Philippines is such a beautiful country and I've been lucky enough to be born and live there before immigrating to Canada. I had the chance to visit some of Philippines' beautiful locations while playing soccer and during my summer vacations from school. There's over 7,000 islands and it is quite a task to visit each single island. I was happy to visit a handful at least but those where the days that I was still into oil painting and I should have taken up photography back then... to document my travels. Oh well... I missed my chance, I guess... As I get to visit the Philippines to host my workshops and visit friends I will get to revisit these places and I can both document my travels and create fine art photographs.

 

The Philippines is just so different to Canada, here in Canada we can drive to almost anywhere...might take days to get into one destination but that's the fun of it. in the Philippines it's a bunch of different ways of transportation, boats and airplanes are key to getting from one place to the other. I love roadtrips eversince I learned to drive while  still living in the Philippines but I had to load up my car into a barge to continue my journey.  Philippines is so pictureque with all the beaches and the mountains to have as your backdrop everyday...people might argue that Canada is even more beautiful and YES IT IS... but unfortunately I live in the praries. Here in Winnipeg and the whole of Manitoba there's certainly a lot of gorgeous locations but they are usually somewhere you have to drive to and spend a day. Winnipeg is gorgeous with its parks and the old architecture...but I have to say that when I wake up in the morning there's not much to see in our backyard. When I was still living in Davao, I get out in the morning just to see the mountains that greets me each day. A 15-20minute ride will get me those lovely beaches.

 

 

I miss those beaches and mountains but Canada do have some really GORGEOUS landscapes to photograph...visit my Canada page...and not to mention the lovely American landscapes just hours away. I love where I am...all the sea of opportunities here, but I can't help but admit that I DO MISS THE PHILIPPINES. I miss those places I use to visit, the moutains I use to climb, paths I use to trek...all those crazy adventures I use to share with my friends. In the last year(2009-2010) I had the opportunity to visit Philippines twice and as of March 2010 I am  planning to visit 2 more times. I traveled both for personal and business reasons and I love every single minute of it. I even thought of staying there permanently but Canada is my home now...but I would love to frequently visit the Philippines as much as I can.

 

 

I visited some of the places I've been to before in Davao City but it changed so much I can literally get lost in the city I grew up in. The beauty of those mountains will always be there and more places to venture on...places that weren't there while I was in my teens.

 

I roamed the streets where I use to go for bargains but now I am there on the same streets to tell its' tale. I love street photography because I get to sharpen my photojounalistic skills to apply on my more serious assignments. Street photography is spontaneous...no strobe set-up to worry about...just raw instincts and fluid artistry to create artworks that tells a story.

 

The streets of Davao is not as how I remembered it to be...probably because before I was just part of the city itself. It is certainly a bit more eye opening to see these streets as a visitor. Winnipeg streets has it's own stories to tell but the Davao streets are certainly way busier and a lot more things happen right before your eye. As some of my Canadian friends say of the Philippine streets.. "a lot of unique things to see", these are unique even weird for some because they never grew up with such things. I love to capture interesting things and create a compeling photograph. I regret a lot that I wasn't even that interested in photography in my younger years, I visited so many places that I could have built a massive Philippine portfolio. Those places and things that I could have shared through photographs...instead of just having stories.

 

Philippines to me is still my motherland but can't really own it as my home. My family are all here with me in Canada and soon I will have a family of my own to raise here in Canada as well. I love the allure of such a crowded place but the serenity of  Winnipeg life is such a blessing. I love to be on those beaches all day but hey that can get stale too for I still look forward to the beauty of the old streets of Winnipeg. Photography has open a new eye for me...an eye that looks beyond  the pretty picture, to me I would love to create a photograph that trancends the emotion and the ambience of the place. I love images that makes you feel like being there. I love to capture more of the beauty of the Philippines but I was there for a few  reasons other than  photography. I would love to just be there for a few months and just visit as many locations as I can but the reality is I have to give up so much just to do that. I just have to compile more and more images on my next visits.

 

Please click on a photograph to take you to the album it belongs to,or click mosaic to view the collection.

 

Enjoy each album and hope you get to experience Philippines as I did. I am looking forward for my next visit and add to these albums as I visit more islands. To all of my visitors that haven't been to the Philippines... I would like to extend an invitation to visit and enjoy the views it has to offer and feel welcome with the hospitality of the people.