A Rugged, Versatile Adventure Camera: Canon’s Powershot D10

Greetings- I hope you enjoyed last week’s photo and video highlights of our time with the whale sharks.  After a weekend of extensive usage in Donsol, we have nothing but rave reviews for the Canon Powershot D10.  It truly is the perfect adventure camera with it’s combination of durability and features.

Here are a few of the things we like about it:

• Waterproof to 33 Feet
• Cold Resistant from 14-104 degrees Fahrenheit
• Shockproof up to 4 Feet
• 12.1 Mega pixels, 3x optical zoom
• Face Detection Technology
• A bright 2.5 inch color LCD
• 4 accessory posts around the corners that allow you to attach a cord with carabiners or a wrist-strap (perfect for those treacherous times when scaling mountains or attacking the rapids)
• Superb video capabilities
• Large rubberized buttons that make for easy usage when underwater or wearing gloves
• A bargain at just over $300

A Camera Club Outing Gone Awry…

On Sunday our Camera Club was having their third outing.  On the first outing in Fort Santiago, I ended up wandering off on my own too long and missed the meeting part.  Outing two didn’t work in my schedule.  So here I was, all pumped for outing 3 at the La Mesa Ecopark in Quezon City.  Now remember that it’s rainy season here and the weather is quite unpredictable…. Knowing that, I checked in with a group member at 8:30 AM to make sure we were still on at 10 AM.  Everything seemed to be a go and I was off.

I ended up in a cab with a driver named Henry, easily the nicest cabbie I’ve ever ridden with.  We talked for the entire hour ride as he showed me new parts of the city.  The Ecopark happened to be in a very remote section of town (fancy that) and after the cab left me I looked high and low and couldn’t find my group.  It was at that point that I decided to pull out my cell phone.  Surprise!  It was on vibrate and I had missed 4 texts, all of which were from group members trying to frantically communicate that the event was cancelled.  Oops- my nasty habit of leaving my phone silent finally bit me in the butt.

So I looked around to assess the situation.  I was in a woodsy area with roosters and stray dogs running around.  There were no taxis to be seen.  And it had just started to drizzle.  Since this trip was going south fast, I decided to do what any good traveler does and make the best of it.  I pulled out my trusty old camera and umbrella and made my way into the park.  I’m sure I looked a bit crazy taking pictures in the rain, but I ended up getting some surprisingly decent shots (all glisten-y with the rain) and it did eventually stop after a half hour.

Now I just had to figure out a way to get home.  All of a sudden I remembered that I had asked Henry for his cell number so that I could use him again in the future (a common practice here).  WAHOO!  Henry would save me!!  And so I dial his number and get a woman (whom I presume was his wife) that only speaks Tagalog.  The conversation was not pretty.  I’m not even sure you could consider it a conversation.  I hung up discouraged.  But no less than 10 minutes later Henry is calling me on my phone, is still in the area 1.5 hours later and can pick me up in 15 minutes.  How lucky am I???!  Thank you Mrs. Henry!  And so me hero came in his yellow chariot and carried me safely back to Makati to the safety of my high rise.  Don’t you just love a happy ending???

Enjoy these shots!  More on SMUGMUG.

Kickin’ Back in Kota Kinabalu

Greetings- I apologize for the long overdue recap of our trip to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.  We got in late Friday night to the Kota Kinabalu (KK) airport and were transported to the Pacific Sutera Hotel.  It’s a part of the Sutera Harbour Resort that encompasses 2 hotels, a marina and a golf country club.  They also manage a few properties around Borneo and offer packages to mix and match the different locations.  We took advantage of a package that included 2 nights at Mandukan Island Resort, 2 nights at the Pacific Sutera and 8 buffet meals.  It is the off-peak, rainy season in Borneo right now but we lucked out with fairly good weather.  Turns out that it’s even MORE hot and humid than Manila (hard to believe) and so I was forced to use the afternoon as nap time since it was too hot to do anything else!

Mandukan Island (pictured above) is a common day-tripper island for snorkeling and picniking.  The island clears out at 5 PM when the last boat leaves for the day.  Nick and I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures and enjoy the sunset from the beach.  The cabins reminded me of the wood log cabins common in MN, which felt incredibly fitting for Labor Day weekend.  During our explorations, we stumbled across the Scuba Doo (pictured below), a battery-powered submarine device that is targeted at novices with no scuba background.  This crazy contraption allows you to scuba dive down to 15 feet without using a regulator and it even holds the tank for you!  The glass dome acts as an air pocket, allowing you to breath without scuba gear.  Wild, huh??  Click on this SCUBA DOO LINK to learn more.

One of the highlights of our stay at the Mandukan was the steamboat dinner.  It was just like fondue, except healthier.  A selection of meats, shellfish and vegetables were steamed at the table in two delicious broths.  Never having heard of this concept before, I was delighted both by the slower pace of the meal and the great final product.  It also helped that we had 2 guitarists serenading us for a half hour – so romantic!  The next morning we were back to the Pacific Sutera, home of the monster Asian buffet.  You would think that after eating yourself sick the meal before that one would make different choices on the next round…. but I just couldn’t seem to learn from my mistakes!

By some twist of fate we got upgraded to a magnificent suite at the Pacific (pictured above)!  I’ve never stayed in one before, so it was a special treat.  The service was exceptional here, by the way.  We were incredibly impressed with our overall experience.  Beautiful rooms and grounds, great staff, amazing food.  Two thumbs way up from us!

This trip was practice in “Being” versus “Doing”.  We did a whole lot of reading, sleeping, strolling and eating.  It was exactly what we needed after diving into Manila head first.  Thankfully, the setting really served our purpose, although we were surprised at how hard it was to shift into “relax” mode!

Nick did manage to get a day of diving in and I spent some time with my camera.  The highlight of the weekend for me was going to the Rasa Ria Orangutan Sanctuary.  Rasa Ria is a rehabilitation center for orangutans ages 1-3 years old.  It is part of the Shangri-la resort and they do 2 feedings a day for public viewing.  Although we were crowded in there with 70 other people, it was really magical to be that up-close-and-personal with these adorable creatures.  My camera was loving them!  Be sure and check out the pictures at Smugmug.  Here’s one of my favorites.

On the way home we had a hilarious “I can’t believe this is happening” moment that merits sharing.  We arrived at the airport and got checked in and were making our way towards security when we noticed that about 150 people were just milling around near the security checkpoint (not in a line, mind you).  Turns out that the security line was closed for a half hour lunch break.  Seriously???  Can you imagine that happening in the states?!  People would be in an uproar.  But not here no, everyone just politely sat down and waited for them to finish.  Never mind that if you arrived late you were going to miss your flight now…. oh, the joys of traveling!  That’s it for this post.

Camera Club is SERIOUS Business!

When our photography class wrapped up at the beginning of the month, there was widespread interest in creating a camera club to maintain our new friendships and keep improving our skills.  This past Sunday was our first meeting and photo shoot in Fort Santiago, Intramuros (the site of the original Spanish walled settlement).  The location in itself is stunning – a beautiful stone and brick retreat set within the skyscrapers of Manila.  It’s a popular photography spot and I was able to get a number of good shots because the rain held out!  Check out SMUGMUG to see my Fort Santiago gallery.  Here are a few of my faves:

The plan is to meet 2 times each month.  One for a general meeting (and to do critiques, I believe) and once to do a group shoot with each other.  One member is even hosting an overnight down at his place in Southern Luzon!  The commitment from my Filipino peers is superb – there are officers, by-laws, the whole works!  I’m pretty pumped to be in such a sophisticated club- although I must confess that I had not shot ONE PHOTO in the two weeks since class had ended.  How horible is that?!  Perhaps being in the club will give me the accountability I need to go exploring with my camera each week… I’ll be sure and post more galleries from our group shoots – plenty of beautiful images to capture in and around Manila!

Proud Graduate of Photography 101!

Sadly, my 5 week photography class came to an end yesterday.  Hard to believe that it’s over already!  The good news is that we formed a Photography club and have our first meeting already set up for mid-August!  It is hard to articulate how meaningful this experience has been for me.  Not only was it an information-rich learning environment, but I took away a great many friendships with new Filipino friends.  I can’t express enough how welcoming Filipinos are – it’s such a gift to get to know them on a personal level.  Happily, everyone seems keen on staying connected, so I offered to host a dinner party with my group of 8 to get a tradition going.  I hope my new friends like Hot Dish!  :)

Just to refresh you, our various sessions focused on the following :

Class 1: Camera operation (exposure, shutter speed)
Class 2: Photo Composition
Class 3: The history of photography/Learning to critique a photo
Class 4: Posing and Lighting of subjects
Class 5: Processing the image/Graduation

The basics (exposure, aperature, shutter speed) and composition really stuck with me the most.  Posing and lighting still seem a bit beyond where I’m at yet.  I’m perfectly content with shooting still objects and landscapes.  I’ll work my way up to portraiture eventually.  With portaiture I feel too on the spot – there’s no time to play with settings and lighting with someone waiting for you to shoot.

On to the graduation recap!  What a delightful ceremony it was.  The day began with our photo submissions: one 8×10 portrait and one 8×10 still-life of glass.  Each entry was critiqued by 6 professional photographer judges and given a final score.  The top 5 received medals and trophies.  I have a feeling you’re dying to know, so I’ll skip right to it: I didn’t win.  And that’s just fine.  I had taken session 4 on lighting/posing the day before (because we went to Coco Beach the previous weekend), so I had to shoot my 8×10′s the week before, without having the lecture.  Not that I’m making excuses, I just wasn’t expecting to place anyways.  The winner’s all deserved their medals – they were fantastic!  Here were my 2 submissions:

PORTRAITURE:

STILL-LIFE:

After the photo critique, the actual graduation ceremony began.  There was a surprise guest, John K. Chua, the top advertising photographer in the Philippines!  CLICK HERE to see his shots for Honda, Mountain Dew and many more.  After he spoke, there was the singing of the Philippine National Anthem, a prayer, a dance performance, and then 2 speeches.  I was selected as one of the speakers, a very kind honor indeed!  Then each of us received our certificates and headed out to join the barbeque.  It was a grand afternoon, full of laughing and celebration.  Best of all, I realized that I’m far from being a pro and I’ve settled into being OKAY with my amateur beginner status.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that photography is an art learned over time through thousands and thousands of practice shots.  Can’t wait to look back on these shots in a few years and see how far I’ve come!  I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from graduation….

PS – LOADS MORE PHOTOS ON SMUGMUG!

With my Professors

Adventures in Photography

Yesterday was the BIG DAY – Photography class started!  Just to refresh your memories, this was the class that I had found online and registered for back in June.  It takes place over 5 Sundays for a total of 40 hours of fun-filled learning about digital SLR photography.  Let’s just start by saying that I have a LOT of studying to do.  My head was stuffed so full of information that I’m not sure I can tell you accurately what the difference between aperature, shutter speed and ISO are!  What a fantastic day though.  Here’s are some highlights from my experience:

I walk into the classroom, which happens to look very cave-like.  I tried very hard to blend, but somehow the short-haired, fair-skinned, blond girl did not assimilate into the pack of 40 other Filipinos.  I was immediately called out by a teacher, who already knew my name since we’d emailed before-hand.  Again, I couldn’t help feeling like a celebrity.  I was escorted to the front of the classroom and seated right in front.  Since the professor knew my name too, I managed to get called on for every other question (none of which I knew the right answer too).  It was such a bizarre experience and I realized later when looking at the pictures of graduating classes that I was the only Caucasian to take the class in 2009 thus far.  WHOA.  No wonder I was like a circus spectacle.  I don’t think the short hair helps, as I haven’t seen a Filipino yet with anything shorter than a chin-length bob!  How am I supposed to blend when I stand out like a sore thumb???

That being said, I had an amazingly positive experience.  I felt comfortable right off the bat and had 15-20 conversations with various classmates over the course of the day.  People would just come up and start talking – the Filipino hospitality is unlike anything I’ve ever seen!  I was invited to lunch at a Fast Food restaurant and a friend ordered for me in Tagalog.  Someone else escorted me to a 7-11 to find a Coca-cola light, since I couldn’t have ice or anything with local water.  Another friend got me a taxi at the end of the day…. and on and on.  So amazing!

At the end of our class, I popped my head into the adjacent classroom that was doing a graduation ceremony and giving out awards.  I just wanted to get a glimpse of what I may be able to do in 5 weeks.  I should have known that I couldn’t just quietly stand in the back…. the instructor in that class of 40 stops what he’s doing and yells to me in the back of the classroom, “Hello Ms. Sarah, what do you think of their work?  Won’t you please come in!”  I gave a thumbs up and all of a sudden another instructor was escorting me inside to sit down.  There was no choice, it all happened so fast… what a day!  I wonder what next week’s class will hold??  I better stop writing and get shooting because I have to bring in my best shot for judging already next week!

My professor

I’m on my way…

….to becoming an amateur photographer!  Today I ventured out with our brand new Canon Rebel Xsi Digital SLR camera.  If I’m being honest, I must confess that we’ve had the thing for 3 weeks now and I’ve been so scared of it that I mostly just stared at it in its case.  Oh the beauty of it… and all the glorious buttons and terms that I don’t understand yet!  Well, today I boldly decided I’d go out and use the thing instead of just looking at it longingly.  I picked out two techniques that I wanted to try.  One was shooting moving water.  The other was playing with blurring and focus.  My friend Beth had recommended the D.C. Botanical Gardens as one of her favorite spots and with a little prompting from Nick and a friend, I was off on my adventure!

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from the day.  For the full gallery, go to: www.minnesotagal.smugmug.com

I’m committing to this as my new hobby, as it seems like a fun new creative pursuit and a way to share the beautiful things we see with those of you around the world in other places.  I just found out that I got accepted to a 5 week photography course in the Philippines that runs for 5 Sundays in a row for 8 hours a day.  I had to beg, but I’m so excited that Nick agreed I can start the series on Sunday, July 5th (4 days after we arrive!)  The Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation puts it on for a mere $75!  Check out this great schedule:

Day One

• Camera operation and handling
• Basic camera parts and icons
• Correct exposure by adjusting aperture and shutter speed
• Reading the camera meter
• Practice shoot inside Fort Santiago

Day Two

• Review of Day 1 lecture
• Critique of photos from last session
• Understanding composition: leading lines, rule of thirds, frames, foreground and background, S-curves, patterns, light and shadow
• Practice shoot on composition

Day Three

• Art History & Elements of Design

Day Four

• Critique of photos from last session
• Portraiture and posing
• Lighting theory and practice
• Using flash and studio lights
• Choosing filters for portraits
• Hands-on shoot indoors and outdoors using studio lights, reflectors, and available light

Day Five

• Basic lighting, shooting setup, using props
• Flash photography & use of filters
• Introduction to basic digital imaging
• Critique and judging of prints
• Presentation of certiticates of attendance, awarding of prizes for photo contest

Talk about a thorough introduction to Photography!  Bring it on!  There’s even an advanced course I can take if I really love it!