Learning Black and White Film Photography

Happy Halloween! Tomorrow, November is here. Pretty long time since I’ve updated this website. My last update was back in August, and I made up my mind just now: I have to post something just before October ends. Hello, very much alive here.

Sooooooooo many things have happened, and about to happen soon! And I am happy to share that I have crossed film photography off my bucket list! Like legit film photography using SLR, or single reflex camera. I enrolled in film photography class last August even though I was not required to take it. Bummer. But hey, I’ll live.

It’s not about trying to channel some hipster vibes or to look cool. I have always desired to learn photography ever since my dad gave me a point and shoot Kodak camera when I was a kid. Wanted to master photography but never really got around doing so. Yup, #adulting happened. Well… everything, this time, just fell into place, I guess. I had free time; and the subject was offered this sem during my free sked. And I had extra moolah. What luck came my way, I know right.

When I learned about it, I didn’t consider the price to pay. My excitement got a hold of me. And in hindsight, that might have been a blessing in disguise because if I seriously thought about it, I might have reconsidered and backed out.

For those who wanna know more about this, here are a few things that you should consider if you wanna take film photography (based on what I had experienced so far):

  1. Magastos (!!!!) It is an expensive course. No doubt. A black and white film roll of 36 shots costs about 300 pesos (Ilford HP5 plus). Developing and processing fee at a film lab might charge you around 300 pesos as well for one film roll. Film scan- 100php. And printing… well that depends on the size of the photo paper. And factor in the SLR camera. You may get a secondhand unit at Quiapo which price starts from 3000php. I got my Canon AE-1 at around 5000php there.
  2. It will test your patience. Which is one of the major reasons why I opted to take this course before jumping into digital photography. I must admit, being patient hasn’t been my strongest ability. Photography reminds you to have it in place because damn, the entire thing is costly and every moment is fleeting. Another trivia: Did you know that a single 8×10 black and white photo paper is around 70pesos?? So you better study the subject and scene in front of you, compose the shot, and double check your gear and settings before firing that shutter. Because you don’t wanna go home and develop your roll and end up looking at a poorly-composed shot. And yup, you can never have that exact moment again. Unlike shooting in DLSR, you can just go ahead and fire away and select your best shots AFTER. Seeing the results right away makes it whole lots easier. But not in film. Which is why it trains you to really think before you click.
  3. It encourages you to “see” or “look” at things in a special way. Our world is full of color. So you have to imagine things in black and white. But for that to work, you have to consider some elements so that your photos will stand out. That includes: texture and contrast. So you have to pick your subjects carefully. A majestic sunset at Roxas Blvd will not be as amazing to look at in black and white as it does in color. In short, it demands you to broaden your imagination and creativity.
  4. It allows you to step back and take it all in. Because we live in a fast-paced world when instant gratification is at play, film photography has become therapeutic to me. No kidding. I long for the days when I do photo walks because my mind is offline, and I am just focused on getting a good exposure. It’s inspires us to seek more of what we need in a chaotic, noisy world: focus.
  5. It encourages you to explore. Photo walk! I have been to Manila’s iconic spots pretty much every weekend ever since August. Escolta, Luneta, Intramuros, Roxas Boulevard, CCP.
  6. It urges you to have fun and experiment. The city, the people are always there. It’s up to you how to capture and frame them, and ‘take them home with you’ thru a shot.

I am sure I will discover more of photography and more of myself in the days to come. Meanwhile, in my next post, I will be sharing with you some of the photos which I took, developed, and scanned/ printed myself. 🙂

 

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Black and White Photography in Escolta
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Black and White Photography in Intramuros
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Black and White Photography. Manila Post Office Building

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Why I signed up for a sales course even though I hated it (at first)

If you truly know me, you’d know that I dislike sales. I can’t stand being on the receiving end of the sales talk, no matter how exciting the deal is. Never in my life had I imagine myself working in the sales industry. Ever. For me, it’s totally a nightmare.

My first job was a sales agent for this Makati-based company that partnered with UNICEF to entice individuals to sign up for its support-a-child program. It’s the pop-up booth that you normally come across inside malls. They’re the sales agents who convince you to sign up a form so that you’d donate your (normally) 500.00php a month to sponsor a child somewhere in the world.

As someone who just got out of college that time, I was fearless. I thought I could survive and thrive in THAT job, in THAT industry even though it is not in line with the course that I had finished. I took up MassComm in college. I had zero knowledge about sales. A fresh grad, and here’s work, magiging choosy pa ba ako?!

Also, I had UNICEF in mind. When I saw the job opportunity posting, UNICEF was the only thing that registered clearly. All the other tiny details, I ignored. So there goes a tip for you: pay attention to the details. No matter how minute that is. It was always a dream of mine to work for any UN-related agency. A year after, I got hired as a writer for UNICEF. Legit AF. (that’s how millenials say it these days, right?)

I barely lasted a month. On my (probably) second week, I quit. Makati was too far from my house. And I had some healthy talk with myself and admitted: I just wasn’t made for sales. Not for sales talk either. And I dread the word ‘quota’ especially that thing called… rejection.

That’s why I am amazed by those people who can close a deal effortlessly, those who are unafraid of rejection, or those who can smoothly sales talk strangers even though they have little confidence in the product that they sell. That for me is a gift. Think Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness or Leo diCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street. They’re really good sales people. And while I realized that it’s a gift, I am aware that it can be learned.

And that’s why I signed up for this short sales course at University of the Philippines- Diliman. Because I thought, why not. I’d give it a shot. Besides, everybody is doing start-up these days. Why not hear a totally different perspective.

My job as a writer has always offered me myriad chances to be creative all these years. Why limit myself to only that? So I tried something new.

Of course, I did not become a sales sensation overnight. Neither until now. But I’m sharing with you the most important concepts that I had picked up in my sales class at UP. And they are:

  1. Sales is not just about getting rich. Yup, cue Jessie J, because it’s not just about the money, money, money.
  2. Sales, what my mentors told us, is about building and nurturing relationships.
  3. Sales is helping others by providing a solution to their needs and problems. Our main goal as a sales agent is to influence customers to choose our product/ service/ solution over others because we can be trusted.
  4. And because of that, the customer, over the years, may not only be considered as a client, but perhaps can now be viewed as a partner, a collaborator or a friend.
  5. In short, in sales, you have to prove to your client that you are trust-worthy.
  6. Aside from that, other must feel your genuine concern for them, not because you want money or any favor from them, but because they can sense that you are there to help.

These are just some of my musings lately. I have to put them in writing before they go away.

I’d like to thank University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries for organizing a class like this. For a non-sales person like me, it’s really a great opportunity to be immersed in the world of sales without having to enrol for an MBA. To the staff, Ms. Glen and Ms. Krystel, to Ms. Luisa.

Grateful, too, for my classmates who are experts in their respective industries. I learned a lot from you, guys! Of course, much appreciation as well to our facilitators: Mr. Orly Ballesteros, Ms. Michelle Ballesteros, and Atty. Rochelle Marie Roxas.

Sharing some of our pictures below.

UP 24TH CEST grads
Our gradpic! CEST Batch 24.
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Mr. Orly Ballesteros, owner of Ex Link Events
ms rochelle
Atty. Rochelle Marie Roxas
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Ms. Michelle Ballesteros, owner of Ex-Link Event
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Sunflower babies

 

On the go: Having fun in the workplace

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Most people ask me about my work: what do I write about, how do I do it, who do I interact with.

I say I work long hours, I bring work at home, and have to meet crazy deadlines, more often than not.

Well, believe it or not, this was my view at work yesterday.

Takeaway:
Find the positive thing about your work and your workplace. There’s always a silver lining in everything. A matter of perspective. 😃👌👍

How about you? How do you have fun at work? 🙂

P.S.

more behind the scenes photos at work yesterday:

 

WATCH: Wonderwoman block screening

Last June, Team Enlighten hosted a block screening of Wonderwoman. That’s to raise some funds for our outreach, which I have been talking about (endlessly). Haha!

Anyway, the PLM FilmSoc kids made some video out of their coverage that day and this is it:

 

 

WATCH: Happy 1st Team Enlighten

The other day, I was kinda lazy to go out and wanted to chill at home.

But since I’m the type who feels guilty whenever I don’t get things done, I made a music video about our team’s trip last week to Zambales. As you all know or might have read by now, we did an outreach.

Then we headed to the beach! What a respite. It’s all I need before I face schoolwork again. Beach and it reminded me of this Throwback song by All Saints called Pure Shores.

Leaving this here:

 

Why you should volunteer at least once in your life

group pic zambales
Photo by Patty Bellido

July 2017.

What an eventful month. So tired. Seriously. Ugh. But not giving up!

A high school friend of mine got married. I graduated from a short Sales course at UP. I am preparing for the upcoming sem for my MA schoolwork.

All these just added to my already hectic writing job at GMA. But hey, no complains! Am just glad to be doing something rather than nothing.

But for me, the main event of the month is our outreach. Over a year ago, I joined a retreat organized by The Feast Bay Area. I was expecting it to be the usual religious retreat like what I have experienced in Catholic school. Meaning a longer version of a bible study session where you quote passages from the Holy Book and interpret and relate them to your life.

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Instead, that day was more than that. What welcomed me was a series of talks and activities encouraging self-discovery through psychology, neuro-linguistic programming and… sheer fun! And I’m lucky to have shared it with 80+ others who were also searching for some answers in their lives.

Fast forward last week, we did more than just celebrate our first anniversary as a batch. By the way, we call ourselves Team Enlighten. (enl19then, we are batch 19 of the Live Life retreat).

To mark this milestone, we organized an outreach for the kids of Looc Elementary School in Zambales. And by “we,” I mean “they”. There’s no better way than to admit that I’ve been MIA from the team for most of the time. It’s something I’m not proud of. But hey, I do volunteer from time to time. And I did last weekend! U-huh.

 

Outreach for students in Zambales

There were around 300 kids from Kinder to Grade 7, all below the age of 13. It was a rainy Saturday morning. And it rained non-stop. It wasn’t easy to unload the donations including school supplies and the hygiene kits, as well as the food and snacks. Because we got wet, and it was slippery.

 

Photo by Patty Bellido

It was a challenge, too, to get to one room to the other because of the downpour. We had prepared several games for the kids so we had to go room-to-room for that. I also had to do the photo documentation so I went around several times.

But not even the rain can dampen our spirit. Honestly, I did not hear any complain from anyone of us. We wear wearing our smile, just happy about what we were doing. Because that day was not about us.

And here’s where I tell you why you should volunteer, at least once in your life.

  1. Volunteer so that you’ll know it’s not all about you.

When we’re too engrossed about our daily routine, our stressful work, our never-ending deadlines, and some toxic people in our life, sometimes we become self-centered. In the sense that all we think about is how things will benefit us. How they’ll be of help to us. It’s about me-me-me.

But when we volunteer, the perspective shifts. It’s what we can do to help others, without expecting anything in return. No need for any monetary compensation,  recognition. By volunteering, we realize that we exist not just for ourselves. But we exist because we can make other lives more meaningful. We can make kids happy. We can inspire them envision a brighter future. There are many ways we can help other people outside our work, our home, if only we could just dedicate time for it.

2. Volunteer because it feels damn good.

Why does it feel good? For me, it’s that feeling of being high. Because I get to see other people happy. And when we see other people happy because of what we do, we just feel good about it. It’s priceless.

3. Volunteer to give back or pay it forward.

I’ve always been an advocate of quality education. So when I heard about extending our help to these kids, it was a no-brainer. In college, I was a scholar at a city-funded university. I’ve always been thankful for Manila and its diligent and honest taxpayers for that. At a time when tuition fees were really expensive, I got to study because of PLM. I am forever grateful to my professors, mentors, the university staff and personnel.

I’m nowhere what you can call someone who already made it big. But I find time to give back or pay it forward, whenever I can. This was another opportunity to do that.

Those are my top 3 reasons why we should volunteer at least once.

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enlighten pic
Photo by Patty Bellido
monet group pic
Photo by Claire del Rosario

I know you can think of more. Share it in the comment section below. 🙂

In behalf of our team, thank you so much to those who helped us and donated in kind or financially to make this outreach possible.

Thank you very much to the following:

Team Enlighten & Team Overflow

Thank you to our sponsors: PLM- Film Society, TOSS Travel and Tours, Chocovron.

My friends: Cherry Aggabao, Ma’am Ludz Labagnoy, Macky Macarayan, Kimberly Ilaya, Karina Reyes, April Garcia, Jed Macapagal, Ms. Che Ingles, Riechelle Garces.

[TASTE BUDDIES ARCHIVES] CONCHA’S TAGAYTAY

Ang Pambansang Bae na si Alden Richards, hindi lang artista, negosyante rin!

From Manila, dinayo pa ng Taste Buddies na sina Rhian Ramos and Solenn Heussaff ang resto niya sa Tagaytay! Ang Concha’s Garden Café!

 

Hindi lang ang dalawang girls ang pakikiligin ni Alden! May baon din siyang Bae moves para sa Starstruck finalists na sina Camille Torres at Faith da Silva.

 

Ang all-time Pinoy fave dish na Adobo, bibigyan din ng twist! Ano kaya yun? Ipapakita sa atin yan nina Camille and Faith kasama ang chef ng Concha’s. Adobo at marami pang Pinoy comfort food din ang matitikman ng girls! May sinangag para sa mga kanin lovers, may special soup na perfect for the rainy weather at marami pang iba!

It’s a Saturdate with the girls on Taste Buddies, 8:40 p.m. on GMA News TV.