A tale of two portraits: The Chef and The Actor

I had a rare chance of having two well-known personalities as subjects of my portraits. In both instances they were impromptu  mini-pictorials. I really didn't bring my strobes, softboxes, reflectors etc with me and in cases like these you have to maximize either the location's ambient light or your on-camera flash (which is a very useful gear because of its versatility).


GIUSEPPE MORISCO

It was supposed to be a media-lunch, a taste test of the restaurant's menus, I requested chef Morisco if we can have a short pictorial. 

Chef Giuseppe Morisco rose to international fame as one of the Top 10 finalists in the second season  of the  reality TV show MasterChef where people around the world saw him prepare dishes for Chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen.

Today, Morisco runs a restaurant in Costa Rica named Amici Restorante, he also manages Food Lover's Retreat which is an all-inclusive food retreat across the world's vacation spots.

Currently Morisco is teaming up with his father Gaitano "Don Beppe" Morisco", who currently resides in Davao City to open an authentic fine-dining restaurant in Davao City.

I used an on-cam flash, bounced off the restaurant's ceiling. For impromptu
photo-shoots such as these, an on-cam flash is a very necessary tool.

"I want people when they walk in here, they think they are walking in Italy." says Morisco. Aside from authentic Italian cuisine, Morisco made sure that the decor and ambiance will remind Dabawenyos about his mother land.

The 40-year old chef started professional cooking a decade ago. His passion aside from cooking is his country Italy which he will never run out of things to talk about. He said he comes from the beautiful Italian region of Puglia whose cuisine figures much in Morisco's culinary influences.

Morisco's says he had learned to love the Philippines comparing it to Costa Rica where he spends most of the year. "Davao is a beautiful town, in five to ten years it will become competitive." the Master Chef finalist describes the City.

Shot on location at Morisco, SM Lanang Premiere. 

XIAN LIM

During a mini-pictorial with Xian, I utilized window-lighting, requested the actor to
sit beside the window. For me nobody beats the quality of window light. 

Xian then living in the United States wanted to play basketball in his native land. Thus armed with a dream he went back to Manila and joined the basketball try-outs at the University of the East eventually making it to the Team B of the school's Red Warriors team.

While playing ball, a talent scout noticed him and invited him for some pictorials and the rest is showbiz history, the 6'2 forward is now a big name actor/celebrity. Basketball's loss is tinseltown's gain.

Shoot location was at Mcdonald's Bajada where Xian graced a meet-and-greet activity with fans. Xian is the ambassador of the food chain's McFloat Rainbow Medley.

His team-up with Kim Chiu is fast gaining waves, "it's the trust, we trust each other, we're comfortable with each other." Xian describes his onscreen team up with Kim Chiu whom he first worked with in the TV series  "My Binondo Girl"  Their love team is currently reaping good TV ratings with the ongoing telenovela "Ina, Kapatid, Anak." 

On the works is Kim and Xian's first film together entitled "Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo." alongside Ramon Bautista, whose book of the same title inspired the film. "Iba thinking niya, something out of the box."  Xian describes his co-star, the great Ramon Bautista.

Aside from being an actor and an erstwhile basketball player, Xian is also an accomplished musician- a pianist, not many know that he also writes and arranges some of the musical scores for Ina, Kapatid, Anak.

For Giuseppe Morisco: a lot of thanks to Marissa Te Eng Fo, Henrylito Tacio, Kelvin Lee and Dr. Escudero

For Xian Lim: a lot of thanks to EON, The Stakeholder Relations Firm, Nina Espiritu, Jolly Macachor, Mcdonald's Bajada staff and crew.

Flicks and Reruns: It Takes A Man and A Woman

The much-awaited third installment to the Laida Magtalas and Miggy Montenegro love story which began in 2008 (A Very Special Love) and in 2009 (You Changed My Life) 2013's It Takes A Man and A Woman caps off the successful cinematic pairing of Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz.

Much of the successful partnership can be attributed to JLC, he has the versatile ability to mold with the personality of his leading ladies ( Kaye Abad, Bea Alonzo, Angel Locsin, Toni Gonzaga, Sarah Geronimo even Solenn Heusaff) sparking that much-needed chemistry, a trait not shared with a present generation of matinee idols whose screen pairings are a hit-and-miss thing. In fact you can compare him to great leading men like  Christopher de Leon, Dindo Fernando, Aga Mulach and Richard Gomez.

The film takes much reference to the trilogy's first film, the more successful "A Very Special Love," sort of going back to the roots. The Montenegro business empire is crumbling with the death of the patriarch Luis Montenegro (played by Dante Rivero) and the burden of saving the family's hold on the empire hangs on the shoulders of a Montenegro bastard, Miggy Montenegro (John Lloyd Cruz) whose sole mission is to secure the license of a popular international magazine enough to impress a board and prevent a take over of a corporate rival.

Laida Magtalas (Sarah Geronimo) returns after a stint in a publishing company in New York, to serve as a consultant to the Montenegro's publishing company, hoping to make it palatable to the publishers of the international magazine. However things aren't as rosy as it seems as the former lovebirds have long separated in not so good terms.

If you like A Very Special Love then this is a wonderful follow-up film. A feel-good romantic comedy whose over-arching theme of moving on and taking second chances is a perfect evolution to the Laida-Miggy love story. Though I wish the movie could have ended during the airport scene. And I felt Sarah Geronimo acted like much a tourist rather than a jaded New Yorker during their scenes in the big apple.

Escape to enchanting Bucas Grande

Located at the northeastern flank of Mindanao under the political jurisdiction of Surigao del Norte province lies Siargao, a group of islands known much as a surfing destination. But unknown to many the Siargao isles also boasts of magnificent coves and lagoons which harbors  very scenic seascapes enough to make your jaws drop in amazement.

Photo from the internet which made me bite Alberto's invite to Bucas Grande

One of these islands is Bucas Grande, lying adjacent to the more well-known Siargao island but located much nearer to the Surigao del Norte mainland (a shorter 45-minute trip from barangay Hayanggabon in the nickel-mining town of Claver).

Bucas Grande is an irregular shaped island, the western side which faces Surigao del Norte is straddled by coves and islets, its numerous emerald-colored inlets provide not just breath-taking sceneries but is also a perfect aquatic playground where one can swim, kayak, snorkel, dive or just chill in some idyllic strips of beach strewn across these inlets.

When my friend Albert had his Shenzhen China trip cancelled due to visa problems, he immediately booked his Lenten vacation Plan B, which was a long-weekend trip to Bucas Grande, he invited me along with some of our photography co-hobbyists to join the trip. For a group of 10 we shelled around P4,500 each which basically covered all the necessary expenses for the trip which includes transportation, accommodation with meals and the tours around the island.

Ian, Alberto (trip mastermind) and Joemar

From Davao we take a 7-hour drive to the town of Claver, the jump-off point is at barangay Hayanggabon, where you take a motor launch for a 45-minute trip to Bucas Grande. There are accommodations in Hayanggabon for van drivers  where they can wait during their clients’ sojourn.

Claver town hosts one of the largest nickel mines in  the country and as you set forth to Bucas Grande one can see contrasting landscapes, the bald, brown mining mountains of Claver and the lush verdant islets of Bucas Grande.

The mountains of Claver, site of a nickel mine.

The boat took us to Tiktikan Lake Resort, which is going to be our home for the holidays. The resort had only two cottages, thus it was not really crowded and at times we felt we had an island for ourselves. Our cottage has a stunning view of a lagoon, which looks more like a lake. There one can rent a small banca and go rowing to explore the lush inlet. The sound of hornbills from the nearby forested cliffs indicated that the place is still rich not just with flora but also of fauna.

Lake Tiktikan Resort

Our cottage overlooking a lagoon

The Tiktikan Lake, where one can go kayaking in its calm waters.

The inlet all by ourselves

The emerald waters of the Tiktikan inlet provided much respite to our urban-weary bodies, hiding in a nearby cove is the Crystal caves where one can go spelunking.

The highlight of the trip was whole day island-hopping. The boat took us to beach strips, much of Bucas Grande are coves with cliffs rising up to the sea, and there are pockets of white sand beaches like the popular Marka-A (named because of an A-shaped  mark, naturally etched on the cove’s cliff) which are pit-stops for island hopping tours. Another trip was at Club Tara, a high-end resort which reminded me of a low-budgeted version of Samal Island’s Pearl Farm Resort, a breakwater cuts off an inlet which provide resort guests with their own virtual private lagoon.

At Marka-A beach. A small strip of beach tucked in a cove.

Club Tara Resort

Another stop was the jellyfish sanctuary; visitors take human-powered small bancas to the sanctuary, where boatmen will guide you to an inlet inhabited by harmless non-stinging jellyfishes. The main highlight of the island tour is a trip to the Sohoton National Park. 

Visitors exiting the jellyfish sanctuary

The Sohoton National Park can be accessed through a cave during high tide, on the other side of the cave you are greeted by scenery much more pristine and virginal than the rest of the Bucas Grande inlets since this place is more isolated than the rest of the island. It is a maze of coves and inlets, where one can get lost if you don’t have an experience guide with you. The forested cliffs is teeming with Philippine Ironwood which said to be one of the hardest hardwood in the entire world.

The cave to Sohoton

Horse-feet marker, a guide for boatmen to point the route to the cave's entrance.

The boat makes numerous pit-stops inside Sohoton, one of which is the Haggukan Cave known for the snoring sound the cave makes because of a natural vacuum. Another cave is named Magkukuob cave known for its stalactites and stalagmites, exiting Magkukuob can be done by jumping off to the inlet through one of its opening.

Our  boatman/guide said that the National Park is an enchanted place the abode of supernatural beings, during the boat ride inside the park, in the middle of a hot summer day, a sudden downpour caught us unprepared, good thing I brought along some plastic bags to shield our cameras. The boatman said the rain which seemed to occur only inside the national park was a sign of the presence of these beings.

Supernatural powers or a wonder of nature, Sohoton and Bucas Grande Island would still cast the same enchanting effect to any traveler who would wander along its coves.

Photoshoots and the photographer

I was tasked to orient the new members at our photography group on conducting photoshoots. As I prepared the materials for the talk, the topic slowly ventured into protocols and ethics, some basic do's and don'ts during the activity.

I have come across written rules on photoshoot ethics laid down by other photography groups for the benefit of their members, our group though didn't have one, but we do subscribe on to unwritten rules particularly on how we interface with  our models/subjects, co-shooters and crew.

In photoshoots, great responsibility lies within the photographer not just in taking good pictures but also that photoshoots are done right.

Here are some of the reminders which I had written down for the talk:

1. Iron out everything (logistics, compensation, accommodation, shoot concept etc) before the actual shoot.

2. As much as possible have a go-see or a look through of the model before the shoot, study or analyze her best angles and features. Let her look over your pegs.

3. In daring or risque shoots, the model must have prior knowledge of the theme before  going into actual photoshoot. Do not get underage models, if needed secure permission from parents, guardians or relatives. Agree upon a set of protocol during this kind of shoot, it must never degenerate into a free-for-all affair. 

4. If you are a photography club or a regular photoshoot group agree upon a set of protocols or ethics which will govern the behavior of the shooters.

5. Never underestimate the relevance of  conducting a background check on models, make-up artists, co-photographers, crew etc.

6. For those shooting on location, ask permission/coordinate from owners/caretakers of these locales.

7. Scout the shooting location, Keep an eye for details like permits/fees, restrictions, safety and security concerns.

8. Its okay to be practical but when it comes to the crew’s comfort and convenience perhaps you have to spend more. (food, transport etc.)

 * As much as possible do not allow your model   to multitask or be heavily involved in tasks   or chores she/he has nothing to do with

 * Take care of your model as much as you take care of your camera 

9. Photoshoot is everything about respect, earning trust and goodwill. 

10. Respect personal boundaries. Keep everything professional. Remember that any misconduct will have an impact to the photography community as well.

      *Never flirt, take  undue advantage or solicit special favors

10

5

Back to photoshoots

The past three months prior to February was quite hectic with lots of work and activities, photography had to take a back seat unless it was commissioned projects.

It was only last February when I was able to go back into photoshoots/ fun shoots. Raph convinced me to go with Joemar and his model, a colehiyala named Prexy for a shoot at the former Pawikan Sanctuary.

Prexy hails from General Santos City, she's currently studying at Ateneo de Davao

A week after our shoot with Prexy, the MCOM group held a photoshoot during the aspirants acceptance, an activity where we formally welcome the group's aspirants into the roster of regular members. Part of the activity was a brief talk by freelance stylist and writer Kristine Serrano, who had worked for Manila Bulletin's Style Weekend and Cosmo.ph. Her talk delved into the importance of styling in photography.

Kristine during the talk

On the photoshoot held during the afternoon we had models Kenny and Aubrey.

Aubrey

Kenny

Found new photography styles and techniques while working on the shoots. It's nice to be back clicking.

Davao del Norte Sports Complex

Last Monday (Feb. 25) I was invited to Tagum City for the opening of the Davao Region Athletic Association or DAVRAA.

The regional athletic meet was going to be held at the new Davao del Norte Sports Complex.

Built at a cost of P248-million, the sports facility includes tartan tracks, a 5,000 seater capacity grand-stand, modern lighting facility which enables night games, an aquatic facility plus a basketball gym.

The 11-hectare facility is located at the old sports complex in Mankilam which basically was a grassy field before the Governor decided to build a new and modern sports center.

According to Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, the sports complex is an investment for the future, more than monetary return of investments there is the intangible benefits for the youth of Davao del Norte, a facility where they can train and be molded into top athletes and productive model citizens.

The complex was built using a turn-key approach where the contractor will first shell out the money before they are paid by the provincial government after it is formally accepted by the province.

Trying out the tartan tracks. 

well-lighted field good for night games

Our gracious host Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario

The aquatic facility