I am still on a high from my first photography stint after a long while. I want to learn more about my new camera toy (hopefully I will post my thoughts after months of using it) so I am staying in the momentum by just always taking more photos whenever I can. I have a lot of plans in mind (i.e. photowalks, workshops) but since I couldn’t really travel to my target spots right away (know of delaying gratification, self? lol), I decided why not start where I’m at. 

And so one morning, I started just walking around the house and started shooting stuff.

I am still exploring features of this camera and I am excited to know more about it. For sure, I will take more photos and will publish more photos here (uhh who still does blogging in 2026? haha well, I do). 

I'm not sure now how it happened, but one day I suddenly remembered that I used to love taking photos. I specifically had a niche back then... live music and astrophotography. I think recent events planted some seeds in my mind because suddenly I remembered the things that I was passionate about.

One day, I revisited my Flickr account. I realized I missed shooting with a camera. I know our smartphones do have a camera, but it still hits differently when you have a separate gadget that is intentional for taking photos. I kind of compare shooting photos with a camera with listening to music via vinyl records. Those activities are intentional, compared to just taking photos on your camera or listening to music via Spotify or YouTube Music. For me, intentional activities make the experience more enriching and immersive.

Now that I picked up a camera again, my subject of interest has changed. I am now more into capturing people's photos… framing emotions in an image to last forever. I think my recent experiences with The Shared Table have influenced me pursuing another type of photography.

I grabbed the first opportunity to shoot when it came to me: a Toastmasters speech contest.

I am realizing that I love taking photos of people’s reactions, emotions, and gestures. And that’s what I strived to capture with every shutter click of the camera.

I want to capture that moment when people laughed because of what the speaker said. I want to shoot those moments when people socialized and mingled with each other during breaks in the program. I want to catch the emotions of pride of the mentors as they watch their mentees on the stage.

I knew something special was fueling me when had the energy to sift through 900+ photos (I was shooting in burst mode 🤣) of that event, as soon as I got home, to be able to get the shots that I liked. The process felt like a breeze as well. I thought I won't be able to finish tagging and editing all the photos, but I was able to curate them and upload them online all in that same night.

I closed my laptop past midnight already, but my mind was still awake. I was feeling happy, because I was able to produce an output that I liked.

This was my first attempt to shoot after a while, and I feel energized doing it again. I know I still have a lot to learn about the technical side of photography, but I do know that my heart is already in it. ✨

I'm excited to shoot more photos and create more memories! 📷✨

Vanessa's debut album! ✨

I didn't have any physical albums of hers so I was so happy to see one in the wild. I believe I wanted to buy Heroes and Thieves back then, but since I was still a student and had a very tight budget, I didn't push for it. 😅

And then a few more minutes later, my new Indonesian friend arrived! I introduced him to my new group of friends and we just chatted away. And OMG he is a hard-core fan. He even had the Rabbits on the Run album art inked in his forearm, like damn. He's so cool. He said it will be his first time to meet Vanessa, and he really took the chance. It was also his first time in the country. We both understood that seeing her in a show in Asia in this scale (in an arena) is a "now or never" situation. Vanessa is more of an indie artist now and tours mostly in the US. Her music has massively changed also through the years, and honestly, the last album that I still had a connection with is Rabbits on the Run. Her newer albums are not really my cup of tea. 😅

And then the presscon started. I wasn't able to get the host's name. 😅 But I did hear that she's a radio dj.

First up on stage was David Archuleta. I got to watch him in American Idol back then and I love singing along to his older songs like "Crush", "Touch My Hand", and "A Little Too Not Over You". It was a treat that he sang his newer single "Can I Call You", which is actually a song added in my playlist.

I saw familiar faces in the press: concert photographers like Kris Rocha (whom I had a concert photography workshop with), Danilo Factor, and music event page admins like Kevin Pableo of Manila Concerts Scene. I'm glad to see that they are still very passionate about what they do. 💖