Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro

Another new lens… This is what I am telling before… My new Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro lens, worthy naman sya and my very first macro lens… Now I am fun capturing small objects in a clear and sharp detailed. At first medyo mahirap syang gamiting and kinakapa ko pa ang mga settings… Medyo mahilo-hilo nga ako yesterday while shooting some objects here in my room yesterday… One nice thing using this lens is when in manual mode… No need to adjust the focus pag naka set sya sa 1:1 or even in any settings… What I mean is ikaw na mismo mo ang maga-adjust ng distance mo sa subject mo and no need to rotate the adjustment of the lens… Medyo nakaka ngawit nga lang and nakakahilo… But once you’ve got the correct position, even hand held you will got a clear shot…

Here I will share some of my macro shots…

Maybe when I buy the kenko extension tube mas lalong detailed and magnified ang macro shots ko using this lens…

Updates lang…

Haayyss… Life, life, life… Before anything else, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all kahit medyo late na po ang aking pagbati… Welcome 2008, I hope maging mas maganda and maraming blessing pa ang ibigay sa atin ngayong 2008… Kahit na hindi gaanong maganda ang pag-pasok ng new year sa akin, hindi parin ako nawawalan ng pag-asa na magiging smooth parin ang lahat, lalo na pag dating dito sa work… Haayyyssss… Kapit lang! Kapit lang at magiging maayos din ang lahat, sakyan na lang ang pag-uugali ng mga katotobo dito… No choice kung hindi sumang-ayon at sumunod nalang… Wait, wait, wait… Hold muna, break muna… Hindi magandang kwento ang mga yan… Change topic muna ako, doon tayo sa mga magaganda at masasayang kwento…

Let me start by congratulating Pareng Niko (kneeko)… Because he already proposed to his one and only love (Alda)… For sure excited na si kneeko na maghintay sa dulo ng aisle habang lumalakad palapit sa kanya si Alda… Sana masaksihan namin yung eksena na yun Pareng Niko, kung saan at kailan… Sabihin mo lang and susubukan kong pumunta sa abot nang aking makakaya… Pag sa Ausie ang wedding, padalan nyo kami visit visa huh! Yung request mo next Month ginagawan ko na nang paraan para makapag contribute me kahit kaunti sa inyong dalawa… Basta sagot mo plane ticket ko huh! Hahahahaha… Congrats Bro!

Another thing is I bought new macro lens which is Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro as a Christmas gift for my self. Ahihihi… Now I can start a new style of photography… But hindi parin sya sapat sa gusto kong shots kaya pag-iipunan ko pa ang mga extension tubes para ma-magnify at makagawa ako ng mga kakaiba at di kadalasang nakikita ng ating mga mata… Gusto ko kasing pasukin ang mundo ng mga maliliit na bagay… Nakaingganyo kasi ang mga macro shots ni Sir Arbil kung kaya’t nais ko rin itong subukan at tularan…

Ang isa ko pang inaasam-asam ay ang Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens… Sadyang gustong-gusto ko ang lens na ito ngunit may kamahalan nga talaga… Laging ngang tulo laway ako sa tuwing makikita ko ito at lalo pang nakakdagdag akit kapag nababasa ko ang mga reviews tungkol dito… Haaayyy! Hinga nalang ng malalim… Sana nga magkaroon ako, once na meron na ako nito… KHALAS! Siguro naman makokontento na ako sa accessories nang camera ko… Pwede nang sumabak at susubukang makipagsabayan sa panibagong digmaan ng photography…

2007 Filipino Community Day in Al-Khobar, K.S.A.

After 4 years, ngayon lang ako ulit nakadalo nang Filipino Community Day dito sa Kingdom… The event organized by SAHI (Saudi Arabia Hiligaynon, Inc) Well just to experience it again, a freedom even for a single day… To see other Kababayan’s having fun and getting together into one simple gathering.

For me, I can say na medyo boring parin compare to other Filipino Community Day around the globe… ‘Coz even though may permit ang SAHI, there are so many restrictions parin… First! Hindi allowed ang mga female star performers, and there is not enough budget to invite more entertainer from Pinas… Unlike in U.A.E., there is Rakrakan in Dubai, a band concert guesting by some known Rock Bands from our country… and for this year guests are Kamikaze, Parokya Ni Edgar. Compare here in Saudi, it’s just a simple show with a limited main performer. Actually ang dumating lang that time ay si Mr. Nyoy Volante lang ‘Coz nagkaproblema daw sa pag-process nang Visa para kay Black Jack… (Di ko tuloy nakit idol ni Bien, Hahahaha…) Then hindi pa namin nasulyapan si Nyoy ‘coz we left early, pati nga din sila Neil and Niko who both member of PNE, ay di namin nakitang nagperform… All I did there was taking some photo’s of Renz and Ericson na ginawa kong model that day and also I take some shots of our Kababayan…

Well, most of our Kababayan here in Middle East, Saudi to be exact are some times spending their time with family and friends ito have fun and relaxation to lessen stress and loneliness… We all know naman na being O.F.W. ay isa sa sitwasyong napaka-hirap, especially when you left your family sa Pinas and you are working hard to give all their needs… As usually said another term for O.F.W. is Sacrifice!

My Christmas Wish…

Wishes… Wish, wish wish… Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight… Ay mali! Christmas wish nga pala, ang assignment na binigay sa akin ni malaya…

I wish for all the best syempre… For my family, I wish that we are all together to celebrate Christmas… Attend the Misa del Gallo and have a simple Noche Buena… and I hope this will happen next year… Medyo complicated kasi ang sitwasyon sa ngayon… Good health for all of course… More good luck and happy living…

For my own interest… Well, I am not choosey naman, I prefer for a Ford GT or Ferrari Enzo for me, a metallic pink Porsche GT3 for my wife, Yacht when I want to go fishing, a couple of condo and house in Ayala Land, to have my own beach resort in Bora and own business that have enough earnings to cover all of these… Hahahahaha… Mangarap daw ba!? Seriously, first, to have our own house for my family… Location? Not yet decided, ‘Coz maybe we migrate to U.S. but syempre iba parin ang nasa sariling bayan… So, for now we keep our savings and later on pag settled na lahat we can start building our own house in Bulacan like what we planned before and so on… Secondly, to enhance my knowledge in photography and hopefully makilala rin… Last but not the least, more success and achievements to come… Not only to myself but for all of us…

What else? I guess, I will reserve my other wishes for next year, gusto ko kasi matupad din yung mga wish ko and hoping matupad nga… Minsan naman kahit na hindi ka nag-wish, nabibigay naman agad, either in financial, material or health… It will depend nalang kung masasatisfy ka or hindi… But be thankful parin ‘coz you may consider it a good luck or let’s say a blessing…

Well as masterbetong saids into his blog… Hindi ko rin nakagawiang magpasa-pasa nang tag, ‘coz later on bumabalik din sa akin yung mga tags na napasa ko… So if you got to read this & wishing to do the same, feel free to do it. Masaya ito, sabi nga ni masterbetong… (Ginaya ko na master!) Hahahaha…

Fishing time…

One way of my past time here is spending with Tito Bong and we go from place to place to look for a good spot where we can stay for fishing… Mostly, if some of our buddy are with us, we usually go to Al-Fanateer area, there is some locations where you can stay up to 12AM, but the problem is the transportation, like us we don’t have our own car, but luckily we have a service that you can call anytime you want.

Last time we went there together with our PP Manager, Mr. Johannes G. Haycock and with Tito Bong and Ka Vic Marquez we stayed there up to 6:30PM. So I bring my camera with me… In the first place wala po ako talagang sa mood mag fishing and all I wanted to do is to capture some sceneries of Al-Fanateer… But still I bring my fishing rods… When we arrived, meron nang mga Saudi’s na naka pwesto and if I guess they have a total of 8 fishing rods except pa sa net nilang dala, then meron pa silang pang taw-taw… Taw-taw means that you have nylon with hook and lure but no fishing rod… You just throw it and wait for the fish to bite and be hooked… Then mostly their goal is to catch a big barakuda, that is why they used live fish as lure… 3 hours passed already and wala parin silang nahuhuli ni isang barakuda, and my colleagues caught only small shehri’s… At least di na zero! Hehehehehe…

Anyway, here are some of my shots that day..

Mayumi & Makisig

Mayumi or Yumi for short is the first cockatiel I bought last 18th October 2007. She is Lutino Cockatiel and her pretty white color with orange patch on her chick and yellow crest give her simple but cute looks… Actually the day before that ang balak ko talagang bilin is a pair of gold fish or molly to put in my aquarium, then it turns my attention to this bird who is quiet at first then suddenly start to mimic when I go near and look at her… and then I start miss Tony yung falcon ko before…Hindi ko muna sya binili that time and then I look around to other pet shop… But there is no nice fish and tinamad na ako so I went home and open my PC then start to search and look for some idea about cockatiel… Then I found out na hindi naman pala sya gaanong mahirap alagaan and low maintenance pa unlike fishes… Interesting itong bird na ito ‘coz they are like parots and other birds that can be easily tame… So the day after, balik ako sa pet shop and took her home… Normally at first medyo mailap and hindi ko sya mahawakan, but as days past by… unti-unti syang naging maamo and at ease pag nilalapitan ko… But I observed na parang malungkot sya pag nagi-isa…

So After a week, ikot ulit ako sa mga pet shop to look for her partner… Sad to say, wala na and nabili na yung ibang cockatiel… So, my last choice is to check yung pet shop na medyo may kalayuan… Luckily there is three cockatiel, one pair and the other one is alone on his cage… Medyo ayaw babaan yung offer nya sa akin kahit na anong discount and pambobola ang ginawa ko doon sa shop owner… Hindi rin naging effective yung style namin na lalabas ka nang shop and wait ka lang na tawagin ka ulit and ibigay nya sa price na hinihingi mo… Until na nakauwi ako and I saw Yumi again… Buti nalang at binayaran ako ni Irwin… And guess what!? Kung magkano yung price noong bird is yun din ang price Irwin paid me… Parang signus huh! So I go back again to the pet shop and buy Yumi’s partner who I named Makisig…

Makisig or Kisig for short is a male Pied Cockatiel and I guess he was cought wild, unlike Yumi na parang laki na sa breeder… And may band kasi si Yumi which is wala naman si Kisig… Up to now medyo mailap parin si Kisig unlike ni Yumi na nahahawakan ko na and she already know the step up command after two weeks…

One good thing to this pet is you can teach them to mimic your whistle and they can learn fast… Just put a little patience and tender loving care to them and it will give you their attention and entertain you… Lakas din makatanggal ng stress and I admit medyo nalilibang at natutuwa talaga ako sa kanila… Wait ko nalang na lalong maging amo sila and maingay… Miss ko na kasi mga taklesa… Hahahahaha…

Thanks to this sites who helps me a lot and gives me more idea about cockatiel…

• Cockatiel Cottage
• National Cockatiel Society
• Cockatiel Care
• Geoff & Jo’s Cockatiel Aviary
• Bird Health

Sterling…

Just want to post this shots I’ve made of this little cute owl but unfortunately she didn’t make it… It was caught at the Plant area by YOBA one of PP Operator who is on duty that day. The birds looks fine, no injury but she’s little bit scared… Yoba show it to other employee and first Ross wants to take it home to take care of it and to be his kids pet, but his wife won’t like it… Poor bird, no one wants to take her… My uncle knew that I am a pet lover, so he called me and inform me about the owl and asked me if I am interested to take it… At first, syempre ask muna ako kung what breed of owl and kung ano ang itusra nya… How big is she, kung aggressive ba and wild or medyo tame na nang kaunti… Then when I found out that okay naman pala… Sige, ok! We took her home and we will take care…

But when we got home… I put jess on her left foot and put her on her wood perches, I noticed na medyo matamlay nga sya… I try to feed her but she doesn’t want to eat, even drink… Till the time na lalo syang tumamlay and later on I decided to set her free… But I know she don’t have strength to fly… even to spread her wing she can’t do it… That time, I know she wont last long, so I put her at our roof top and observe… There is nothing I can do, I just wait and watch her ‘coz I don’t know how to heal her or put her strength back… Sad to say… the next day she past away…

Memories…

..1st of November… Noong bata ako ang akala ko pag November 1, ay araw nang mga nakakatakot… Kasi naman halos lahat nang palabas sa T.V. is puro katatakutan and kababalaghan… Mga kwento tungkol sa multo at kung ano-ano pa… Dyan pa yung nagtitipon-tipon kayong magkakalaro and then nagkwe-kwentuhan nang mga nakakatakot, scary experience… or di kaya talagang mananakot kayo… Pero ang November 1 is All Saint’s Day diba!? And ang November 2 naman ang All Soul’s Day… So ano ang nakakatakot doon!? Kaya while time passing by, medyo nababago paunti-unti ang aking pananaw… As I remember, after ko mabisita si mom dadaan pa muna ako sa mga friends ko and papasyal kami sa ibang cemetery… Makikiupo at makikitulos sa ibang libingan pero ang pakay pala ay yung crush nyang girl, na panay pa-cute naman… Hahahaha… Then yung iba, magi-ipon pa noong mga natunaw na kandila then gagawing bola… Then pag medyo mabigat-bigat na is binebenta doon sa kanto… I gues… 10 Peso yata per kilo ang bentahan noon… Yung iba mautak pa! Nilalagyan pa nang bato para bumigat! Pero syempre mas mautak yung bumibili, kasi dudurgugin nya yung mga kandilang binilog bago nya timbangin… Ang ginagawa ko naman is iniipon ko rin yung mga candle wax then gumagawa ako nang heart shape, then I kept it and put it beside my altar… I did the same too last year… Now lang ako hindi nakagawa ‘Coz ginawa kong subject for my phtogoraphy yung candle and one more thing is walang gaanong patak yung candle na sinindihan ko…

The Heartshape I made last year

..Anyway, hindi ko man nabisita ang himlayan nang aking mother ngayon and my other relatives on their memorial… I say a little prayer for them and remember those happy day’s when we we’re together… Those good times and memories they shared with me… The laughter’s, the things they gave and they taught me many things in life…

..For my Mom, thank you so much for everything… Even we spent a little time in this world… I know how much you love us; your family and the things you’ve given and done for us are un-replaceable… The love that’s still here with me… Same with my Grandpa’s Grandma, Uncle’s…. I am very thankful for all of you who have been part of my life… I miss you all…

The Ultimate Gift… A very touching movie…

I really want to post and share this movie that we’ve watched before… The title of the movie is The Ultimate Gift, that touched my heart and keep my tears falling… a Fox Faith Movies production also the distributor of The Passion of the Christ a Mel Gibson film, Love’s Abiding Joy from the best selling author Janette Oke and film by Michael Landon Jr., One Nigt with the King, and End of the Spear which both movie I have too…

Nakaka-touch talaga itong movie and I would recommend this to anyone, especially to families… This movie is one of the most powerful touching movie… It has a message about a young man who has to find out there is more to life then money, that being apart of a family who loves you is the most important thing in life. Finding the ultimate gift is like finding your place in the world, what are you here for? What is your purpose? There is an incredible amount of value in this message and it is something people of all ages can learn from. Kaya If you not seen this movie… Try to watch it and for sure it will change you in some means…

If you want to know some brief story of this movie please see below links… But I recommend not too, ‘Coz for me I think mas magandang panoorin yung movie if you don’t have any idea where the story goes… Mas nakaka excite and wala kang ini-expect ‘coz of what you read in reviews… But you have your choices, so here is the links… I suggest that it’s better to see these links after you watched the movie…

• The Ultimate Gift (Wikipedia)
• The Ultimate Gift (Official Site)

Here are some products I can refer too…

The ultimate tools for families wanting to connect in joyful, meaningful ways…

~ The Twelve Gift ~

• The Gift of Work (The Family Values Journal & Key)
• The Gift of Problems (Words of Wisdom)

• The Gift of Friends (I’m Always with You )

• The Gift of Giving (Gift of Values)

• The Gift of Gratitude (Thanksgiving Album & Leaves)

• The Gift of Family (Family Tree Poster & Leaves, Family Tree Poster Extra Leaves)

• The Gift of Learning (Family Tree Booklets)

• The Gift of Money (The Birthday Book)

• The Gift of Laughter (Conversation Starters)

• The Gift of a Day (Family Fun Box & Family Fun Pad)

• The Gift of Dreams (Time Capsule)

• The Gift of Love (which leads to the Ultimate Gift) (Dear Sweet Child Letter Box)

I guess each one of us have already some of those gift but, we don’t give enough importance on the other gift which is just around us waiting to be notice and to be practice… I remember before, on the 3rd day or the last day of our youth encounter with my classmate way back from our fourth year high school days… The lecturer told us… Sa paglabas naming ng cursillo house, after three weeks or less ay may babalik ulit sa mga dating kalokohan, sa mga bisyo and so on… for short makakalimutan ang mga good moral values na natutunan namin… which is normal daw… but she challenge us to try practicing it everyday up to malampasan namin ang three weeks and so on… Well, actually medyo mahirap, but I keep on practicing it up to now… Eventhough hindi ko nagagawa lahat but I’ll keep and trying on doing those… And one effect sa akin is paminsan-minsan emotional ako and I guess normal naman sa atin…

I really love to watch this kinds of movie and there are many more on my lists, some of those are…

Beyond The Gates of Splendor

The Last Sin Eater

 

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Love’s Abiding Joy

 

 

 

Flicka

 

and more… Sad to say, it’s hard to find a copy of those films here… Kaya if you have a copies, maybe you can make one for me… or kaya gift nyo nalang sa akin… Thanks…

It’s nice to be posted…

This morning, Neil called and informed me that my name was in Arab News ‘coz one of my shot during the concert of Prime Note Ensemble (PNE) in ARAMCO, Al-Khobar last Thursday was chosen by Ka Pepe (Jose De Luna) to be posted in one of the review page of Arab News… last Tuesday, Ka Pepe emailed me and he was asking for a copy of my shots during the concert and he’s saying that he will post it on Arab News… Wow! Syempre flattered ako and the same time proud… But, I am not expecting na tototohanin ni Ka Pepe yun… I thought biro lang and one of his way of motivating us to enhace our skills in photography… But not! He really post it! Yepeeee… When Irwin came home while I was playing RAN Online, he also told me the good news and he brought with him the newspaper… Nice! Itatabi ko ito and ipapa frame ko pa!

Thank you Ka Pepe for selecting one of my shot and posting it… Kingdomwide mababasa ang name ko, ay hindi lang pala Kingdomwide, kundi buong Middle East… Hahahaha… Ang babaw no!? But maybe this will be the start of my new career… Ahihihi… Asa daw ba? Who knows!?

I like to thank also kneeko for lending his spare battery and speedlite flash… Kung hindi siguro sa flash and battery mo hindi mapipili yung shots ko… Also masterbetong for buying my battery grip… Kung hindi mo nabili yung grip hindi ko mahihiram yung battery ni kneeko… Hahahahaa… And to all my friends and family… Thank you all… Naks parang feeling ko nanalo ako nang award ha! Hahahaha… But for me, I can say that this is one acheivement for me and I am very proud of it… Sana meron pang next time… ASA!