Revoltech 109 Himura Kenshin

Here's my attempt at taking a picture of Kimura Hensin, one of my Revoltech collections:

Revoltech 109 Himura Kenshin, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Will try to take more shots soon :)

Wolverine Pop!

Next to Batman, my favorite superhero is Wolverine. Last week, I bought this cute Wolverine Pop! Vinyl Bobble-Head from NewHavenPH.com. Last Sunday, I took pictures of it. Last night, I combined the pictures on Lightroom using a template I downloaded from Kelly Colson Photography blog.

Here's the end-result :)

Wolverine Pop!, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

I'm really pleased with the final image and I'll try to use more templates with Lightroom for my other shots. Actually, I've noticed that in spite of the name of my blog, Pix n' Toys++, I haven't really posted much toy pictures lately (The photos I've posted are mostly travel shots so they are in the ++ part of my blog title). So I'll try to be more in the spirit of my blog title and would try to post more shots of my collection.

Sunday Surprise: My entry made it to 6th Place on NCP PotM for March 2012!

Last Sunday, as my wife and I were having coffee at Brownies Unlimited, I checked my fb on my iPod touch. I then read a post from Nikon Club Philippines on the results of the Photo of the Month for March 2012. I clicked the link to the official forum and I was so happy with the results. One of my picture entries made it to 6th place!!! The only catch is I don't know which of my entries was selected. I guess they would publish it after the Photo World Cup judging this coming weekend.

Source: http://www.nikonclub.ph/2012/03/photo-of-the-month-happy-pinoy-live-judging/

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: Landscapes by Lei (Picture Set #2)

Here's the last batch of landscape shots by Lei.

In summary, here are the highlights of our visit at the Flora Filipina Expo 2012:
- Great-looking bonsai trees (For me!)
- Pretty orchids (For Lei!)
- Excellent landscape arrangements (including a weird vine lady! see below)
- The light rain actually enhanced the beauty of the flowers
- Inexpensive entrance fee, P30 :)

All in all, it was a very fulfilling day as we were able to take lots of nice photographs. Thanks again to Lei for sharing her shots. We would surely be back next year!

ZEN BRIDGE 2, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

FRAMED ZEN , a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

WALKWAY , a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

We were quite startled by this mannequin wrapped in vines. It's not landscape but still a worthy, albeit creepy, subject:

VINE WOMAN, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

Here's Lei relaxing in a Zen garden after our photoshoot:


ME @ ZEN, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

Thanks again to our viewers and hope you enjoyed our photos! :)

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: Landscapes by Lei (Picture Set #1)

As I've promised in an earlier post, here are the pictures taken by my wife Lei. As I've also mentioned earlier, I was not able to take shots of the beautiful landscapes at Flora Filipina 2012 since I've concentrated so much on the bonsai trees. Plus, I'm using my nifty 50mm lens so it was quite difficult for me to capture the whole scene.

But enough excuses already. It was a good thing that my wife was armed with our Nikon COOLPIX P300 and she was able to capture the beauty of the landscape arrangements at the Expo.

So again without further ado, I hereby present the landscape shots, as captured by Lei:

FLORA FILIPINA, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

RELAXING OLD MANILA GARDEN, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

OLD MANILA LANDSCAPE, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

RELAXING GAZEBO 2, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

GREENS, a photo by Lei Vinuya on Flickr.

More landscape shots in the next post!

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: More Orchids and a Creepy Vine

After some time, the rain had finally stopped but we still had to use our umbrellas since there were still water dripping from the trees. It was challenging but it was all  worth it in the end.

Aside from the flowers, there were lots of great landscape arrangements but sadly I wasn't able to take pictures of them since I concentrated on mostly close-ups of the bonsai trees and the flowers. It was a good thing that my wife was able to take shots of the landscapes. I would feature them here in a future post with my wife as guest photographer.

So without further ado, here's the last set of my photos from the Flora Filipina Expo 2012:

Creepy!, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Pink Cacti, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Tiny Orchids, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Cattleya, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Dancing Lady #2, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Lavender Orchids, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

It was really a very fulfilling day for us at the Flora Filipina Expo 2012. We will surely be back next year!

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: Cactus, Flowers & Orchids

At first my wife and I cannot hide our dismay that it was raining as we visited the Flora Filipina Expo 2012. It was really a hassle as we simultaneously try to take shots of the flowers while holding or trying to balance an umbrella on our shoulders. How I wished I had one of those caps with a built-in umbrella. But after reviewing the pictures, we felt that our efforts were not in vain since the droplets added to the appeal of our subjects.

There were so many good subjects all over us that an hour was not enough to cover them all. So we just picked the best as we hurriedly tried to cover as much ground as possible in our photoshoot.

So here's my next batch of pictures. Hope you like them...

Droplets on Cactus, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Morning Glory, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Periwinkle, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Hanging by a thread..., a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Dendrobium, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Laying low..., a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

More shots in the next post!

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: Bonsai Trees

After reviewing the pictures I took yesterday, I noticed that the majority of my shots from the Flora Filipina Expo were bonsai trees. I was so fascinated by these miniature trees with their sometimes creepy-looking trunks and branches that most of my shots ended up with them as subjects. How I wish I could have brought my Lego Star Wars figures. It would be cool to pose them with the bonsai trees.

My wife, actually, is somewhat amused by my bonsai fascination. She, on the other hand, concentrated on the orchids and the magnificent landscape arrangements since she had a background in interior decoration.

So here they are! All the rest of my bonsai tree shots in all their glory:

Bonsai #3, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #4, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #5, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #6, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #7, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #8, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

More pictures in the next post! Stay tuned! :)

Flora Filipina Expo 2012: Teaser

My wife Lei informed me about this event weeks before and we had planned to go there last Saturday but we were unable to due to some pressing matters. Today, on exactly the last day of the event, we were able to make it. Withstanding the hunger and the rain, we proceeded to the Quezon Memorial Circle. Actually before going to the venue, we were able to discover a cute resto called Sunglass Cafe and we had lunch there. Upon entering the venue, we paid P30 each. Much to our delight, there was nobody in there but us. We could only imagine the hordes of people who were there last weekend. Now, the venue was all ours with no potential photo bombs in our shots.

Armed with my trusty Nikon D40x with the nifty fifty lens attached, and Lei with the Nikon COOLPIX P300, we scoured the venue like explorers and took shots of the different orchids, cacti, bonsais and assorted landscape arrangements around us. It was pure joy! We never thought that taking pictures of flora was so enjoyable! After more than an hour, we felt a great deal of satisfaction as we stop to review our shots.  Finally, I took out my handy tripod so we could pose together in one of the beautiful zen gardens there.

Here are just some of my pictures. More pictures in the next post!

Dancing Lady #1, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Red Flower, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #1, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

Bonsai #2 (Juniper Tree?), a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

My entries placed 12th & 14th in the Nikon Club Philippines Photo of the Month for Feb. 2012!!!

The race is on for NCP's PotY 2012! All internal club turmoil aside, I'm still having a blast in the monthly photo contests. And I'm especially happy since two of my entries made it to the Top 20! :)

• NCP PotM February Theme: Silya

Here's my entry which placed 12th:

NCP PotM Feb. 2012 - 12th Place, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

It was actually Lei's (my wife's) idea to shoot this picture at this angle.  We were waiting for my D40x to be repaired at Hidalgo so we went to check out SM Carriedo. We saw these people sitting on the stairs and my wife told me that it was a great subject for the February theme. I agreed!

Here's my other entry which placed 14th:

NCP PotM Feb. 2012 - 14th Place, a photo by {israelv} on Flickr.

My subject here is a gift given by my sister Maan to our parents during their Wedding Anniversary more than 10 years ago! And in the background is one of the toy houses of Thea, my niece.

For the other winners, you can check it out here: http://www.nikonclub.ph/wp-content/uploads/2012/webgallery/Photo_of_the_Month_Silya/

Next month's theme: Happy Pinoy

My entry was selected as one of the Runners-Up for the HDR Theme of Circle of Amateur Photographers

I'm so happy to have been selected by the Circle of Amateur Photographers as one of the Runners-Up for last week's HDR theme! And when I shared my entry on facebook, one of the Nikon Pros, Ricky Ladia, liked it! I felt honored! Thanks Sir Ricky! :)

Check out the other Runners Up here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.282503108487760.65449.135599359844803&type=3

Plus if you want, you could also like the page of the Circle of Amateur Photographers and join their weekly competitions: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Circle-of-Amateur-Photographers/135599359844803

Next week's theme: Trailing Lights

WALL•E longs for EVE

Just taking a shot of my favorite Disney/Pixar character, WALL•E:

WALL·E longs for EVE, a photo by israelv on Flickr.

My Nikon D40x is Back, Alright!

It was almost a year ago when I encountered an error with my Nikon D40x. I was using it when an error popped on the back display -- "Error. Press shutter release button again".  I did press it several times to no avail. I was so distraught that I even posted about it here in my blog.

Who would've thought? :)

Fast forward to February 2012. After countless procrastinations (plus the purchase of a very excellent compact, a Nikon COOLPIX P300), I was finally able to convince myself to go to Hidalgo to have my D40x repaired.

Thanks Mr. Noel!

Part of my hesitation in going to Hidalgo was the thought of wading through an endless stream of people and the difficulty of finding a decent repair shop.  But those fears proved to be unfounded when my wife and I finally arrived in Hidalgo.

After a rude reception at a well-known camera shop, which I will not name here, we were pointed towards Bert's Camera Repair Shop which was just a stone's throw away. Upon setting our eyes on the shop, my wife immediately tugged at my sleeve and asked me if I was really sure that I would like to have our D40x repaired there. Sure it was tiny and actually resembled a shop which repairs watches rather than DSLRs but I was keen on having my D40x repaired so we bravely pressed on.

In the end, we discovered that the experts there are quite accomodating. After a two-hour wait, we found ourselves back in the shop with a working D40x in our hands. I felt so relieved that they were able to fix my cam and they did that for only around P2K plus. Kudos to Mr. Noel, the guy who did the repairs!

I immediately took some test shots with my now working D40x:

They sure have some nice old cameras on display!

An impromptu street photography at Hidalgo

After several more shots, I'm finally confident that my D40x is back in working order. So we thanked Mr. Noel again and headed back home.