Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk 2010 in Bangkok

The photo walkers at the King Rama 1 Statue before the jump-off
of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk 2010 in Wang Burapha
Phirom, Bangkok, Thailand on July 24, 2010.

Led by the Siam Pinoy Aperture Society (SPAS), a group of Filipino photographers in the Kingdom of Thailand, this year's Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk in Wang Burapha Phirom, Bangkok, Thailand (Pak Khlong Talat) became a remarkable gathering of photographers from different sides of the world. Participated in by some European and African photographers and mostly Filipino and Thai photo enthusiasts, everyone was gathered capturing the unique urban culture that this side of Bangkok has to offer. 

Pak Khlong Talat is undoubtedly the flower trading area of
Bangkok as depicted in this picture.

Gathered at 3:30 in the afternoon at the King  

Rama 1 statue for short briefing and group picture taking, the group then headed towards Pak Khlong Talat where exquisite variety of flowers can be found. The area is at its best for macro and street photography as details could be beautifully captured and dramatic scenes are just around the corner. Following the route of the Photo Walk, everyone passed through the Grand Palace compound where unique Thai architecture and some western-inspired designs roused every walker to spontaneously snap their gadgets. 

Taken at the Grand Palace compund, this photo is my
entry for the contest in Scott Kelby World Wide Photo
Walk 2010 .

Thai TV Channel 3 was there to cover the event. A reporter accompanied by three crews, followed and interviewed some of the walkers. The coverage was aired in the channel's program later in the evening. That, actually, made the event more remarkable in its truest sense. 

After the walk, the group met at Cafe' Democ near the Democracy Monument for some food and drinks and networking. Everyone was also up at sharing their experiences during the walk and the pictures they have taken. But for me, it did not end there as a sumptuous dinner, lively chat and mesmerizing music followed at De River of River with some of the walkers. The day was very long but it was enjoyable and rewarding. It was great to meet new people and, of course, meet same old brilliant friends. 

More pictures can be viewed in my Flickr Photostream. Just click the thumbnails in the right sidebar of this blog and it would direct you to my photostream.  

PHOTO CREDIT: The group picture of the walkers as seen in this blog was taken by Jose Tan of Siam Pinoy - the ultimate online Filipino community in Thailand. 

5 on the Fifth: Faces of Water

5 on the Fifth? This might sound strange to some of you. No, I am not telling yet that the world would end the biggest show of life so soon. In fact, I believe those dubious prophesies only sound like being economical to the truth.

The '5 on the Fifth' I am talking about is the one that could be entangled in every photo connoisseur's senses especially to the tenderfoots. I learned about this from the comment of Stephen Chapman in my blog post "Here Comes Manila" and I instantly decided that I would give a shot into it.5 on the Fifth is a monthly posting participated by bloggers, photographers and the like. Anyone can participate by taking 5 photographs on the 5th of the month or the days leading up to the 5th. A participant could randomly take photos or follow the theme as suggested by Stephen Chapman.

This month, the theme is 'Water' and so I share my collection of water photographs I personally called 'Faces of Water'. Some of the pictures have been in my collection for a couple of months while the others were freshly taken from the corners of my sanctuary. You may double click the picture to view it with better resolution.


Water=Quencher


Silence Means Deep


Along the Shore


Drop of Water


Water: Solid and Liquid

More water photographs HERE.

BRAND NEW: A Contemporary Arts Exhibition of Young Thai Artists

I was at Chulalongkorn University's Center for Academic Resources (CU-CAR) yesterday to do further research for my master's thesis when I came over a print ad (tarpauline) of an ongoing art exhibition. Luckily, I was brought by my feet in the event location (actually, the elevator does...hehehe) and witnessed the exhibition of promising young Thai artists who showcased their arts in three different medias.

Right at the entrance of the exhibition, Bussaraporn's work on her "weird" thoughts about sex were displayed. I bet this artist is so open and so abreast about these sex things as I have seen how she portrayed both timid and wild concepts on sex. I do appreciate her artistry. I am glad to have found a sample of her work from Artgazine's website, http://www.artgazine.com/.

photo from: http://www.artgazine.com/shoutouts/viewtopic.php?p=9080&sid=8da25dee2a5c916f935f34354388e85e

Entering to the next section of the exhibition, I found Duangkamol's emotion-bounded photography titled Insecure Moments. Looking at her works, I felt a very dramatic feeling of pity to those insecure people. Insecurity, indeed, leads to downfall. We have to be thankful with life's simple gifts.

Duangkamol's artistry is so evident in her work. I guess she knows what she wanted and she was able to portray the concepts in her mind. Her work communicates her thoughts (that's if I am not wrong with what I am thinking). From Artgazine's website again, here's one of the photos I found at the exhibition.

photo from: http://www.artgazine.com/shoutouts/viewtopic.php?p=9080&sid=8da25dee2a5c916f935f34354388e85e

The las artwork which was a videoart was something interesting and new to me but I did not stay too long for that video because I had some things to do. Spending about 2 minutes with those funny and reality-based videos were enough to understand arts in video. I do have to explore more about video arts -- it is interesting.

For those interested, the exhibition is still going on at the 6th floor of CU-CAR in Pyathai Road. I have learned also that Bangkok Art Map (BAM!) is organizing another art exhibition around Bangkok. So artists and arts enthusiasts out there, let's invade Bangkok. Me, I am planning to explore the richness of Bangkok Arts after I finish my thesis and I will do that be hopping from one museum to another. Wanna explore Thai arts with me? :D

LESSONS FROM NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Nature Photography is more that just a personal hobby. Beyond the enjoyment that I get from photographing natural wonders and the artistic appreciation of the nature photos I took is a genuine realization of the human-like attributes of these living creatures caught by the flash of my point-and-shoot camera.

A glimpse at these often-neglected creatures give us great inspirations that would help us deal with life's abundant perplexities.

Look at this beautiful flower. It's so confident, so blissful, and so natural. It doesn't have anything adorned in her petals but its beauty still stands out.

Like flowers, people need to portray good and natural self-concept. Nobody could demand appreciation and respect from others without appreciating and respecting himself first. We could not expect others to look at us positively if we have negative self-image. Like flowers of different varieties, people only project their personal images.

Look at these bees. Do they worry much about tomorrow? They just enjoy hopping from one flower to another and rejoice over its nectar which nourish them as days go by. As long as they continue to fly in search of a nectar-rich flower, they would never run out of food.

Like bees, we don’t have to worry much about the things that would happen the following day because life has its own way of solving it. We only have to be expectant that beyond our wonderful toils is a rewarding moment of fulfillment. Just enjoy the present for it is a gift.

What a stunning tree! Strong and directed like it never struggled through nature's adversities. But, in reality, this tree has gone through all the humps in search of the sun yet it never gave up and did its best just to see the light.

Like trees, people face the unpredictable adversities of life. But, with a goal in mind, one will surely hurdle every impediment along the way. Everyone could unswervingly proceed into his own direction like a tree determined to follow its way to the sun.


Photos were taken at:
FLOWER---> Huahin, Thailand
BEES IN LOTUS---> Huahin, Thailand
TREE---> Rayong, Thailand

PEBA 2009 VERIFICATION TEXT: PBA0966o0n24

ARTISTRY IN PHOTOGRAPHY

My love for arts has sparked ever since I am young. I appreciate simple to complex works of arts and I do aspire to have my own masterpieces in the near future. I tried using oil pastel and water color before but it soon faded away as I felt discouraged when I could hardly use them and I have learned no technique in using all those art materials.

I could have pursued my love for art if I really insisted on my passion but I failed to follow what other successful individuals in the field of art have went behind – passion is the secret of perfection. In spite of this, I have continued to show my passion for art by visiting museums and art exhibitions (in short by appreciating other people's works of art) but those were not enough because the people whom I usually meet are of different interests. I have diverted much of my time to something else which still never left any regret to me – I enjoyed all other activities I had recently.

It’s just this time that I tried to devote much of my effort this holiday into photography with my point and shoot camera. I started to appreciate the photographs I have taken and felt so good as I continued to enhance my pictures using photo editing software. It’s somewhat like I am having an adventure in a far away place because I could see how I have changed one simple picture to a magnificent one using those photo enhancing tools. I have discovered how sepia works, the RGB effect, turning photos into black and white so it would appear like a vintage one, and so on. Its fun and it’s really exciting. The experience became merrier when I met Donna who is also into photography and to tell you, she got something to share and I learned a lot from her. She also takes good candid shots or shots with candid effects.

Although exciting, I have learned that I have to be patient and I do have to expect the unexpected just for the sake of Art and the artist in me. Last few days, I spent my time early in the morning for a photo shoot at our school garden. I tried some macro shots and other techniques like focusing the curve and horizontal lines and it left me so excited to upload my pictures to the computer so I could enhance them but it turned to be a horrible one as the computer was infected with virus and I guess the pictures were infected too. It broke my heart but I could do nothing on it. I just have to accept the fact and hope that I could have those same kinds of pictures someday. I have to consider that there are things which are beyond my capability and no matter how I avoid them, they would really happen.

But I still hope that I could have a self-directed photo shoot with a model someday. I’ve got some concepts in my mind now and prospective places for the photo shoot. I hope I could materialize it someday but as of now, I have to “put first things first.”


HERE ARE SOME OF MY PHOTOS
(please leave your comments)

PHOTO 1



PHOTO 2



PHOTO 3



PHOTO 4



PHOTO 5




PHOTO 6



PHOTO 7(peeping technique)



PHOTO 8



PHOTO 9

P.S. You can leave your comment/s by either clicking the COMMENT button under this post or you may just leave some words at the chatbox/message box which can be found at the right side of this blog. At least, I would be able to keep an update on who have visited my blog. Thank you!