3/18/2024 - Today was the grand opening of Buc-ee's in Burthoud, Colorado. I went with my good friend from work and tried their brisket sandwich. It was really good. Before this, I stopped by the house of a friend from church. Yesterday was Sunday so in the course of conversation it came up that I was looking for a suitcase. They offered one to me they no longer have a use for. When I went to their house this morning to pick it up they also gave me some pulled pork to have for dinner tonight. Even in the midst of a seemingly tumultuous time, I can feel the Lords blessings so strongly. I was even so lucky as to get this photo in the Buc-ee's parking lot. Tomorrow I depart again for the Philippines.

3/3/2024 - Pentax just revealed more info on their new film camera to be released this year. I'm sorry to say they completely lost the momentum of my interest. They announced that the new camera is going to be a half-frame point and shoot aimed at a broader market with the hope of mustering interest from the larger public. While I applaud their efforts, I am disappointed to see Pentax taking the route of mass appeal. Whenever any company attempts to mainstream a niche market, all they end up accomplishing is alienating their existing customer base. GoPro attempted the exact same strategy after the success of their early cameras. Reverting back to serving their already existing customers is what saved them. Companies always try to take the route of making a customer of absolutely everyone. But very few people are actually interested in film photography. With the recent uptick in film photography popularity, now would have been the perfect time to release a more serious film camera. Pentax still promises such a camera, we're just going to be waiting longer than expected.

1/13/2024 - Light like this is why you get up early. At the start of the new year, I deleted the Instagram app from my phone to avoid watching short-form content. It is so incredibly addicting that cutting it out felt like the only way to escape it. I have not felt majorly different since then. Although, not experiencing the daily guilt of realizing how much time I've lost in the rabbit hole has been nice. It has become much easier to get outside to see light like this.

1/11/2024 - For reasons I do not fully understand, I am totally against the idea of shooting color and black and white at the same time. And yet, I have such a strong desire to shoot both at the same time. I suppose it feels like cheating; deciding after the fact if a photo looks better in color or black and white. Color photos for me have to be dramatic! They have to have brilliant light, beautiful colors, and dark shadows. Black and white feels better for everyday. It's not really about the drama, it's about the moment.

1/7/2024 - Self portrait while cooking breakfast. I haven't updated this blog in a while. Every time I come back to it I think "I should start doing this again." And then a week goes by and I forget, and so the cycle continues. Anyway, I'm living in Colorado by myself for the time being. I arrived here Nov. 3 2023. Allaine is still in the Philippines and we are still waiting on her visa to get approved. I will be visiting her very soon on the 18th of January. I am extremely excited to be back!

1/7/2024 - My wife's grandmother, in the cemetery where my father-in-law is buried, from September of 2022. I was just scrolling through my archive when I stumbled across these pictures. I'm glad to have these sweet memories to look back on. It's amazing how so many pictures that should be some of my favorites, never get any attention until a year or two later. It just goes to show, you don't know what you've got until it's gone!

9/7/2023 - A photographer I really look up to gave me a compliment this week. If my memories serves me correct, I don't think that's ever happened before. Don't get me wrong, I recieve compliments on photos from time to time. Its a good feeling. But receiving one from someone you look up to and respect, its different. Do I need compliments to feel good about my photography? No. I am honestly happy with what I make. And I don't need people to tell me my photos are good to know that they are. But I'd be lying if I said it doesn't also make me happy to be recognized by someone I consider great.

9/7/2023 - I have many black-and-white images of Bagong Silang but this is one of the only color images I have. It is currently my favorite photo I have of this barangay.

6/28/2023 - 75 photos on 80 pages. One camera with one lens. 2 months from one location. Luminous Solitude. My first draft of my very first photo book. It's not perfect but I am so happy with it! I would not be on this path of book making if not for the YouTube videos of Daniel Milnor, I send many thanks to him for his inspiration and direction. This is the first book of many more to come!

6/25/2023 - Through this exercise of keeping bookmaking and projects in my mind I realize the amount of patience it requires. In the past, I've always just shot what interests me without a conscious end goal. And generally, I think this is the best way to shoot. It allows me to be very free, to explore anything with no pressure. However, I now see advantages to shooting purposefully. For one it's rewarding to see a mentally visualized project slowly come together and take form in reality. Shooting just whatever interests you is great but it takes quite a while for patterns in your work to reveal themselves. Although, when that does start to happen it is very rewarding. So I have good things and bad things to say about both approaches.

6/19/2023 - This morning while looking back on my archive I realized that the only photos of mine, whose colors I enjoy, were all taken with my Canon 5D (generally speaking). It makes me wonder why I ever use any other camera for color. It seems like such a pointless venture. I think from now on all of my cameras besides the 5D will be dedicated for black and white use only.

6/18/2023 - Life and the world are already mostly chaotic. Why show more chaos when you can show quiet simplicity? I suppose the photos you make reflect how you feel, or maybe how you want to see the world, or maybe even how you really do see the world. No bad feelings toward photographers who make loud photos, it's just not for me! Respect to anyone who makes things that they love and tries hard at it!

6/18/2023 - Creating layered compositions with lots of elements can be a great exercise. However, I am done going out of my way to make photos like this. Everyone seems to strive for complex compositions! Look on Instagram, it’s all you'll see. It’s overdone and I’m sick of it. I want simplicity and honesty.

6/14/2023 - I remember with great clarity the October morning from this photo. I had just returned home from a night shift at my old office. The sun slowly rose as I drove through the dense morning fog so characteristic of rural North Carolina during this time of the year. As I walked down to the pond on my family's property to survey God's gift of His ethereal light, I snapped this photo of one of our two cats as they accompanied me. I love this photo because I think it captures the aesthetic of October rather well and the location fills me with nostalgia.

6/12/2023 - Every time I experiment with the panoramic format in my photography, I find myself absolutely enchanted by it. Not only do I find panoramic images simply striking to look at, but they also make wonderful prints. Every time I revisit this style I think to myself "I have to do this more often." And slowly, I do.

6/12/2023 - If, by the Lords will, I go back to America at the expected time it will be around Christmas. Having spent last Christmas with my wife, I have no complaints as to the location. In fact, I am grateful for the experience of a Filipino Christmas last year. But I just cannot help but reminisce on this time of the year in my home country. It will always be my favorite.

5/22/2023 - I think I now know what Daniel Milnor is trying to teach me. Imagine you discover the Instagram page of a craftsman. But you notice something strange, this craftsman posts no photos of finished products! All you see are project templates. This is an analogy of my approach to photography for the past 10 years. I have known for some time that print is the final step in the photographic process but until this week I didn't know it in any deep way. The sort of craftsman that I described above may have phenomenal skills in designing a product but they know nothing when it comes to the actual execution! There are so many skills a photographer must have besides operating a camera, composition, and re-touching. That is, in my estimation, about HALF of the process of photography, if not less. I think I know what to do now. Time to start focusing on the other half.