x-mas everyone…




















…rather unexpected, i met Rush Limbaugh…











…ummm okay…

Again I knew the couple for some time now and I know personally that they are rather chill people, but as the day went by and with some encouragement, you could see the excitement through their expressions. Nonetheless, they gave me an experience that I’ll never forget, and I thank them for that.

Some personal notes here…. first time I realized how on point you have to be for a wedding shoot with no one to help you… incase your external flash breaks (which it did!!!) bring an extra (unless you have a rubber band.. haha)… florida october weather is really hot… so much photo editing… and lastly, have fun doing what you love to do

Best wishes for the two of you for the many years to come.

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(great venue, even when i’m here very other week)

(still giving directions)

(here is where the excitement begins)

(it was extremely hot that day)

(quite the crazy family)

(the wedding ceremonies)

(I thought the napkins were awesome!)

for all you photo enthuasists out there: personally, i am not much of a high iso shooter. regardless of the lighting, I only go up to ISO 400 because i want the crisp shoots without all the noise. but you can only push aperature and shutter speed so much. so i decided to do some experiments with ISO to see if it fits my taste… even if the environment was literally pitch black for a photographer.

i spent my saturday night with a friend to go to kassie’s b-day dinner. it was a very relaxing/chill time meeting new people and having nice convesation. i also met someone who got into the medical school i want to go to so she gave me nice words of advice and encouragement.

… good times

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a couple of my old fraternity brothers went Walt Disney World Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. good times with some old friends. if you have the opportunity to go to disney world, go during the epcot food and wine festival. there is so much food, wine, and beer to try you will not know what to do with yourself.

stay thirsty my friends! (from the most interesting man in the world)

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Delta Gamma Sorority holds an annual event to raise money for their philanthropy: Service for Sight. Anchor Splash from what I believe is a synchronized swimming competition in which fraternities and sororities compete by performing a choreographed synchronized swimming dance. Which ever performs the best routine that follows certain guidelines, as well as raising the most money through t-shirt sales, memorabilia, and other smaller contests (best banner, pocket change, etc.) The routines that the organizations dished out were very entertaining. I recommend purchasing the DVD, you’ll miss out.

I would like to thank Dan Kathman and CWC films for a wonderful collaboration. Lastly, best wishes to all fraternities and sororities in their future endeavors, especially to the brothers of Phi Delta Theta.

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here’s an update for you… THE DVD COVER!!!

It has been a while since this event but that was about the time I started to construct the website…

This is the first time that this unique type of “blog category” came up so ill explain about it  a bit. I dance for a group that perform a plethora of traditional filipino dances throughout the United States. Since we do travel, it’s a no brainer to bring my camera around and shoot. So it would make sense to dedicate an entire category to the Philippine Performing Arts Company of Tampa Bay, or PPAC.

Once a year, the Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc holds a rather fancy gala in which the Filipino community comes in with the FANCIEST AND MOST FORMAL of cultural clothing and have a big party (fully catered food, fancy décor, and open bar). Well PPAC volunteered to run the event as well as perform two pieces: Jota Manilena and Habanera. Personally I did not want to go because of a specific football game I wanted to attend but the event turned out to be more fun than I originally thought it would be.

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I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with a friend I went to high school and college with. We shot at the Gaylord Palms because 1. I was staying there at the time and 2. There’s enough décor to do a photo shoot for a week.

I attempted to do a more candid approach rather than a pose and shoot but I managed to get a combination of both. Nonetheless it was good practice for me to tell the subject what to do and tell him/her what I expect in a shoot. Unfortunately during this time, my flash unit was still under repair but it gave me an opportunity to focus more on ambient lighting. It was nice to catch up with an old friend as well.

A couple of fraternity brothers and I pulled together a weekend in Orlando primarily to attend Halloween Horror Nights (which I was very impressed with this year), but added a couple of other things to make it more enjoyable. We got hooked up with a deal with a room on the 7th floor of the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center. This hotel was by far the best resort I have ever stayed in (and I’ve been in resorts in Costa Rica and the Philippines). The hotel had a Floridian theme in which there were 3 areas that resembled locations in Florida. The first is the everglades, the second was Key West where we attended a Bacardi Rum tasting event (SWEET!!), and the third was St. Augustine (where we had our hotel room in). The thing that caught my eye was the 3 jacuzzis that operated 24/7. Just imagine being in the warm cuzzi with your favorite drink with 55-degree wind-chill good times. I also met a few people just mingling around, including a group of ladies enjoying a bachelorette party weekend.

We also went to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, which I will elaborate, on more in a different bog. Enjoy the pictures from the hotel and food and wine festival décor.

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