Caylabne & Mt. Palay-Palay

[tina mallari]

Went to Caylabne and Palay-Palay with Chito and his friend, Buddy (who is also into photography).

My main purpose in going there was because I wanted to help Chito look for the Blue and White Flycatcher and of course... take photos of birds that are waiting to be photographed.

It turned out to be a SUPER sunny day and the sun seems to have been shining a little bit too strong for my taste and boy, was it humid !!!

I trashed most of my captures because most of them where burned like crazy. Goes to show that, unlike almost everyone here, I don't have a formula for getting splendid shots. I just point & shoot then look at my LCD & adjust and then try again. HehehehHE my DSLR should really be called a point and shoot camera ;D

I hope Chito & Buddy does not get mad at me for saying this but it was a perfect day for me because I was given a chance to see one of the most elusive birds on my list. I have seen this bird twice only in the 4 years that I have been a birdnut and both times it was a single bird in the dark and I got lousy captures of it. This time there were 2 of them posing like crazy.

Thanks Chito and Buddy for the wonderful day. Till the next outing Subic here we come !

Common Emerald Dove

40D + 500mm f/4 ; f/4 ; ISO 500 ; 1/320 ; hand held

Blue Rock Thrush (female)

40D + 500mm f/4 ; f/4.5 ; ISO 320 ; 1/320 ; tripod

White-Throated Kingfisher

40D + 500mm f/4 ; f/4 ; ISO 500 ; 1/250 ; hand held

Philippine Falconet

40D + 500mm f/4 ; f/8 ; ISO 250 ; 1/640 ; hand held

I still have to process a lot of pictures but the rest of them are in this gallery

[Romy Ocon]

Wow, great series..... and Plain Idol is now hand holding the 500 f4 IS!!!

[Ely Teehankee]

Beautiful pictures. It is not surprising as they were all taken by you. Well done Tina. Mabuhay.

[Neon Rosell II]

Mamamia!! And you were just helping Doc Chito at that!!

Gorgeous captures Plain Idol Tins!! Love the low angle on the CED and F-BRT!!

The Exposure on the WTKF is exceptional to say that you were just doing "hula-hula" (guessing)!!

Exposing the white breast of the PF under midday sun well is awesome!!

Where can I buy that P&S camera of yours?!!

[tina mallari]

Thanks so much IDOL Romy, Ely and Neon

IDOL Romy: I didn't have a choice but to hand hold that HEAVY thing of a lens because I didn't have the oppurtunity of getting down the car coz I might scare off the birds. The best that I could do was open my door slowly and ratat tat tat. There were times that I was too tired that I had to use the window as a support unfortunately the side mirror was in the way most of the time so had to ditch those shots.

I had to sleep for almost 2 days right after that sortie because I was dead tired. When I saw Wency that evening, I wanted to cry and tell him that lens is such a burden - hehehhehe but of course I will not make that mistake coz he might ask me to sell it ;D

Ely: You are way too kind. Thanks so much again

Neon: You know what would be great - a 7D. Tonji and I tried out that camera at infomax and boy does that thing focus fast. I aimed it at moving cars and not a single shot was blurred. I was actually aiming at the numbers written at the side of the taxis. I think that's going to be the best P & S camera for us

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

oh me oh my!!!!! And all these were taken under "unfavorable" circumstances? INCREDIBLE!!!!

[Sylvia Ramos]

Very nice set Tina!! WOW, CED walking around in front of you!!! When we were in Sabang, they would fly right in front of us in small groups. But, we never saw them land.

[Toto Gamboa]

wooooooooooooooooow. that dove is lovely. looks like you have tamed them Tina

[tina mallari]

Thank you Edu, Sylvia and Toto

[Manny Illana]

Whoa! That's the best P&S camera with a 500 prime to boot!
Great series Tins

[Lydia Robledo]

My idol. All are lovely. He, he... I think I found a name for you. Hula-Bird-Lu.
Lu for Lunaticus - now who has that surname? There is one in the yahoo forum and another one in this forum. Both can be your Ninongs.

PS. I love all, but I am particularly amazed with another rendition of the BRT. Can we have a thread dedicated for this bird to see how interesting this bird displays itself??? You have captured the female in a very lovely way even if it lacks the colors of its male counterpart. In my opinion, this the best picture of the BRT female that I have seen. (By the way, is she or isn't she- a juvenile momma?) telyds

[tina mallari]

Thank you so much Manny and Ate Lyds

Ate Lyds: I am very happy being called plain tina nalang... not even worthy to be called idol kasi nga puro ako hula. Sometimes I get so hiya when I am with the guys and they talk about techinical stuff as in white balance and all - heheheheh oh well such is life. The main thing is that we are enjoying this hobby di ba ;D

I was able to take a lot of pictures of the female BRT. The beautiful thing about it is that, it somehow shows different colors at different angles and whenever the light hits it or is in a shaded area.

[Luis (Chito) Limchiu]

Love all, but my favorite is the female BRT and the WTKF which are exceptionally rendered. I enjoyed our birding together, Tina. Let have another soon. Unfortunately, the B&W F was a no show.

[Tonji Ramos]

Nice set Tina. Seems you have been busy while we were away .

[tina mallari]

Thanks Chito and Tonji

Tonj: I have to make myself busy coz I will go crazy thinking of you guys having a great time in Coron if I stay at home.