where the moon shines

It was on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon in July that we finally succeeded in going out for a photo walk. Our destination: the LaMesa EcoPark in Fairview, Quezon City. The Lamesa Ecopark is situated inside the LaMesa Watershed, the primary source of drinking water of about 12 million Metro Manila residents (source). According to the LaMesa Ecopark website, the watershed is 2700 hectares big! Of this, 700 hectares is the reservoir (dam) itself, with the surrounding forest being the remaining 2000 hectares. The reservoir supplies clean drinking water to Metro Manila, while the forest helps clean the air.

A long time ago, my grandfather used to bring the entire family to picnics at LaMesa Dam. I was either too young to remember those trips, or I wasn’t born yet at the time. I do remember cousins, my parents and aunts talking about those picnics though. Due to lack of funds for the MWSS which manages the area, the surrounding park had fallen into ruin. In the last decade, the ABS-CBN Foundation, through its programs for Bantay Kalikasan, endeavored to rehabilitate the park and reforest affected areas. The 33-hectare public park is found along the natural boundaries of the watershed and is 40 meters below the reservoir. Proceeds from the entrance fees are used towards the continuous efforts to preserve the health and beauty of the watershed.

I first visited the park years ago when they had just reopened it to the public. My day brought us there with my mom, my nephew Esban and his older sister Dal. We had wanted to swim in their pool but there was just too many people. We ended up just having a picnic (without a table because all were taken and there were no huts at the time) under the trees, and then we had so much fun dancing and laughing while bathing in the rain. Yes, we danced in the rain because the sky really went all out while we were there. It was so much fun.

Since getting Maxine last year, we have wanted to troop to LaMesa to practice shooting. We’d always thought it would be a hassle to commute to the place. Boy were we wrong! We took a cab from here to EcoPark and it cost around 150 pesos, but it was easy peasy. From there, you could just hop on to a tricycle – they’re right outside the exit waiting to take you to Commonwealth Avenue where you can take a jeepney, FX or taxi to wherever you’re going.

Though I was already sleepy on the way (I came from shift, and had work that evening too), I went prepared. My camera battery was fully charged, I was wearing tights and rubber shoes for freedom of movement, and a comfortable shirt. After all, the trip had two goals: to break a sweat walking, and to practice our photography. We successfully did both! Now, we plan on going out each week. Whoever said you can’t hit two birds with one stone? I actually hit several here: bonding with the boyfriend, practice photography, have more physical activity! Doing all these work like all the best weight loss products available out there.

It’s difficult to pick just a few favorite photos to showcase here, so if you’d like to checkout all the photos, they are on this Flickr set.

Let’s start with some flower shots shall we?

I love how this one came out. It was a really vibrant blood-red color. I forgot which part of the park this was in though.

I don’t really wear yellow, and not much orange either, but I love the two colors together be it on these flowers, or on a fire tree.

I love the purple tinge on these small flowers. It would have really been good had there been signs near these plants so we would know what they’re called, Hehe. I think that this photo could be used as background for a card.

I didn’t use any textures on this photo yet the bokeh effect was amazing. I think it took on the shapes of the small leaves of these small flowers that stood unbending against the wind.

Now, who says plants need flowers to be beautiful? These certainly look pretty on their own:

I didn’t just take shots of the fresh, thriving and beautiful. There were other interesting stuff around too. The ecopark is a true thriving ecosystem, there was lushness all around but there was also decay and somehow, also death. This post is already long enough as it is so sharing those other photos will have to wait another day. If you checkout my Flickr set though, you’ll see them all there.

I was at their wedding last year, July 23, 2009. It was a day after my birthday.  

I took photos.  

And my girlfriends kept harping on me to post them. I never did.  

Until today.   

Here’s some of them:  

Today I was going through my Picture library looking for any photo that distinctly featured a human face and flowers together in one frame. I was using Windows Live Photo Gallery to go through the albums, and then my attention was caught by the nifty button to create a movie out of the photos. So I used it.

And what photos did I use? Those from our Safari adventure!

(This video I just uploaded doesn’t look good! It’s all pixellated. I’m going to try again and then re-upload.)

No, we didn’t go to Africa for this, nor did we drive out to Subic to experience their Zoobic Safari. This is the Safari display of stuffed animals at the SM Sky Garden, at SM City North Edsa. It’s still there until now, if I’m not mistaken.



Ugh, I think my dad chose the hottest day this summer to take the kids there. Or not. Maybe it just felt like the hottest day for me because

1. I just came off a 12-hour shift.
2. It was freezing cold inside the office.
3. I was quite sleepy; and,
4. I was wearing heels.

You know, I’m not sure if they asked me to come along because they needed another chaperone (Mom couldn’t join them because she had a meeting), or they really needed a photographer. Hmmm.

The kids were all willing subjects, okay maybe with the exception of Adam who doesn’t always feel like smiling at the camera, but they all were very eager to post in front of the stuffed animals. I, however, was one frustrated photographer. I wasn’t dressed appropriately. And because of my weight, I wasn’t willing to kneel or able to sit on the floor to get better angles. Tsk. I gotta do something about that. Hehe.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite photos:

The other day, my colleague Ann showed me her lucky plant which had new growth. She thought I’d be interested to take photos, and she was right. I’d been taking photos of it every day though I haven’t posted them yet, until now.

This plant is one of three small ones that sit on top of her desk. I think she wipes the dust off its leaves from time to time.

On Friday, an accomplice kidnapped the plant for me so I could take more pictures:

I used my macro filter for this shot.

Before I returned the plant to Ann’s desk this morning, I took another photo:

Do you notice any change?

You met him yesterday, the green dino that came free with my Photojojo purchase. I did mention that you’d see him more right?

Brought him to work with me, and while on break, snapped these:

There’s more, but I’ll leave those for another day. Oh, and there was another dino that I took photos of. I just have to get him to sign a release before I display his photos publicly. Haha.