In contrast to life in “developed countries” in Asia life takes place on the street, making it at once more interesting and more vibrant.
A boy almost falls off his bike checking out a Filipina waiting for her ride.
Taking a squat at the vulcanising shop.
Taking care of business
And children are a blessing
The multitasker
It’s more fun in the Philippines
Two of my favourite words in the English language are “bikini shoot.”
It was great to be able to hit my outdoor rooftop studio between tropical storms in Manila recently with the super talented Filipina model Rose Glimer. Literally shot between tropical downpours we kept things simple shooting my Canon 5D Mark IV, 24 - 70 lens and lit with one Profoto B10 in a grided soft box. The resulting images were very pleasing. Many thanks Rose.
Some say that the secret to shooting at the beach is to be on set early and late when the light is not too direct or strong, better yet shoot on an overcast day when the light, filtered through cloud cover, turns the scene into God’s soft box.
I always prefer to shoot outdoors with flash, my light of choice the Profoto B1, but on this occasion I had minimal gear that did not include strobes, so I made do as best I could.
In any event, a beautiful beach setting coupled with a talented model certainly don’t hurt.
These images were captured using only ambient or available light using a Canon 5D Mark IV camera body and Canon 24/70 and 70/200 lenses both f2.8 and shot wide open.
I was lucky enough to do a quick pre Christmas trip to beautiful Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines for a few days of swimwear shooting.
Puerto Galera is a popular weekend escape from Manila due to its proximity to, and easy accessibility from the city. To get there follow these steps: 1. Get yourself to the Jac Liner bus terminal in Pasay City (near Makati). Get on a bus to Batangas, two hours by road from Manila. Tickets are around 200PHP and are paid for on the bus after departure. 2. Get off the bus at the port in Batangas, head into the Port Terminal and purchase your ferry ticket to Puerto Galera. A fast ferry ticket costs around 600PHP per person and the trip from Bataggas takes only around an hour. The port terminal in Batangas is brand new and well organised and resembles an airport terminal more than a ferry terminal. There are plenty of food and coffee options to fill up while you are waiting to board your “fast craft.” 3. De ferry in Puerto Galera and get a tricycle to your accommodation. We went from the port to a hotel in White Beach which took only about ten minutes and cost 200PHP for two people, myself and my beautiful and super talented model.
We were in PG mid week and it was pretty quiet, but it did fill up with people quickly on Friday, weekenders from Manila I would guess.
White Beach is a lovely stretch of white sand beach in a horseshoe shape between two rocky promontories. Restaurants, cafe’s, dive shops and souvenir shops line the new concrete boardwalk that runs along the beach. At the top end is one headland, the left hand point facing the beach. The headland at the opposite end is know locally as “Jurassic Park” and this was the location for our photo shoots (see upcoming blog post.)
As well as being uncrowded mid week, the water was incredibly clear and warm and was great for long leaisurely swims between shoots. There are some stinging jelly fish at times which deliver an uncomfortable but otherwise harmless sting if you are unlucky enough to be selected.
The food along the beachfront is reasonably priced for a tourist area and was clean and tasty.
Sadly time and work did not permit to explore more of this lovely place apart from White Beach but it is certainly worth a revisit for longer for more exploration. Snorkelling, diving and Island hopping are meant to be beautiful. See you again in 2023!
Going places
Two boys on a rock. Jurassic Park.
Fun in the sun
Getting high on life
The paddler
I spent a morning wandering the hauntingly beautiful Manila American Cemetery recently. Located on 152 acres in Taguig in Manila, on the edge of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the perfectly kept grounds contain the graves of 17,206 war dead from the Pacific Theatre in World War Two, the largest number of American graves of any war cemetery anywhere in the world, as well as war dead from the Philippines and other Allied countries.
It’s impossible to visit such a place and not be moved by the sheer insanity of war. The museum that is housed on the site gives an incredibly detailed insight into the war in the Philippines as well as the Pacific Theatre overall.
The names of the dead are inscribed on the huge marble walls that sweep around the memorial at the head of the cemetery.
In stopping by some of the graves to remember the sacrifice of the person buried there it was striking just how many lost their lives in the final days of the terrible conflict.
Sobering, beautiful and a reality check on whatever “problems” that I might have been having that day.
Lest We Forget.
