Experiences from the South

Going Back to Tropicana

by Tanchi | 7:34 PM in My Banana Experience, Photography | View Comments

It's been a while since I've been there. Tropicana Beach Resort, the usual place where my HS friends would definitely choose. It's June, and I guess it's the most late summer getaway. Since school's not yet starting, we decided to hang out sometime. What else would I do there aside from swimming in the afternoon's tide? Shoot.

I only got few shots, and the rest was left for fun.

The pile of stones which would sink whenever the tide rises.

Could you think of a better reason why I shoot this?

Showers of May

by Tanchi | 6:48 AM in Articles of Boredom, Photography | View Comments

May 1 - everyone is having a day off, every worker, and a chance for students to add another day of boredom.

Some may be bored with the fact that this day would be spent inside the house. Rainy days are fast approaching again. Those cold May mornings with heavy downfall of rain. Staying inside the house could be haggard, but somehow productive. I never even thought that this day would productive enough for my blog

May 1 afternoon is one of the rainy days of this month. I was about to leave the house when the rain started to fall down heavily. I tried to skip between steps to catch some ride off to the gym, but to my dismay, I decided to return home and wait for the rain to stop. Disappointed, I turned to my camera and capture shots out of boredom:

A glance outside the newly furnish window and got the chance to capture the dews before they evaporate.

After the heavy rainfall, the sun shined again bringing excitement to kids of summer again. I took advantage with the unaltered position of a pair of slippers.

Dry Season

by Tanchi | 12:10 AM in Photo Manipulation, Photography, Positivity Posts | View Comments

Since my summer is full of homework, and stuffs from school, my brain is all dried up. A feeling of being played with the south and west wind.

School days are too far gone in this summer season. Now I got a literally dry summer. Except from the fact that I get to see my damn cracking friends everyday, but i'm almost snapped out. I know, it's a usual thing for a student, and I must enjoy it.

So, does it mean that summer is my greatest frequency of moodswings? Aside from the weather, some people which I can't seem to reach out is one reason why I got on-board with the mood to capture out anything based from my instincts and current emotion. A photo of three dried leaves along the road left lying by the rustling wind.

This photo got so many emotions, that's why I decided to mark the word, Season, because season is just like the feelings of a person. Not all the time we are happy, not all the time we are in vain. Nevertheless, let us all remember that life is too short, so let's celebrate every moment of it, even though it's a sad moment or at the peek of your happiness. Cheers to life!

So far, summer is all dried up. How's yours? Was that too EMO?! LOL

Nokia N95 Shots

by Tanchi | 7:13 AM in Photography, Things | comments (11)

Last Saturday, I had a good grip with N95. It's 5-megapixel close up shooting mode is bad as I have thought. Basically, N95 is good for shooting foods, and close up images. Here are some of my shots (not to mention, all of them are not foods) using N95:

Left: A glass of wine, while capturing it's glare coming from the light behind.
Right: Close-up shot of the iPod. Is the boredom really obvious?

Tilted angle of the glasses.

A close up shot with the floating ice.

After all, it's all about the drinking glasses.

In conclusion, except from handling much noise, N95 is considerable and would be a good source of close-up shots.

Fun Days for Children

by Tanchi | 4:20 AM in Photography | comments (5)

Children are ecstatic again!

The photo above gives a best description of how kids wanted to spend their summer. Endless games and all day running, and sweating.

Manneken Pis

by Tanchi | 10:46 PM in Photography, Things | comments (9)

Manneken Pis is a dutch word for Little Peeing Man, and commonly known in French as Petit Julien. Basically, it is a sculpture depicting a small boy with an act of urinating into a fountain's basin.

There are so many Mannekin Pis around the world, but one thing is for sure, the most famous would definitely belong to Belgium's Rue de l'Étuve & Eikstraat, which is 61 cm, and contains a wardrobe for different occasions.

Curious about the legend of this little peeing fella?

There are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke (now Neder-over-Heembeek). The troops put the infant lord in a basket and hung it in a tree, to encourage them. From there, he urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle.

Having this replica straight from Belgium from one of our family friends is a great way to experience art from Dutch. Would you believe, a little peeing man would definitely cost a priceless art? I guess so.

School's Almost Over

by Tanchi | 8:15 PM in Photography, School | comments (12)

Everytime I hear the school bell ringing just below the floor we used to stay in, I never get tired thinking about the fact that school year is at it's peek and at least i'll get or should we say, I deserved a break after the tiring pressures of having a college life. My freshman year is ending, and seems like I was living the first day just yesterday. So many great thing happened, plus, a dose of ecstatic pressures as college student. Well, at last, I'll be leaving those PE's shameful dance practicums in front of a vast number of people, and a dose of memorable underdog sanctions from our college division.

School will be in silence again.

Summer's fast approaching and it's up to us how to spend this short hiatus. I can't even wait for those sleepless nights again. Staring at the computer all night long, and sleep as late as we want to. Plurk.

After this week, I'm definitely going to reward myself a lot of fun-filled activities, Rockband 2, join those priceless moments with my high school and college friends, or even stroll outside the Gensan outskirt. But, these following things would definitely be a must-try for me during summer:

1.) Take summer photographs in the famous beaches of Gumasa.
2.) I wonder if I can read a whole boring book or novel.
3.) Fix my VERY MESSY closet for it's been a year since I fixed those clothes.
4.) Eat exotic foods along the street.
5.) Listen to all the albums of The Beatles while having a roadtrip.
6.) Unwind myself through a videoke session the whole night with my friends.
7.) Make popsicles.
8.) Get myself a new pair of jeans and a comfy pair of white sneakers.
9.) Watch horror films along with my friends late at night. The Exorcism of Emily Rose or Exorcist: Dominion?
10.) I just wanna be on the beach and build castle made of Nestea Cups!
Summer is indeed all things but for me, it's also the best time to discover who you are by trying to do interesting things which will make you realize your passion.

Topaz' Photoshop Filter for Photographs

by Tanchi | 7:10 AM in Photo Manipulation, Photography | comments (7)

It's been a while since I posted photos related to my hobby photography. Since I only got a Canon EOS 750QD circa 90s, and a cheap digicam, I've been limited into short range shooting, and pale color output, I basically use Adobe Photoshop, just to acquire my desired image contrast.

One thing I usually do is to adjust the curves and levels of the photo to pop the image out, or the other way round, rendering with the help of my Photoshop Filters.

Topaz' PS Filter is a great way to set the contrast in your photos with a popping effect.
The package offers great photo effect template and manual sliders for the colors and contrast. It's good to experiment with its interface, that's why I found myself manipulating and processing photos again after a long hiatus.

Although I need to acquire some more skills about shooting and processing, I know, i'm in the process of learning, and hopefully learn some additional basic skills.

This one was shot from Tropicana Beach Resort, somewhere here in Gensan. To add more dramatic effect, I turned it into black and white, and set the contrast high enough to distingush the two shades with the use of curves. To tweak more of it, I pop the image using Topaz.

This is the road to Panabo, Davao del Norte. Since the original output of this one is pale, and the sky was so clear, where you can barely see clouds on it, I decided to turn it into a black and white photo, and added a crisp on the photo using the same filter.

Life Under Highway

by Tanchi | 5:06 AM in Gensan, Photography | comments (5)

I grew up with experiences of suburban thrills, while rarely visiting places of Gensan's outskirts, particularly, Puting Bato. The moment we recieve our place to establish our Backyard Catechism thrills me. Imagine, being on a populated place, experience their way of living their, everything's a whole new level, since I grew up downtown.

A view from the descended part of the community, approaching the highway.

Life under the highway is simple, everyday is just an ordinary day. Descending from the main road, cloth hangers catched my attention, kids playing just beside the road, by that time, you'll realize how dangerous it is. A path leading to their chapel, where you could barely walk through, is the first thing you'll experience through.

Above all this,what thrilled me most is how these people showed enthusiasm to our simple teachings, especially the children. Obviously,the place is crowded with more children than adult ones. Children are eager to learn and join in activities. People in that place would really change your impressions into somewhat kind and cozy fellows, actually, they did welcomed us warmly.

Violet Sonata

by Tanchi | 6:01 PM in Photography, Pinoy Articles | comments (34)

Litratong Pinoy: Lila (Violet)

Sa mga nakaraang araw, medyo busy rin ako sa paaralan, maraming requirements, kaya naman, hindi bago ang litratong ilalahok ko, ULIT.

Ang litratong ito ay kuha ko matapos ang isang napakalakas na ulan nung nakaraang taon, kung saan medyo makulimlim pa ang himpapawid.

Marami ring persepyong matatagpuan sa litratong ito. Sa aking pananaw, ang emosyon ng litrato ay may halong kalungkutan at medyo weird ang dating.

Isang napakaabstract na eksplenasyon ang kulay na lumilitaw sa loob ng makulimlim na nakapaligid dito ang pag-asa. May kulay pa sa bawat madilim na ating nararanasan, at ang maganda rito, kulay LILA pa ito.

Children of Puting Bato

by Tanchi | 3:30 AM in Monochrome, Photography, Positivity Posts | comments (4)

Our first backyard cathecism for our R.E. Integration took place somewhere in the City's largest barangay, Puting Bato to be specific. The place has streets merely an inch to be fitted to walk in,while vast number of families striving to live under one block.

It was already quarter to nine when our team arrived at the teaching area, at first, you'd probably ask where else would you properly teach the children. We didn't expect that huge number of children would attend, while re-checking our available and limited resources, particularly food, and name tags, but we nevermind the circumstances, instead we encourage everyone to attend.

The session ended after 2 hours, where children joyfully participated the activities, especially games. The kids' most awaited part is finally paying off, merienda foods were given, and guess what, even the least food we gave, it made them smile, they were frantic. I never thought that Biscuits, along with its complement, Orange juice, would satisfy everyone that time. Well, in retrospect, made my experience grow, the least I cold try was to help others smile.