Kurt.Belen.Photography

New Beginnings.

2011-10-16T12:03:00.001-04:00

I am officially moving my blog and work to www.kurtbelen.com

Thank you for all the page visits and comments!

- Kurt Belen

|Life| Apples & Animals

2011-10-06T20:40:00.000-04:00

The other day I met up with my a couple of my nursing friends and went up to Blake's Apple Orchard. Meet Lisa, Lindsay and Norm. It was goof to hang out with half the crew like old times back in school. Anyways here are the frames I came up with.

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Month of the Holy Rosary

2011-10-02T17:57:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple frames I took for my mother at church to celebrate/kick of the month of October.

Happy October everyone! Stay tuned for some fun frames to drop!

|Event| Evening at the Farmers' Market

2011-09-20T21:23:00.002-04:00

Ozone House's annual Evening at the Farmers' Market auction. Check out last years event. Enjoy the frames and comment.

-Kurt Belen

|Portraits| Benedict

2011-09-18T22:05:00.002-04:00

Portraits of my God-brother Benedict.

-Kurt Belen

|Event| Evening at the Farmers' Market - PREVIEW

2011-09-17T11:22:00.002-04:00

Full Post to come soon.Kurt Belen

|Senior Portrait| Yara '12

2011-09-15T21:33:00.002-04:00

-Kurt Belen

|Family| Check yo self & Taboo

2011-09-05T20:30:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, we had a little family get together at my house. Spent the evening watching movies, eating, and playing card games. Here is what I captured.

-Kurt Belen

|Senior Portrait| Yara's Preview

2011-09-01T20:36:00.003-04:00

Full post to come next week.

-Kurt Belen

|Engagement| Chelsea + Jeff

2011-08-29T19:06:00.002-04:00

- Kurt Belen

|Portrait| Jack + Charlotte + Family

2011-08-23T18:26:00.002-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I photographed another children/family session. Meet Jack and Charlotte. The two are twin siblings who are tons of fun and filled with giggles & smiles. They had me laughing throughout the session. It was a great time. Enjoy the photographs!

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Dance

2011-08-20T17:30:00.002-04:00

About two weeks ago, I was invited to shoot a dance workshop at Troy Dance Studio. Here is what I came up with. Big ups to Joey and Justin Antonio for invite! Good luck to you guys!

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Dad's Birthday

2011-08-20T17:23:00.003-04:00

Last week was my dad's birthday. Like most dads, my dad loves a good piece of steak and to celebrate my Dad's birthday we ate at an all you can eat steakhouse Brazilian Steak - Gauchos. Boy was it good. Total food coma. Great food and great service. Happy Birthday dad and to all the August Birthday followers! Enjoy the photos!

-Kurt Belen

|Engagement Preview| Jeff + Chelsea

2011-08-11T13:30:00.002-04:00

Preview of Jeff and Chelsea's engagement session.

-Kurt Belen

|Travel| Nashville - Opryland

2011-08-11T13:21:00.002-04:00

Last stop in Nashville before heading back to the D.

-Kurt Belen

|Travel| Nashville - The Picnic

2011-08-09T15:17:00.003-04:00

Saturday was the big picnic. Plenty of food, games, laughs and pictures. I think this is the largest post i have done so far. Enjoy the photos!

-Kurt Belen

|Travel| Risk

2011-08-09T14:33:00.002-04:00

After the dinner at Blue Sky the guys brought it back old school and played a game of Risk. Joey and I decided to call it a draw because it was getting really early in the morning.

-Kurt Belen

|Travel| Nashville - Resort and Blue Skies

2011-08-08T13:01:00.000-04:00

Since I'm too lazy to type out what we did on Friday, I'll just let the photos tell you. =)

-Kurt Belen

|Travel| Nashville - The trip

2011-08-08T12:37:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago my family and I went down to Nashville, Tennessee to attend a hometown reunion for my dad's town in the Philippines. 14 of us hopped into a BFV and made the 9 and half hour drive down. Here are the frames that I took while I was not driving.

Stay tuned for more from the trip.

Kurt Belen

|Portraits| Fun in the sun

2011-08-05T15:31:00.007-04:00

Another session with Logan, Serena, Selena and Logan! Always a blast with these kids. Check out their last session HERE

-Kurt Belen

|Check yo face| Fortune Buffet

2011-08-05T15:22:00.008-04:00

The other week we had a little family get together to celebrate the birthday of our new Tita from Trinidad/Philippines. As always per Asian Buffet, we played with our Iphones. Last time we doodled Pokemon, now we played with each other's faces. Here are the photos from the night. Happy Birthday Tita Fe!

-Kurt Belen

|Duller's| Photoshoot

2011-07-20T08:25:00.004-04:00

Hung out with my younger cousins and decided to pull out my camera. Oh how they have grown.

-Kurt Belen

|Featured Photographer| Jarvie Pascual

2011-07-19T10:15:00.004-04:00

Every now and then, I will be featuring a guest photographer on my blog. It will consist of a short interview and a couple frames of them at work taken by yours truly. This features aim not only to help to showcase talent, but also to show the vast range of photography styles, ideals, and philosophies.

Meet Jarvie Pascual, a Filipino-American photographer from Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Give me a brief history of your photography journey and how you get into photography.

Jarvie - "After years of using a compact camera, I started to feel limited. So I bought a used DSLR. It was a Nikon d40 back in 2009. It’s a little nice compact camera. I learned basics of photography from turning it ON to properly expose my images. Then it grew my interest in photography and from there, it’s just been a seriously expensive hobby. Arts has been my passion. I liked to draw when I was a kid. So, when I get into photography, I got fascinated with the pictures I captured! Photography is an art."

What is your favorite thing about photography and what do you like to shoot?

Jarive- "I like what photography's offered me because the world is completely different when it's seen through a viewfinder. I’ve always been interested in taking portraits, because I like meeting new people. I like shooting people. It's fascinating how one can see their personality by just looking at their pictures. I like capturing their moment."

What is the most trouble photography has gotten you in?

Jarvie- "Of course! When you, Jeff, and I went to into the abandoned Michigan train station downtown. It was thrilling and at the same time fun!"

Lastly, how has photography influenced/effected your life?

Jarvie - "Since I started photography, I have met a lot of people and become friends to them."

Enjoy the photos!

Check out JARVIE's work at his blog.

-Kurt Belen

|Kalayaan| Liberty

2011-07-18T18:02:00.001-04:00

Filipino Independence Day pictures.

-Kurt Belen

|Graduation| Job Well Done

2011-07-17T13:26:00.003-04:00

Almost 300 people came and celebrated my graduation party. Thank you to everyone who came out! I am truly blessed to have wonderful friends and family. I could not have asked for more. Anyways here are some of the photos from the party. Shout out to Mae-Mae, who shot almost all these shots.

-Kurt Belen

|Preview| Things to drop

2011-07-16T11:51:00.001-04:00

Four teaser shots from four soon to come posts.

-Kurt Belen

|Paintball| Rain and Pain

2011-07-15T21:07:00.005-04:00

Last month, I organized a paintball excursion out at Lonewolf East. All in all, 22 of my family and friends battled it out in the woods; rain, mud and all. It was great. There is nothing like lighting up your friends and practicing your best impersonation of real life Call of Duty. We all had funny stories to share at the end and oohed and aahed at each other's bruises. My homie Norm won for best bruise. Check and COMMENT on the photos below.

-Kurt Belen

|Preview| Cousin's shoot

2011-06-13T00:05:00.004-04:00

Had a photo shoot with my younger cousins out in Oak Park. Here's my favorite frame from the day.

More to come later

-Kurt Belen

|Portrait| New Term 4

2011-06-08T22:17:00.004-04:00

I was asked to shoot the new Term 4 nursing students at Madonna University. Just head shots and group portraits. Here are a few from the shoot.

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Detroit's Flood

2011-06-07T22:19:00.001-04:00

Found these photos on my SD card and thought I should share. They were taken a few weeks ago when it rained for a couple days straight. The rain flooded highways and basements throughout Michigan. These photos are from my drive through Detroit.

-Kurt Belen

|Family| Fuji Buffet and Pokemon

2011-06-01T14:42:00.006-04:00

Last weekend my cousin, ate Anna, celebrated her double doctorate degree graduation at Fuji Buffet. There was plenty of people, laughs, and food. After eating plates of sushi my cousins started to play "name that Pokemon" on their Iphones and thought it would be great to capture.

Next update - |Adventure| Detroit Zoo

-Kurt Belen

|Adventure| Detroit Zoo

2011-06-01T12:26:00.004-04:00

Last weekend I went out to the Detroit Zoo with a few of my classmates. All we had a good time walking around, chatting, and looking at animals. I haven't been to the Zoo in a couple years so it was pretty nice to head back. Here are a couple photos I took while roaming around.

Enjoy!

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Birthday Special

2011-05-31T21:56:00.007-04:00

Happy 21st Birthday to the best girlfriend ever! Check out Rita's PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG as she conquers New York City.

|Portraits & Milestone| Rohan + Serena + Selena + Logan

2011-05-16T21:14:00.011-04:00

This past weekend, my good friend Khaye, who was a life saver throughout nursing school, asked me to help shoot on a children portrait session. I was more than happy to help a fellow friend in photography and give a couple pointers. Despite the crummy weather, the shoot turned out great and Khaye did awesome. She came up with great compositions and frames that I also had running in my head. I wish the weather was warmer, but the overcast skies almost made up for it.

I now introduce you to Rohan, Serena & Selena (twins), and newborn Logan. They were a hoot to photograph and play with. They had tons energy & spunk and were never frightened from the cameras and big lenses. Right from the start they were smiling and playing with each other. I really enjoyed photographing them and hope to photograph them again one day. Photographing children brings it challenges, but I would never turn down an opportunity to shoot. Never. Photographing kids reminds me how great my childhood was and inspires me to capture their childhood years. I hope that one day the children I photograph will look back at their photos, smile, and think back on how great it was to be a kid.

Here are just a few photographs from the shoot.

Thoughts or Comments----> CLICK ME

Milestone - Three consecutive months of 1,000+ views!
Shout out to YOU! Yes, YOU! You are one of the inspiration on why I continue to photograph and blog. Thank you for all your kind words and clicks. I am happy to say that the blog has been viewed in over 15 countries throughout the world. Can we make it four months?

-Kurt Belen

|Life| Spam Musubi + Toys

2011-05-15T17:42:00.009-04:00

This past weekend Rita, Ron, and I decided to make some Spam Musubi. For those of you who do not know what Spam Musubi is the very reputable Wikipedia defines it as, " a very popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii made in the tradition of Japanese onigiri, also known as omusubi." The Spam Musubi we made consisted of rice, sliced, marinated, & grilled Spam, nori, furikake, and avocado. This was my second time to make Spam Musubi and thought it would make a great feature on my blog. So without further ado, here are some photos from the Spam Musubi lunch.

Later that night, Ron and I played with his younger cousins. As the both of us schemed on how to create the best track, the little ones got bored and left. Ron and I ended up designing for a good four hours...

COMMENTS WELCOMED

-Kurt Belen

|Goodnight| Poker + Pacquiao

2011-05-08T23:37:00.006-04:00

Poker & Pacquiao party at the Razalan's. Here are a couple shots from the evening.

Kurt Belen

|Cinco| Chips & Dip

2011-05-08T22:04:00.003-04:00

To celebrate completing Kaplan, the nursing crew went out to eat and relax. Since it was May 5th, we ventured over to On the Border in Novi. The food was pretty good but the company was better. Enough chit chat though, here are the photos from the day.

-Kurt Belen

|Nurse Graduate| Guest Photographer- Kevin Belen

2011-05-06T15:11:00.009-04:00

Last weekend I graduated from nursing school. It seemed like yesterday I was just starting school and now it is all over. All the hard work, late nights, and pots of Starbucks's coffee paid off. I will definitely not miss the exams and deadlines. However, I will most def. miss my fellow nursing classmates. Great memories with the CREW. Now I just have to study for the NCLEX exam and find a J-O-B. errr.

Since I was graduating my awesome brother, Kevin, flew in to see me walk. Despite being finals week he still made it out and managed to get some studying in. It meant a lot to me to have him there. My parents and my awesome girlfriend RITA were also there to see me eastside walk it out. It was a great day that I will never forget.

Kevin is the 1st guest photographer to be fully featured & posted on my blog. Kevin captured almost all of the photos posted below. I can only take credit for editing the photos, so any kind words about the frames should be directed to Kevin. Check out KEVIN'S FLICKR for more of his work.

In closing, I have never seen so many photos of myself on one blog post. Its funny that my blog is titled "The Blog of Kurt Belen", yet most of the post feature other people besides me. Thinking about this irony reminds me of one of the most important lessons learned in nursing school. Nursing is not about us (the nurse) but rather about others (the patients & thier family). In the end nurses are lucky enough to go home after a shift, while patients long to go home to theirs. This blog post is for us, Madonna Nurses. Enjoy it!

If you would like any photos, please COMMENT me your email, a few kind words, and I will be happy to send them to you.

-Kurt Belen

|Family| Birthday Bash

2011-05-03T21:46:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday, I partied it up with my nephews and nieces at their joint birthday party. We celebrated Mae-Mae's, Brent's, and Megan's birthday(Ugha, I remember when they were all just infants). It was great to just hang out with everyone and not worry about nursing school. My brother KEVIN was also in town for my GRADUATION, so it was extra special being with everyone. There are always great photos when I get to see the little ones and this party was no exception. I rotated my favorite frame of the night. Check out my brother's awesome zippy hoodie I bought him.

Shout out to my God-Brother, Benedict, who cut my hair before graduation. Thanks for them lines booyyy! Benedict also cut Kevin's hair which received plenty of praise back in Virginia Beach. Anyone who needs a fresh cut should get at him!

COMMENTS are always welcome.

Shot for all the FISH keepers out there.

++BONUS, who doesnt appreciate silly faces and cash money++

-Kurt Belen

|Pinned| Nursing Ceremony

2011-05-03T21:08:00.004-04:00

Here are a couple photos of my pinning ceremony. My Ninang (Tagalog for Godmother) Dolly flew in from Maryland to pin me. It was a great evening for me and my fellow nursing students as it marked the end of nursing school. Sorry there are not many photos! Will accidentally switched the settings on my camera, which threw off 95% of the photos.

Check out my friend JARVIE 's blog for more photos from the pinning ceremony!

-Kurt Belen

‎|Zingerman's Roadhouse| Raisa's Birthday

2011-04-21T23:04:00.004-04:00

Please drop your email if you want any of the photos below

So besides finishing college, yesterday was my good friend's 22nd birthday. I have known Raisa since high school but only became good friends with her over the past couple years (Raisa, I hope we are good friends at least. hehe). She had her dinner at Zingerman's Roadhouse out in Ann Arbor. Awesome food and awesome ambiance. Downside? They kept dimming the lights which made good photos hard to come by. It was also packed inside and I didnt want to interrupt the other diners.

Anyways, Happy Belated Birthday Raisa! Sorry I didnt have a card with your present. Please take this blog-post as my card. We didnt even get a picture together... Thanks for being such a great & helpful friend. May all your wishes come true (Black Audi R8)!!!

- Kurt Belen

|Bittersweet| Last Study Session + Doc's

2011-04-21T17:39:00.010-04:00

Please drop your email if you want any of the photos below

As of today I am officially done with nursing school. Crazy huh? It seemed like the other day I started nursing school and was freaking out about clinicals. Its hard for me to believe that I will not be going to class early in the morning anymore or staying up late cramming for exams. Its really bittersweet for me. I made some awesome friends at Madonna University that I will miss seeing. Hopefully we all keep in touch.

The first set of photos are of my homies of nursing, without them nursing school would have been all work and no play. I can not imagine school without them. It would just be hella sad if I were the only male nurse in my class. Anyways, these photos were taken the night before our final final, a time of most seriousness. But as usual the study session never started and we just kicked back with our notes infront of us. Enjoy the photos!

Every time we "study" something crazy funny happens and this last session was no different (this last session was one of the funniest). The animation above is of my good buddy Norm and the most scariest moments of his life. It was hilarious for the rest of us. I laugh every time I see these photos. I would share the story, but fear unforgivable repercussions for Norm. You all will have to just try and guess what happened.

Here are some photos from Doc's, after our finals. Sorry left early!

Shout out to my fellow party go-ers. Awesome Night!

+Bonus Dance+

++BONUS VIDEO++

COMMENT HERE

-Kurt Belen

|Awarded| Hometown Health Hero

2011-04-15T20:07:00.004-04:00

This past week I traveled over to Lansing with my community group. We were awarded the Hometown Health Hero Award for the community work we accomplished with the INFANT MORTALITY PROGRAM in HIGHLAND PARK. It was a great honor to be recognized by the State of Michigan and I am very proud of the girls in my group. We got a lot of things done and we got them all done well. Governor Synder said he would show up to the ceremony and honorary lunch, but he did not. I guess he did not show because there was about 10,000+ protesters screaming off with his head and he would have had to walk outside to get to the hall.

Anyways, here are some of the frames of my day out in Lansing. Sorry there are not so many. Enjoy!

Questions? Comments?

Next update - Last day of school

-Kurt Belen

|Adventure| Nurses + March = Redic.ulous

2011-03-30T21:56:00.005-04:00

Today I ventured over to Lansing with a good group of friends to march for nurses rights. Out of the 1000+ attendees, about 50 of them were Madonna nursing students. Here are the photos from the day. Enjoy and Comment.

Big ups to Brain, Will, Norm, Lisa, and Tony for the great laughs today. I am def. going to miss kicking it with you guys after we graduate.

-Kurt Belen

+BONUS+

A little animation of Will's Spiderman impression. Props to Lisa who captured the moment.

|Highland Park| Full Circle

2011-03-24T21:20:00.003-04:00

Every semester of nursing school I have enrolled in a course called "Community". Thinking back to the first two semesters, I remember joking to my friends about how the class was almost pointless. I was not interested in being a community health nurse and I really did not care about community. I just wanted to focus on assessments, theories, and passing maternity nursing (SMH)...

On real talk, community nursing is nowhere near pointless. Now, during this fourth and last semester of nursing school, I realized how important community nursing is and how great of an impact a nurse can make on a community. We can change lives and I think my community group and I did just that.

Over the past several months, my community group and I have been working with the Infant Mortality Program out of Highland Park (check the links for past blogs). For those of you who do not know of Highland Park, HP is close to be considered a third world community. Jobs are inexistent, educations is low, teen pregnancy is high, crime is high, police presence is low, there is a lack of access to health care facilities, there is no library, parks are run down, house are torn up and abandoned, and the list goes on. I am from Detroit and people think that I have it bad... People have not seen Highland park.

So basically, my clinical group and I have been working to decrease the infant mortality of Highland Park through education and support. We set up donations for newborn families and for basic everyday day items at school. We raised some money and purchased items in Highland Park which were used to make our "Healthy Home Kit". We created an educational class titled, "Healthy Homes, Healthy Families." where we taught expecting families and newborn families about basic newborn care and home safety. At the end of the class we gave out our "Healthy Home Kit" which included everything from laundry detergent to teething rings. It was a great experience and am blessed to have been apart of my community group and IMP.

Shout out to my favorite ladies in Madonna Nursing!

-Kurt Belen

|Cultured| GenAPA 2011

2011-03-24T21:09:00.003-04:00

Here are the photos from this years GenAPA. Since the show was on a Sunday, and I had class the following day, I only stayed till halftime (intermission). I pretty stoked to go and watch the show though, because my younger cousin, Allen, was in the show and danced. It was fun yelling his name out when he was on stage. Good job Allen and the rest FASA!

Here are last years photos from GenAPA2010

Here are a couple shots from the night. If you would like an email photo from the set, drop me a comment with your email and the photo! Enjoy!

Comment welcomed here

|Dusting up the blog| Portrait Session

2011-03-24T20:36:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the dust that has accumulated on my blog. I have been pretty busy in my last semester of nursing school and my camera had to take the backseat. I definitely missed being in the game over the last month & a half and finally picked up my camera last weekend.

Meet Yussef. He's a new friend of mine who lives out in Ann Arbor and attends the University of Michigan. I was asked to take some portraits of him and just could not pass it up. It is kind of funny, because I only met Yussef about 10 minutes before taking these photos. And me being rusty meant that I had to step up it...

So here are the shots from last weekends session. I posted some colored bloopers from the shoot, so don't mind those really. Let me know what you think and thank you for checking my blog!

Comment here

|SNOWDAY| Snow, Fish, and Pictures + Video

2011-02-02T12:19:00.007-05:00

Snowdays usually mean no school right? True, but I still have school to work to submit... My professor decided to have students turn everything online and to make the quiz online. Ugh. On the flip side, there are only 84 days left until I graduate.

So what have I been up too lately? Schooling, papers, immersion, photography, and fishy tank. My last semester of college has been alright so far. I spend more time at the hospital than at school. I do miss hanging out and studying with my fellow nursing students.Papers suck and I miss taking exams. I would much rather study for 6 hours than type out papers in 2 hours. Immersion is dope. I am at Providence Southfield twerking as a student nurse. Over the past weekend I had a couple photo gigs. Lots of fun and lots of experience. My fish tank keeps me relaxed at home. Recently, my friend Norm and I went to Lansing to attend a Coral Swap. Think of it as a salt water aquarium convention for coral and fish. It was pretty intense and I ended spending a few bucks.

I now leave you with a couple frames + a bonus video of my new prize piece in my tank. Enjoy the photos and leave your thoughts here.

Gotta love the miss focus.

Kurt Belen

|Vrroom| NAIAS 2011

2011-01-18T21:28:00.006-05:00

Today, my dad and I decided to take my cousin, Anya Chadney out to the Autoshow. Anya Chadney is visiting the Mitty Mit for the first time, so what better way to get acquainted with Detroit than our autoshow? After several hours of walking and sitting in the majority of the cars we left to drive around Downtown. It is really exciting having family visit for the first time. Lots of catching up, chilling, and staying up late. Good times. Anyways, the autoshow was alright. I felt like there was more cars last year though. Here are the frames that I came up with.

Unitl next time blogger world Kurt Belen.

|Shooting till my fingers turn blue| Mt. Holly

2011-01-09T14:22:00.016-05:00

Ended Christmas break with some snowboarding at Mt. Holly. It was a good, but also bad end to break. It was a whole lot of fun boarding, but it was pretty painful waking up this morning. It hurts to walk, forget about running. Anyways, I really wanted to make a video of the day, but after a couple wipe outs (and not having my neck strap)I thought it was best to just take some stills. Also, if it was not for the beautiful scenery, I do not think I would have shot. Shooting in freezing conditions sucks. It slowed down my camera, drained my batteries, and constricted my peripheral veins to the point where I could hold my camera.

Here is what I came up with.

Hope you enjoyed the photos, let me know what you think! In other news, my last semester of nursing school starts tomorrow. Maybe I should bring my camera to capture my last first day of college?

Kurt Belen

|KG Studios| Saltwater Room

2011-01-07T01:16:00.007-05:00

Shot and edited in one day. This was my first video so it isnt the best. My compositions did not come out so well when I edited them into a widescreen format. Lost a lot of video space on it =/ I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think! You know where to leave them comments.

Kurt Belen

|New Year, Old Pictures| Massive update

2011-01-05T15:08:00.006-05:00

Its been well over a month since my last update. Plenty has happened since and I finally have time to update. To start, I did surprisingly well on my finals! Other things being that Kevin came home for the Holidays(he already left though), the Holidays, Family parties, clubbing, shooting events, and just relaxing. I decided to do one massive update. My new year resolution is to take more photos and update more often. Anyways, here are bits and chunks of my Christmas Break.

Dont forget to comment!

Sorry for the non-uniformed layout. I tried photoshoping new blog sets/actions and FlickR messed it up (I should probably go Pro again huh?).

Kurt Belen

|Family & Friends| Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-29T22:11:00.002-05:00

Ahh, Thanksgiving break. A time for relaxing, family, friends, turkey, and crazy shopping. This year was no exception, spending too much time relaxing and not enough time studying.... Over break I spent time with my family and friends, watched HP, bought fish and coral for my tank, camped out for a high-def 42-inch flat screen LCD, and even had assisted on a photoshoot. Overall a great break.

I spent Thanksgiving lunch with Rita and her family. They had a tons of great food- even fresh crabs driven in from Maryland. I am definitely Thankful to have them in my life. After lunch and chilling with Rita and family, I left and headed to my tito's house for dinner. I spent the rest of the night eating, watching movies, playing games, and scoping out where we were to camp out for Black Friday. We ended up camping in at Meijers, which was great. Indoors, heat, and chairs. There were other good deals at other stores, but that entailed long lines waiting outside in the cold. By 6AM Friday morning we were back at my cousins house with three 42inch flat screens and a PS3. Friday was also my cousin's birthday, so we had another family get together.

I could keep typing about my Thanksgiving break, or I could just let the photographs to the talking. So here are the photos, I spent too much time editing and blogging.

Enjoy and comment!

|Term 3| Pizza Party

2010-11-29T21:41:00.003-05:00

Having won the best term Christmas tree the school of nursing threw us a pizza party!! I was hoping for more of a turn out, but it meant more pizza for us there. Just messing. Anyways here are the random pictures from the bumping party... Shout out to Carla Beaver who shoot some of these photos!

|Culture| Pagkakaisa: Philippine Culture Night

2010-11-21T13:23:00.004-05:00

Last weekend I attended the Philippine Culture Night at University of Michigan. The event showcased Filipino culture through music, trivia, food, and dance (Which is basically what most Filipinos do- eat, sing, and dance). With over 250 guest, PCN raised over $3,000 for the Habitat for Humanity of the Philippines. It was great show that went to a great cause. I'm especially proud of my younger cousin, Allen, who step it up and rep'd the family. Here are some of the photos from the night with textures. Textures were added through Photoshop, let me know what you think about it.

If anyone would like a copy of a photo(s), or has any questions drop me comment with your email.

Next Update: Madonna University Nursing: Term 3

-Kurt Belen

|Struggle| Highland Park

2010-11-15T20:29:00.005-05:00

Last week, my community group went out to reassess the community of Highland Park and talk to it's residents. Our goal was to figure out what the community's biggest need was and to come up with a community nursing diagnosis. We talked to several residence, business owners, police officers, and the even the district attorney of HP. So many issues were brought up, but the top two were the lack jobs and the abandoned houses. I hope that my group and I will be able to help and make a change in the city. It was sad driving around and seeing it's struggle. I'm from Detroit and all, but damn-does Highland Park have it rough. Here are a couple pictures I took. I was not really in the mood to shoot, sorry in advance for the lack of photos. Enjoy and count your blessings as you check them out! Here is the link to my last trip over to HP

Budco - The secretive company of HP that did not let us in to make an appointment.

Almost half of the houses in the city are either burned or partially boarded up.

Notice how small the Highland Park Police Station sign is. Their station was just as small.

Some random red wall.

Now back to writing essays and studying for my final tomorrow - Kurt Belen

|Performance| Filipino Culture

2010-11-09T23:12:00.003-05:00

An update from the past two Filipino Cultural shows I attended. The first set is of the Bayanihan National Folk Dance Company that performed at the Music Hall Center in Detroit, and the last couple of frames are from FACT Variety Show at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Back to the nursing school.

Kurt Belen

|Adventure| Sweetest Day Date

2010-10-17T12:55:00.008-04:00

To celebrate Sweetest day, Rita and I went on an apple picking date. We went up to Blake's Big Apple Orchard out in Armada, aways from 7mile. It was crazy far, something like 35mile. It was great to be out there though. The last time I went apple picking I was 5, so everything was pretty new to me. Rita, being a veteran to apple orchards, laughed at everything I said and did. What can I say? I'm a city kid, so being out there in the boons is different. I did not know there were 30 different types of apple to pick from or that corn mazes really did exist. We had a blast though, picking apples and just walking around under the sun. We even munched on warm doughnuts and sipped fresh cider. After picking the apples, we went back to Rita's house, baked our first apple pie together, and brought it to her little cousin's birthday party. It was a great and much needed date.

So here are the obligatory photographs. It was a good day for photography, we even got a couple sun flares in, so you know it was popping. Haha. Rita even got in on the action and I have to say, I am really impressed on how she handled the manual focus, tilt-shift 45. Comment on which frames you like!

Notice the official Canon apple bag.

Kurt G. Belen

|Senior Portraits| Ashley Belen

2010-10-13T20:40:00.005-04:00

Here are some photographs I took last weekend in Ann Arbor. A few months back my cousin, Ashley, asked me if I could take her senior photos. I never shot anyones senior photos before and thought Ashley's portraits would be a good start. I was pretty stoked about it. I am more of an event photographer, but thought this would be good challenge. Her asking me also reminded me of how old I was becoming. Where did the time go? I remember the exact day Ashley was born. Crazy right? Anyways, I was able to get a good amount of shots, both the tradition and non-traditional one. Here are a couple of the non-traditional frames I decided to share. I will post the full set on my website later.

Let me know what you think. Feedback would be great.

Kurt G. Belen

|Event| NaFFAA Banquet 2010: Asian Heritage Hall of Fame

2010-10-03T02:43:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday, I was honored to shoot for the Nation Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), Michigan Chapter. Their annual banquet, held at the Troy Sommerset Inn, recognized / honored 10 outstanding Asian Americans. Honorees from almost each Asian country held jobs in Michigan as teachers, nurses, professors, politicians, and business leaders to name a few. It was a great event honoring people who work so hard to help others. There were also several distinguished guest. Among them were Fox 2's Roop Raj, Local4Caster Andrew Humphrey, the Mayors of Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, and most notably Dr. Connie Mariano. Dr. Mariano is a first generation Filipino-American retiree from the US NAVY. What makes her so incredible is that she was the Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and served 9 years as the White House Doctor. She cared for Presidents Clinton & G.W. Bush and their families. She now owns her own company, Center for Executive Medicine. She is pretty much amazing. She gave an awesome speech where she shared her story. To end the night were several performances, a live band, and you got it - dancing.
Enjoy the pictures, I enjoyed taking them. If you have any question or comments you know where I am at. Thanks for checking out my blog, and dont forget to comment. Until again.

Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| ilocos norte

2010-09-23T22:02:00.003-04:00

To relax from my stress filled schedule I decided to browse through my old summer photos. What did I stumble across you ask? Untouched photos from Ilocos Norte. I must have skipped over and did not post anything. What a better way to ease the mind with editing? Ilocos Norte is the most northern province of the Philippines. My brother and I went with six our cousins up there from Manila. It was mad tiring, but well worth it. I would have to say about a third of the time all eight of us were packed into a Mitsubishi Adventure. It was an awesome road trip that I will always remember.

Comment? you know where to click

Kurt G. Belen

|Life|An Evening at the Farmer's Market

2010-09-12T16:05:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, I shot an awesome event over in Ann Arbor. Held at the Farmer's Market, the dinner / silent auction celebrated local businesses and chiefs while raising money for the Ozone House. For those of you who do not know, Ozone House is safe haven for homeless, runaway, and high risk youth. Established in 1969, the Ozone House has provided shelter and support for thousands of kids and has helped countless numbers of families in crisis. In short, the Ozone House is an amazing organization that every community needs. Check them out for more information at their webiste Ozone House

The event ran smoothly and everyone had fun. There was something like 290 guest! At the end of the night I was really tired, but also really happy and honored to have shoot the event. Here are just a couple of photographs I took. If you have any questions or comments, you know where to Click

Time to hit up my med-surg notes/book
Kurt G. Belen

|Life| Rex Navarrete

2010-08-29T14:33:00.002-04:00

Attend the Rex Navarrete show last weekend. Got front row seats, laughed, and got these pictures. Enjoy.

Kurt G. Belen

|Vroom| Woodward Cruise

2010-08-22T19:30:00.002-04:00

Went out to Woodward last weekend to shoot around and check the cars. I thought it was a pretty decent turn out despite the rain, but I wasn't able to shoot a whole lot either. Here is what I managed to capture in the rain and with a broken right hand.

-Kurt G.Belen

|Travel| Mandalay's Aquarium

2010-08-20T21:33:00.003-04:00

Decided to share a couple more pictures I took at Vegas. Can't go wrong with jellyfish pictures.

Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| West Coast Swing

2010-08-19T23:07:00.003-04:00

Where did you go? Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Balla, why? Attend a friends debutant party and to vacation. Who went with? The Razalans + Pascuals. = ) Yo, is that a cast on your arm? Yea, I broke my right scaphoid 4 days before leaving to Vegas. That sucks, anyways, how much did you win in Vegas? I netted in negative 19 dollars. Balla, tell me more about your trip... It was awesome. Great weather (not too hot), great food, and great company. Vegas was and always will be bumping, it hasnt changed a whole lot since last year. LA was pretty fun. Went to California Adventure and the Original Farmers Market. Had the best Burrito in my life. LA was dirty though, Detroit seems cleaner to me. I also noticed California's fascination or addiction to Denny's Restaurant. I swear, there was a Denny's every other block... Overall an awesome trip. I could go on for hours about it. Get any nice frames? I think I got a couple keepers. The lighting there was great for photography, but with my casted right hand it was more of a hassle than a pleasure to shoot pictures. In the week I was there, I only shot about 300 photos. That is pretty weak. But in hindsight, I think being disabled and casted helped my photography skills. Although I didn't capture a lot of frames, I did take my time capturing the ones I did. Everything I did was about 2 times slower, meaning I had twice the amount of time to think of the composition, the lighting, angle, and settings. What is your favorite photo of your trip? Tough one, I'd have to say the photograph of Rita at the farmer's market. The lighting, the scene, the sun flare, and the subject was perfect. Easily a favorite. My second favorite would have to be the silhouettes at the Reef Shark exhibit at the Mandalay Bay. But you can decide on your own favorites.

Get at me and enjoy.

Oh, on a side note / technical aspect of photography, I changed up my editing style/colors. Any feedback (+ or -) would be great. Thanks.

-Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| New Jersey

2010-08-19T20:05:00.008-04:00

Where? New Jersey. The occasion? Dad's hometown / high school reunion. Worth the 12 hour drive? Of course. Got any sweet shots? Some, ts-e never lets me down. But i went to NJ with the mind set to enjoy my vacation and not shoot up a storm. I traveled a lot this summer and feel like i spent too much time looking through my Canon's view finder. So in my last two trips, NJ and Las Vegas , I decided to kick back and relax. Favorite Memory(ies)? Chilling with my cousins Joey, Mimi, and Kuya Rodney at Tita Rina's living room. Playing football along the Hudson River over looking NYC and the Statue of Liberty. Cake Boss. Jersey accents.

A few of my few shots.

Leave some love.

|Travel| Chip-Depot

2010-07-29T15:28:00.004-04:00

Many of you may know that my dad is a pretty handy guy. If something is broken, leaking, or won't start odds are my dad can probably fix it. So while visiting my Godmother in Maryland, Ninang Dol (dad's younger sister), she asked him to take a look at her roof. So being the fix'er up guy my dad is, he climbed up to the roof and started to look around. Turns out that the strong winds from recent storms damaged the air vents, causing leaks in the house. What did he need to fix it? Some roofing cement, a hammer, and a box of nails. Oh yeah, and food.

Thus, Chip-Depot. T'was my dad's first time eating at Chipotle and I was pretty excited going there. I heart Chipotle, it was my #1 craving while I was in the Philippines. I can finish two burritos. My Godmother and Dad ordered a Steak Burrito Bowl, while I munched on a Chicken Burrito. After eating and talking for an hour we went to Home Depot, where they bought the goods.

I know this is a blog about me, but I was wondering about all of you... So question, has there ever been a time (a memorable time) when your dad tried to fix something and it ended up not being fixed or further broken? Leave me a comment and enjoy the photos.

Leaving to New Jersey tonight.

Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| Road Trip

2010-07-29T11:04:00.002-04:00

Road Trip to New Jersey. Currently, my dad and I are in Maryland visiting my Godmother. Made it here kinda fast... More photos to come.

|Life| Finally here

2010-07-27T00:58:00.004-04:00

Finally here... Just picked up Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. This probably means I will be in my basement for the rest of the summer. Hopefully not, but I am pretty stoked about this game. I went out with Anya Kevin around midnight to pick it up. First stop, Best Buy. You would think they would be open right? I mean it is Starcraft. Only one of the most played games in the world and most anticipated game of this millennium... Well, yeah Best Buy was closed, at least the closest one to my house. So, Kevin decided to try the Meijer down the street and boom/YAY! there it was. I believe I got the 3rd to last one. Anyways time to install and for you to enjoy the photos Kevin shot.

This weekend New Jersey and the next weekend after Vegas...

Kurt G. Belen

|Portraits|Dannica

2010-07-15T02:29:00.003-04:00

What...? an update not from the Philippines? Yup, I decided to change it up a little bit with a recent shoot I participated in. Last weekend Jarvie asked me if i could help him with a shoot and me being helpful and antsy said yes. It was pretty fun, I was able to meet some chill people, shoot, and hike around at Stoney Creek Park. There was also no pressure to shoot or come out with awesome shots as well. Just shooting for fun, which I love to do. Without further a due, let me introduce you to Dannica. Couple of the shots did not come out the way I wanted too. Textures can be tricky.

Comment on what cha think. Really. I like reading comments.

Oh yeah, Kevin is finally home and we started cleaning out our garage. Efff.

|Life & Portraits| Kevin's Frames

2010-07-05T13:43:00.003-04:00

It is safe to say that in many instances younger siblings follow their older siblings right? Well, its time for that to change and for the younger sibling (me) to show the older sibling (Kevin) how to look a little cooler....? or geekier? I am not sure.

One of the great things to do in the Philippines is shopping. US dollars stretch far in the Philippines, so buying whole racks of cloths is not out of the ordinary and is actually encouraged. I only say encouraged, because I back home to the Philippines every two years. Meaning, I can only really "shop till I drop" when I'm there and would have to wait another 2 years till I come back to shop. So I buy whatever looks nice. And two things I always buy when I am there are glasses and contact lenses.

So while I was in the Manila I bought new pair of frame and contacts. Later, Kevin arrived and he too followed suit and wanted to buy glasses. He asked me to accompany him to help select a frame and I thought it would be a great idea to shoot it. Went to Mega Optical, located in Binondo, Manila or Chinatown.

Here are Kevin's selections and my photographs of him.

Enjoy and comment on which ones fit him best!

-Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| Palawan, Philippines. Part 2.

2010-07-01T18:49:00.007-04:00

Part two of Palawan, Philippines.

It is so nice having another photographer with you on vacation. You get to take less photos and you get to join in on more photos as well. In my first post, I forgot to mention that several of the photos were taken by my brother, Kevin. He was the one who got me started in these ridiculously expensive hobby of photography when he bought a Canon Rebel XT as my high school graduation present. For three years, Kevin and I shared that XT until he purchased his own Rebel. And now, Kevin and I both have our own Rebels =). Hopefully, after our student loans we can afford some full-framers. haha

Anyways, check out Kevin's Flickr and enjoy our photos here.

Oh yeah, I finally hit 2,000+ hits! Shout out to everyone reading my blog and leaving comments. Can't wait to see what the next 2,000 hits bring. - Kurt G. Belen

Next update: Kevin's Mega Optical Adventure.

|Travel| Palawan, Philippines. Part 1

2010-07-01T16:05:00.001-04:00

A couple days after coming back from Bohol, my brother, Kevin finally made it back home to the Philippines. Unfortunately, my dad had to go back to Detroit and was not able to go on the next side trip within the Philippines. So who was going? Three of my cousins, my aunt, my brother, and I. Which island were we headed too? Palawan, an hour plane ride from Manila.

Palawan is located southwest of Manila and among other things it is known for its ecological diversity, cheap shopping, crocodiles, and prisoners. The length of the Palawan is actually wider than the whole Philippines. Just like Bohol, Palawan has a coral reef with fish (Bohol's coral reef trumps Palawans, but Palawan's fish are larger and better looking). But what separates Palawan from the rest is that it has large area swamp land and an underground river (freshwater) which leads into the sea. Another unique thing within Palawan is that their criminal prisoners live outdoors within their own village (Iwahig Prison). They farm they own food and carve wooden souvenirs for tourist. It was pretty cool, I was able to talk to some hardcore criminals in the Philippines and shake their hands. Oh how they love tourist...

Anyways, I know I am blabbing a lot about Palawan, but I feel like my pictures do no justice on how beautiful and great Palawan and the rest of the Philippines is. Yes, a photo can capture scenery and smiles, but it can not show the little known facts behind the scene or why someone is grinning ya know? Yes, A photo can frame an emotion, but can it explain why that emotion was expressed? I mean, you see my photos, but unless you there, you can not feel it you know? You just imagine the sounds of singing ocean waves and the scourging heat. In a previous post, I took a photo of two girls laughing, and you wonder what made them laugh right? It was actually me, making funny looking faces at them. What I am trying to say is that you just have to be there... You have to go and travel to experience cultures. I feel like my pictures do no justice on how great the Philippines is. Its people, its islands, its way of life. So, instead of scrolling down and looking at my photos (and not commenting), I suggest you pony up and fly to the Philippines.

Part two to come soon.

|Travel| Bohol, Philippines. Part 2

2010-06-29T17:47:00.002-04:00

Part 2 - Bohol, Philippines.

Palawan, Philippines Next

-Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| Bohol, Philippines. Part 1; Back in Detroit

2010-06-29T15:34:00.002-04:00

I'm back from the Philippines and finally have time to update my blog. I was really busy back home which was good and all, but it left my blog collecting dust. Now, I have ample time for my blog and whatever else need be... I feel good to be back in the Detroit, but I still miss my homeland. I miss my family. I miss my friends, the food, SM, DV, and the relaxed way of life. I miss the sounds of tricycles, roosters, and that voice that says, "Balooot." Hopefully, I can go back home soon. By far this was the best trip to the Philippines. One things that made it so memorable was traveling within the Philippines. Usually, me and my family travel outside of the Philippines visiting (China, Thialand, and Hawaii) different countries for several days. My first stop within the Philippines was Bohol.

Bohol was great. Besides going to the popular tourist spots(chocolate hills and tarsiers), we also went dolphin watching, and went scuba diving. The downside of Bohol was the food. My senses were all thrown off. The picturesque scenery had my eyes wide open, but the food had my taste-buds shot and shut. Even with the not so amazing food, I would recommend Bohol to anyone who visiting the Philippines. Here are some of the frames I snapped.

Have any questions? concerns? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Part 2 to follow.

-Kurt G Belen

|Travel| Siniloan Kids

2010-06-09T07:25:00.004-04:00

Of all the events and subjects I have shot, I enjoy taking children portraits the most. For the most part, you do not have to ask children to smile and they do not get mad if you take their picture. Although once, a child thought my camera was some sort of weapon or gun and started to run and cry. Other than that, photograpghing children makes me happy. Its almost priceless when I show them their picture from the back of my camera. These are a collection of children portraits I have gathered from my stay in Siniloan. Hope you like my shots and comment!

First photo is a kid at heart with Jolibee.ast. =)

Teaser Shot from Bohol.

- Kurt G. Belen

|Travel & Adventure| Buntot Palos, Pangil

2010-06-04T10:53:00.003-04:00

Whats a vacation without hiking up a mountain for almost two hour just to go swimming? For me, not a good vacation. Last month, I along with my dad and several of our friends climbed a mountain and a half to reach Buntot Palos. The literal translation of Buntot Palos is tail of an eel. Found in Pangil, Buntot Palos is an isolated waterfall/lagoon where the water is ice cold and where tiny birds fly. I wasnt able to capture any pictures of the tiny birds (they fly fast and I didnt have a long enough lens), but I do have pictures of the waterfall. Although the hiking was tiring, the view and sounds of the water fall compensated well. Dont forget to comment!

This Sunday I leave to go to Palawan. I really dont know what to expect, meaning.... I am really excited. Stay tuned for pictures from Palawan, but for now, enjoy the pictures from Buntot Palos and the teaser of my upcomming post.

Next Update Travel Children of Siniloan

-Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| Around Siniloan

2010-06-01T02:18:00.002-04:00

These are a couple of frames from around Siniloan. All random shots for the most part. I have been trying to play catch up with all my photos and updating my blog, but i have been pretty busy. Presently, I am in Manila. Both of my parents are back in the states so its just Kevin and I here. So far we have shopping and watched a couple of movies. I have come to realize that I only update my blog in Manila and dont shoot new pictures. I dont really comfortable shooting around here. Hopefully, I can get a couple of shots though. Anyways here are the photos from the province, with a teaser from my hiking adventure.

Next Update: |Travel| Buntot Palos.

-Kurt G. Belen

Happy Birthday Rita!!!!

|Travel| Lucban, Quezon.

2010-05-30T23:27:00.003-04:00

Traveled to Lucban, Quezon to attend their town fiesta. Besides food and music, Lucban celebrates their fiesta by decorating their houses with food and rice. Here are some of the photos. Enjoy and Comment!

-Kurt Belen

|Love & Travel| Go S. Kiang Medical Mission

2010-05-18T01:26:00.003-04:00

To honor all mothers (for mothers day), my family sponsored a small medical mission for children. With two pediatric doctors, one being my cousin, and limited medications we were able to care for about 130 kids. The Go S. Kiang Foundation was founded in 2005 and serves to improve to lives of the people of Siniloan (mom's hometown) through education and health management. Currently, the Go S. Kiang Foundation has provided full tutition expenses and monthly allowance for 2 high school graduates, has conducted multiple medical missions, and provided assisstance to those who were hit by Huricane Ondoy. For those who do not know, I am a 1/3rd chinese and Go S. Kiang was my grandfather. Besides being a business man, he passionately served the people of Siniloan and even dononated land and helped build an elementary school. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet my grandfater but I hope to be just a instrumental to the people of Siniloan as he was.

Anyways, here are the few pictures I took throughout the day. We first started the mission at grandfathers house and then moved our operations to another barangay (village) within Siniloan.

Today, my mom left to go back to Michigan, so its quiet around here. I am going to miss her. I have no plans for the rest of the week. Although next week I am going to Bohol. Im going with my dad, tita, and four of my cousins. I'm pretty stoked about it. I'm also behind about 2 weeks on my photos. Kevin comes in 9 days. Enjoy the photos.

"Ang Damo ay para sa kabayo di para sa tao." in english, "Grass (weed) is for cows, not for people."

-Kurt G. Belen

|Travel| Pangil

2010-05-14T01:46:00.003-04:00

On Apirl 30th, I went swimming with my parents, cousins, nephew/neices, and friends. We went to Pangil, Laguna (Dad's hometown) and swam at/in Piit. I dont know if Piit is the name of the river or if it is the location. Regradless you can see from the pictures that it was a river. It was pretty cool, you could dive off rocks/minicliff and the water was pretty clean. Until again. Enjoy the frames!

This weekend is really busy for me. Saturday is a town fiesta and Sunday is a family reunion! Cant wait to shoot!

Next update: Medical Mission.

|Travel| Upset.

2010-05-13T11:08:00.003-04:00

So after weeks of campaigning, elections are finally over. I don’t think I have ever been so heated and so satisfied at the same time in my life. To make this blog kinda short, my cousin, Simon Go (who ran for Mayor) lost. He lost because the his opponent (the current, egotistical, overly-corrupt mayor)bought votes, bought people not to vote, bought election officers, and intimidated voters with goons so he could win. His opponent used taxed/government money to fund his campaign (over 10million pesos paying 3,000 pesos per families not to vote) and even withheld government aide / donations for hurricane Ondoy to “persuade” votes with goods. Can feel my frustration?

Now, the people of Siniloan (Mom’s hometown, population of 35,000) has to live another 3 years with an overweight, power hungry, devil-like mayor, who siphons money from its people for his own use. (Further elections will probably end up the same, due to vote buying and cheating) But with all this anger inside of me, I also feel content with the outcome of the election. I am happy with how we handled the campaign. (We can go to sleep at night with a clean conscience. That we have ethics and principles that we live by and hold true to them.) Volunteers and family members sacrificed whole days and countless hours of sleep to help with the campaign. Day in and day out, they were there to help cook, organize, campaign, and give support. They did all this asking for no money, just hoping my cousin would win. My cousin had less than 1million pesos to campaign verse 10+ from his opponent (money for the people of Siniloan). There were even several volunteers who quit their jobs to help campaign, because they felt it would be better for their family if they no income but had my cousin as their mayor.

I really felt that this was a story/election of good versus evil, but without the happy ending. I feel bad for my cousin, family members, and all the volunteers, who worked really really hard to lose because we did not buy votes and cheat. But I feel even worse when I think of the long term effects for the people of Siniloan, who have to suffer under the watch of their mayor. I feel sick to my stomach when I think about all this, but know that everything happens for a reason and that in the end, God has the last call on things. I can go on with my frustration and rambling, but would feed the frustration and anger inside of me (I am on vacation right?).

So here are some pictures of Siniloan so far. Hopefully, upcoming updates will be a little more on the bright side. Hopefully, these pictures will help you and me feel better. But yeah, so far, I have been having a blast here in the Philippines (besides the election day and 2 days after). I'm currently in Manila and have been shopping everyday since i got here. On the downside, I havnt been taking any pictures, since I am shopping in the market, which isnt the safest for tourist with SLRs. This weekend, I am going back to Siniloan and am having a mini family reunion/good bye party for my cousin. Take care and enjoy the pictures!!!

Next updates: Pangil Swimming, Go S. Kiang Foundation Medical Mission, Children of Siniloan.

|Travel|Airports

2010-05-03T21:21:00.005-04:00

After a 28 hour journey through California and Korea I finally arrived here in the Philippines. It was a long and grueling flight, but I’m finally here on vacation. Presently, I’m in Siniloan, Laguna, my mom’s hometown. It humid and 95 degress. Basically, hot as junk. Sorry for the deny in updates. So far, I've been really busy campaigning for my cousin (he is running for mayor) and hanging out with my family. Anyways update of Siniloan will come soon. Right now enjoy the flight photos.

Oh yeah, please COMMENT and if you have any questions and request (photo wise or pasalubong) let me know!

Hope everyone is doing well back state side.

Kurt G. Belen

|Detroit|adventure

2010-04-22T23:54:00.003-04:00

So I ventured downtown with Jarvie to play some ball and then shoot pictures. It was a spur of the moment thing to go, but I was happy I went. I think I got some pretty decent shots with the TS-E. I did not shoot much though since Jarvie and I were strobing with his gear. We went around composing shots together. Anyways thanks to Jarvie for making my quads even more sore.... It was a long way up. Dont forget to comment!

Next Blog - Philippines.

Summer Portraits

2010-04-22T23:03:00.004-04:00

I know it is not considered summer time yet, but I already started my summer break. I only have one more year of nursing school left and I'm done. I can't wait. Anyways, right after my last final I did a portrait session for my classmate and her friend. We went to Kensington Metro Beach Park, where I shot their kids. That sounds so bad, "I shot their kids" but you know what I mean. I did their portraits, or at least attempted too. Let me introduce you to Reese and Emily. Reese is a ball of energy. He funny and talkative. I could barely keep up with him. Emily is just beautiful. Her eyes are gorgeous and although she was not as active, she definitely knows how to work a camera. It was my first time working with kids, so it was a challenge, but I had a blast doing it. Here are the results. Enjoy!

Easter with the Duller's

2010-04-07T00:00:00.004-04:00

Spent Easter Sunday with the Duller's. It is always a good time with my little (not so little anymore) cousins. Shot out pics to Mae and Nina who shot some photos. Enjoy!

But yo, Guess who rocked his Pharm test?

Yup - Kurt G. Belen

Failed at both...

2010-04-04T20:04:00.008-04:00

Either never leave home without your camera charger, or charge your batteries before leaving home. I failed to do both last weekend... It was GenAPA, the largest Asian cultural shows at UofM, and this is how it went. I manually focused the shot I wanted, turned on my camera, shot, and then turned my camera off. I did this until my camera died on me, which was when FASA was about the dance bangko. Talk about fail. The show was pretty dope though, I actually watched it. Most of the time I'm watching cultural shows through my viewfinder and clicking away, but with little battery on my camera I sat back, enjoyed the show, and shot timidly. I'm very proud of everyone who danced (esp. FASA) and apologize for not getting shots of everyone. This is what I came up with.

Oh yeah, please comment me if you want for full res-photos, or comment just to leave some love. Next update-- Easter Egg Hunting.

Now onto pharmacology.

-Kurt G. Belen

Fun versus Aademics

2010-03-30T19:47:00.007-04:00

There are only 28 days until I leave for the Philippines and I feel like its so close, but so far away at the same time. I still have so much to do. I have several papers to write, 5 exams/finals to study for, and many many people I want to chill with before I leave. Hopefully, I'll survive this battle between having fun and academics.

Anyways, since updates are so much cooler with pictures, here are some of the photos i took last weekend. I was a little lazy shooting, so there are not that many photos. Nevertheless, enjoy and comment.

Until another update. Peace and Love

Kurt G. Belen

Weekend Teaser

2010-03-28T23:13:00.003-04:00

A couple teaser pictures from this past weekend. Full update to come when I have more time to spare. Dont forget to leave your 2 cents.

Now back to the books, because nursing school owns me.
Kurt G. Belen

Detroit Culture

2010-03-11T16:15:00.016-05:00

Jeff, Jarvie, Matt, and I travel to Detroit for some culture. First stop was the Detroit Institute of Arts. I've been there 2 times before, but this was my 1st time shooting the place. The staff was not too happy to see us lugging around our gear, or hearing the sounds of our shutters, but we persisted on. The second stop of our Detroit cultural tour was Downtown Detroit. It was Jeff and Jarvie's 1st time shooting down there so it was cool bringing them there. But the last stop of our tour, which was by far the most interesting/dangerous/exciting/fun, was the old train station. Many of you probably have seen it in smash hit movie, Transformers, but Hollywood only showed a glimce of it. I was amazed to see all the graffiti and empty cans of beverages.... I was also surprised to see paintball shots everywhere, becuase i would never be running around in there unless i were being chased by an anger addict or thug. Nuff talk though, here are the pictures. Leave a comment here at the blog and tell me what you think.

Hope you enjoyed the shots, now leave a comment. Please

Kurt G. Belen

Community Nursing - Highland Park, Michigan

2010-03-05T16:16:00.001-05:00

Today, several of my classmates and I went to Highland Park, Michigan to do a windshield survey for our community nursing class. It was pretty amazing to see how rough things are down there. I'm from Detroit and all, but man... things are so much worse in Highland Park. Over 1/3rd of its population is living in poverty and is considered one of the poorest cities in America. Anyways, we drove around the city and talked to people as we stopped. We also ate lunch and dropped off cloths and canned foods to the Infant Mortality Program. Leave a comment on what you think.

Even though there were police cars and a police stations, there were no police men. The security guard at Aldi's said that there are no policemen patrolling the streets and that he never sees them even though he is working right next to a police station.

Aldi's food market has the largest selection of fresh produce, but in plastic bags and no refrigeration the food doesnt last long.

There were several clinics available to the public. The DMC clinic was walk-in only, and had 2 doctors providing care for a filled waiting room. Other clinics were closed.

Public transportation was either really slow or in repair, because I didnt see any buses.

-Kurt Belen

Lunar New Year

2010-03-05T00:38:00.013-05:00

Upped and edited shots from Lunar New Year. Drop a comment with your email if you want a high-res photo. Enjoy and Comment.

Stay tuned for spring break photos!

Kurt Belen

Teaser - Lunar New Year

2010-03-02T20:26:00.004-05:00

Went over to East Lansing this past weekend to shoot the Lunar New Year show. It was a pretty dope show even though I saw most of it through my camera. I def. dont have as many good shots as i did when i shot at UofM. Fair lighting conditions coupled with a 45 TS-E manual focus made things hard. Here are a couple teasers.

Anyways, next week is my spring break. I would be more excited about it, but the following week I have 3 exams (maternity, phram, and community nursing) and a couple papers due. Besides studying anyone want to go shooting with me next week? Anyone?

Kurt Belen

Virginia Beach Wedding

2010-02-28T12:52:00.008-05:00

The full set of photos from my cousin's wedding. Enjoy and comment!

Look out for my next update. MSU Lunar New Year!!

Teaser of VB + 2 of 2. Part 2

2010-02-15T18:13:00.012-05:00

Finally home after my weekend trip to Virginia Beach. It was awesome as always, spent time with the family and ate delicious food. I love it there. Anyways here is a little teaser of my trip. Full post to come later (I have to study for my pharmacology exam). Ohh yeah I also got new glass! Let me introduce you to TS-E Forty-Five. hehe There is a bit of a learning curve to it, but i love it so far. I didnt use it heavily over my weekend trip because I wanted consistent shots. Give me a couple more days with it and I should be alright.

Enjoy and Comment.
-Kurt Belen

Add a comment and tell me what you think.

1 of 2. Part one

2010-02-08T12:53:00.000-05:00

So despite being super cold (thermostat read 58, but my room is 70ish with a space heater) I decided to stay home, study, and open up my new toy seen below. A new laptop for my trip to the Philippines. I really have not had a good chance to play around with it, but it seems to be alright so far. It is actually one of two new toys i have. hehe But if you know other new toy then "Shhhhh...." dont ruin it for everyone else. =p Anyways, I gotta get back to studying cardio pharmacology. blehhh

Brrrrr

2010-02-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

A space heater and my fireplace.

It reads 73 degrees, but it sure feels colder than that. The furnace in the house went out yesterday afternoon and boy is it cold. Hopefully it will be fixed sometime soon.

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

2010-02-05T03:20:00.003-05:00

Yes, this is the start of my blog and that quote up there (^ yup, right there) is the cliche of my introduction. But here is the rest of it

I'm pretty sure you all know my name, but for those of you who dont... I am Kurt Belen. A first generation Filipino-American (Fili-Islander shirt) from Detroit, Michigan (Hat). I love taking pictures (Canon ftw son... RIP xt), traveling (Grand Canyon), and smiling ("ding" =D ). People say i need to eat more, but i think i eat plenty (Maybe slightly malnurished). I think i am a generally relaxed gent that likes to make people smile. I have a loving family, close friends, and a great girlfriend. I am future nurse and I enjoy playing mtg and other nerdy games with my cousins. Ohh and sometimes I dance. Hahaha

Anyways, I decided to make this blog so I can share my thoughts and photos as i travel through the journey of life. I cant promise weekly updates, amazing stories, or sick photos, but I will try. So please leave a comment, whatever you think, so i have more motivation to blog or not to blog. I Appreciate your time and hope to hear from ya'll soon.

Kurt