Capturing the great outdoors

CEBU, Philippines - At the age of seven, Bengy Toda took his first photograph. His initial camera was a Kodak Brownie, an inexpensive and easy-to-use device that introduced the concept of the snapshot. Since then, the veteran photographer has been hopping around our islands and journeying the world in order to capture spectacular scenes — the stillness of early mornings, the darkness of the world at night.

His adventures have taken him over land, air, and water to many locations. And in all these, Bengy made sure to capture every breathtaking, spine-tingling, thrill-soaked moment and it took three decades before Bengy finally staged his first exhibit, Chasing Mountains, at the Manila Contemporary Gallery.

Through the years, the photographer has been making countless pilgrimages to the remote landscapes of the Philippines. He trekked toward the sky – 9,500 feet above sea level – to reach the peak of Mt. Pulag in Benguet. The country's third highest mountain overlooks the borders of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya gathering at its peak.

Bengy explored the far corners of our archipelago – the hidden forests, waterfalls, and communities – of the highlands of Batad, Mayoyao, and Hingyon, all in Ifugao. Batad and Mayoyao boast of rice terraces included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Hingyon's pride is a sprawl of majestic hand-carved mountain steps created by our ancestors.

He captured the famed silhouette of Mt. Mayon in Albay during the magical hour of dawn. Though it is the Philippines' most active volcano, with 48 eruptions in the past 400 years, Mayon has retained its near perfect conical shape. Serendipitously, he photographed his subject just before storm clouds blew in.

The result is a sequence of Philippine landscapes as you have never seen before. This series on mountains is only a teaser of the hundreds of images he has amassed throughout the years. Bengy is always on some hair-raising escapade, armed with courage, an eye for beauty, and an awareness of nature. He played polo in the U.S., England, Spain, and Argentina. He went fishing in the Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii and Mexico. He hunted in Africa. Astride a motorcycle, he raced across Morocco, New Zealand, and Tasmania. On skis, he swooshed down the slopes of Colorado. Using a car or a boat, he zipped through Florida. Strapped to a hang glider, he flew over Italy.

Bengy will always see the world through a different perspective wherever he may be-in the mountains, in the middle of the city, in some secret corner-and with his trusted camera, he will capture it.