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About Me

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This blog is an amateur photographer's attempt to show how beautiful the world really is. He is drawn to the colors of nature like a moth to a candle light. What are showcased here are nature's grand display of colors at sunrise and sunset, beautiful beaches and off-the-beaten track locations in his beloved Philippines, waterfalls and some of nature's great sculptures, architectural gems, and other views from around SE Asia that he was fortunate to see at one point.

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January 1, 2011

2011: its 1/1/11, a new year and a fresh start


Its a fresh start for 2011

Its the first day of 2011, a new year and a fresh start. 2010 had been a great year, full of exciting travels and new friends. Join me in looking back at the previous year's favorite photos and adventures.

January
Started 2010 with a trip to the coastal town of Alabel in Sarangani province to photograph its mangroves. Mangroves play an important part in the coastal ecosystem, and it was great to see a reforestation area in Kawas with full grown mangroves.

Strong and Sturdy
strong and sturdy

February
Found myself revisiting a favorite cove in Zambales, and setting foot on another one for the first time.

Nagsasa Evening Colors
Nagsasa evening colors

While Nagsasa is the most picturesque of the Zambales coves, Silanguin is the grandest, with a shoreline more than 3 times longer than Nagsasa.

Star Bright
Silanguin dusk

March
Its summer time and what best way to spend it than hitting the beach. Together with a group of photo enthusiasts, I visited my favorite nook in Pangasinan: the quaint fishing village of Tambobong.

As the sun goes down
sunset at Nalasin point

From the beach, I soon found myself trekking to Laguna's Hidden Falls (aka Buntot Palos) in the lakeside town of Pangil. The trek was easy, but the climb down to the falls was a challenge. On the first day there I accidentally smashed by circular polarizer on a rock when I slipped on a moss covered boulder - one of the hazards of outdoor photography

Buntot Palos

April
Summer was in full swing. I journeyed to the northern-most province in Luzon and to the southern-most province of mainland Mindanao.

Stumped
sunrise in Maasim, Sarangani

Rosy Light
rosy morning in Bangui windmills

May
High above the tree tops, I rode the most scenic zip line in the Philippines: the two segment Lake Sebu zip line.

2nd falls drop
soaring

Famous for its three lakes, the ancestral home of the T'bolis now draws adrenaline junkies.

2nd Falls
Hikong Bente falls

From the cool mountain air of Lake Sebu, it was beach time the next few days as I went around Samal island with the family in tow.

Babak Sunset
Babak sunset

June
Its difficult to find one word to describe Coron - "magical" seems understated. Its natural wonders, both below and above the sea captured the imagination of many.

Coron Colorblast
sunset in Coron

Kayangan Snorkel
Kayangan Lake

July
July was a busy month, with the demands of a new job piling up. But I was able to squeeze in a weekend on a beautiful rock off the coast of Zambales: Capones island.

Capones On the Edge Sunset
sunset on the edge

August
Its the middle of the rainy season and its best spent photographing waterfalls. The multi-layer Balagbag falls in Real Quezon was a perfect daytrip destination.

Balagbag Falls
silky Balagbag

While its rainy in Luzon, its still perfect beach weather down south in Gumasa in Glan (Sarangani province).

Gumasa Midday Sailboat
Gumasa sailboat

September
We were drawn back to the magnetic north: the province of Ilocos Norte. It was a weekend of rugged coastal seascape, waterfalls, and iconic churches.

Kapurpurawan Sunrise
Kapurpurawan rock formation

Kaangrian Tree Framed
Kaangrian waterfalls

Paoay Church at Sundown
Paoay Church

October
Its a solo trip this time to Concepcion in northern Panay. I spent a quiet weekend in Bolobadiangan Island, famous for its long sandbar.

Bolobadiangan Muted Sunset
muted sunset

Bolobadiangan Welcome Lounge
Bolobadiangan shore

Of course a trip to Iloilo is not complete without dropping by some of its heritage churches.

Miagao Church
Miagao church

November
Time for my yearly pilgrimage to Candaba wetlands, a bird sanctuary in Pampanga. Was not able to get good photos of the birds but was gifted with a beautiful sunset.

Candaba Watch Tower Afterglow
Candaba sunset

Together with several kindred spirits, I was able to visit Aurora province (long overdue) on Luzon's east coast, facing the temperamental Pacific Ocean.

Blue Steel Sunrise
moody morning in Ampere beach

Diguisit Bay
clash of the Pacific waves in Diguisit Bay

Ditumabo Falls
Ditumabo: the Mother Falls

December
The season of giving. My family and I, together with a few close friends, spent a day in a B'laan community in Bagong Silang in Linan, a small barangay at the foot of Mt. Matutum in Tupi, South Cotabato.

DSC_8630-720
hike to Bagong Silang

We distributed school supplies (courtesy of Black Pencil Project) to about 50 B'laan kids.

DSC_8645-720



DSC_8785-720
school supplies from Black Pencil Project

This community is the designated protector of the tarsier sanctuary near the village (yes, tarsiers are not exclusive to Bohol). They have stopped with their slash and burn practices to protect the thriving population of tarsiers in the nearby hills.

Tarsier: Small monkey
a tarsier in Linan

2010 had been a good year. It has a few downs, but in the end, all's well that ends well. May 2011 be even better.

This post won the Top Photo Post in the 
Philippine Blog Awards 2011.


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Lantaw
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21 comments:

bertN said...

National Geographic quality ang mga photos mo! More power to you for the New Year! Keep on shooting.

Kura said...

Wow! Monthly ang travel! Pangarap ko yan. Ikaw na ang madatung hihihi! I love your year-ender special (naks!) I hope magawa ko din ang mga nagawa mo sa 2011. Fan mo na ko agad. Happy New Year!

Lantaw said...

@bertN, Salamat :)
@Kura, kuripot ako sa byahe :D

Happy New Year to both of you!

Emoterang Kulot said...

nice photo..are you an ILonggo?..Lantaw in our term means "Watch"..

Happy new year..

Unknown said...

your photos leave me breathless! hay, ang gaganda!

Happy New Year!

Lantaw said...

@miss single mommy, yup Ilonggo ako :)

@luna, thanks! Happy New Year too!

Ferdz said...

Lots of breathtaking landscapes captured this year Allan! May you have more travels and keepers in 2011 :D

Walking on Water said...

Awesome!!!

Elal Lasola said...

I love the shots!

pinaytunay said...

amazing! thank you for transporting me with you with your narratives and photos. you are holding my dream to visit those places and capture the beauty of our beloved country through your lenses. please keep them coming.
oh, btw, what kind of camera did you use? and mind if you share your exif in those photos? thanks! :)

Lantaw said...

@pinaytunay, thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. As for the EXIF, I think you'd be able to get that in flickr (simply click the photo). I'm using a nikon D80

mikexplorer said...

i really love this site.. keep posting..

pinaytunay said...

a friend at fb shared this page to me with a note wondering what camera did you use...i wanted to tell him the camera is just a factor...the real deal is the eye and skill of the photographer in using that camera. thanks for the reply, allan. i am looking forward to see more of your photos and perhaps shoot beautiful objects like you do. God bless!

Lantaw said...

Thanks Mikexplorer!

Lantaw said...

@pinaytunay, I have been asked that several times, and i would of course politely reply :D. i think the correct questions would be what technique was used, what was the conditions at that time, etc, rather than what camera was used. for the record, my shots were taken with D50 (older shots) and for the recent ones i used an old hand-me-down D80 :D

pinaytunay said...

what is then your latest gear?
if you happen to travel again here around zambales, give me a heads up-perhaps you can tag me along :)

Lantaw said...

@pinaytunay, I'm still using that old D80, no new lenses. I shoot mosly with a sigma 10-20mm that was given to me as a gift about 3 years ago. My D50 did not agree well with seawater so it died :D

Angie said...

Unang bisita ko dito.Ang ganda ng mga photos nyo po. :)
I salute you po. :)
Keep it up. Your an inspiration to others.. :)

Lantaw said...

Thanks Angie!

Emie said...

Hello. I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of getting a screen shot of one of your photos (the first one) and posted it on my hub / article. I have provided a link to your blog and my URL link is on my name. Thank you for your approval.

Xander Lawson said...

That's a surprising number of things to do in Sarangani. Combined with the fact that I heard Manny Pacquiao runs the place, this is definitely a place I'd like to go and visit sooner rather than later.

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