Aside from the interesting topics in our photojournalism course, there are also other things that caught my attention during the week-long class at the Ateneo de Manila Univesity two weeks ago.

I was amazed by one of our classmates whom at first glance you could hardly believe that he is one of the good photojournalists in the class. While some of the young photojournalists are like very much obsessed with their digital cameras, this guy is opposite. You would see him carrying Leica film camera around his neck wherever he goes. Some young photographers are ashamed of carrying their film cameras, but not this lanky classmate of ours.

When we had our dinner together at the fast food along Katipunan. Avenue, he shared to me how he survives in the urban jungle of Metro Manila. I couldn’t believe he’s sleeping wherever he gets sleepy – parks, internet cafes or coffee shops. Worst, he would only eat if he’s starving already. I can’t say if he has no money because he’s earning as photojournalist.

Look at the staff box of Newsbreak Magazine if who’s their staff photographer – its Buck Pago,20 years old. He quite naive somteimes, but good photorjournalist.

Buck Pago during the anti-SONA rally coverage along Commonwealth Avenue. Photo by Keith KP Bacongco

Me and the late Gene Boyd Lumawag at the old Mindanews office in Juna Subdivision, taken four months before he was gunned down in Jolo.  Check his photo gallery here. This photo was taken by Jowel Canuday before we left for Carmen, North Cotabato to cover the first RP-US military exercise in Central Mindanao.

He’s a rice vendor, he’s gotta a lot of rice…and yet he’s eating noodles. Life’s like that. It’s quite the same with carpenters who can’t even fix his own house, painters who could hardly paint their self-portrait and doctor’s who can’t cure their own diseases!

I’ve been in Manila over a dozen times but it was only last July 22 when I was able to pass by the Manila City Hall at night. I’ve never been in this area before especially at night. I was with my friend Toto Divino that evening, we were from Manila Bulletin’s office. I picked up my camera bag from Albert Garcia.

The city hall looks nice to me. But I don’t know how nice it is inside and how nice are the people working in the city hall. Maybe it’s quite nice now than the previous administration.

Yes, piksel! Visaya for Pixel. It’s my photoblog that contains images from different parts of Mindanao. Some of the images are my assignments at school. We were required to post the some of the photos in our photoblogs.

The site is powered by Pixelpost. I just modified the banner. You can download the software here for free. The software comes with 3-4 templates, it can be modified using any html editor. So far, it’s one of the best photoblogging software I’ve ever seen.

So what’s the difference between a photoblog and photo gallery? According to Wiki.Photoblogs:

Photoblogs and galleries both display images on the web. Because they share some similar attributes, they are often confused with each other, but there are certain characteristics that distinguish the two.

A gallery is basically just a collection of images. Often times galleries are sorted into different categories or albums to make the images easier to view. A gallery may have the images sorted by date or it may not. Having dates isn’t required to be considered a gallery.

I really like this photo of Mindanews’ reporter Froilan Gallardo. The composition is great. Everything is there. The quality of light is good, it adds drama to the photo especially inside this mosque.

This is the caption of the photo:
Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters leave their shoes and sandals as they pray inside the mosque of Imam Al-Kanul, the 69-year-old leader killed along with 14 Philippine Marines and five rebels in Barangay Guinanta, Al-Barkah, Basilan last July 10. The beheading of 10 of the 14 Marines and the killing of the Imam is being investigated by a joint fact-finding team composed of government and MILF representatives.