Everything Under The Tropical Sun

I just hate dealing with people who claim to know what they want but can’t make up their darn minds!

HATE! HATE! HATE!

I mean COME ON… 13 revisions later and you’re still asking us to revise??? You’re not the only client we have you know. We also have other clients who are more deserving of our attention. Other clients who PAY ON TIME. I mean the least you can do is to pay on time right?!

Remember I mentioned that I transferred departments? Well, I now belong to a design firm. The printing company I worked in partnered up with a well established local design firm. So from design it’s straight to printing. It’s a service we’d like to offer our existing clients to make it easier for them to brand their businesses and for other more established clients to help them manage their brand.

So I’m here now. We offer a variety of services like conceptualizing an ad and/or marketing campaign, art/creative direction, video production and photography. It should be a fun job right? And to be honest, it is. It really is… but it’s these type of clients that makes me think twice.

I don’t know how this is handled by other design firms. From what I know, when a client doesn’t pay properly, then they’re scratched from their client list. I think that’s the right way to go. I mean, sure, they’re a huge company but they haven’t paid in almost a year. They paid some of their invoices but not the ones that were delivered a year ago.

I wrote about working on my husband’s birthday and how pissed I was. IT’S THE SAME CLIENT! I don’t know why we’re “condoning” these people. It seems to one of our bosses that they’re ESSENTIAL clients to have. “It’s good for the portfolio…” And in the eternal words of Alicia Silverstone in Clueless: “Whateveeer…!” But what can I do? I must follow. When they’ll hit their heads and wake up, I dunno. I hope sometime soon.

So what did I do? I apologized. Dang. Hated it. But HAD to do it because no matter what happens, the rule of thumb is the client is ALWAYS right. So there. My apology. Half-hearted but with a heart nonetheless. Because I did blow up on them. The pressure was on yesterday. Too many things happening all at once, I couldn’t cope emotionally.

Now, I dug my own hole. I have to bounce back from this with a vengeance. So I’m going to have to devise my action plan all over again. But I hate these spaghetti minded clients (when all their thoughts are as many as the noodles in a pack). For heaven’s sake, make up your minds already!!!

Sony DSC-T7, f/7.1 1/125, ISO 64, 17mm

Two years ago, a bunch of us decided to go out of the city and do some sightseeing. First, we were only supposed to go to Dumaguete and stay at a friend’s farm… but that seemed too boring and we were aching to see something new. That was when Apo Island was suggested. None of us has ever been there so we all agreed to go on to a little adventure.

We still stayed over at a friends’ farm. Before you go on thinking that we were frolicking among chickens and cows. Let me get it straight that we were at a cock farm (shame on those who had naughty pictures in their heads!).

Cock-fighting, a brutal “sport”, is a favorite “sport” in most provincial areas of the Philippines (which is about 70%). Derby/ies (it’s like the Olympic equivalent for cock fighting) are held from time to time and big money could be won. Sometimes in the tune of P10 Millon. But raising fighting cocks doesn’t necessarily equate to big money… it’s more of the prestige of raising champion fighting cocks. And that was what the farm was all about.

So there we were, in Dumaguete, about 4 hours drive and 45 minute ferry ride from Cebu… and we had this whole plan of going about town and drinking to our hearts’ content but instead, we ended up staying at the farm and hanging out with each other. Which, in my opinion, is much more fun. The highlight of the day was the wonderful and yummy silvanas we bought locally. I never tasted something so yummy!

We woke up quite early the next day and headed for Zamboanguita. It’s about an hour drive from Dumaguete and there we were supposed to ride on a boat from the fishing village of Malapatay. I’m used to big pump boats from Cebu so imagine my surprise when we boarded a tiny fishing boat that’s supposed to carry all 6 of us excluding one boat man to the tiny volcanic island. One of us even had to stay at the front end because we lacked space.

But all is well. We made it to the island in one piece and to be honest, my first impression of a supposedly beautiful island wasn’t a nice one. I was mentally complaining that I didn’t think I’d have fun in a place that looked like that. It didn’t have a white sandy beach, instead it had these huge course broken corals from the sea… the ones that turn into sand. Maybe in a century or so, it’ll have a very beautiful sandy beach front. But not when we were there.

We then proceeded to Liberty’s Lodge. One of two (I repeat, TWO) resorts in the island… settled in and surveyed our surroundings. Our room was actually quite nice. It had a spectacular view of the sea. And best of all, we all fit comfortably! The first thing the boys did was to order a couple bottles of beer while talking over what to do next.

Two in our group were certified divers but one is pregnant. As for me and the rest… well, we’ve never tried. My husband wasn’t really in THAT an adventerous a mood so I backed out since I was the only one interested in learning. That leaves snorkeling. We all (minus the pregnant woman, of course) went out and snorkelled. I was so amazed on how many things we were able to see. And our highlight was a sea turtle! Our guide told us that we were so lucky because it was indeed a very rare sight.

We then proceeded to one of the many marine sanctuaries on the island. There we saw a school of jack fish, beautiful fan corals, other corals that are really very beautiful and colorful. It was so wonderful to see how the marine life in this little island is thriving.

We snorkelled the afternoon away and was understandable that by the time we went up to our room, we were very, very hungry. We made arrangements with the hotel that we’d get a package deal: the room + board. So they cooked for all six of us. It felt and tasted like home-cooked meals. Which was so comforting.

It was during meal time that we got to interview the people who lived there. We found out that the island is protected by numerous local laws. One being is only a person local to the island could own property and do business there. There’s also restrictions in fishing… they’re only allowed to fish a number of meters away from the island. Some species of ocean creatures are protected from being fished and no commercial fishing is allowed in the area.

Isn’t it wonderful that na island as small as Apo can be so aware of what they have and their responsibility to protect it? I remember why I haven’t given up hope on my fellow Filipinos. They’re out there, a great handful fighting to protect the oceans that feed us all.

Nikon D80, f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 200, 95mm

I wrote about how much I love my Nikon D80 and because of that love, I definitely bought some accessories right away. The very first few accessories that I bought were:

1. Camera Bag
(My camera came with a CRAPPY bag… I think I threw it away. It was THAT crappy! I didn’t find any other use for it.)

2. Extra Battery Pack
(I discovered that I should not have been in a hurry to buy an extra battery pack because when we took photos of an event… I was going around for over 3 hours, taking photos, and I only consumed two bars. I took a total of 357 photos that night. But at least I can drain one pack and leave it to charge while I have an extra one to use so it’s still all good)

3. Extra Memory Card
(This buy is especially useful since I shoot in RAW format. I won’t listen to anyone who suggests I just shoot in fine jpeg format ever again. It’s really different when you edit RAW files. You’ll have more control over the photograph. So RAW files use up a lot of space. But don’t go and buy big capacity memory cards. I’d advise to buy a lot of 2gig cards instead.)

4. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-S
(The cheapest Nikkor lens ever! But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is compromised. Surprisingly, it takes beautiful and crisp pictures… and wonderful Bokeh… gorgeous. A must have for any nikon user.

That’s basically it. That’s what I bought so far and isn’t it oh so clear that I’m on a budget? On a budget but wouldn’t sacrifice price for quality, I hope.

Now, I have this little list of things I’m going to get next. It took me a huge amount of research too… and there are some things on my wishlist that I really haven’t made up my mind on. Maybe you can help me. Feel free to make suggestions.

My wishlist (in the order of my affordability. ):
1. MB-D80 Battery Grip
2. Tripod + Ballhead (Haven’t decided on which…)
3. Micro-Nikkor AF 105mm f/2.8 D (for portrait, macro shots)
4. Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 G IF-ED VR (for zoom shots… events)
5. Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED N (for wide shots)

It’ll take me five years to get all of these lenses… but it’s the anticipation and the excitement that makes it fun… just imagining what could be captured by a beautiful lens. I just can’t wait, though.

Nikon D80, f/5.6, 1/30, ISO 800, 135mm

If you’ve noticed, during the past 3 weeks, I’ve been posting wordless days… my effort in turning this blog into a semi-photoblog. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a whole page out of my [Photoblog/Wordless Days] category and I remember seeing a plug-in that does just that. But silly me, I didn’t at least bookmark the page. Now I’m spending countless hours trying to find it again (if you have the site, please save me the trouble and kindly email the link to me or post it in the comment section of this entry, it’ll be much appreciated!).

So anyway, on to my topic of the day: my beloved D80.

I can’t believe how much I’ve been in the dark with my little point and shoot. Though it still has its uses and it is convenient to lug that around instead of a D-SLR, there’s much more freedom in terms of taking pictures with a D-SLR. There’s so many things you can adjust to get just the right image.

The ergonomics is also phenomenal. I can adjust the aperture and shutter speeds quite easily. I tried using my friend’s Canon 400D and the lengths that I have to go through to adjust settings were so confusing after using my Nikon D80 for about a month. It just goes to show that using it is much easier.

The colors in produces are just divine. I love the vibrant colors (but of course, I used a third party software to edit it) and with a little tweaking, I have so much more control over everything.

And to top it all off, I bought these cool lenses not too long after I bought my D80. Teach, my dear friend, pointed out how I love using my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 too. In his words, I’ve been on a “rampage” with it. For a little over $200, these lenses are so cheap (compared to others) that its image quality was such a pleasant surprise. He told me to display my EXIF information, and I will do just that… in a week or so. (I know, Teach. I should do this NOW.)

So to anyone who’s thinking of getting a D-SLR as an upgrade from a point and shoot… GET A NIKON D80!!! You won’t regret it. But if you’re a serious hobbyist, I heard the D700 is simply exceptional… kinda pricey though but they say the picture quality (if it’s THAT important to you) is simply superb. Go on! Get your Nikon now!

Nikon D80, f/1.8 1/125, ISO 160, 50mm

I just love this nifty service from Smart. It’s a wireless internet connection service with a usb modem.

I’ve been using this at home. Though it’s not the fastest internet connection in the Philippines, a landed cable is still much faster, my purpose for simple email, uploading photos and posting entries, it’s more than enough.

My only complaint is that I often get disconnected and they charge by the block. Meaning, they don’t charge per minute. It’s per 30 minutes… and if you get disconnected and failed to reconnect within 12 minutes of getting disconnected, you’ll be charged another block. It’s about P10/30-minute-block. It’s not that expensive either.

It could be, though, if I’m logged on the whole day. So now, I’m thinking of getting the subscription. I don’t think I’m going to wait for PLDT any longer. It’s taking them FOREVER to connect our DSL line at home. The only downside is that we can’t network this type of internet connection. So only one of us (my husband and I) can connect to the internet at any given point in time.

I still love it, though. It gave me my blogging mojo back! I’m so happy! (I just borrowed this by the way, so I guess I’ll have to give it back at some point soon…). Anyway, I highly recommend this nifty little gadget for those on the go.

Nikon D80, f/1.8 1/20, ISO 640, 50mm