Bike fanatics and photographers unite! We are joining the festivities of the 2016 Malolos City Bike Festival on February 13 and 14 (Saturday and Sunday). Focus members and applicants - and anyone else who would like to shoot with us - are welcome and permitted to witness with their cameras both days of the event. However, the first day (February 13th) will be the designated PhotoMeet day. But hey, if you'd like to shoot both days, that would be awesome! Please see the sked below for your reference. The Focus contingent will be gathering on February 13, 12:30PM for a group photo before the BMX, Scooter, and Skateboard Competition at 1PM. You are free to shoot the rest of the day (or the next day). As standard in our PhotoMeets, a contest will be held after. So bring your skills to the bike fest! Please bring sun protection. Also check our Facebook page for updates. See you at the Bike Fest! :) UPDATE : PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST Attention, Focus members and applicants. For this PhotoMeet, we will be having our regular (monthly) contest, where you submit your best photo and Focus photographers and a guest judge will vote. However, in addition to our contest, the City of Malolos has offered to sponsor another contest for Focus shooters. Please keep in mind that this is separate from the Focus contest. Please read the details below. You may submit an entry to each of the following category / event of the Malolos City Bike Festival 2016 :
Each category has its own slot in the Festival schedule (check above for the sked). The events are spread out in two days. Please plan your shooting schedule and determine which event you are going to photograph. You may join (submit an entry) in all the categories - if you could shoot each one of them. Please take note that only IN ACTION photos are going to be accepted as entries. Do NOT submit photos of the bikes in display. A panel of judges will select the winner in each category, which shall include a sports photographer, a sports website editor, and the Malolos City mayor himself, Christian Natividad. They will also select - from the pool of category winners - the "Mayor's Choice", as the best bike photo of them all. Each category winner will be awarded a Fiesta Republica trophy. The awarding ceremony will be held at the Malolos City Hall, with Mayor Natividad himself handing the trophies. The Mayor's Choice photo will also be published in the website SPIN.PH as cover photo in the Malolos City Bike Festival story. All photo entries will be considered for exhibit at next year's edition (2017) of the Bike Festival. But wait, there's more. Focus shooters who will sign up (to shoot) by Wednesday, February 10, will be provided a Photographer's ID along with packed lunch during the Bike Festival. We will forward the sign up list to the organizers by Thursday (February 11). So if you are planning to shoot, sign up. Special thanks to Sir Toti Villanueva of the City Sports and Development Office of Malolos for the tremendous support to this project. We'll see you there, Focus folks! :) Our January 2016 PhotoMeet is all about High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography. Open to Focus members and applicants. A short lecture will be offered on the basics of HDR, tackling topics like what exactly is HDR and how to shoot HDR images for optimum quality. This is entirely different from using your phone cameras and apps and relying on the kind of quality they would give your image (most of the time with halos or too much noise). Focus photographer Jer Sandel will share two HDR techniques he uses, while other Focus members may also share their own. After the sharing session, actual shoot follows. Please bring a tripod if you have one. See you on Saturday, January 30, at the Conference Room (2nd Floor) of the Bulacan Tourism Trade and Business Assistance Center (more commonly known as Pasalubong Center) at the Provincial Capitol Compound in Malolos City. The talk will promptly start at 1PM so please arrive on time. We'd like to thank the Provincial History, Arts, Culture, and Tourism Office for the big help in securing the venue. You guys are awesome! :) Focus Bulacan's Christmas Party for 2015 will be held on December 12 at our member Xaxa Torres' residence in Alido, Malolos City. All the other pertinent details are already in the poster. Early dinner will be served - with the food to be catered by Beevian Catering plus mobile bar to be provided by Cocktails Unlimited. This event is only open to members and official applicants. (Applicants, you have to send us a private message on our Facebook page to sign up for this.)
GOOD, CLEAN FUN! Celebrating this year and looking forward to a better 2016. We'll see you there! PARIANCILLO EVENTSPLACE is opening soon, offering new resort and hotel amenities. Before its public opening, they are having a photo and video contest (see poster below). In line with this, Focus Bulacan will be shooting the place on November 7 (Saturday), 3PM until nighttime. This is a good opportunity for architectural and lifestyle photography for Focus members, while also setting up their participation in Pariancillo's contest. Pariancillo is in Brgy. Cambaog in Bustos, Bulacan, a 30-minute drive from Malolos. We'll provide a Google maps link and sketch for participants. We are limiting attendance for this PhotoMeet to Focus members and a maximum of 3 applicants so as not to crowd the place for shooting purposes. We could meet up at 2:30PM at Bavarian Coffee Co. in Total gas station in Plaridel (near Toyota-Plaridel) then drive to Pariancillo. Here's the contest poster of Pariancillo Eventsplace : Focus Bulacan is not involved in handling this contest (we will be participants). For your inquiries about the contest and the place, please contact Pariancillo Eventsplace at the provided info on the poster. You may also check their Facebook page. As part of the annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk, Focus Bulacan is again organizing a photowalk in Bulacan. This year, we've decided to do it in the bustling municipality of Baliuag. October 3 (Saturday), 3PM. Meetup point is Glorietta park in Baliuag town proper. To provide a background about the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk, their press release says it best : The Worldwide Photo Walk is the world’s largest global and social photography event, and has grown immensely in size and popularity since the inaugural walk back in 2007. Last year alone, over 30,000 photographers of all walks of life and skill levels took to the streets to explore their corner of the world through photography. The concept of a walk is simple. Walks are created by Walk Leaders in cities all over the world. Interested participants sign up on the official website, meet at the designated locations – downtown areas, zoos, business parks – and spend about two hours socializing, capturing images and sharing amongst like-minded individuals. After the walk, groups convene at local restaurants or taverns to continue with photo sharing and networking. In addition to enjoying a day of photography, participants will also have the option of uploading their favorite picture to the Photo Walk contest for a chance to win a one-year subscription to KelbyOne.com, along with many more amazing prizes, including a Grand Prize winner and 10 finalists selected by Scott Kelby. Since our photowalk roster filled up REALLY fast, we have organized an additional photowalk to accommodate more participants. So yes, we're having not just one but TWO photowalks in Baliuag. If interested, please SIGN UP here (Walk 2 with slots still available as of this posting) : http://kelbyone.com/photowalk/walk/baliuag-central-luzon-philippines-2/ (Photowalk 1 is already FULL : http://kelbyone.com/photowalk/walk/baliuag-central-luzon-philippines/) Walk leaders are Focus officers Jer Sandel and Chi Lopez. Please check your photowalk page from time to time for updates and instructions. We'll also post updates on our Facebook page. One big fun. See you on October 3! :) Two events in one! A rock concert headlined by Bamboo with the front acts by Bulacan bands. After the music fest, the event will shift to a grand fireworks display, the Pasiklaban, to be participated in by Bulacan's top fireworks manufacturers. The venue will be the Bulacan Sports Complex in Malolos. Concert is slated to start by 6PM, with Pasiklaban at 10PM. Hopefully, the schedule holds up (but we doubt it). Don't forget to bring a tripod to shoot the fireworks! Free concert tickets for Focus members. See you there! Click the photo below to view the full calendar of Singkaban Festival activities. Focus Bulacan's buddy-shooting challenge is now on its 3rd year. Everything's the same, nothing new with the mechanics, so we're just copy-pasting from last year : Focus Portrait Project serves three purposes: - Provide each participating Focus member their own portrait taken by a fellow-Focus member - Give members a prime opportunity to test their creativity, imagination, and portrait-photography skills - Build “cameraderie” among members How is this done? We’re sure all of us are familiar with Christmas exchange gifts (monito-monita). Focus Portrait Project will be done almost the same way. The big difference is, we’re not giving out gifts, but giving each other portraits. 1. All Focus members have to join the Project. Exceptions are those who are based abroad. (Only official Focus members are allowed to join this activity.) 2. Participating members will have their names included in a lot. Two Focus officers will pick one name each from the lot. The two names that they pick will be paired to become partners/buddies in the Project. The officers will keep on picking two names at a time until all of the names have been picked. 3. The pairing WILL NOT be announced publicly. The officers will privately inform the members who they have been paired with. 4. Each pair has a common task : photograph each other using your own concept, style, and taste. In other words : your partner will be your model, and you will be his/her photographer. Then you will also be his/her model, and he/she will also photograph you. Work both ways. 5. Once you find out who your partner is, we ask that you keep it between the two of you. You then coordinate and talk about how, when, and where you will do the shoot. 6. DO NOT POST the final photos or behind-the-scenes just yet, to keep the suspense. All the photos will be presented during Focus Bulacan’s Christmas Party. 7. All the photos will be put to a vote, with the top photo's photographer and model to be given special prizes. The Focus Portrait Project will also count toward the point system for our Photographer of the Year competition. 8. Keep in mind that the photos will be included in the members’ profiles. So do your best to present your fellow Focus members in a good light. Funny or unusual presentation of your fellow member is accepted, as long as it does not demean the individual. Create a portrait that your partner will be proud of. 9. In effect, we have more than four months to do this project (August-December). So schedule with your partner accordingly. Let’s avoid cramming. Four months is a lot of time. For our August photomeet, Focus Bulacan is trekking to Binondo, Manila for a street photography walk. And to help guide our members in shooting the streets, our friends from Filipino Street Photographers and Litratista sa Daan will join us. Attendees will be divided into small groups of 3 to 4, with each group to be led by an FSP or DAAN shooter.
This will happen on Friday, August 21 - a holiday! Meetup is at the front of Quiapo Church at 7:30AM. After taking a group picture, the photowalk will commence at 8AM and end at 11AM. We will then converge at an endpoint, have lunch and exchange of ideas. An online contest featuring Focus members' photos will be held after the walk, with a panel of FSP and DAAN photographers as judges. The Top 3 placers will win a photography book each. We advise you to wear light and shoot light. Comfortable clothes and footwear, preferably dark top and avoid wearing bright-colored shirts so as not to invite attention. The key is staying "invisible" as much as possible. For gear, one camera and one lens will do, preferably in the 24mm-50mm focal range for full-frame, while for cropped sensors something around 18mm-30mm should work well for your composition. Focus members will have their own transportation arrangements for this trip. Outsiders are very much welcome to join, but we couldn't arrange your transpo for you. If you have questions, drop us a message in our Facebook page. See you there, street folks! :) We are celebrating our second anniversary with a BIG event on July 18 and 19. See you at Robinsons Place Malolos for our Black & White Photo Exhibit, photography talks, and other activities. Please check more details at our dedicated exhibit page : http://www.focusbulacan.com/exhibit.html. The event to conclude our Rockband Challenge. Good food, great fun, and awesome music. June 27 at Surf Burger Bar in Malolos. Featuring some of Bulacan's top bands that we collaborated with in the Challenge photoshoots : Another Jackass Project, Blare, Defying Hades, Hesitations, Kissing Scarlet, Lunar Lights, and Promissory Note. The photos will be unveiled during each band's stage performance. The winner of the Challenge will then be announced after the show. This event is open to the public. See you there! |
Save The Date!
All official Focus Bulacan PhotoMeets and activities are posted here. Take a look at which upcoming events fit in your schedule. Save the date and see you there!
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