Another Point of View

As you know, thedude was not the only person with a camera on the Philippines trip. Here are a few of my favorite shots by Grant Goya – in no particular order. Grant shoots with a Canon 5D. I think his camera outperforms my Nikon D2X in almost every category. Dammit!

Feasting in the Philippines

One thing we found in ample supply during our visit to the Philippines was food. I can say without a doubt that we were never hungry during out trip – not for one single minute. Our incredibly gracious hosts saw to it that we were always within arm’s reach of mass quantities of food. This…

Manila Mandarin Oriental

One of thedude’s favorite parts of our trip to the Philippines was the three night spent at the wonderful Manila Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This is one the nicest hotels we have ever stayed in. From the moment we were greeted by a legion of professional, friendly wait staff we knew that this would be a…

Taal Lake and Volcano

This is a panoramic view of the spectacular Lake Taal – more or less the view we had from the Discovery Suites in Tagaytay. The shot was taken late on a cloudy day, so it really did look this dark. In the foreground you can make out numerous fish farms. In the middle-right, you can…

New Friends

Kelly and I had such a wonderful time on our first visit to the Philippines. We were shown the greatest hospitality by our hosts, the Barin family. Many thanks to all of you for taking such good care of us while we visited. We’d also like to give a very special thanks to Grant and…

Another Manila Traffic Time-Lapse

I made a second time-lapse while in Manila, hoping to catch the controlled chaos that is Manila traffic. I pointed the camera out of the sun roof of our vehicle and began snapping at what seemed like an opportune moment. I wanted to show how the traffic continues to move – albeit slowly. We rarely…

State of Emergency in Philippines

Looks like we left the Philippines just a little bit too soon. Our hosts had casually mentioned that there were rumors of another coup attempt, but we didn’t think it much of it. This phone pic, taken from the exact spot I shot the traffic time-lapse shows that Manila streets are now crowded with demonstrators….

Catholic Girls

During our stay in Bohol, we visited the “centuries old” Baclayon Church and Museum. One of the most interesting facts about the beautiful old church is that it’s moss-covered walls are held together with the “white of a million eggs”. Sandy goofs with school girls from the adjacent Catholic high school.

From Leaf Spring to Machete

This hard-working craftsman spends mornings hammering old automobile leaf springs into 10 knives per day with a minimum of precise hammer blows. The sweltering conditions mean a 5:00 AM to noon workday for this muscular man, who has obviously paid a heavy price for not wearing any sort of protective gear on his face. Our…

Manila Traffic Time Lapse

We had the opportunity to hang out on the 27th floor balcony of a building in the heart of Manila. I realized that this might be my one chance to shoot a time-lapse of the traffic, so I leaned the D2X and the monopod against the railing and started shooting. I had hoped for rush-hour…

We’re Back!

Safely. For those who asked, the mud slide in Leyte was hundreds of miles away on another of the 7,107 islands that comprise the Philippines. Now the real work begins. The sorting, retouching, color-correcting, uploading and the really difficult part – the search for the right words. Here we go… While visiting Bohol, we took…

I Know This is a Good Trip

I have almost no time to blog! The business office closes in a few minutes, and I have much to say and too many images to post. Between Grant and myself, we have managed to fill up all of our CF cards and the hard drive on our laptop, and the trip is barely half…

Bohol Beach Club

We’ve really gotten into the relaxation mode since arriving at the Bohol Beach Club We’ve been spending the days lounging in hammocks on the beach. No time for blogging. I’m sure you understand. 🙂 I would not expect to hear much from us until we return to Manila the day after tomorrow. Waiter! Another mai…

We’ve Been Here Just 30 Hours

We’re not even close to being over our jetlag and I already have way too many images to post. I’ll do my best… We’re having so much fun with our gracious hosts and learning so much in the process. For example, we learned that no Philippine home is complete without a karaoke machine. (We’re just…

This is Working Out Well

Wow. Our first trip to the Philippines has been great so far! Things started off on the right foot before we even left the airport in San Francisco. We discovered that we had a $100 credit with the airline issued exactly one year ago, which means it was expiring the day we were set to…