Sample 36 - Dem Birds (Shelter Harbor, SD, '09)

Shabbat Shalom! Keeping it simple for now with these 'stolen shots' of some of the locals in San Diego. They could only be shot stolen, when I think about it.

I'll miss my 18-200mm when I jump from DX to FX. Or I could just keep the D80 as a safety body. That first shot with the two gulls, I converted it to an HDR and posted it on my Flickr. It has a different appeal, bringing out all the details of the front gull. Thought I'd hold off on it today and just really keep things simple.

Enjoy! God bless you!

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 35 - Siomai (Chinatown, NYC '08)

What!? Huh!?

Show this to anyone courting

This Chinese Waiter spoke Filipino. FLUENTLY. Charming.

You've probably seen a 'slice of life' somewhere before. You probably had a 'shot of life'. This is a 'dumpling of life.'

During our 2008 trip to the States, we only had one free day to do stuff. Dad went out with his friends, while my Mom and I took the opportunity to take a ride in and around New York City. Ask my Mom about NYC and she would come to life, telling you all sorts of stories of her life as a nurse in the Big Apple back in the day. You could tell that she was really excited to take this road trip, and she was so thankful to my cousin Roy for offering to drive us around.

It was a quick but scenic drive to a few key places (pictures coming soon), but we ended up here in Chinatown to have a bite to eat with Mom's long-lost friends. Needless to say, the food was delicious - I remember downing cup after cup of complimentary tea in between bites of braised beef, steamed vegetables, and fish. It was good that Roy wasn't able to park nearby, because we needed to stand to let the food settle into the right spaces in our tummies - and I wanted to shoot.

American architecture - Chinese businesses. The place has an unspoken charm which attracts crowds of people, Asian and Western alike. Does this culture need to tear the reputation of other cultures down to draw in these people? I don't think so.

As a Christian, I believe we are to have the same approach. Instead of focusing on how we see the lethal consequences of sin in other people, shouldn't we concentrate on communicating how Jesus Christ has indeed given us lives, and abundant lives despite our previous hopelessness? There will always be errors found in man-made doctrines and religions, but one thing that we cannot deny is the truth of our own testimony.

 "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." - Revelation 12:11

Something for you to think about. God bless you.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 34 - Wading In The Mist

Yesterday I drove a young brother of mine around the city. I lent him my camera and told him it was his turn to take pictures. As I was going through his shots I saw that he was playing with the camera at some points, but there were some pictures which communicated that he was comfortable with shooting.

After a few stopovers I brought him to some more serious spots to shoot - one along Monticello, Camp 7, and the fenced 'forest' in close to the Baguio Convention Center. The fog settled in so beautifully as he took pictures of the trees in that last area, that I had to take a few pictures of my own. With my iPhone. Thinking I'd upload it in Instagram. But man, that filtered shot came out so good in my opinion that it had to be shared on my blog.

I went as far as going through the pictures my brother took to see if I could replicate the same shot using some photoshop presets... Then I thought, what's wrong with just posting my very first - wait... - second iPhone phone up to this blog?

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It can't just stay on Instagram. Sorry. God bless you!

Sample 33 - Mixed Emotions (Taguig '09)

While it may be worth it for some people to pay to be up close when a barrage of fireworks are fired into the sky, some of us with cameras may beg to differ - I should know. There was at least one evening that I was close to punching myself for being too close - too close that 18mm on the lens was no longer as wide as I thought; too close and too bright for the camera's shutter to be set to anything less than half a second.

This shot was taken on the evening of the first Philippine International Pyromusical Competition, which I witnessed with a couple of good friends, Dawin and Rowi (and her sister). So why haven't I posted any fireworks?... Next time na lang po. I have to be honest. I found this picture separated from where it's supposed to be - in my November '09 Folder. I was about to gripe about how this shot could have possibly been the best one I took that evening, but when I took a quick scroll up and down the folder where the rest of the shots were, well, I'm imagining there will be more to follow.

By the way, it may be impossible to reshoot this picture - I think someone bought and is starting to build over this grassy parking lot, last time I saw. 

 God bless you!


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 32 - Welcome To Manila... Wait. (National City '08)

"You can take the tiger out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the tiger!" - Hobbes

 Filipino franchises... American license plates. You see Chowking and Red Ribbon here, and Jolibee is just a few minutes away. I'm imagining that for many who don't exactly have a ticket to the Philippines as a priority, this is the closest to home that they can get. Usually when I come home from the States, people ask me what state I was in. I'd be tempted to say 'denial', but I would say, 'the extension of the Philippines. California. I didn't actually leave the country.'

God bless you. :)


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 31 - The Empty Court (Chula Vista '12)

It rarely rains over at Chula Vista - well, at least based on my tally, it rained one in maybe 30 days on average, considering the months I spent there between 2008 - 2012. It's usually a welcome condition for me to go out and shoot the area - in this case, Heritage Park - to display the pleasant differences.

For some reason, the public court - which is usually full at that time of the evening -  it was deserted. That left my niece and I free to walk around safely to take these shots.

Enjoy! God bless you!



_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Checkpoint 3

This is the Eisenhower Tunnel, a highway literally punched through a mountain (or two) to make travel faster (albeit less scenic) and easier for larger vehicles. 

30 posts so far. Things I've learned:

• Pictures need to be centered to avoid text awkwardly placed to the right of a photo. 
• Throw in some color into the mix. 
• Get a Nikon D600.
• Expose, expose, expose. Apparently pictures do better in communicating to more people instead of to themselves. 
• Get a Nikon D600.
• Consider placing photos taken by iPhone on here as well instead of just in Pinterest and Instagram. 
• There may be two options to getting a point through - straight up and quick (Eisenhower Tunnel) or slow and elaborate (Loveland Pass - Coming soon!)
• Did I mention 'Get a Nikon D600'? 
• I should write about my plans when it comes to gear here.

There could be more but these seem to be the ones sticking out for now. I haven't had the time to watch the Lightroom tutorials I've come upon, but as soon as I get to them I just might share what I've learned here. 

Oh, one thing I intend to practice through this blog moving forward is a principle that came into mind as I dedicated some of my time to walking our German Shepherd - Do it good, do it often. 

God bless you.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 30 - Red, White & Blue (Ground Zero, New York, '08)

(Originally posted here)

"When we were blessed to travel to New Jersey to attend a relative's wedding celebration, my mom took that opportunity to take a side trip to New York to visit some friends and to go to Ground Zero. At the time, construction was still going on (and honestly, up until now I'm not really sure I know what they put in place of the twin towers) so there wasn't much to see inside...

...but shooting around the area was a treat. Here are 2 shots I took of the New York Fire Department Ten House, Engine Company 10 and Ladder Company 10.

Here's to the fine men and women who gave all they could for the recovery of New York after September 11, 2001. To God be all the glory."

 


_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 29 - Wings of the Past (Pensacola '08)

These retired planes have a home in the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Florida. It was a treat for my parents and I to visit this place, and when I saw that the authorities had no problem with me taking pictures, I went all out in taking what I could with what I had - my handy-dandy Nikon D40 with an 18-55mm (non VR) kit lens.

That being said, I will be posting select pictures from our time here in series - starting off with shots of these planes (and a rocket - is that a rocket or a missile? What's the difference? :) ), which have in one way or the other contributed to history.

Enjoy. God bless you.

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 28 - Last Night In NLEX...

This shot was taken last night as we were on our way back up to Baguio from Manila. We were cruising along the expressway until we arrived at this section where traffic on our lane was on a standstill for at least an hour. As seconds of standstill turned to minutes and as driver after driver stepped out of their cars to check what was going on, we came to a common conclusion as we saw what looked like the section of a passenger bus almost perpendicular to the road, and on the grassy area between the roads: someone took the slippery roads a little less seriously. 

It was quite a scene. Drivers walked out of their cars - some lit a cigarette, some relieved themselves on the shoulder of the road, almost all complained about this sudden predicament they were in. I remember one driver admitting he was overspeeding, only to come to a complete stop at this point. Moments later we saw passengers from the ill-fated bus entering the bus besides us. My mom was relieved to see them unscathed and calm. 

Eventually, after close to an hour of waiting, traffic began to move, and as we passed the area of the accident, we saw not just a bus, but a truck and at least 2 cars (one severely damaged at the rear) were involved. I just pray that those who were hurt are healed, and those who were shocked are at peace. 

God is good all the time. Even during these occasions. A small jerk of the wrist can send a speeding car flipping and turning in such a slippery road. Disasters can happen in an instant. Let us always keep our eyes on the truth, which serves as an anchor for us in times of uncertainty: God definitely makes things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Be safe.

_________________________

jb.redeemed

email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26