Hidalgo Street in Quiapo is a photographer's paradise. Whenever I go here, even if I have no plans…read moreon buying anything, I end up with my wallet lighter. You might call it unsafe and frenzied, but it's all part of Hidalgo's appeal. One of the most famous characters in Hidalgo and probably the whole of the Manila photography community is Mang Ramon of Mayer Photo. Camps are firmly divided into two: those who love him and those who wished he fell off a cliff. A rudimentary search on Google would net a dozens of horror stories that customers had with Mang Ramon. You're probably wondering why he hasn't run out of business yet. The reason is that 9 times out of 10, Mayer has the cheapest and most competitive prices in the whole of Hidalgo. I find that the sure fire way to incur his famous wrath is to be obviously canvassing for the best prices. So the best tip I can give you is to canvas everyone first then get your money ready. Go to Mang Ramon and ask for the price. If (and It will be) cheaper than the others, buy it ASAP and you'll be on his good side for life.

This was the store where I bought my underwater camera, also because after going around Hidalgo…read moreStreet, I found that they were the only ones who are carrying or at least ordering from overseas the brand and model I want to get. They seem to know this, too, as when I said that I will look around, the owner said that they are the only ones offering that model in Hidalgo. I made a reservation for the camera, and made a down payment, which is required for their reservation. The owner said that I would be getting it one or two months later. I said I would pick it up two months later, on February, as January was a busy month for me, and February would be just in time for a summer trip. While it is a plus point that they are offering an otherwise hard-to-find model, there was some lack of communication and miscommunication from their end as the staff did not inform me as promised when the camera arrived. When I started calling for it on February, they said it was still not available. The owner later confessed that they already sold the unit reserved for me and just proceeded to do a rush order of a new one for me, which at least arrived in time for my trip. While my experience was not perfect, I do appreciate the pricing as I saved about P4,000, since their price is lower than those I canvassed in malls.

Perhaps the best-looking photography and video studio for rent in the city; Shutterspace Studios is…read morea photographer's dream space. I myself had the pleasure of shooting a magazine editorial in one of Shutterspace's two studios and it was awesome. Not scrimping on quality at all, Shutterspace's roster of studio equipment comes with Profoto monolights and accessories, perhaps one of the best (and most expensive) in the world of photography equipment. A helpful staff is on-call to assist in moving around the heavy gear and to answer any sort of question when it comes to lighting techniques. As I mentioned earlier, the space has two studios - one studio is smaller, perfect for portraiture and editorial shoots. Another much bigger studio, complete with cyclorama and huge windows to let natural light in is also available for rent. It's got ample space for bigger productions like video and commercial shoots.

As a budding film student in college, I was lucky enough to know and be near a place which could…read moresupport my academic pursuits, a place called Columbia. Columbia in Cubao, that is. Columbia was in the Supercenter, which used to be the Rustan's of my time but is now a bus terminal, and they were about the only camera service and supplies place I knew at the time, since I grew up in the area. I've been to the place many times, as they sold tripods, camera lenses, Mini-DV tapes, SD cards, bags, etc. It's likely not the cheapest place for camera stuff--you can go to Quiapo for that--but it's near and accessible and cheaper than most bigger stores. You could get a 3R photo printed here for a little cheaper than in other printing places, and they were also an official Nikon distributor. The place always had an old-school, quaint charm about it which was nice, and the staff were always very helpful. Once the area became a bus terminal, the place got a little less attractive, and I believe Columbia has now relocated to a different location in Cubao, nearer Farmer's. Hoping that they're still a great, reliable place still.

Fujifilm is considered as one of the leading photography and imaging company in the world. Whenever…read moreI have to develop images or I need photos to be digitally reconstructed, this is the first place that I go to. Fujifilm has all types of advanced digital and photofinishing equipment to make sure that they provide the best service to their loyal customers. I don't really print photos anymore. All of my memorable photos are stored inside my laptop. I usually go to Fujifilm for digital reconstruction. I have pictures of me and my family taken when I was a still a child and unfortunately, most of them are no longer in good shape. A lot of these pictures have been torn to pieces and there's no easy way to fix it unless you're an expert in using Photoshop. Good thing Fujifilm is here to fix all of these photos. When they were finally done digitally reconstructing the images, all of the photos looked good as new. It only took them an hour to completely finish everything.

All things analog have been getting a resurrection lately. The dust is blown off old vinyl records,…read morean old record player is given new life, and even the shutter of an old analog camera goes off again. More and more of my friends have been taking their old analog cameras for a spin again. Since they know that I have penchant for film photography, inquiries regarding film-processing centers is something I've been asked repeatedly. So for you old school shutterbugs out there who want their rolls of film developed, my suggestion is to visit the Fujifilm branch located in the basement of SM Megamall A. The shop does C-41 Processing (for color negative films) but they also accept cross-processing jobs for slide films. Having a roll processed will cost you less than Php 200. I usually don't have my photos printed. Instead, I have the photos scanned and saved into a CD. I just personally prefer to have a digital record of all my photos rather than having them printed out and gathering dust in my room. The whole service takes an hour, ample time for you to check out the rest of the mall.

When I'm meeting someone at a mall and I find myself tremendously bored I tend to go around…read more looking for a store that would have something that will help me pass the time. Windows shopping basically. Glorietta has this art space on the third level of Glorietta 4. Paseo Gallery is one such place. I don't know how new this place is, but it seems like a new comer compared to the rest of the galleries that I find around the area. I'm not entirely sure because I forgot to ask, but most of their pieces seem to be made by Filipino artists. I wouldn't be surprised though if they exclusively dealt with Filipino artists. They have a wide variety of pieces that caught my eye. They have works on paper, canvass, and a few sculptures. If you find yourself in Glorietta, even if you're not in the market for a fine piece of art, at least drop by as most of their pieces will be interesting enough to help pass the time.

The industry that I work in has taken me inside a lot of studios and one of my favorites would be…read morebulb. Apart from the fact that its a mere 20 minutes away from my house, its location is pretty accessible because who doesn't know where Chino Roces is, right? Unlike other studios in the area, Bulb is smaller in comparison but is a great enough space for people looking to shoot catalogues, fashion editorials, or even have your test shoot in. The place also comes with lights if you need them and backgrounds if you're looking to add color to your photographs. There's also a space for hair and makeup so you don't have to worry about sacrificing space for your beauty team. For those working on longer shoots, their price per hour is also reasonably priced.

The red walls and huge circle windows of Gallery Big will entice you to step in and get yourself…read moreschooled about contemporary Filipino art. They house up-and-coming artists and masters of the art as well. The gallery is just a small nook on the second floor of LRI Design Plaza but it sure is full of paintings and sculpture that you could draw inspiration from! Galleries such as this show you how Filipinos never run out of truly talented artists. They didn't have a primary collection that day. The gallery was a hodgepodge with at least one piece per artist. I especially liked Randy Solon's painting that made use of small canvases that were put together. It reminded me of the knights in chess. They have an upcoming show this June called Life Still, a solo art exhibition by Xander Calceta. With Gallery Big, they showcase new acquisitions, rare finds and art for less in their space. I absolutely like it when they show that they have rare finds. Some of which were sketches of artists in the 80s!

We visited this 3D art gallery last Oct. 25. For only 150 pesos you can visit the place and be…read moreamazed with their arts. It is located at Level 4 Market Market, just beside the cellphone shops. It's open from 10:00 AM till 9:00 PM. I suggest that you go there early so there won't be lots of visitors. If you're visiting alone, the staff are very accommodating and they would love to help you take your photos. The gallery is suitable for children, but I'm not sure with toddlers. Mine is 2 years old and he was running all around the gallery. Good thing the staff were nice! If you have lots of stuff with you, you can just leave it at their reception so you can enjoy having your photos taken without the luggage. If you're in Market Market, why not visit Miracle Art and let us know what you think!