about dxb chronicles

The saga of Jeff living in the City of Gold. Presently living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, unravel his journey throughout the city with memoirs and everyday life stories.

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

mw2: baywalk

manila walk 2: baywalk

our final destination for our whole-day street shoot. we waited for the one of the world's best sunset places... manila bay.

stay tuned for my "children of manila - ii" :P

"sunset"

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discoursed by jeff @ 10:15 AM  |  9 comment(s)  |  permalink

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

mw2: luneta

manila walk 2: luneta

a brief crossover at the luneta park before the final sunset at baywalk...

"patriotism"

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discoursed by jeff @ 5:13 AM  |  2 comment(s)  |  permalink

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

mw2: baseco

manila walk 2: baseco

pushing our street shoot to the limits, we intruded the chaotic and risky slum area of baseco. we were warned by the good local folks not to venture further...

...and decided to stay 15-minutes tops.

"where it leads to?"

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discoursed by jeff @ 9:04 AM  |  2 comment(s)  |  permalink

Sunday, May 25, 2008

mw2: intramuros

manila walk 2: intramuros

after crossing the jones bridge, we visited the old walls of intramuros. sniper and photographers' candid shots were the highlights of this visit.

"san agustin"

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discoursed by jeff @ 5:00 PM  |  2 comment(s)  |  permalink

Sunday, May 18, 2008

jumper

on our way to jones bridge going intramuros, a kid invited us to watch the jumping session. as we reached the riverbank, we saw kids swimming along the murky waters of pasig river. there were teenagers jumping from the ramp of the bridge, doing some exhibition stunts.

"jumper"

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discoursed by jeff @ 9:37 AM  |  2 comment(s)  |  permalink

Saturday, May 17, 2008

joseph


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he was a former jail inmate. sleeping in the alleys of escolta, my colleagues met him a year ago when they went out the usual street shoot. he was sober and frail when i've met him. i did not ask him on what were his sins but it seemed that he paid for it. i gave him spare change in exchange for few photographs.

discoursed by jeff @ 10:14 AM  |  0 comment(s)  |  permalink

Friday, May 16, 2008

mw2: binondo

manila walk 2: binondo

binondo is the home of chinatown in manila and it is center of commerce and trade by the chinese-filipino community. there were notable landmarks there such as the binondo church and plaza ruiz but we delved ourselves to the less fortunate areas. as the usual patrons of the streets, xavier and ogie introduced me to a new friend.

i'll introduce him later.

"rustic"

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discoursed by jeff @ 8:46 AM  |  0 comment(s)  |  permalink

Thursday, May 15, 2008

mw2: quiapo

manila walk 2: quiapo

first of the series. a whole day street photography around manila, from morning till sunset. nothing much changed since i went back to plaza miranda. the team were the same, tagging with xavier and ogie from treklens, we ventured to the busy streets of quiapo on sunday morning. the only new thing was the gears in which i tested nikita (my new nikon d300) and longnose (nikkor 70-200mm 2.8) in the streets of manila. i felt nervous at first, thinking of a six-figure peso toy slip into someone else's hands... but it was a challenge.

we blended well and nothing bad happened. street photography was indeed an exciting adventure.

"sikyu"

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discoursed by jeff @ 3:24 PM  |  0 comment(s)  |  permalink

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

philippine photo tour 2008

i am still halfway in finishing my photo post-process from my vacation last april. while i'm at it, i would like to summarize our adventures in the philippines.

"ice"

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my whole-day street photojourn/portraiture happened once again with my fellow treklens members, ogie (shogun) and xavier (hydroxycut). we walked from quiapo to baywalk, but with more risky routes to tackle. overall, 8gb worth of photos and memories were captured.

next, a week-long adventure in the island of palawan. i thought that it would be my first time going to visayas region, knowing that the province belongs to luzon... particularly in region 4 (mimaropa - mindoro, marinduque, romblon and palawan). el nido is definitely a paradise that i will not forget.

and finally, the extreme three-day trek at the mountains of zambales where we put our will and gears to the test from harsh weather and political turmoil.

of course, in between those treks i was able to shoot some portraiture of my relatives, friends and strangers. so stay tuned for more photos and thanks to your patience. :P

discoursed by jeff @ 2:51 PM  |  2 comment(s)  |  permalink

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

jane

it was my first indoor shoot after a month-long outdoor photo escapade in the philippines. we asked jane, a colleague of ours, to be the subject and tried our friend's studio in sharjah.

the session was intertwined with fellow photogs who were also having a photo session that caused more laughter, booze and outtakes. while they're splurging the alcohol, miss b and i took the chance in making some serious shots.


"fear"

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"nothing in life is to be feared. it is only to be understood." -- marie curie

i asked jane during the shoot what feared her. she feared that she will be stripped in her clothing... and so, i instructed her to lie down, pose in a fetal position. i covered her with black cloth and asked her to stiffened her limbs, fingers spread and toes pointed.

it was a top shot elevating myself to a chair then fired with a strobe on a softbox, attached to a boom stand pointing towards her.

discoursed by jeff @ 4:13 PM  |  0 comment(s)  |  permalink

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

gpp: focus on faces competition

while i was having my vacation in palawan, miss b sent me sms that i've won the gulf photo plus' focus on faces competition.

i didn't expect to win first prize and last monday, we attended the awarding ceremony. judged by chris hurtt and david hobby, they chose one of my entries called "contemplate", an old woman with her head bowed down. she was riding an abra staring at her purse for a long time. i took the shoot using nikki (d70s) with longnose (70-200mm) during our streetwalk in dubai creek. the prize is nikon d40x camera with 18-55mm vr lens.

"contemplate"

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i would like to thank everyone for the inspiration and support. this wouldn't happen without you guys. shukran. thank you.

discoursed by jeff @ 12:52 PM  |  4 comment(s)  |  permalink

Saturday, May 03, 2008

im back!

after a long hiatus due to vacation, i'm finally back in the sandlands. i will post my adventures in the philippines soon.
discoursed by jeff @ 5:10 PM  |  0 comment(s)  |  permalink