Reflections of a Bamboo Fence

Starting this week I’ll be featuring photos available for print every Wednesday. For this week it is “Reflections of a Bamboo Fence“.

High Quality Print is available Here. Prints are done by the professional Bay Photo Lab and can be shipped anywhere in the world.

Photo is property and copyright Ferdz Decena

Backpack Photography Batanes 2012

Join our 3-island Photo Tour and Workshop.
Explore the verdant sights of Batan.
Spend an overnight on serene Sabtang.
And venture to the wilder coasts of Itbayat.
Experience Batanes in a new light.

See details here at Backpack Photography!

Servier with doctors at La Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Bataan

Yesterday, I had a pleasant roadtrip to Bagac, Bataan. This was for a Travel and Landscape Photography Lecture to be held at La Casas Filipinas de Acuzar for Servier and their doctor clients at The Medical City. It was just a short lecture but a fun one since I could see the doctors were very enthusiastic about the topics discussed. We drove after to Sisiman Bay but I wasn’t able to shoot as much. Sisiman in Mariveles has marvelous landscape that I would like to visit again some time soon, same with La Casas. But in the mean time Iwould like to thank Servier for the opportunity to do a lecture and the doctors for attending. It was my pleasure.

SMUG Metro Manila group hug last night

It was an exciting night for us co-leaders, Tracey Heppner and Me. It started with an idea of bringing the exciting SMUGs community here in the Philippines which is really popular in the Europe and USA. And finally officially launching it here was a really exciting endeavor. It was really an informal night of getting to know each other during the launch but it was the groundwork that would lead to other exciting activities for the coming months.

Tracey and the participants at the SMUG Meet at AIM

We thank the 18 guests who joined us that night. I thought it was a pretty good turn-out of participants. We would also like to thank Juned of Blog and Soul who helped us secure the venue at AIM. SMUGs Metro Manila is here and we’re the first in South East Asia. Expect exciting things to happen so join us if would like to learn more about this new Photography Community.

You can like our Facebook SMUG Metro Manila and join our MeetUp Site for those real time alerts!

Dinner Kwentuhan after the meet

Participants at the Basic Photography Workshop

This is a bit late but I would like to thank the Doctor’s of Dipolog for participating in a Basic Photography Workshop organized by Nestle Philippines last September 11. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with you guys. It’s great you people are really enthusiastic in Photography. Many thanks as well to the Nestle folks there for the being a gracious host and letting me do this Photo Workshop.

Am excited to do another Photo Workshop again on Travel and Landscape  this October in Bagac, Bataan for another group of Doctors.

SMUGs Metro Manila

Yep you heard it right! SmugMug is coming to Manila for the first time and we’d like you to be a part of it. Best of all, its FREE!

Join us on September 30, 2011, Friday at AIM (Asian Institute of Management) in Makati, 7-9pm as we hold our first SMUGs (SmugMug Groups) meet in Metro Manila.

What to expect? Co-leading with me will be the awesome wedding destination photographer Tracey Heppner. We’ll both talk about our photography and share why we organized a SMUGs here in Metro Manila. At the same time we hope to hear from you too! We’ll also share what’s in line for the group every month starting from the first meet till next year.

If you’re interested to join us SIGN UP HERE! Like our SmugMug Metro Manila Facebook Page as well for additional details.

What the hell is a SMUGs you ask? Here’s a description from their website:

Do you dream in megapixels? Would you consider giving up a kidney for a Canon 5D Mark II?

You’re not weird. You’re one of us.

And we think you’d fit right in at a SmugMug User Group (SMUG), a mug-to-mug gathering of photographers like you.

A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share your passion. It’s also how we can tell you what’s happening in our world and discover what’s happening in yours. SMUGs are a great way to connect with other photographers and add a few weapons to your creative arsenal.

and so what will happen at these SMUG meet-ups? well…..

Things to Expect at a SMUG
You Learn: Guest speakers will light up the room with their wisdom for shooting great images and making money with photography.

You Talk: Make contacts and connect with other pros in the know. Monthly meetings set the stage for infinite opportunities.

We Listen: SMUG leaders stay in close contact with SmugMug and share your requests and gripes with our team. We also love photography as much as you, so be prepared to spot a Smugger at your local meeting.

sounds pretty amazing, right? now what is the catch? well here is what is NOT the catch:

Things You Will Never Do
• Open your wallet: Save your money for new gear. SMUGs are free.

• Sign up for anything: There are no commitments, no requirements and no vacation timeshare offers here.

• Hold hands and sing Kumbayah: We love ya… but not that much.

so what will you bring to SMUG other than yourself and maybe a friend or two? let me tell you:

• Friends. Relatives. Strangers.
• Ideas: Good. Bad. Crazy.
• Toys: Make us drool.
• You: Drop in. Talk shop.

Save the Children Mission Postcard

I had the pleasure of working with the Philippine chapter of the worldwide NGO Save the Children a couple of years back but wasn’t able to post some details. We took several photos of schools and children where the organization had projects. What’s interesting about the work aside from interacting with the local communities is I had to shoot full Hi-res JPEGs since the client was strict about “untouched” photos and most of the children they would use for their materials need model releases from their parents. I’ve recently uploaded some of my selected photos from the hundreds I shot there. You can see them at the Save the Children Gallery.

Vision Postcard

General postcard