Camera Cart Studio is located in the famous Maginhawa Street in Quezon City. They offer photography…read moreworkshops, photography merchandise, studio rentals and photography equipment rentals. We reserved the studio for a photo shoot and we were all surprised to see how cool Maginhawa Street was. It was my first time there and I must admit that I found the place really cool. We rented the place for four (4) hours with a rate of 600 php per hour. We didn't find this rate too high because it includes the ff. along with the studio space: 3x 400W - Rimelight Fame E-4 1x Octabox (150 cm) 1x Large Softbox (36" x 48") 1x Small Softbox (10" x 20") 1x Strip Light Softbox 2x Sets 2-in-1 48" Umbrella (Reflective and Shoot Through) 1x Beauty Dish 1x Barn Door 1x Snoot 1x Honeycomb Grid 20 degrees 1x Honeycomb Grid 30 degrees 1x Barndoor with Color Gels 1x Wall - White 1x Background Canvass - Dark Gray 1x Background Canvass - Sky Blue 1x Background Canvass - Black 1x Background Canvass - Green 1x Background Canvass - Pink 3x Large Light stands 2x Medium Light stands 2x Bowl Reflector 1x Snoot 1x 5-in-1 Reflector 1x Benro Tripod with ballhead 1x Radio Trigger 1x Red Colored Gel 1x Blue Colored Gel 1x Yellow Colored Gel 1x Ladder The size of the whole studio is 20ft x 20ft. Wifi was free and it was really fast. The place also has a toilet room, dressing room, and free drinking water. It is also fully air-conditioned. The studio was just the right size for everyone to move around. The wide space was really good and both the model and photographer were comfortable with the set. We didn't have problems with anything and the whole shoot went by smoothly. I recommend Camera Cart to anyone looking for a good place to have a photo shoot. It's the perfect place!

I go to this shop for printing of pics for my journal. They use good quality paper and printing is…read morequick and easy. Next I'll try is the instapic prints - fifteen pesos for two photos which is quite a good deal. The service can be improved though. The guy staff makes customers wait. I had to call the attention of the lady who just went out from the studio because the guy couldn't care less if customers were waiting. When I went back to pick up my prints, he was just there, opening his bag of chips. I had to call the attention of the supervisor to get my printouts.

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.

Years ago I had to have my DSLR repaired and cleaned, and upon the good referral of my photographer…read morefriend (he, being from a family of professional photographers) pointed me to a tiny shop along Hidalgo Street in Quiapo called Shurdun. It took me several minutes to find it since it's actually just a tiny, kiosk-like shop. If you're coming from SM Quiapo entrance facing Hidalgo street, it should be a couple of steps on your left. Look for the yellow sign (I recall it was made of tarpaulin?) Since then, Shurdun has fixed every camera I've ever brought there, including 2 vintage analog film cameras--all within 1 day, too! And if you're wondering, their repair fees aren't exorbitant either, as some stores in Hidalgo MAY rip you off. This place seems pretty popular among photographers, as I've seen many 'sukis' drop by with their expensive gear and confidently entrust these to them. Great, reliable and fast service. Though, of course I hope me and my camera won't see them again anytime soon. Haha.

This printing place's name always slips my mind. I'm horrible at remembering numbers, and this one…read morehas far too many on its name, but I do remember Studio 58 Lab 10's service pretty well. If you're an artist/designer and need your artwork printed for an exhibit/show/archival purposes, this place is known for producing high-quality prints in small to large formats. I had my exhibit piece printed digitally on canvas years ago, and it came out beautifully. The colors are accurately reproduced, and the materials they use are sure to last long, as my artwork still hasn't faded after more than 3 years. For film aficionados, they also offer professional film processing, and are among the few places left in Manila that still do this. Turnaround time here isn't always speedy as sometimes they have too many jobs queued up, but they're pretty reliable. Best to have your prints made at least a week or two before you need them, especially if they're big, major projects.

If you're a professional photographer or a serious hobbyist working with film and you have…read moreimportant rolls you need taken care of, the only photo lab who can do justice to them is Studio 58 in Makati. Even if the whole world thinks that film is dead, it still lives in the fiery hearts of passionate loyalists. These same people of course, won't take kindly to scratched negatives or mucked up film processing. This is why Studio 58 has survived for so long even if some of its contemporaries are nothing bit a blip in history now. They exude quality and have remained consistent all throughout. The most important service they offer is processing for slide or E-6 films. While most film shooters are happy with cross-processing slides, nothing beats the vivid awesomeness of E-6. Since it's niche now, you usually would have to wait for a whole batch of films to be processed so that they can maximize the chemicals they're using. If you have at least five rolls though, you're good to go!

One of the more creative photography groups in the Philippines today is Bleach N' Stain (BNS). They…read moreused to hold open shoots called Washdays that had such unique concepts. I love the series they did on Alice in Wonderland, too bad I missed out on it. For a small fee, the photoshoot already included set-design, make up and a stylist. I love their style and the overall mood of the shoot -- everyone is fun, friendly and you don't feel pressured at all. It's more like playing than doing an actual shoot. You get the high-definition soft copies of the photos about a week after the shoot. And you will be amazed by the results, they could make anyone look awesome! Unfortunately they don't do much of those these days as they are more into wedding photography, pre-nup sessions and debutante shoots. Looking at their portfolio now, I still think they rock the photography world and are still among the most notable photographers in the industry.

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.

For the early risers who want a head start on kitchen duties, the Puregold (not to be mistaken for…read morethe Puregold Jr. across the street from it) near the Libertad LRT station is a godsend. The grocery is already open as early as 7:30 in the morning! No need to wait for others to open at 9:00 or 10:00. What's great about Puregold groceries is that they've positioned themselves as THE partners of sari-sari store owners nationwide. Thus, their prices are low, and they offer a lot of good deals on bulk purchases of sari-sari store staples such as soap, shampoo, instant noodles, canned goods, and the like. This branch is huge, so it has almost everything you need. ALMOST. That is, except for imported goods, which are of limited stock here. This is also not the best place to get baking supplies as they don't even carry confectioner's sugar nor more than two brands of cream cheese. This Puregold also has a department store on the second and third floors. That doesn't open as early, though. So if you're thinking of early morning shopping, do your groceries first.