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While waiting for our bill at Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria earlier this evening, I decided to take photos outside the restaurant since the place has a good vantage point of Iloilo City’s busiest intersection. With a mini-tripod at hand, I was playing around with my camera’s settings trying to take 15-second exposures of the night traffic. My point-and-shoot had no manual controls so I had to experiment  with different scene modes while tweaking what I can in the ISO and shutter speed settings.

While I snapped some shots of a group of policemen across the intersection, a man approached me from behind and asked if I was taking pictures of the policemen. Well, obviously, but I told him I was taking pictures of anything. Indeed, from a photographer’s point of view, it is very normal to be taking pictures of anything at any time. But this man asked me the same question again. Then another man came, then another. They kept asking me questions.

“What are you taking pictures of? The Policemen?” “Are you from the media?” “Where are you going to use your pictures?” “Are you a student?” “What are you going to do with your pictures?” “What are you taking pictures of?” [questions translated from Hiligaynon]

I tried to answer their questions.. “No, I’m not from the media… I have a flickr and a photoblog in the internet… I’m a student from UP [didn't bother to explain I work at the same time].. I take pictures of anything..” However, they just seemed to repeat their questions and they were now surrounding me. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 1% [?]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1/TZ6

I’ve had my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 (aka TZ6) for over 40 days  now. I will be giving my impressions here for the benefit of those who are considering to buy this product. As early as now, I want to let you know that this digital camera is very much excellent! Read on for the rest of my review. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]

It’s been months since I started to want to replace my Pentax Optio S5Z. I’ve had it for more than 2 years now and in my disk I have almost 30,000 photos and videos taken by. It was a camera with good features and satisfactory image quality, but recently it’s photos have started to deteriorate. The camera repair shop told me there’s moisture on its sensor and fungi on the lens. They’re charging me P2,500 to clean it! I guess it’s time to get a new camera.
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Popularity: 7% [?]

Another case of photos being ripped off the internet. I’m posting it here because the photo involved is mine. The culprit? Most likely someone from the Iloilo Provincial Capitol.

I and some online friends ventured into the Iloilo Capitol one day to take pictures of the sleek building and the panoramic views from its balconies. I’ve done it before so the views were already familiar to me. However, one familiar sight bothered me. It was the sight of the Iloilo Governor’s poster on the lobby wall.

Governor Neil Tupas' poster in the Capitol

There was that state of déjà vu. I felt like I have seen the image in the background before. I felt that it was mine. But I wasn’t sure since it’s been about two years since I took a photo like that. Somebody else could have just taken a similar angle, who knows? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 24% [?]

At the Blood Compact tourist site in Bohol, Philippines.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I was on my way to Cebu for a school field trip last week. As usual, I was taking photos of the little details of  the beautiful Iloilo Airport. I was taking pictures of the LCD screens while waiting in line at the check-in counters when, again, I noticed something eerily familiar.

The display of an LCD TV at the Iloilo Airport with the 'suspect' photo at the lower right corner

To my utter disbelief , one of the rotating photos on the LCD display looked just like one of my airport photos I posted on the internet! I briefly mentioned it to a classmate, Noel, who was with me but  I soon brushed aside the thought that someone again used my photo off the internet without permission. The airport should be able to take photos of their own building! Perhaps the angle was just similar?

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Among the useful features of Picasa 3 is the ability to add watermarks to your photos. There are two ways of doing this. Automatically and manually.

Watermark photos automatically

This method is easier but has some limitations. You can set Picasa to automatically watermark photos with a line of text every time you export them to your own computer or upload them to Picasa Web Albums.

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Popularity: 50% [?]

Google officially launched the beta version of Picasa 3 today and it’s packed with super cool new features!

Most interesting among the new features is the face recognition technology that automatically groups similar faces together. I hope this will save me hours of looking for specific faces in my hundreds of folders! There’s also a new watermark feature, something I’ve been hoping Picasa would have. There’s also the Picasa Photo Viewer that lets you preview photos without having to totally open Picasa. The new release also carries a better integration with Picasa Web Albums that allows you to automatically sync changes. Of course there are new and better photo enhancing tools such as auto-retouch, auto-red eye correction. Improved movie, collage, and slideshow creation are also in the pack and there’s so much more!

I’ve been using Picasa for years now. These exciting new features in Picasa 3 are sure to add another dimension in my organization of the tens of thousands of photos in my computer. I’m downloading my copy to “get my hands dirty” with all the new features. You want your own copy too? Get it here, quick!

Popularity: 3% [?]

How would you feel if, while entering the largest mall in your city, you see posters at the main entrance bearing a particularly familiar photograph? It isn’t the main element of the poster, but seeing the little photo immediately brings flashes of memory that in a split-second lead you to realize – THAT PHOTO IS MINE!!!

I decided to go to SM City Iloilo this afternoon to try to buy some stuff. As I approached the entrance, a large poster caught my attention. Its title “1st Indigenous Fashion Market Week” made me feel glad of the continuing efforts to promote the local weaving industry. Then I spotted something eerily familiar.

Someone ripped off my photo!

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Popularity: 4% [?]