"I told you not to go, you go, look at!"

Let's set this scene: 8 p.m., about 8 of us sitting in a banca outside the mouth of Sohuton Cave. All you could hear were the night creatures and the jokes of my lovely Filipino crew.

We had a great time sitting in the water, waiting to film each team pass into the cave. Such funny guys, and yes, I was the only girl. Loved it, of course.

The teams were unaware that the current coming from the cave was pretty strong, so they had a little bit of trouble entering the cave. When all the teams had passed, we finally got to go in annnnnd it was awesome. Water caves at night are sweet.

In this shot, Bordie (camera guy) just looked so pensive and professional that I couldn't resist the angle. He ended up really appreciating the shot too, which made me happy.

The quote from above was kinda the theme of all the teams getting stuck outside the cave. That is the direct English translation of the Visayan "I told you so" phrase.

It fits quite well into my everyday speech.

Bancas to Sohuton Cave on Bucas Grande.

Earlier in the day, we had some time to swim about in the perfectly serene alcove, surrounded by beautifully lush mountains. The water was so inviting, that nothing was going to prevent me from going swimming. Jurgen let me borrow his mask and snorkel, as I was an idiot and had forgotten mine. It made for a delightful afternoon.

Yes kids, this is work.

Haha. This chicken definitely did not make it across the road.

I'm already out of order, but that's ok. Since we came over from Cebu with the Habagat guys, we were in Surigao three days before the race - plenty of time to buy our provisions for the week to come.

I just assumed I was headed to a normal, small grocery store to pick up my crackers, water and canned goods, but when I arrived this was the outrageous scene I saw. Initially, I thought that these baskets were extraneous items, you know, "in case" you forgot something while in the aisles, but I was informed, however, that the baskets belonged to one person per line.

What?!? My parents don't even buy that much at Costco!

In any case, the amount of goods being purchased was mind-blowing, but with good reason: Many of these people come from smaller towns and islands around Surigao and visit the "big city" to buy their monthly stocks- be it for personal use or to resell in their stores.

My lens wasn't wide enough to capture the insanity of this store, nor was there space to move back, but I needed to do something while I waited with my few items in the back of one of these lines.

Nice visual, huh?

The first leg of the 4-day adventure race was a 70 km bike to Hayanggabon, a small coastal town east of Surigao. Though the heavy rain made for a messy ride, and was really not in the media's favor, it was a much appreciated break from the hot, humid air.

Of course, I rigged up my trusty camera rain gear - masking tape and a variety of plastic bags. I think I have this down to a science now.

The starting line of Carrera Habagat in Surigao City, located on the northern tip of Mindinao.

Full coverage of the past week is probably going to take me some time. Not only is there a lot of information, but I think my internet is mad at me for abandoning it for a week and not missing it at all. I will try to keep everything in chronological order as much as I can, but that's not a promise.

I really don't think I could have asked for a better set-up if I had drafted my contract myself. When there are projects in production, I shoot. When there are no projects to shoot, I work in sound.

Lately, most of my time has been spent on the Foley stage working with Mr. Greg Curda. (For anyone unaware, Foley is art of re-creating natural sound effects for films in post-production.)

Always looking like a lot of fun, I had no idea that setting up the stage for a film could be equally as entertaining as performing. Sooo a few of us in the sound department headed out to a few junk yards in Cebu to find things that sounded cool. A job where you base all your purchases on sound? I like. The funkier it sounds, the better.

As you can probably guess, this shot was taken at a junk shop specializing in old car parts. The heap of engines created a decent enough texture for me to snap a shot.

Last weekend, Kaloy and I needed a breather from the insanity that occurs in Mactan from time to time. Perfect solution? Hopping in his green-apple-colored '69 VW Beetle (plus CD player obviously) with no destination in mind and heading south.

We stumbled upon many places, but of all our destinations, Argao was by far my favorite stop. Founded in 1608 by the Spanish, it is one of Cebu's oldest towns. I liked it so much that we plan to head back there another weekend for further exploration- and of course, more torta.

Pictured above, Argao Church (Church of San Miguel Archangel of Argao) is the 2nd oldest church in Cebu. We took our grand old time appreciating all of the craftsmanship in both architecture and art - dating back to 1733. You can't really see it in this picture, but I thought the murals on the wood-beamed ceiling were particularly cool.

While eating lunch, Kaloy and I were fortunate enough to happen upon Alex, the officer of tourism in Argao, who told us a few cool stories about his hometown. However, what I was most interested in at the time was torta.

As the owner of the cafe as well, Alex took us on a little tour of the torta-making process, starting with his own backyard oven, fueled with coconut husks. Literally outside. Then we headed over to his grandmother's bakery. Same deal - outdoor ovens/coconut husks, but this time we could actually watch them being made, which I loved. The smell was absolutely heavenly.

(Photo: Baker preparing to slip some torta into the coconut-husk ovens at the 2nd shop.)

Torta.

Some may know it as a Mexican dish, but in the Philippines, torta is a scrumptious cake made with pork fat, flour, sugar, a whole lot of eggs and coconut wine in place of yeast. These cakes are a specialty of Argao, a town about 66 km south of Cebu City. There are plenty of family torta recipes, so you've just got to find the one that pleases you best.

Both torta I tried while in Argao were delightful - very different, but I ended up buying a box to bring back to Mactan with me - only 30 pesos a piece!

Cheap and delicious. Good by me.

By the way, torta is generally served with a bitter chocolate drink (mmmmm), also native to the area. Yet another reason for me to love Argao.

A wide-eyed Miss Almira with 3 of her closest buddies.

Guys, meet Miss Almira. We got to know each other through a bit of miscommunication actually, but I'm so very glad. As part of a mentorship program in Cebu, I was assigned to a little boy named Ariel. However, when we pulled out of the orphanage, Ariel was with a separate mentor and Almira was sitting by herself.

So I asked her if I could please sit next to her and she meekly nodded her head. Now a strange thing occurred on this bus, or at least something that never dawned on me ... about half the kids ended up with motion sickness (apparently) because they aren't used to riding in air-conditioned buses over long periods of time (we were going to "Crocolandia" about an hour away. Cool huh?). There was only one nurse on board and she had her hands full with all of the other kids, so I did my best to help Miss Almira. However, the truth is, this little girl was so self-sufficient I didn't really need to do anything.

When we got off the bus, Ariel and I met up, but much to my surprise, Almira found me again and we did a formal "kid-swap" with the other mentor. We kinda just clicked.

We hung out the rest of the day, playing games with the other kids, taking pictures, looking for cats, dancing, etc. The funny thing was that she would get a little camera shy when someone other than myself was taking picture of her. You can kinda see it in this picture, but it was rather endearing.

Well, yet another adventure in Dream World. Everything about this shoot was more-or-less impromptu and everyone did a great job with it. I'm attempting to forget the insanity that preceded this shoot, but what I do remember is that I had milk fish and rice for dinner that night. Delicious.

P.S. - I'm having issues with presentation of the colors in this pic. Opened in photoshop, the colors are correct. I'm kind of curious about this one, so if you get bored, just IM me with the info on how your monitors read it. Danke!

Yes. I get it. I cropped in a square. I know.

Haha, the best part of this shoot was that I got to work with Sammy, a very talented photographer/designer/all-around creative. If you ask him, he will be modest and tell you he is not a professional photographer. However, his work speaks differently of his abilities.

Obviously taken during one of MG's underwater shoots last week.

I love the camera crew. Hanging with them the past few weeks has been excellent. I have quite the extensive nickname, but most just call me "cheerleader" for short and for the first time ever I love it. After a bit of persistence, they even persuaded me to do a bit of the Penn State fight song. I'm fairly confident that no one has ever coaxed me into doing such a thing outside of a sports venue.

Anyway, these guys are particularly cool because many of them are divers. Our company does so much underwater shooting, that it is a fairly valuable skill to be certified. In fact, aside from most of the camera crew, the director, both 1st and 2nd ADs, the location manager and the producer are all skilled divers.

Just to add to my happy little camera world, Dwight (you met him a few posts ago) wants to get a shirt made that says: "Chicks Dig Camera Crews." I mean, I don't know how valid that is, but I can vouch for at least one.

Jumping back to the feature film, there's just something about this shot that I really like. Gong, the 1st AD and Jack, one of the leads sit in the front with Darwin, the 2nd AD, on the outside.

This particular day was so chaotic and long, but we still had probably too much fun for it being a work day.

It's funny, but there is a lot that I don't really want in writing about my on-set experiences. Not because it's bad at all, but too good. Perhaps too much happens in one day that I would be short-changing the things about which I didn't write.

-And that writing everything would take quite a while.

If anyone is familiar with the standard way of shooting fashion shows, you would know that this shot is not really conventional. True, it doesn't showcase the lingerie the girls were modeling, but scantily clad models aren't exactly interesting to me. Being that I had no constraints on shooting style for this particular show, I had some artsy fun.

Despite what Dwight might tell you, I am totally winning our camera battle. Dwight, by the way, is one of my favorites. He's super chill and knows his equipment quite well - two very important traits in a friendship.

This was taken at the end of the Lady Coco fashion show.

After three fashion shows in 3 weeks, I am make-uped out.

Furthermore, I would like to dedicate this picture to my good friend Lucas Buck, in recognition of how insane it would be to work NYC's Fashion Week. So Luke, I'm sorry I made fun of you.

I'm going to ignore chronological order for the next few posts, simply because there was wayyy too much going on the past few weeks.

This shot just makes me laugh (and probably only me) because whenever guys watch girls do make-up that's always when the "what in God's name is she doing to her face?" moment occurs. The angles just make it look so unpleasant, but still kinda cool.

You know, after you sit through the make-up process of productions enough times it becomes more and more challenging to get really cool shots. As usual, I try.

After a brief hiatus, I am finally returning to my favorite internet hobby and let me just say that my experience was worth the break. For the past three weeks we've been on at least 6 different shoots ranging from feature films to TV shows to photo shoots to fashion shows. As a disclaimer, I'd just like to say that if I didn't respond to any emails it doesn't mean I don't love you guys anymore, but just that production x 6 = 0 time for skyping and emailing.

There are a lot of pics that I'd like to post, but I think I'll just keep them in my personal stash because 2 weeks ago seems so old already.

These next few shots are the make-up shots for the Blush/Arrow Fashion show.

Cool storm coming in from the West.

Shot taken from behind Sound Stage 1.

We had an underwater shoot on Sunday, which would have been totally awesome except I was unbelievably congested. As you probably know, you can't dive when congested because you can't equalize properly- so initially I was bummed.

However, when the dive crew and the actors got out of the water, they were covered with jellyfish stings, so I um, immediately reevaluated my disappointment in not being able to dive.

I have better shots of Totti with the underwater camera, but I'm going to be super girly and say I like this shot because his eyes match the water.

After a long and crazy day on set last Wednesday, the camera crew sets up the martini shot (last shot before wrap).

Seny's color-checking face.

If someone told me that this image was only slightly lightened in Photoshop, I wouldn't believe them either.

(Fishing boat in Bantayan, taken about 40 yards from the beach.)

(Top: The catch on the boat / Bottom: Lunch!)

After an awesome evening with new friends at a beach-side restaurant, I got up at 5 a.m. to catch the Bantayan sunrise. I was slightly disappointed to see significant cloud cover over the horizon, but I decided to stick it out and was pleasantly surprised to see the sun's rays making cool patterns through the clouds as it rose. However, this light show was soon followed by huge thunderheads and a torrential downpour. One of my favorite moments here thus far.

I grabbed a cup of hot tea, claimed a little thatched hut and watched the storm roll through. I was so enamored with all the life still going on around me, even with the heavy rain. Being low tide, kids and dogs were out playing on the sandbars, crabs scurrying across the sand - it was a great 30 minutes.

It wasn't until the storm had passed that I spotted a group of fishermen about 50 yards out. Curious about their methods and their catch, I wandered over to their little boat.

We got along very well, talking a bit about our different cultures as they fished. Luc, the matriarch of the family, was so very kind. She taught me everything from how they fish to how she takes the catch to market to how she cooks the catch. When they were done with their work, Luc said, "You like to try fish?" Totally.

"Ok, I cook, come back to beach at 10."

I went back at 10, but there was no sign of Luc, even waiting until 10:30. By then I just assumed that she thought I wasn't going to come, so I went for a swim. However, when I got out to dry off, one of the hotel hands approached me with a beautifully wrapped banana leaf, a plate and a spoon.

"Mrs. Luc want you to try."

I unwrapped the leaves to find a pile of cooked fish- skin, eyes, head and all. I loved it, loved it, loved it. For everything it was. That amount of fish would have sold well for her in the market, but she gave it to me instead. Culturally, the generosity here is just awesome.

So after I finished my little lunch I went to go find Luc, but she was nowhere to be found. I asked the hotel hands to see if they knew where she lived, but no such luck.

It is an absolute must to go back to Bantayan at some point to give her the pictures I took and to thank her, face to face, for her one-of-a-kind gift.

The only worry I had on Bantayan Island. Not really, but come on, don't you get a kick out of it too?

To everyone that said I wouldn't move to the Caribbean, well, you were correct. I moved to the Philippines instead. Ladies and gents - my $28.00 weekend getaway.

(Yes Mr. Manuel, I waded out into the water with the camera - no underwater housing.)

Real men carry bolos - arrrg.

This, my friends, is the famous Lapu Lapu, the man that defeated and killed Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521.

I was asked to tell this story at dinner last night when about 8 of us went out to a Filipino seafood restaurant. Two of my Filipino co-workers allowed me to tell it, but I think it was because they just wanted to see if my proclamation of having read up on my history was true. Surprise! Ok here goes...

When Magellan arrived in Mactan in 1521, he encountered two rivaling tribes. Wanting to gain favor with the tribe of Rajah Humabon, he offered to use the power of his Spanish fleet to wipe out the tribe under Lapu Lapu. Typical of pompous Western military force, he and his men severely misjudged the tides, unaware that their artillery would not reach the shore from their position. Sooo what did the Spaniards do? They decided to get off the ship and wade to shore in heavy armor, making them sitting ducks for the opponent.

And that was that. Actually, because Spanish forces seemed so vulnerable and unprepared, Rajah Humabon took the opportunity to slaughter as many Spaniards as he could.

Pretty much a huge bummer, but Lapu Lapu is considered the first Filipino to resist foreign rule, thus making him the first national hero. This statue is part of the shrine honoring him in Mactan. I know, not the most exciting picture, but a very important figure in Filipino culture.

A tiny side note: It has been said that Lapu Lapu took out Magellan in one fatal blow with his bolo (very similar to a machete), but most historians discount that notion.

An even smaller side note, but so very comical to me: That day, I tried to explain the concept of "greek life" to one of my German co-workers. After some time of answering questions and providing examples, I still made absolutely no headway. For that I must take this moment to say: kudos to the Germans.

Hiking up a little farther, past the Phu Sian Temple, we made our way to the Taoist Temple. Not only is it an impressive structure, but it provides a fantastic panoramic view of the city. Because the vibrant colors of the city below were sheathed by the dull tones of the clouds, I decided to use the weather as a gradient backdrop to a few architecture shots instead. It turned out pretty well, but mostly because there are very fun lines to work with there.

Though Catholicism is the most heavily practiced religion in the Philippines, there are certainly many other faiths present here.

These joss sticks burn before a memorial in the Phu Sian Temple, a Buddhist temple, located in Lahug. I had never seen a Buddhist service before, so I was excited to see one had just started when we arrived. I understood nothing they were saying, as it was all in Chinese, but it was still cool to watch.

I spent all day Saturday exploring Cebu City with a co-worker who was kind enough to take me under his wing for the day. Most notably, we visited Fort San Pedro, Basilica Minore del Santo Nino, Magellan's Cross and Carbon market. I can tell many stories about the histories, but then I would probably take up the whole page. So if you want to know, ask me about it later or look it up.

This image (and the one below) was take at Carbon. This lady was one of my favorites - just so very friendly. Interestingly enough, Carbon has a bad reputation among the higher classes of Cebuanos to the point where they don't even like going. They talk about the abundance of "snatchers" and cautiously tell me to hold onto my camera.

After all, that yellow print on the Nikon strap is the international sign of "this is very, very expensive."

Gwapa!

First of all, I like this picture. Second of all, I'm sure I will think of a better conceptual image later, but this adorable little girl stared at me all the way down the street. Yes, I know it's a baby and they are generally fascinated with everything, but let me just say that being stared at is certainly not uncommon.

I've been talking to a lot of Cebuanos about this and apparently, they find light skin, light hair, light eyes and Caucasian noses (yeah, I don't really understand the nose thing either) very attractive, so in turn, everywhere you go, you get a ton of gawking eyes. In a country of tiny people, being a 5'7 female doesn't really help either.

Story 1: I had just met a co-worker's friend in the city, very very nice Filipina, but when we left the restaurant 1. she immediately linked arms with me as is typical here and 2. was parading me about town, smiling and waving as we passed. I felt like a prize poodle and I really dislike poodles.

Story 2: It is an old Filipino belief that if a pregnant woman touches or stares at someone frequently, their child will adopt some of those features. You see that happen with both Caucasian men and women.

Also, similar to tanning lotion, whitening lotion is readily available and in most every sunblock.

So an Austrian, a Filipino, a German, a New Yorker and a Pittsburgher walk into a fashion show . . .

Huge fashion show with which the company was involved in Cebu City on Cebu. The event was followed by a traditional Filipino meal and some exploration of Cebu night life with excellent company. Not a bad Friday night if you ask me.

After 30some hours of travel I arrived in Cebu at about 11:30 Thursday morning. Sort of strange skipping Wednesday, but no matter, I was just excited to be here at the cost of a day.

I know I'm back-tracking, but I'd just like to mention that my flight from Salt Lake City to L.A. reinforced the fact that I love watching the sun set from a plane. The colors blend at 32,000 feet in ways that you would never see on the ground, with hues that are so unforgettable that a camera would never do it justice.

Ok, so this is when I say, the blog is probably going to get a little more personal than it has in the past if for no other reason than to give my parents an answer that isn't "Who knows" to the question:"What is Alli doing with her life these days?"

My professional stuff will move to another site when it is finished, so please bear with me.

Oh yeah and this is my window. Kinda cool, huh?

Excuse me Mr. Law, but if you want to be in the picture, could you be a little less stoic?

Taken at 5:30 a.m., I obviously decided to spend my first minutes in Hong Kong playing with the camera. After I finish this, hopefully the light will be a bit brighter so I can start again, but it's not lookin' so good - it is typhoon season after all.

This is a temporary image, but I just needed to prove to my mom that it was, in fact, me emailing her this morning - not an impostor. No one else has my long, bony, witch-like fingers. Well, of course not, they're my fingers!

The last sentence has been edited from its previous version because of this direct quote from Jharv: "What, did you leave your grammar on the other side of the Pacific?"

It was nothing short of an honor to shoot the Wailers at Pittsburgh's first DiverseCity Festival on Saturday. Everything was perfect from the band to the sound staff to the weather. I leave every Wailers' show with such an overwhelming, music-induced happiness that the rest of my day is always perfect. For that reason, the Wailers definitely fall into the category of "I would hop this tour in a second." Oh, and I like saying "Rasta"... Rasta, Rasta, Rasta.

Everyone knows how I feel about reggae. You can never go wrong with a lot of love mixed with a dose of "there's something bigger than you" to reach that peaceful, humbling effect. It's my theory that if you fall asleep to it, you will have the best dreams of your life. Apparently, the subconscious appreciates it as much as your ears do.

Out of all the people in the crowd, she was definitely my favorite... aside from Compton and my family, of course.

I'm actually super proud of my parents for bringing my 11-year-old sister to a Wailers show. Warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

"Little Darlin', stir it up..."

Yvad aka Kevin Davy. As you can tell by the number of pictures, a soulfully animated performer.

Just as each musician moves uniquely when playing, ever notice their different tuning styles? Hm, well, I do.

I. love. this. picture.

But a big thanks to Jon Check for SITTING IN THE DARKEST SPOT OF THE STAGE.

Haha, just kidding - I managed. Great night too. After the show, Jon introduced me to this little osteria and bar, which was unexpectedly awesome. Definitely my kind of joint.

I'm going to plug this kid again though, because frankly, he deserves it: www.joncheck.com

Whilst I wait for the Perseids to peak tonight/this morning, I figured I'd jot down a bit from my Vermont, um, excursion:

Though the view of Lake Champlain from my Burlington hotel was beautiful, my business/hiking trip did not go as I had expected. Perhaps one day, I'll tell you kids all about it, but I'd rather just say that I had the most delicious sandwich that made the entire trip worth it.

I don't anticipate being back in Burlington anytime soon, but if you are, go to Rooney's and get the "Vermonter." Not only will the sandwich delight you, but you will find the best conversation in Burlington from Mr. Rooney, who, might I add, is an avid Steeler fan (no relation to the legendary owners of the team).

Trivia: The Von Trapp family, yes of "Sound of Music" fame, still resides in Stowe, Vermont after fleeing a Nazi-infested Austria in 1938. The movie obviously fictionalizes and errs in fact a great deal, but they get the general plot correct. The epilogue? Opening the Trapp Family Lodge in 1950, the Von Trapps still own and run the now 2400-acre resort.

Although Chihuly's pieces looked fabulous in lights, I almost would have preferred a day trip to Phipps Conservatory. Phipps is part of his "Gardens and Glass" installment, showcased at many conservatories and botanical gardens around the country. His work is cool and the way he creates is extraordinary, but I really was aiming to immerse myself in plants. With such low lighting on the plants and no tripod (Phipps does not allow them), it was virtually impossible to get a shot I liked.

Anyway, I kept seeing this enormous chandelier in all of the ads and papers and wanted to show a different perspective:

Ok, so you're not going to let me have a tripod?
Fine, I'm going to lie on your floor.

Oh and one final note on Dale Chihuly: Any dude with an eye patch is ok by me. Although, based on his insanity and medium of choice, it leaves you asking, "How does he not have two?"

To put this shot in perspective, the building pictured stands at least two blocks behind where I was standing, requiring about 30 panels to encompass the whole reflection. The finish on the glass plates of the building in front of me and the angle at which I was standing created this interesting reflection. These shots are cool too because the building itself already provides a grid and all you need to do is find the right composition for your eye. Also, had the sky been blue (and not filled with lovely Pittsburgh haze), this would have been an entirely different shot.


Enough of the the serious photo talk, let's delve into how easy it is to amuse me:

"First off, do you prefer film or digital?"

"Uh, mostly cameras... I figure to take a real photograph, you need a camera... I did one shoot where I didn't use a camera. I got some amazing images... but it's hard. I've never had to concentrate so much."

Photographer humor courtesy of Shasta