We're embarking on a food trip! All ten food establishments featured on Ang Pinaka-Yummy Sa Bulacan in one day. Yes, all ten. Yes, in one day. It will be a whole-day activity, so get yourselves ready as we hunt down the following food establishments : - Hapag Restaurant and Events Place - Bistro Malolenyo - Kabisera - Pepper's Grill - La Familia Sizzlers and Restaurant - Lee Foo Panciteria - Our Kitchen : Where East Meets West - Kalye Mabini - Nina's Fried Itik Restaurant - Citang's Eatery Empty your stomach, we're going to eat a lot. And don't forget your cameras! We're going to find out if their food is as yummy as they look. (Tip : Don't eat breakfast, because we're going to start the food trip with breakfast.) The exact itinerary will be provided for those officially signed up for the event. A van will be rented for transportation. Focus official members are prioritized, but non-members are allowed to sign up, but limited to only 3 slots. See you on August 30! Meeting place is McDonald's-BSU in Malolos. We leave promptly at 7AM. It's back. We had so much fun doing it last year that we're doing it again this 2014. Get ready for this year's Focus Portrait Project! It's a buddy-shooting challenge that will test Focus members' portrait-shooting skills. We'll just repeat the details from last year. This is what the Project is all about : 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 3 photos 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. Drawing of names will be held on August 3. We shall start informing participants about their partners immediately after. 10. In effect, we have more than five months to do this project (August-December). So schedule with your partner accordingly. Let’s avoid cramming. Five months is a lot of time. Here's how last year's Focus Portrait Project turned out : http://www.focusbulacan.com/contest/the-focus-portrait-project Hopefully, everyone gets to join this time! Have fun shooting. May the best portrait win! :) (For questions and other concerns, state them in the Facebook comment box below.) On July 13 2013, Focus Bulacan was officially founded. Fast forward to a year later, we're established and having a lot of fun. We've taken a ton of photos as a group. To cap our first year together, let us exhibit our best and favorite photos! [FOCUSED], our group's anniversary exhibit, will be held on July 12 and 13 at the ground floor activity area of Robinsons Place in Malolos. The opening will be at 10:30AM of July 12, with guest of honor Edwin Martinez, landscape photographer par excellence, instructor, and Canon brand ambassador. The exhibit will be open during mall hours of the said dates. Focus Bulacan members will be present at the duration of the display, so this will be a good time to talk photography if you have comments or questions. We promise to try to answer your queries the best we can. We also have some contests lined up, offering mini prizes, so stay tuned for that. For now, let us share the official event poster : We'll let you know of updates. Hope to see you there! Bring your cameras, let's have fun! :) Let's do macro photography in a studio! With controlled lighting, clear background, and ample time to compose and get your close-up shots. But before shooting, we will also learn the intricacies of oil and water photography, with a video tutorial to be provided by Focus Bulacan member Amen Alcoriza. Participants are required to bring a macro object/subject of their own, something really small and with interesting miniscule details (yes, flowers or insects are allowed, if you can). Each will shoot what they bring, and our photocontest entries will be coming from those photos. So make sure you have something with visual impact. Macro lenses and accessories will be shared. Shooters will take turns and be given exclusive time to use the macro gear and studio lights. Everything in organized fashion, the Focus Bulacan way. See you on Saturday, June 21, 3PM at Bluprint Studio! :) For May 2014, we take a break and give way to our summer activity - the Focus SummerFest! We will not be having a PhotoMeet but instead will hold a summer event intended for fun and bonding among members. Save the date - May 10 (Saturday), 8AM until the evening. Venue is The Camp in Brgy. Pritil, Guiguinto, Bulacan (Google map will be provided to attendees). The place will be exclusive to Focus for the whole day. Take note that this is not an overnight event. All members are encouraged to join. Official members and applicants who have previously attended a PhotoMeet may attend. Please arrive on time so we can also start on time. Bring swimwear and extra clothes. Food will be potluck but on assignment basis (this is to minimize expense and avoid excess food). Videoke and alchohol will only be allowed 5PM onwards, once the program and activities have been finished. Drivers are strongly discouraged to consume alcohol. There will be games and a team competition. Details and grouping will be revealed on-the-spot, so as to keep the suspense. Focus officers will serve as facilitators and thus not join the games. Expect the unexpected. What you can expect is that it will be a day of food, music, contests, and surprises. We'll see you there! :) UPDATE : Coinciding with our SummerFest is the first-ever Focus Jam Fest! A roster of Focus Bulacan members will provide entertainment and showcase their voice and musical talents. The official poster below (note the stage pseudonyms of the members) : Going to be a lot of fun! See you at the Summer/Jam Fest! Cheers! :) Our April 2014 PhotoMeet will be a special challenge : shooting exclusively with a 50mm lens. Photo composition using a fixed focal length (and considered a telephoto when attached to a cropped sensor camera body) requires better creativity and zooming in and out with our feet. The Shootout challenges the participants by leaving them with no choice but to shoot using the same handicap (a fixed focal length). Only 50mm lenses will be allowed. Lens maximum aperture doesn't matter. NO FULL-FRAME CAMERAS ALLOWED, since full-frame users will benefit from a wider focal length because of the absence of the crop multiplier. A rented vehicle will transport participants to and from the shooting locations (UP Diliman and Quezon City Circle). The group leaves Malolos at 8AM sharp for UP Diliman, with an ETA of 9AM. The shooters will disperse and be free to roam and shoot on their own for two hours, then head back to a designated meeting point. Group will have lunch, move to QC Circle for another two-hour shoot before heading home to Bulacan. Other details will be discussed on the day itself. Get your gear ready, bring sun protection and an extra shirt. If you already have the Focus sleeve shirt, the better for your arms. See you! What better way to share post-processing techniques than an on-the-spot demonstration? That's what exactly we will do in Darkroom Exchange, a night of sharing processing workflow and tips. The deal is straightforward : you share a technique, then others will share theirs. Everyone should be able to learn something. Not confident yet about sharing? Then bring food or drinks instead, then sit back and learn. Let's make trade fair. It's a night of Photoshop, food and fun. First session will be on March 30 (Sunday), 6PM at Bluprint Studio. Laptop with Photoshop CS6 will be provided, together with LCD projector and audio system. Bring your own files for processing. To better follow instructions or demonstration, you may bring your own laptop. Activity is exclusive to Focus Bulacan official members. Hopefully we can do this on a quarterly basis. See you soon! March is Fire Prevention Month, but it's also the climax of the annual Philippine International Pyromusical Competition. Now on its 5th edition, the fireworks fest kicks off on February 15 and runs until March 22. Focus Bulacan will hold its PhotoMeet on March 8, the fourth weekend of the competition. Competing countries slated on the said date are China and Germany. The show lights up at 7PM. It's a prime opportunity to test our skills and capture wonderful photos of fireworks. We will get right into the action, squeeze into the crowd and settle for shooting spots, and hopefully get rewarded with a great view. Don't forget to bring your tripod! Official members and applicants may join. Here's how Focus will do it : - There will be a meet-up point in Malolos (McDonald's-BSU) at 2:30PM of March 8. The contingent leaves for Manila at 3PM. Focus will try to organize and rent a van to transport attendees to and from Mall of Asia. - For those who will be coming from Metro Manila, there's another meetup point at Mall of Asia at 5PM. Exact location will be coordinated later. Those coming from Bulacan will also proceed to said meetup point. - A short hands-on tutorial of essentials of fireworks photography will be conducted before the whole group leaves the meetup point to search for shooting spots. - Attendees are free to choose which spot they want to shoot from. They can choose from any of the paid ticket sections (Silver / Gold / VIP / Patron) or other locations (parking, rooftop, etc.). We are not requiring attendees to shoot with the group. They may shoot from wherever they want. - After the fireworks show, the group will meet again at a designated location before splitting up and going home. Those who came with the rented vehicle will proceed to the parking and go back to Bulacan (McDonald's-BSU). - Those who are going to attend, please sign up at the Facebook thread so we can account you in planning the trip to Mall of Asia, and also to coordinate with you the latest updates. As mentioned, we will have an on-the-spot, hands-on tutorial of fireworks photography, but you can read up on your own with these two links : How To Photograph Fireworks and Tips For Successful Fireworks Photographs. For more info about the 5th Philippine International Pyromusical Competition, click HERE. SEE YOU ON MARCH 8! For questions and other concerns, drop a comment in the Facebook box below. For our February PhotoMeet, let's have a fun shooting challenge! We invite you to join Write With Light, a light painting challenge where participants will be divided into teams of four or five members. The teams will compete to produce the best light painting photograph. It will be held on Saturday, February 8, at the parking lot of Malolos Sports & Convention Center. The event will start promptly at 5PM with a briefing, assigning of teams, then the shoot proper. The teams will be given one hour to produce their photo. Those interested, please sign up at our Facebook page. Take note that team designation will be on-the-spot and will be random. Participants are encouraged to prepare for the light painting shoot by researching and practicing the technique, bringing the required accessories to do light painting, and conceptualizing the photo they want to execute. Here are a few useful online links that you can read to get a good grasp of light painting. We strongly suggest you read these :
Sign up now (on our Facebook page) and see you on February 8! Our first PhotoMeet for 2014 is the Halamanan Festival of Guiguinto, Bulacan. It is the 15th edition of the municipality's colorful celebration of plants, flowers, and trees. The festival is a week-long event but Focus will be there to shoot the Street Dancing and Float Parade Competition on January 21. Parade assembly time is 1PM at the Garden City in Tabang. Assembly place for Focus will be at nearby Eurobake at 12:30PM. The parade will start from Tabang then end up at the Municipal Athletic and Cultural Center Gymnasium at the back of Guiguinto Municipal Hall. Official presentation and judging will be held at the gym. We are allotted 15 photographer IDs that will give shooting access at the gym. Please sign up at our Facebook page (at the Halamanan Festival announcement post) to avail of the ID. It will be first-sign, first-serve basis but please take note that we will prioritize Focus Bulacan official members. Applicants and non-members may sign up and we will try our best to get you IDs. Bring sun protection (arm sleeves, headwear/caps, or apply sunscreen) as the shoot figures to be hot due to its time schedule. Bring a bottle of water too so you can stay hydrated. Let's all have fun! SEE YOU AT HALAMANAN! :) |
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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