A fine arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Halili took up photography during his junior year and became an apprentice of Raul Mantifar for one year. Having worked with some of the biggest advertising companies in the country – BBDO, Ace Saatchi and Saatchi, McCann Erickson, Ogilvy and Mather, to name a few – he acknowledges that advertising photography is his true turf. "I find it to be more creative and more stylized," he says. "I can do fashion photography, sure, but I have carved my niche in this field already."
Halili admits to being 50-percent personal artist and 50-percent commercial artist. "Flexibility is important in my work because I deal with clients," he explains. "But I don’t believe in compromising my work just because of budget or time constraints, no matter what project I am doing. Pangalan ko ‘yung nandoon eh, so I should know better." Indeed, beneath the mild-mannered demeanor, Halili is quite the purist when it comes to his work. "In photography, lighting is key. It shouldn’t be taken for granted. That is why I apprenticed; I wanted to know photography per se."
He describes himself as learning from the school of hard knocks: "I searched the Black Book for a good mentor and took a chance on the names I knew could teach me well." While under the wing of Montifar, he got well on his way to getting photography right. "I was lucky to get started with film but to have trained also with digital," he says.
Eventually, after developing his skills and procuring his own equipment and studio, Halili made his own name in the field, bringing his own aesthetic tenets into every venture.
"Iba ‘yung trabaho na may puso. Every work you take on, dapat you’re 100 percent dedicated to quality. Personally, I am against digital retouching," he confesses. "I believe that before I take a picture, I need to make sure that I adjusted the exposure levels already and everything else – I can be a perfectionist in that way. I think a photo should look good because of the photographer and not because of Photoshop."
Halili applies the same amount of passion and discipline to his new venture, cinematography. Of course, as with photography, he chose to learn from the best first, this time under the tutelage of Boy Yñiguez. He admits: "Cinematography is hard. You have to measure the details of lighting for moving images. It may have the same technicalities of photography but they’re two different ball games." He dreams of doing movie projects of the same caliber as films like Gladiator, Band of Brothers and Rizal but, in keeping with his preference for the "hard knocks" school of learning, Halili maintains it will take two to three years before he can finally step out on his own as a cinematographer. "If I could, gusto ko sanang ipagsabay ‘yung dalawang fields but right now, kailangan dahan-dahan muna ang pag-aaral."
Despite the good name he has built in the field and his exacting standards, which could teach young point-and-shoot types a thing or two, Halili is far from resting on his own laurels. "The studying is continuous; I keep on preparing," he says. "I always update my image bank para marami akong baon just in a case I get presented with a chance. I think photographers, especially the young ones, should always be prepared so that when the break comes, they’re ready." When asked if he himself is willing to take on an apprentice, he laughs and shakes his head, "No, not yet. Hindi pa ako qualified. Maybe when I reach 40." Seems this perfectionist is most demanding of himself. "Ibang tao pa rin ang makakapagsabi kung magaling ka. But of course, you’ll know your full potential only when you’re on your own. You just have to trust your eye then leave the rest to prayers."