This photowalk was with Daan friends. Daan is a Facebook group of Street Photography enthusiast where learning SP is relaxed, fun and encouraging to beginners in SP like me.
We started early at around 8:30 am with Boyet picking me up at the Feria Overpass in Commonwealth Avenue. We arrived at Boyet's sisters Makati office at around 9:05 where he parked his vehicle.
We walked from Dela Costa cor. Makati to Ayala MRT-3 station which was the agreed rendezvous with the rest of the guys. It was a Saturday so Makati seems to be less ideal for street photography in those hours. Passing through the quite Ayala Triangle and the walk ways around the closed shops of Greenbelt, and Glorietta, we took photos warming up for the main event until we reach the meeting point.
Around 10:30 am, Jaime and Joval joined us and we boarded the Shuttle Bus at the New Fort Bus Terminal (first time for me) to Market Market. We decided to have lunch at Jollibee courtesy of Joval since he was late and the lunch treat was his fine for his tardiness. Thanks Joval, I really enjoyed my Champ Burger, fries and up-sized Coke Zero!
At 12 pm, we left Market Market going to Bonifacio High Street. The
main event started. The hunt commenced for capturing the extraordinary from the mundane! Although, the place was not too busy, it was just right with enough crowd. There is something about this place for street photography. Lots of geometries, the play of lights between the shops shaded area and the open walkways, the shadows, the crowd, the dogs, the ambiance, etc...
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| A play with geometries and light |
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Group hug: From Left to Right: Boyet, Jaime, Joval and me
Photo by Jaime Tan Ventura Jr. |
By 1:45pm, when another fellow Daan member, Zina, joined us, we headed to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial by taxi. It was just minimum fare.
Arriving at the memorial, we checked in with security and the office for permission to photograph. They reminded us about the rules and we assured them that we will be respectful in the place and the content and theme of the photos.
The place was fascinating. The rows of crosses and an occasional star of David dominated the landscape. It was ideal place for shooting patterns, urban landscape, and travel photos. For street photography, it's also ideal with patience required since the place is not always teeming with people. But the geometries, the drama, the play of lights in the structures makes it the ideal waters for catching a "big fish" that occasionally might bite.
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| Rows of Columns |
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| Pondering on what is on the other side |
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| A tourist maybe doing a video documentary |
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From Left to Right: Joval, Boyet, Zina, Jaime and me
Photo by Jaime Tan Ventura Jr. |
We left at around 3:15 pm for Zina to catch a bus at Market Market to go to her University. We had a snack at McDonalds to re-energize from the zapping heat of the previous stage of the photowalk.
After rehydration and carbs loading, we headed again to Bonifacio Hight Street. It was a different scene in the late afternoon, with more crowds, the dog walkers, and the cooler temperature of course. What really attracted me were the dogs. There might be a bit of Elliot Errwit influence on me. Elliot was a very famous street photographer who loves to photograph dogs and include them in his street scenes. He has 4 books out of 17 books dedicated to dogs.
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| The crippled dog, owner and a stranger |
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| Guards at rest |
At around 4:45pm, we decided to leave the place to meet other friends in Glorietta for the next chapter of this photowalk.
This post's continuation is in Part 2:
http://thescienceandartofphotography.blogspot.com/2012/05/photowalk-april-21-2012-with-daan-sp.html
