Life in MegaPixels

Focus on what’s beneath the surface – there is so much more than just the pale body lying on a disco ball. This photo is screaming for attention, for care, for an untainted understanding of women and sexuality.

In this male-dominated society that we live in, a lot of times, women are not given the fair chance to be who we wanna be. More often than not, we are misunderstood, misconstrued and our judgment, often challenged. Sometimes, women are seen as mere accessories, as props to every man’s dream. We have become prey to a society that has so unwittingly labeled us 2nd rate amongst the specie.

To women like me, who don’t believe in this, this is our call. This is our journey. To struggle without fear or intimidation, to fight for our rights and to emerge victorious in our quest for equality and peace. Afterall, this too, is our world.

Every single person has this urge to runaway from things. When we feel downright depressed, we want to turn our back and just walk away from our problems. But no matter how far we go, there will always be that invisible thread that will draw us back into reality, the same thread that keeps us from straying too far away, the same thread that holds our sanity in tact.

Played around with some gels and lights, a little bit of petroleum jelly for makeup and voila… a concept I utterly love!

The Ravishing is inspired by the poem below:

The Ravishing of Lovers

A soul that is not dishevelled by your face is not a soul;
A man who fails to be enraged by your beauty-spot does not count wise man.
The ravishment of the intoxicated lovers comes from your wine,
Apart from this ravishment here my life incurs no other benefit.
The love of your face cast me forth into this desert,
A trackless waste which has no shores.
If you are a real lover sacrifice yourself
Because there is no obstacle between us
If you are the wayfarer of love, throw away your robe and prayer-rug,
Naught but love can get you to this goal.
If you are a man of heart, forsake both the mystic and ascetic;
There is no place in this assembly but for this clan.
I shall grasp the beloved’s lock of hair with a firm handhold,
Which is all I shall have to show for my imprudence.
Take my hand and free me from this hypocritical robe,
For in it there is no place except for the ignorant.
People who wander the paths of error can never
Find their way to the beloved’s mansion.

Goodbye easy days. Today marks the start of a more stressful life as I embark on a new role at work. A role which have been long overdue, and finally, there’s no more escaping the reality from biting me back. I’m not hesitant about this, I am actually looking forward to it. Now, this is finally me, getting down to business.

And with that… I leave you with some serious conceptual work I have done over the weekend.

I wonder why it’s almost always never fair… you give everything you got, you sacrifice a lot of things and what do you get?!? A knife flying across the room towards your back? Talk about sleeping with the enemy. I guess nothing is as foul as betrayal. I just hate it when I’m clueless… the question keeps on echoing in my mind… what did I do to deserve this? I guess some people just don’t like me so I gotta live with that. But friends?!? I never saw this coming. Especially from people I’ve trusted my whole heart.  I guess this is what I get for letting my guard down. Stupid me.

Now I know how you feel, Jay. I completely understand where you’re coming from. Every droplet of tear you shed – I can feel it coming to haunt me. I’ve been successful in building my wall for the past 4 years. Breaking it down has been a slow, gradual, painstaking process. But now, I regret ever doing it, every single step I made to be here. I guess it’s about time to rebuild my fortress. I don’t know where to start. But I’ll get to that.

Right now. I just need my peace of mind back.

I’m headed for work in a bit and I just thought I’d start my day by posting this… taken a long time ago, way before I knew anything about lighting.

I was at starbucks in greenbelt yesterday, waiting for my friends to show up for dinner. Good thing I had “sexy” with me, I revisited a shoot I did a long time ago, and played around with PS CS3. I thought this is something I would love to share. I actually discovered this effect by accident. Hope you like it:

I finally managed to take some time off from work and from shoots this weekend to finish Grey’s Anatomy and work on some post processing for a whole lot of photos I never managed to have a second look at. I buried myself in Photoshop CS3 the whole afternoon. Here’s one of the projects I worked on. More to come:

Our destinies may be cast in stone, but I do believe that in our heart lies the power to shape it, to change it, and to make things happen. Looking back, last year was a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. I made friends, I lost some. I made targets, I missed some. I earned more, I lost more. I learned new things, I lost interest in some. I learned to use my right brain, I felt rusty on the left. I was ridiculed, insulted, persecuted… but I survived, I grew up, I’ve changed. Photography came into my life like sunshine after the storm. 
For this year of the Fire Pig, these are my goals. Of course, this isn’t ALL of it. I have some goals too that are not too safe in this blog, so I’d rather keep them to myself.

- Meet new friends and keep the old ones
- Make friends with lost friends
- Note to self: remember to shut up if you have nothing nice to say.Always.
- Shoot more. Improve. Learn wedding photography.
- Learn more. Especially photoshop.
- Read more.
- Smile more.
- Pray more.
- Create my coffeetable book: my first year in photography
- Complete my website
- Get PMP Certified!
- Learn another technology (SAP!!! *hint! hint!*)
- Sleep less.
- Eat less – No rice! (for as long as I can help it!)
- Dream. Believe. Make things happen.
- Reach out – Volunteer to help charity
- Hit the gym! Maybe go boxing (again!)
- Get 2 bees at least
- Get an L lens or 2. (ok, 1 is enough to drain my bank account)
- Get a new body. (Hopefully, if I will win the lottery or my boss doubles up my salary!)
- Get a new tripod (now that’s hitting the sky!)
- Invest and save. 

So with that, I bid you good night! Happy new year everyone!!!

I realized I have been too busy since the day I stepped out of the plane from CDO.  Indeed, having more than enough time to sleep over the holidays was the perfect decision. At least, that allowed me to recharge and prepare myself for the unexpected series of events, chores and work that greeted me after the shutdown period.

A welcome relief that has truly helped me through this tough and busy times is “sexy”, my able and reliable dv2145TX Oh how I love it. And yes, part of what really stole my sleeping hours away is my new favorite TV Series – Heroes. I just couldn’t take my eyes off my laptop, and only now did I realize that I actually finished the whole 11 episodes in 2 days. I can’t hardly wait for the 12th episode!!!

but for now… back to Grey’s Anatomy.