Batanes: Backpack Photography Workshop June 2010 Day 3

Ever since the workshop started we’ve been waking up earlier than the sun. We were joking most of the time that we’ve managed to accomplish a lot before 9am (when one of the participant’s alarm would start ringing) than on a usual day. Even on the last day of our workshop, we had to wake up a tad earlier. We noticed that the days are longer here in Batanes, by 5am we could already see the sky light up. So by 4:40am, our jeep was already rolling towards Valugan Bay.

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Batanes in Mono: My favorite walking spots from Basco

Aside from finding the range of accommodations in Basco and also discovering places to eat, I spent a lot of my time in Batan Island just chilling out and wandering around. It was after a 4 day of assignment so I didn’t really want to pressure myself to produce as many photos as I needed. I decided to be experimental this time and set my camera to monotone mode and capture Batanes in monochrome hues. At different times of the day, I go to these places walking distances from Basco center and just sit there for at least an hour and just be amazed at this wondrous creation.

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Batanes: Surviving Sabtang

Roat to Chavayan

Ooops! I just realized I still have a lot of back log from my travels. So in Between the China posts, I’ll be posting entries from those recent local travels as well. I thought it would add variety and hope not to cause confusion on continuity. This entry is another one of my favorite places in our country, Batanes. Same trip brought to you by the cool guys at Geiser Maclang and Epson Philippines. And probably one of the most memorable series as well.

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Video: Pride of Bolinao

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse in Patar. Taken with Nokia N82

I’ve always wanted to add a multimedia feature on my blog. In fact, I announced early last year that I would be doing an Ian Wright thing and present some of my travels in a video documentary feature. That may not be too far off the future. For now, here’s my very first video-log on our recent family outing in Bolinao, Pangasinan. Somehow this is also a bit sentimental since after more than 5 years, our whole family is together on this vacation since one of my sister in Canada and another from the USA decided to come home. Video after the jump.

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Basilan: Malamawi Island

Malamawi White Beach

I know a lot of people would ask, “Why the hell would you want to go to Basilan?” I mean, with all the bad publicity it’s getting because of the Abu Sayaff years back, the place had a negative notion of always being in a state of strife. I myself couldn’t believe stepping on this part of the country as it is the last place on my list. But since one of my travel buddy and fellow photography enthusiast wanted to visit this part of the region since he has seen most of the major areas in the Philippines, I thought, why not, so I tagged along with other 7 adventurous individuals and ventured where only the daring go.

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Anawangin Cove and the Capones Island Lighthouse

Sunrise hue at Anawangin Cove

May is already here and we only have a month left to enjoy the summer. Let’s go local this time, as I want to share another destination perfect for sun worshipers raring for a natural tan. I have been hearing about this place quite a lot lately especially from the mountaineering community. And when a fellow mountaineer from MFPI, Ruby, suggested to go to this place I immediately cleared the dates a month ahead. Just a few weeks before the actual trip, I was already excited. I haven’t been to a beach for quite a while. And last weekend, we …

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