Monday, November 24, 2008

Photography Hiatus

Last June I started going back to school, then got a new job in September, that's why I haven't got much time for studying photography anymore. I've had photo opportunities though, and was lucky enough to have no work on Saturdays, which is my class schedule. Mostly I get invites to shoot on a Sunday. One I spent with a friend and her friend. We just walked the streets downtown. Another one was during the company outing in Samal. And just recently (yesterday, actually) a former coworker and master balikbayan invited Amor and me in a trip to Queensland (Davao City, not Australia). But I still have to organize all my new photos before I post them (it won't take that long).

In the meantime, I will show you some of my favorite photographs. I don't know a lot of photographers, and if I recognize some of their photos, I don't remember their names. There are only two who really stick. The first one's a photographer of Native Americans and the American West, Edward S. Curtis. This choice is fairly obvious because of my interest in American Indian culture.

The Oath (Apsaroke)The Oath (Apsaroke). This photo was part of the Edward Curtis exhibit at SM malls last year. I was excited to see it because this was also used as a cover of the Mohicans: Chapter I album, music inspired by Native Americans.

Canon de Chelly (Navajo)Canon de Chelly (Navajo)

Bear's Belly (Arikara)Bear's Belly (Arikara).

The other photographer is not unknown to you, I'm sure. He played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes, Viggo Mortensen is not only an actor, he's also an active photographer, painter, musician and poet. These are some of my favorites from his works, taken during the filming of LOTR and Hidalgo:

Legolas Lost 2

Miyelo 8 Elijah

Links:
Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian
"The Many Faces Of Viggo Mortensen" Painting & Photography
Art, Music & Poetry of Viggo Mortensen
Creativity

INTJ

I love personality tests! Since high school, I've been reading about them in psychology books. My favorite is the Jung Typology Test. There are several web sites that give elaborate descriptions of each type. But of course, you'll have to start with the test and I've found a harder one and an easier one. The harder one has 72 questions, which are easy to answer if you know yourself. The test can be found at HumanMetrics.

But if you'd rather take the easier route, you just have to choose from two attitudes/functions/lifestyles. There are four pairs, so you'll make four choices. Take the test here (courtesy of Ivan Girl)

As for me, these two tests always result with INTJ (Introversion, iNtuition, Thinking, Judging), which they refer to as, take note, "Masterminds." The descriptions are pretty accurate (in my case).
"Masterminds are introspective, pragmatic, directive, and attentive. They tend to be capable leaders, skilled in contingency planning and entailment organizing, which are directive activities that tell the planner what activities to do and in what order to do them. Despite their leadership capabilities, Masterminds prefer to stay in the background until others demonstrate ineffective leadership. However, once in a position of power, Masterminds are known for their efficiency and willingness to adopt useful ideas.
Masterminds are strong willed, self confident, and decisive. They are also highly theoretical and the most open-minded of the 16 role variants. Before Masterminds adopt a theoretical notion, they insist on researching all the available data and checking the idea against reality. Masterminds are suspicious of theories based on poor research and will discard ideas that cannot be effectively implemented.
Masterminds are highly pragmatic, and they will put forth a great deal of time and effort to implement effective ideas. They are driven to solve complex problems and to create organized, decided, and executed solutions. Masterminds tend to make positive statements instead of negative ones, focusing on how to make the organization more efficient in the future rather than dwelling on past mistakes."

=) What's your personality type?


More about INTJs here:
Wikipedia
Keirsey.com
Independent Thinker

Monday, November 17, 2008

The Niche Template

Jeruel Niche Template
This was a template I customized for a friend. He wanted something artistic with this particular color. And since he's studying photography, I used some of his photographs, which coincidentally looked good on the header.

Preview: the niche
Photos: Jeruel's Flickr

Friday, November 14, 2008

New Template

nephithyrion template 2
A new skin for another year. I thought about changing this site's template early this year, but it never came through. But yesterday, I finally did. When I started working last September, I realized I was far from being good in CSS. So I studied more by designing and rendering Joomla templates. Then a friend asked me to design his blog. I came up with this:

Jeruel Niche Template
It wasn't that good for an 'artsy' requirement. It had mostly measurement problems but was approved anyway. And I take it as a welcome learning experience.

On deciding what to do, I couldn't quite let go of the previous design, that's why the blue background was retained as well as the other text colors. The header is, well, still fantasy themed. I love the photo by the way. =)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Nephithyrion Template 2

nephithyrion template 2
Just finished a new template for my personal blog, nephithyrion. The first one was so Minima-ish and I didn't want it to look like that anymore. Though I still used the Minima template as base, I made it look more professional by discarding the borders and dividers. The fantasy look of the header was also maintained. Overall, I'm very happy with the result.

Thanks to freefoto.com for the header picture.

Poetry Night at Matina Town Square

Poetry night at Matina Town SquarePoetry Night at Matina Town Square on November 22 (Saturday). The madness starts at 8PM. Presented by the Davao Writers Guild.

This is a repost. Source: Village Idiot Savant

I hope this turns out a success. It's high time we have something like this. Then maybe other creative groups will follow.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Born of Hope

For fans of The Lord of the Rings.

Born of HopeOfficial Born of Hope Site

Born of Hope is a 60 minute Lord of the Rings inspired film being produced in the UK. A low budget production, the entire cast and crew are giving their services for no financial gain. The subject matter and quality has attracted people from around the world to join the team, even gaining support and interest from some of the original New Line Trilogy cast and crew members including Richard Taylor and the Oscar® winning team at Weta Workshop, New Zealand.

Born of Hope is a non-commercial production being created for free internet download for film fans worldwide. It is being made purely for entertainment purposes and to keep the storytelling history of Middle Earth alive.

This hour long original drama is set in the time before the War of the Ring and tells the story of the DĂșnedain, the Rangers of the North, before the return of the King. Inspired by only a couple of paragraphs written by Tolkien in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings we follow Arathorn and Gilraen, the parents of Aragorn, from their first meeting through a turbulent time in their people's history.(excerpts from the site)

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Trailers and other videos are available, as well as art and cast info. Spread the word!!!