Christmas truce for the little monster dogs

As if observing a Christmas truce, our two little monster dogs tone down their playful fighting.

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) plays with his sister Vanta (female, black color) in the afternoon of December 25th. Both puppies are over 2 months old.

Special thanks to our friends Gen. Rolly and Jo Malinao for sharing with us these two young, wonderful creatures.

Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines.

Cutest tug-of-war ever

The two little monster dogs went at it for many minutes. No quarters were given, and both put up a spirited fight. In the end, there was no clear winner in the tug-of-war, just an amused observer overwhelmed by the cuteness overload. :)

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) plays with his sister Vanta (female, black color) in the late afternoon in my mother's garden. Both puppies are over 2 months old.

Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines on December 21, 2019.

Cutest dog fight ever (Part 4)

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) plays with his sister Vanta (female, black color) in the early morning. Both puppies are over 2 months old.

Special thanks to our friends Gen. Rolly and Jo Malinao for sharing with us these two young, wonderful creatures.

Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines on December 7, 2019.

A short drive through the Sison-Rosario section of TPLEX

Dashcam video footage of a short drive through the newly opened Sison-Rosario section of TPLEX.

Some portions of the video are sped up for brevity. Filmed with a Transcend DP520 at 1080/30p on December 19, 2019 at just past 2:00 pm.

Cutest dog fight ever (Part 3)

Our pair of lovable, little monsters are growing fast, with unlimited amount of energy when set loose on my mother's lawn.

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) plays with his sister Vanta (female, black color) in the early morning. Both puppies are over 2 months old.

Special thanks to our friends Gen. Rolly and Jo Malinao for sharing with us these two young, wonderful creatures.

 Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines on December 16, 2019.

How to lull a little monster dog to sleep

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) is often hyper-active, but he's not so difficult to calm down and lull to sleep. Some tender stroking of his belly is all it takes to do the job. 

Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines on December 7, 2019.

Cutest dog fight ever

Magnus (a white, male Shih Tzu puppy) plays with his sister Vanta (female, black color) in the early morning. Both puppies are over 2 months old. 

Special thanks to our friends Gen. Rolly and Jo Malinao for sharing with us these two young, wonderful creatures.

Filmed with a hand held Osmo Action at 1080/239.76p at northern Philippines on December 8, 2019.

Weaver Ants (in full HD)

Some full HD footage of Weaver Ants up close. These are called "hantik" in Pilipino and "abuos" in Ilocano.

I had to shoot many of the clips in 240 fps so it's easier for the eye to catch the twitchy movements of these amazing insects.

From Wikipedia:

"Oecophylla smaragdina (common names include weaver ant, green ant, green tree ant, and orange gaster) is a species of arboreal ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. These ants form colonies with multiple nests in trees, each nest being made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by the ant larvae."

Shooting info - filmed in natural habitat at northern Philippines on October 13, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod, manual exposure in available light.

Music - "Forest of Fear" by Aakash Gandhi and "Clover 3" by Vibe Mountain.

Call of the Red-keeled Flowerpecker

On account of its tiny size (4 inches total length), skittishness, and the fact that it ranges only in the Philippines, this microbird is challenging to film well. I got lucky this morning to be able to capture it in the open, as well as record its high-pitched call. 

Red-keeled Flowerpecker (Dicaeum australe, a Philippine endemic)

Habitat - Canopy of forest, edge and flowering trees.

Shooting info – Bued River, La Union, Philippines, October 11, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod, manual exposure in available light.

Olive-backed Sunbird

Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis, resident)

Habitat - Common lowland sunbird.

Shooting Info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, October 10, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod, manual exposure in available light.

Music: "Side Path" by Kevin MacLeod

Bued River presented in two ways

This photogenic river winds down from the high Cordilleras to the flat lands along the border of the provinces of La Union and Pangasinan, then ultimately discharges to the South China Sea at San Fabian town. 

Nature dictates that flowing water follows the path of least resistance. This perhaps guided the designers and builders of the Kennon Road early last century - the picturesque access to Baguio City was constructed by the side of the Bued River, following it to the mountains like a twin snake. Why the need to level mountains, when you can follow a clear path already carved out by water  rampaging seasonally over millions of years?

Here's presenting the river in two ways:

First, during a lightning storm in the early evening.

Shooting info - Brgy. Camp I, Rosario, La Union, September 30, 2019 at 8:18 pm, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm, ISO 100, 4 sec, f/2.8, manual exposure in available light, near full frame resize to 800 x 533.

Link to high-res 1800 x 1200 version

Second, covered with a layer of fog early in the morning.

Shooting info - Brgy. Camp I, Rosario, La Union, October 5, 2019 at 6:53 am, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, f/6.3, manual exposure in available light, near full frame resize to 800 x 533.

Link to high-res 1800 x 1200 version

Welcome to Elyu (La Union)

The welcome arch at the Bued River Bridge of the Manila North Road at Rosario greets motorists going north, a few minutes before the sun rose beyond the Benguet mountains this morning.

Shooting info - Brgy. Udiao, Rosario, La Union, September 14, 2019, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm, ISO 100, 1/8 sec, f/4, manual exposure in available light, near full frame resize to 800 x 450.

 

 High-res 1920 x 1080 version

Brgy. Camp I of Rosario town wakes up to relatively clear skies before sunrise, a welcome break from the daily monsoon rains.

Shooting info - Brgy. Camp I, Rosario, La Union, September 14, 2019, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm, ISO 100, 1/5 sec, f/4, manual exposure in available light, near full frame resize to 800 x 533.

 High-res 1800 x 1200 version

The colorful Jewel Bug (in 4K)

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, August 30, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, 220 mm (600 mm equivalent), 4K/29.976p capture, manual focus, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod.

Music - "Rolling Hills" by Sir Cubworth

A bug with amazing, iridiscent colors

I had no clue on which species of bug is this, but a quick Google search indicate that this could be some type of a jewel bug.

Whatever it's called, it certainly is among the most strikingly colored bugs I've ever seen.

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, August 30, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, 220 mm (600 mm equivalent), f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 

 Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod, near full frame resized to 800 x 533.

Link to high-res 1800 x 1200 version

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, August 30, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, 220 mm (600 mm equivalent), f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 

 Uniqball UBH45 + Manfrotto 455B tripod, near full frame resized to 800 x 533.

Link to high-res 1800 x 1200 version

 

Wild Birds of the Philippines in 4K (Part II)

This Part II of the series includes an extremely rare footage (4K or otherwise) of the Pygmy Flowerpecker (Dicaeum pygmaeum). This bird, found only in the Philippines, is just about 3 inches in total length from tip of bill to tip of tail. Its tiny size and skittish behavior make filming it in the wild a very tough job.

There are over 600 species of Philippine birds, and about a third of these are endemic to our islands. Over 10% of these species are globally threatened.

By filming these magnificent winged creatures in their natural habitat and sharing the high-resolution footage, I hope that in my own little way, I can help raise awareness for the protection of their habitat.

Species List in Part II (in order of appearance):

1. Pygmy Flowerpecker (Dicaeum pygmaeum, a Philippine endemic)

2. Red Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica, resident)

3. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus, resident)

4. Crested Myna (Acridotheres cristatellus, resident)

5. Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis, resident)

6. Lowland White-eye (Zosterops meyeni, a near Philippine endemic)

7. Mountain White-eye (Zosterops montanus, resident)

Amazing Insects in 4K (Part I)

Some 4K footage of various insects filmed with a Sony RX10 IV along the Bued River (northern Philippines), all captured in available natural light. 

Music - "Natural" by Endless Love

Wild Birds of the Philippines in 4K (Part I)

There are over 600 species of Philippine birds, and about a third of these are endemic to our islands. Over 10% of these species are globally threatened. 

By filming these magnificent winged creatures in their natural habitat and sharing the high-resolution footage, I hope that in my own little way, I can help raise awareness for the protection of their habitat. 

Species List in Part I (in order of appearance): 

1. Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier, resident) 

2. Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus, migrant) 

3. Red-keeled Flowerpecker (Dicaeum australe, a Philippine endemic) 

4. Scale-feathered Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus cumingi, endemic to the Philippines) 

5. Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach, resident) 

6. Brush Cuckoo (Cacomantis variolosus, resident, immature) 

7. White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis, resident) 

Music – “Fresh Fallen Snow” by Chris Haugen

It's more fun at Baroro Beach

After a grueling last semester of his fifth and final year at UP-Diliman, this iskolar ng bayan enjoys the waves at La Union, northern Philippines.

Filmed at Baroro Beach, La Union, on July 13, 2019, with a Mavic Air.

Music – “End of Summer” by The 126ers

Easier way to capture lightning

I just discovered an easier way to capture lightning - use the time lapse function of the 7D II to continually do 30-second exposures. 

First, I set the aperture (normally wide open, the 16-35's IQ is excellent even at f/4) and ISO to properly expose the scene with a 30 second exposure, before the lightning bolt strikes. 

Next, I point the camera to the general direction of the sky where lighting strikes are active, fine tune the framing for composition, and manually pre-focus on a foreground object in the distance that I wish to be sharp. The deep DOF of the UWA lens should also render the lightning bolt in reasonably good focus.

At this point, I enable the 7D II's time lapse function, then press the shutter button. The 7D II will shoot long exposures non-stop until I turn it off when the lightning activity subsides. I usually set the interval between shots to 2 seconds to give me time to turn off the camera in between frames.

Here's a practice shot using this approach. I'm hoping the lightning display will be over a more photogenic location in the coming nights. Casting a wide net (long 30 second exposures), and doing this continually, should greatly increase the chances of catching a lightning formation at its sweet moment.

Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, June 22, 2019, Canon 7D MII + EF 16-35 f/4 L IS,

16 mm, f/4, ISO 200, 30 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/455B support, cropped to fit 16:9.

 1920 x 1080 version

Trying time lapse for the first time

Some sample time lapse clips in 4K captured at Bued River, northern Philippines - Canon 7D MII, EF 16-35 f4 IS, EF 70-200 f/2.8 IS II, manual exposure in available light, tripod/ball head. 

Music - "Old Vienna" by Endless Love

Slow Life in the Garden

It's amazing to see details in garden bugs when motion is slowed down to between 5% to 20% of real life speed, and lens magnification is near macro levels. For scale, the tiny bee in the opening scene has a total length of less than 10 mm. 

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, June 21, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, using a tripod and ball head, manual exposure in available light. 

Music - "All Hail the Queen" by Dan Lebowitz

Lightning with the good, old 5D MIII

When traveling light and wanting to maintain the capability to shoot various subjects, my "go to" gear is the very compact Sony RX10 IV. This allows me to shoot from 24 mm to 600 mm with decent image and video quality.

When shooting lightning though, I still bring out my good, old Canon 5D MIII and the 16-35 f4 IS from the camera bag. The corner-to-corner sharpness of the 16-35 f4 L IS is perfect for this application, while the big fat pixels of the 5D III allow long exposures which are necessary to catch the brief, unpredictable appearance of the subject.

Shooting info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, Philippines, June 20,2019, Canon 5D MIII + EF 16-35 f/4 L IS,
24 mm, f/4, ISO 100, 30 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/455B support, cropped to fit 16:9.

 1920 x 1080 version

Extreme Zoom at a Dragonfly

A short footage of a dragonfly taken with an RX10 IV. 

Shooting info - filmed in natural habitat under available light at Bued River, northern Philippines, June 20, 2019. 

Music - "Wishful Thinking" by Dan Lebowitz

Scaly-Breasted Munia Gathers Nesting Materials

With the start of the rainy season in our islands, freshly grown vegetation will soon be all over the place, and there will be an explosion of various forms of life all around. This is the time that most resident birds will breed, as food becomes plentiful. 

This Scaly-Breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) was gathering nesting materials along the banks of Bued River when it was filmed. 

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, June 16, 2019, Sony RX10 IV @ 600 mm (equivalent), various aperture settings, 1/250 sec, ISO 200, manual exposure in available light, using a tripod and ball head, 1920/119.88p capture processed to slow-motion clips. 

Music - "Tango de la Noche" by Wayne Jones

Butterflies in Slow Motion

A few clips of butterflies filmed in natural habitat. 

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, June 14, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, hand held, manual exposure in available light, 1080/119.88p processed to 1920 x 800/23.976p (20% slow motion), cropped to a cinematic 2.4:1 aspect ratio. 

Music - "One Step Closer" by Aakash Gandhi

Bugs in Slow Motion

A short footage of garden bugs filmed in natural habitat at 1080/119.88p. 

Shooting info - Bued River, northern Philippines, June 13, 2019, Sony RX10 IV, hand held, 24 mm, various aperture values, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, manual exposure, manual focus, stabilization on.

An old moonshot now in 4K

I've been trying to get a more detailed moonshot for the past nine years, but I just couldn't get something much better than the one I captured in 2010 through the polluted skies of Metro Manila. I think the next big jump in detail for me is when I get my hands on a piece of glass with a diameter much larger than 143 mm.

So, when I needed a new desktop wallpaper for my 4K display, I had to go back to a nearly one decade old capture and re-process it to 3840 x 2160.

MANILA MOON - MARCH 7, 2010. Observed from Paranaque City, Philippines, on March 7, 2010 (04:57:54 local time),
Canon 7D + 400 2.8 L IS + stacked Canon 2x and Sigma 2x TCs, 1600 mm, f/16, ISO 100, 1/25 sec, contrast detect auto
focus in Live View, 475B/3421 support, remote switch, single RAW capture cropped and processed to 16:9 aspect ratio.

 3840 x 2160 version

A closer view of  Montes Apenninus cropped from the 3840 x 2160 image.

Catching lightning bolts with 30 fps @ 8 MP bursts (RX10 IV)

It was the first thunderstorm over the Bued River this end of summer, and this signals the start of my lightning photography season.

It's quite easy to shoot lightning during a thunderstorm at night - I just have to point the camera at a photogenic scene, focus manually, adjust the aperture and ISO for proper exposure, then open the shutter for 30 seconds. Hopefully, a photogenic lightning bolt will materialize within the frame during that period. If nothing interesting happens during the 30 second window, I delete the file and start all over again. 

Without an auto trigger or an ND filter for long exposures, it's nearly impossible to shoot lightning during daytime, which was the case during yesterday's thunderstorm. Fortunately, I have a camera that shoots 4K video - this allowed me to film the scene at 30 fps (or 29.97 fps to be exact) for extended periods. The chances of catching a lightning bolt at that frame rate is quite good. The downside is each frame is essentially a heavily compressed 8.3 MP jpeg file, without the processing flexibility of RAW files.

Here are a few frames caught yesterday. I took shelter in our garage and used the wider end of the Sony RX10 IV's zoom lens. All frames were grabbed from 4K clips, processed and downsized to 1920 x 1080. It's interesting to note that most of the lightning flashes happen very quickly, in about 1-2 frames. Combing frame-by-frame through many minutes of footage is a laborious process.

1920 x 1080 version

1920 x 1080 version

1920 x 1080 version

1920 x 1080 version

A composite of three frames:

1920 x 1080 version

And a short 4K footage from which one of the frames above was grabbed:

Barangay Taboc in good morning light

Barangay Taboc (San Juan, La Union) is famous for its pottery industry - various pots, terra cotta stoves and other earthenware are made and sold by the roadside in  this place.

This morning, I saw another facet of Taboc's beauty. With the early morning sun providing good illumination from the left, the twin curves of the Manila North Road and the shoreline leading to Poro Point made this seaside village quite photogenic when seen from the air (click on the high-res version below for more detail).

Many nice looking houses are scattered throughout the village, most of these are near the beach. But what particularly catches my eye is the house built on the leveled hilltop. 

I'd exchange a month's supply of barako coffee for the privilege of sipping ice-sold San Miguel beer in its yard during sunset. Lucky houseowner, he must've done numerous good deeds in his previous life to be entitled to such a killer view everyday.

Shooting  info - Brgy. Taboc, San Juan, La Union, May 5, 2019 @ 7:10 am, 
DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.3 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/240 sec, 5 DNG frames merged into a panorama.

5000 x 1800 high-res version

The Cordilleras in golden light

With the setting sun beautifully casting some golden light on the Cordillera mountains, I sent up the Mavic 2 Pro to try to capture a super wide panorama late this afternoon of Labor Day.

Kennon Road starts at the lower left corner, as it runs along the banks of Bued River on its way up to Baguio City.

Shooting  info -  Rosario, La Union, May 1, 2019 @ 5:45 pm, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/120 sec., manual exposure in available light, stitched from four DNG frames.

4500 x 1500 version

The northern terminus of the TPLEX as of April 28, 2019

This massive panorama was assembled from four 20-MP RAW (DNG) frames taken by the Mavic 2 Pro's Hasselblad L1D-20 camera. While this drone's lens is not as sharp in the corners as my Canon EF 16-35 f4 IS, it's quite competent in the central portion of the frame, yielding very good detail.

The wide image shows the progress of the construction of the northern terminus of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) as of April 28, 2019. The interchange at the right side is the junction of the Manila North Road (going up) and the Rosario-Pugo Road (going right) which leads to Baguio City via Marcos Highway.

When completed, the TPLEX should drastically reduce my travel time on the rare occasions that I can brave the traffic and visit toxic, almost unbearable Metro Manila. :)

Shooting  info -  Rosario, La Union, April 28, 2019 @ 6:51 am, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/40 sec., panorama from four DNG frames.

   10,000 x 3,000 version

After shooting the above "plan view,"  I repositioned the  drone to capture a vertical panorama using three DNG images, each one at an oblique angle to the TPLEX and framed on top of one another (with some overlap), using the vertical gimbal adjustment of the camera. The resulting composite gives a more 3D appearance to the elements of the image.

Shooting  info -  Rosario, La Union, April 28, 2019 @ 6:53 am, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/120 sec., vertical panorama from three DNG frames.

5,000 x 6,400 version

How Premium Aggregates Are Made

A short feature on the quarrying and crushing of river rock into premium aggregates for use in high-performance concrete. 

All footage were filmed on location at the quarry and aggregates plant of Ten-Four Readymix Concrete, Inc. along Bued River, Northern Philippines. 

Shot in available natural light, using a Mavic 2 Pro, 4k/29.97p capture processed into 1080/29.97p.

The goat shed on top of the hill

An 800-foot high hill with steep slopes towers over the Bued River, overlooking the town of Rosario, La Union. On top of this hill, seemingly oblivious to the rapid development of things below, goats graze in the middle of a mango orchard. 

One of the goats managed to get out of the enclosure, while the rest are staying within the fence near their shed.

I've long been wondering what is on top of this hill. Thanks to the power of drone photography, I now have an idea of what's happening there.

Shooting  info - Bued River, Sison, Pangasinan, April 24, 2019, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/1600 sec., frame grab from a 4K footage resized to 800 x 450.

 

 

 

  1920 x 1080 version

First still photos with the Mavic 2 Pro

With its larger sensor, higher MP, AF and adjustable aperture, the Mavic 2 Pro's still image quality is very impressive to me. It's not quite as sharp at the corners as my EF 16-35 f4 IS, but it's way up there in the central portion of the frame.

Here's a couple of still shots taken this morning, as I was familiarizing myself with the drone's controls and features.

Shooting  info - Bued River Bridge, Rosario, La Union, April 22, 2019, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/4, ISO 100, 1/200 sec., single frame cropped into a 2:1 panorama.

 2400 x 1200 version

Shooting  info - Bued River, Rosario, La Union, April 22, 2019, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, 10.30 mm (28 mm equiv.), f/4, ISO 100, 1/500 sec., two frames merged into a 2:1 panorama.

  3000 x 1500 version