last january 14, two of my treklens friends namely oggie (shogun) and xavier (hydroxycut) invited me for a walkathon of street photography from busy streets of quiapo, to the isolated areas of sta cruz, the silent walls of intramuros, accomodating aura of luneta, the sleepy benches and rocks of baywalk and finally to our end point at picc.

my mission of that day was to let the world see the life of the street children around manila.

before posting any pics, as always, we introduce to you the traditional group hug.

http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid00.jpg

l-r : jeff (zchizzerz), xavier (hydroxycut), and oggie (shogun) in the restricted area of intramuros (sneaky shoot).

in a day's bath...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid02.jpg

is the baby crying?? wow.. congrats again jeff!! sulit na sulit ang balik mo sa pinas ah!!! see you real soon! :)

congratulations!!

still in the dreamworld...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid03.jpg

mukang enjoy yan bro ah.. thanks for sharing! :)

in a day's bath...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid02.jpg

This 1 deserves an award bro. :)

thanks peter, cez, alistaire. yesterday's walk was really an eye-opener. i was having a mixed emotions thru this...happy to see some of them with genuine smiles. sad when you can see through those eyes behind their smiles.

great captures bro jeff! looking forward to meeting you on the 21st on TM's trip ;)

in a day's bath...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid02.jpg

Captured perfectly for me. It's like what I'm seeing in Times and National Geographic. The picture itself tells so many stories.

waiting for more breakfast...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid04.jpg

nowhere to go...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid05.jpg

Dude, the bathing kid shot is EXCELLENT!

david, armand, mykl: thanks. hope you learn from these pics.

no more tears, please...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid06.jpg

give me salvation...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid07.jpg

Some say not to shoot poverty. But these are great images Jeff!. You're a photojourn now :)

give me salvation...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid07.jpg

This one is very touching. mitz is right, with these set of pics, you're a photojourn now, even without putting captions.

These should be seen in the current Asian Summit!

nice shots jeff.. very touching..

saving for a day's worth...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid08.jpg

saving myself for a lifetime...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid09.jpg

Jeff, bro...very touching photos you got there. Simply amazing!

Powerful stuff here, jeff. Very.

thanks louie, giovanni.

now on a lighter but little dangerous side, i present to you... spiderman.
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid01.jpg

he saw us on top of the walls of intramuros with other kids and hurriedly climbed to the high walls and asked for a shoot. luckily, i caught his sneaky approach.

what a thread... these photos speaks for something...hmmm
and you captured it open and natural...

congrats on this. another inspirational shots.

teej, salamat bro.

glamorous...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid10.jpg

aspiring beauty pageant's motto: world peace...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid11.jpg

note: some of the images are graphic and contain photographs with nudity. i captured the photos to be photojournalistic as possible and i do not promote child pornography here. to be safe, i'm patching black areas to the vital parts. thanks.

mr pogi...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid12.jpg

waterbabies...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid13.jpg

joy ride...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid14.jpg

undetermined...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid15.jpg

doubtful...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid16.jpg

hehehe...great captures jeff! woth the walk.

Awesome Series Jeff!

fafi jake and fafi cris, shokran! here's more...

carefree...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid17.jpg

fashionista...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid18.jpg

aktibista...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid19.jpg

together we jump...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid20.jpg

Hanef! Galeng! Pa-kiss nga fafa! :Grin:

together we run...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid21.jpg

The last photo is the best!!!

Absolutely amazing use of the wide angle perspective Jeff! Galeng! My hat's off to you! :)

together we unite...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid22.jpg

Jefoy galing mo talaga!

together we feast...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid23.jpg

together we swim...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid24.jpg

together we fight...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid25.jpg

we walk with our hands...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid26.jpg

we stomp with our feet...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid27.jpg

wow! i like this one most... kids... the future...

together we run...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid21.jpg

we blew bubbles...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid28.jpg

we flew kites...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid29.jpg

we hop small steps...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid30.jpg

we leap big feats...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid31.jpg

we have parents...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid32.jpg

sometimes, we don't...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid33.jpg

we have everything...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid34.jpg

or we have nothing...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid35.jpg

these are the children of manila... thanks for viewing.

cool shots jeffy!

..and thank you for sharing Jeff :)

thank you din mitz and tet!

nice set as always jeff:)

great shots you have here jeff. sobrang full of emotion ang bawat shot. thanks for sharing.

in a day's bath...
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid02.jpg
This is very good, Jeff.

nice captures jeff......

Great shots Jeff! Amazing and full of emotion... Thanks for sharing!

thank you for the comments.

i was able to find time to make an avp out of it. you can see it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeoDZKnkkdE).

loved the together we feast and together we fight photos. great set jeff! :)

Galing ng mga pics mo Sir Jeff. Daming matututunan. Any tips on how to shoot photos like these?

@john: thanks bro!
@joel: drop the sir thing, nde ako professor. :D just try to be friendly and open to them (be cautious also)... spend time with them and dig the inner feelings. when you feel they're at ease and ready to show their true emotions...shoot. hth. thanks!

@jeff

sir! you're shoots are out of this world! i am planning to shoot streetkids for my thesis... :D can you teach me how to take this awesome shots of yours?? :D

@lorenzo: thanks man. my chaps and i are planning to do some street photog either in the dumpsite or sa riles (railways) next week. if you want, you can tag along and i can give you tips...

...and drop the "sir" thing ok? :)

@lorenzo: thanks man. my chaps and i are planning to do some street photog either in the dumpsite or sa riles (railways) next week. if you want, you can tag along and i can give you tips...

...and drop the "sir" thing ok? :)

sure! :D what time and exact date? i'll shoot in film.. ok lang ba? :D

sure! :D what time and exact date? i'll shoot in film.. ok lang ba? :D
i'll send you pm when it's final. film or digital, it doesn't matter. :)

yellow ninja kid
http://www.nikkish.net/jeff/dpp/011407_manilakid44.jpg

@ Jeff - Hat's off to your energy bro.! :)

Dyep!!! Hat's Off!!! this thread was an eye opener (also refreshing in some ways)... well documented... photojournalistic approach... you really shoot well my friend.... i don't have any favorite in the photos you posted here., coz i like them all... for one photog who just started couple of years back??? you are amazing!!! ... makes me wanna change my profession....:)

ang galing mo Jeff great stuf!!!! inspired mo ako mag ipon para maka bili na rin ako ng matinong camera dslr kasi point and shoot pa rin gamit ko, galing mo talaga thanks for sharing your photos!!!

earl, ricky and oliver: thanks for the kind words.

Hi Jeff, loved your set. I admire how you kept the tones as natural as possible. The grains on some shots added to the grunge feel, nice.

Just need to ask how do you keep exposure so balanced Ex: your shot "give me salvation", I figure its 12:00 (based on shadows) but the details inside the shadows are still well exposed and distinguishable (like under the child's face). Do you bracket, or PS, or straight shot?

@bernie. many thanks.

about your inquiry, most of the shots i've took this trek was set on a "cloudy" white balance setting (with -1 adjustment) for a consistent toning. some of the images undergo level adjustments, bw conversion, usm and cropping. all were put into a frame with sig and vignette effect.

the "give me salvation" was taken almost 11am (i didnt adjust my time on my cam because im using it gmt+4 - uae time).

here's the original photo:
http://www.jeffvergara.com/dpp/DSC_7836-01.jpg
(exif in the image)