Birds of Subic Bay
November 21, 2024
As a wildlife photographer, one of my many goals was to write and publish a book containing several of my best photographs of Philippine birds. I never thought that the day of having my own book with my own photographs would come so soon.
On November 21, 2024, we finally launched Birds of Subic Bay!
This is the first book I’ve authored all by myself. It is a photographic compilation of 101 bird species found in Subic Bay, one of the Philippines most treasured birding sites. This project started out as a small pandemic dream spanning 3-4 years of work since the beginning of the lockdown, and seeing it finally come together is incredibly gratifying. Words aren’t enough to describe the feeling of finally fulfilling one of your goals as a wildlife photographer.
This incredible journey, the first of many, would not have been possible without the support of our friends and partners in Subic Bay like the SBMA, Wildlife In Need Foundation - Philippines, Ayala Malls Harbor Point, Ocean Adventure, SubicGO, DENR, CENRO, Subic Ayta Guides Association, Subic Indigenous People’s Assistance Group, Hospitality Alliance of SBFZ, FUNtastic Subic Bay, the Binictican Backyard Birders, the Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines - WBPP, and many more. Most of all, my biggest thanks goes out to the Haring Ibon Birds in Focus Family for making this book and event even possible and overseeing a project, as intense and as lengthy as Birds of Subic Bay, all to the end. Maraming Salamat!
All that I have left to say is that Birds of Subic Bay is the first of many more to come.
Department of Tourism: Central Luzon Experience 2024
I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity given by the Department of Tourism to have us, Haring Ibon - Birds in Focus, Inc., in last week's Philippine Experience Program to showcase the colorful and diverse wildlife of Subic Bay and the Philippines. It was an honor to present my publication and our latest book, Birds of Subic Bay, to the distinguished guests of the Philippine experience.
My heartfelt thanks go to His Excellency Ambassador Lai Thai Binh of the Embassy of Vietnam and his wife, Madame Nguyen Thi Thuy; His Excellency Ambassador Tull Traisorat of the Embassy of Thailand; Councellor Ms. Nurfarahliza Putri Naaim Yazid and Assistant Trade Commissioner Mr. Adhwa Azmil of the Embassy of Malaysia; and Deputy Director Ms. Rohana Binti Dahalan of Tourism Malaysia for receiving a copy of Birds of Subic Bay through SBMA Chairman Eduardo Alino. Maraming Salamat!
Lastly, I'm incredibly thankful to SBMA Chairman Eduardo Alino for giving Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco a copy of Birds of Subic Bay as a token of her visit to Subic Bay. Birds of Subic Bay is the beginning of many more to come. I hope Birds of Subic Bay will serve as an inspiration and a model for the immense potential of wildlife photography tourism to showcase the Philippines' colorful and stunning avian treasures!
