The day began like any other Friday as we made our way to the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat Ecotourism Area or LPPCHEA for short, also known as the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park – a protected area along the shared coasts of Las Pinas and Paranaque.
Our guest for this PHOTOWALK is none other than Edwin Loyola, photographer, artist, and content creator “par excellence”, who was generous enough to share with us one of his precious weekends, a few days before his return to the “land of the free and home of the brave”.
I have been an avid follower of his FB account and though we have no less than 26 mutual friends, I dared not click “friend request”, because Edwin doesn’t know me comfortably enough to “accept”, so “following” is a more tenable status to take as in “stalking allowed” – LOL.
Cris, Doris, Joy, Bu, Joon, Jemai, Bing and Jhing (me) were all there by 8:00 am and after a quick breakfast and brief introductions - “A Day with Edwin Loyola” OTS began in earnest.
There were countless subjects of interest that we saw but the enormity and variety of garbage being collected by contract workers along the shores was the most interesting, eye-catching, and a more compelling topic to explore in the future (photojournalist tendencies?).
We concluded our LPPCHEA visit on a “solid” note around 11:00 and proceeded to Brick Wood PH for lunch and Part II of the activity.
Part II is another episode of the club’s “Learning by Sharing Series” and this time it was Edwin’s turn. His photographic equipment of choice is a mobile phone (iPhone 13), and his presentation blew our minds because clearly, his level of imagination is beyond normal.
The way he approached a subject as to color, texture, style, and composition is totally a trademark all his own that you would know and say - IT’S HIS, DEFINITELY!
All in all, it was an awesome day to learn from someone who is very unassuming, kind, and generous (enough to share his lanzones I gobbled a few of without his permit), and who certainly brings to the table a different set of perspectives to creativity like a breath of fresh air.
We look forward to next year or the next for another of Edwin Loyola’s visit not just for the lessons but more so because he is a pleasure to be with.
Alpha Camera Club and Master Edwin Loyola – “Perfect Combination!”
