Baybay City

Baybay City Public Market

 

Baybay City Park

Immaculate Conception Church

What a great place!

Baybay, recently reinstated as a component city of the province of Leyte, is a  wonderful coastal city in Leyte. I’ve been for only around an hour and it already amazes me. I took these photos between four and five in the morning. The park was really nice. You can feel the cold sea breeze coming  from the Camotes Sea.

The Immaculate Conception church has a 19th century facade to me. It really looks similar to those century old churches you’ll see in books. I wonder if its that old enough already?

The photo of the public market was the last one I took before we got going. I was actually a bit far from it and it was  protruding  into the open sea based from the view from the park.

Baybay is, again, a great place. I’d love to visit it again in the future.

Cebu City Port Night Shot

This is a view of Pier 3 to Pier 4 of Cebu City Ports. Taken on the deck of the Theresian vessel of Roble Shipping Lines bound for Hilongos, Leyte. It was a quite and smooth five hour ride.

VisMin Roadtrip: Cebu – Where it began

About a week ago, we had this trip traveling the seas of the Visayas and Mindanao islands and the highways of Leyte.

It all began in Cebu City. Our route was Cebu-Hilongos-Liloan-Lipata. But between the Hilongos-Lilolan trip, we made a detour to Ormoc City passing Baybay City and Albuera. It was a tiresome but at the same time an exciting ride. I felt an adventure.

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About the photo

Above is the photograph of Cebu City Pier 4 (if I’m not mistaken with the Pier number).

I took this photo around 6 in the evening. We’re not entering the vessel through that terminal. We just parked outside to eat our dinner in advance because food is a little expensive if bought in from the vessel.

This one was a long exposure type of photography. I opened the shutter for 30 seconds to get those tail lights get recorded by the sensor. I was happy getting at the right place at the right time.

I’ll be posting more about this travel. Stay tuned for more photos of including the Ormoc Superdome and the Liloan port.

-Mark

Antipolo Tidal Flat #2 – A Vertorama

Here’s another photo that I took from the Antipolo Tidal Flat. By the way, I forgot to tell you that Antipolo is one of the 12 barangays of the Municipality of Marihatag, Province of Surigao del Sur and Marihatag is my hometown .

About the photo, you may or may haven’t notice but the cropping of this one is a bit awkward, which I mean not a standard one like 2:3, 4:3, 1:1, etc. It’s because this is what they call a “vertorama”. If we take landscape photos and stitch it, we call it “panorama”. This one, on the other hand, is composed of two landscape photos stitched vertically, hence, “vertorama”. Of course I could have cropped this one into one of those aspect ratios but I just love this composition, unique and awkward LOL. Furthermore, my focal length is not wide enough that I resorted to a vertorama. Gears are quite expensive so I made a new motto in photography, “learn to appreciate and love the gears that you have, you know and you can afford” hahaha.

It is also an HDR because I just love how this kind of technique brings out a lot of details starting from the shadows to the highlights. And for those geeky and techy guys out there, if I’ve got the time to show you the histogram of HDR photos, I think you’ll be amazed if you’re seeing it the first time. Everything is almost balanced in the shadows, midtones and highlights (which would mean its shape is like the bell curve).

Enjoy! And if you have any question about any of my photos, just anything, please leave your comments below or email me using the contact page. Cheers!

Try to view a larger sized JPG here.

-Mark

Antipolo Tidal Flat

Last Easter Sunday, my grandmother (father’s side), together with her children and grandchildren, have had some family reunion at the beach. The weather was not really the type that you will want to swim, and the beach, too. It’s not white. The water isn’t clear. In short, the beach isn’t good enough for my taste LOL.

However, it was not the beach that I spent most of my afternoon during that day. It was the tidal flat. It is locally known as “hunasan”. Wikipedia also calls it “mudflat”. Anyway, it is the coastal wetland with rocks, some water plants, mud, some corals, lots of marine life, and of course sea water. It is a very diverse ecosystem. A lot of shells and small fish live there especially under the rocks. In fact, if my memory does not fail me, some species of fish lay their eggs here.

Here’s one of the photos I took. It’s HDR by the way.

Enjoy! I’ll be posting another one or more photos of this tidal flat.

-Mark

A tree along the road

I was driving going home with my brother. At around 5:30 in the afternoon, as we were  approaching this tree while a few hundred meters away, I realized this is a good subject. So I pulled over, took my camera out, and clicked. It was indeed a good subject with the right time for the color of the sky to look magical, at least for me . Those are rice fields by the way, those green grass looking at the right side of the road. It’s the harvest season here in the Philippines and those rice plants with yellowish to golden color means it is time to take in the crops.

-Mark

Moonlit Tree

“This life as you live it now and have lived it, you will have to live again and again, times without number, and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and all the unspeakably small and great in your life must return to you and everything in the same series and sequence — and in the same way this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and this same way this moment and I myself. The eternal hour glass of existence will be turned again and again — and you with it, you dust of dust!”

–Friedrich Nietzsche

Body building: a portrait session with my brother

I’m not a big fan of portrait photography. I like it. However, I am not that enthusiastic to do a lot of it. It isn’t just my style. I lean more on the candid and landscape. But it won’t hurt giving it a shot.

So my brother was having his body building program. He does some workouts, follows a strict diet and more workout. After some months of discipline, he did have developed his body. Now he wants me to take some photos of him maybe for documentation purposes. He wants to keep track of his progress and one way to do it is to see the physical results. So I never hesitated. It’s an opportunity to do some photography anyway and a chance to test some lighting techniques I have been learning using off camera flash. Here’s two photos of the ‘mini portrait session’ we did. I hope you’ll like it.

Moon and Jupiter Conjunction

It’s already ten days since my last post. With the semester almost ending, school is pushing us to our limits. Projects, paper works, and the never ending thesis. Haven’t updated my blog for a time already. I’ll make up next month with new set of photos.

By the way, this is a photo of the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury (?) and Venus (?) conjunction. Not pretty sure with Mercury and Venus but I’ve seen photos with those two planets and a site that says so. I took this last month (It’s that old already? LOL).

Until next time .

-Mark

Super Mario Rescued the Princess

So it seems super Mario defeated the black dragon and rescued his princess after all.

 

Here’s a close up photo of the beautiful princess.

Super Mario Epic Battle

Another photo during the Otakufest V: Old School.

I’m not a big fan of Super Mario video games but I’ve played a lot of it during my childhood days . I’m not pretty sure if Mario’s enemy was a black dragon. I think it was colored green. Well anyway, the kid that’s cosplaying super Mario is starting an epic battle here. What could be the outcome? Let’s wait for the next post.

-Mark

At Crescent Moon

“The moon, the moon, so silver and cold, Her fickle temper has oft been told, Now shade–now bright and sunny– But of all the lunar things that change, The one that shows most fickle and strange, And takes the most eccentric range, Is the moon–so called–of honey!”
Thomas Hood Quotes

I took this last February 26, during the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury conjunction.

The Villains of Gotham City (As featured on The Dark Globe)

This post has been a featured story for the month of March in The Dark Globe.

(Some are having problems viewing the slideshow from flickr. I’ll try to work on this. For the meantime, click here if the slideshow does not show up or view the full post.)

As promised in my last post, I would be posting some of the photos I took in a school costume play event last month. This will also be my featured piece as part of the Dark Globes’ monthly featured story. Here in this slide are the villains of Gotham City. These cosplayers were a hit when they arrived at the scene. A crowd gathered around them quickly and started taking their own photos. They were simply stunning, especially the Joker.

-Mark

By the Bench

Last February 4, I happen to attend one of the yearly school events here in UP Cebu — the Otaku Fest. For five years, it has successfully united the local costume players (cosplay/cosplayer) and gave them the opportunity to gather, dress up their favorite anime costumes, and have fun.

The photo above is just one of the many that I’ll be posting for the succeeding days. I shoot this towards the end of the event and it shows two cosplayers resting on a bench, maybe tired after the half day show.

So please check my blog or the dark globe from time to time as you’ll be seeing some of the famous cartoon and anime characters like the villains of Batman come to life .

You can also check the Otakufest on their facebook page.

The Long Way

This is another foot bridge connecting to the second one which links the mainland to a restaurant (it may sound complicated but you know what I mean if you have been reading the previous post LOL).

Honestly, this was the first photo of mine that made me a lot of thinking about its title. It could be because its almost the end of another semester here and things are shifting swiftly. School requirements are in a rush for its deadlines, people around are in a hurry, and things would not be the same anymore in two months time, not the ordinary student life I suppose.

There are also a lot of pressures going on inside my head and a lot of circumstances are making more sense than they supposed to be before — you start to understand the real intentions and perspectives of people around you after some little chit chat, you start to realize that some of their perspectives in life are greatly influenced by the environment where they grew up, and lastly you’ll start to discover the common notion of the many that life flows in a straightforward manner and education, work and family are like bus stops that precedes each other – you may step down for a stop over or you may not. I don’t want to sound too judgmental to these things. I just want to share how situations are starting to sink in deeply and how decisions that we make are becoming more serious and mature than previously (sounds a bit serious there LOL).

These are just some of the things that are seriously affecting my way of thinking. So I showed this to a friend and asked some insights to remove the bias and see if we have contrasting realization and feelings about the photograph. To my surprise, we have more or less the same idea.  So I just gave the title that was at the tip of my tongue and the realization which boils down to this: school is just the beginning, we are yet to face the real challenges outside it. We have a long way to go.

———–
I just realize that this post is long and it sounds serious. Seems different.

La Entrada

La Entrada
Britania, Surigao del Sur,
Philippines

“La Entrada” is the name of one of the resorts in Britania. This restaurant made of rattan and bamboo which was constructed within the marsh land is its tip and serves as the gateway to the groups of islands. The foot bridge will bring you there.

Those colorful lights, on the other hand, are Christmas lights and yes, I shoot this last December, sort of a late upload here.

Enjoy the photo

-Mark

Melancholia

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”
-Edgar Allan Poe

Along the corridor

This is a scene inside the Ayala Center Cebu after the fireworks during the Sinulog festival here in Cebu City, Philippines. I thought this is a perfect photo for the upcoming occasion. Two days from now will be Valentine’s day and this will be the usual spectacle inside the malls and restaurants. A lot of ‘love birds’ will be dating, cherishing their ‘love’ for each other. But as a friendly reminder, let’s not have ‘regrets after our romance’ (you might be interested with these people and their talks about the value of chastity especially to teenagers). Let us ‘not lose our soul while finding our soulmate’.

-Mark

Avatar

Higante (Giant) category is one of Sinulog festival’s competitions. In this photo is a giant Na’vi from the movie Avatar. I am sure that there were some other higantes but this is the one I had the chance of taking a photo because I was just caught up with it and never really intended photographing the grand parade, only the fireworks.

This is already a bit late in the afternoon during the grand parade and a lot of people are loitering the streets. I am still thankful to freeze that avatar despite the low light situation.

-Mark

Stillness on a busy street

Cebu Business Park
Cebu City, Philippines

This was the scene after the fireworks display at Ayala (see some of the fireworks photos I shoot in my previous post) commencing the end of the Sinulog grand parade.

While almost everyone were so busy going home, I found this scene beside the Pioneer building. I never hesitated and after a moment of thinking about the composition, I started taking test shoots. And here it is, showing the rush of vehicles at the background, people either resting after the day’s event and the tree that seemed too still amidst the agitated surroundings.

-Mark

Pyrotechnics

Sinulog 2012
Ayala Center Cebu

Every third Sunday of the month of January, Cebu City in the islands of the Philippines celebrates Sinulog Festival. My schedule could have been a bit hectic but my hands are too itchy not to take photos and document this yearly event. So I packed up and find a good location for taking fireworks.

I was so excited because this was my first fireworks photographs. It just so happen that my location wasn’t actually the best. The air was going to our direction, covering most of the fireworks with smoke and fog. It was also very unfortunate that something, and I bet it was some material from the exploding fireworks directly above, went into my right eye. I’ve missed a lot of shoots while tending to my itchy and irritated eye. Nevertheless, I think it was still a success for a first try at taking photos of fireworks.

Enjoy the slide show!

-Mark

(First seen on The Dark Globe)

The setting sun, the blue sky, the calm waters

Britania, San Agustin,
Surigao del Sur, Philippines

This is a photo I took some minutes after this shoot.

Every time I look at it, nature amazes me. This is the time when natural light seems really perfect, the ambient light that makes those colors vibrant and the remaining rays of the sun illuminating the sky. Just beautiful.

-Mark

Magical Sky

Again, another photo during our trip to Britania, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur.

This is one of the reasons why I start to like landscapes and blue hour. This is the time of the day where you can see one of the magical phenomenon of nature. I wish to travel more and take many landscapes when I’ll hopefully graduate this term. If you can, please include me in your prayers. =)

Enjoy the magic!

-Mark

Paradise Islands

Britania Islands, San Agustin,
Surigao del Sur, Philippines

I took this about a month ago already. This series of photos is part of my Christmas vacation back in our province. My vacation was a blast, capturing a lot of landscapes of places and portraits of people (which, unfortunately I can’t share some of this).

That day we had good sunny weather having a nice, blue sky which is actually very good for landscape shoots, in my opinion. In this particular photo I took, this shows one of the many islets of Britania. I wanted to show the movements of clouds and a dreamy sea but I don’t have any ND filter to compensate a long exposure shoot. It still looks good I think without the movements of the waves of the sea or the clouds.

Enjoy viewing! =)

-Mark

Burning Sunset

Britania Islands, San Agustin,
Surigao del Sur, Philippines

Also check another photo of mine here: http://bit.ly/zmPpEO

Strokes of the Sea, Attitudes of the Rocks

Britania Islands, San Agustin,
Surigao del Sur, Mindanao,
Philippines

We were island hopping aboard a motor boat last December and decided to stopped by on one of the islands of Britania to swim in its waters. This particular island is a small one with white sand beach. When I went to one side of it, I found this, made a picture of it in my mind, and pressed that shutter. As it turns out the long exposure made those water the misty, moving look. I like it, actually, and really intend not to freeze the strokes of the sea.

Enjoy!

-Mark

Streets of Davao

This is my first street photography. The photos were taken around the streets of Davao City last December 2011. Some images are not that sharp because I shoot some inside a vehicle.

Most of the photos in this slideshow were of children and beggars. There were a lot of them around the city due to the Christmas season and the invitation of the city government to the “Lumad” and other natives to visit the city to sing and earn from it for the Christmas season. They were accommodated at an assigned open court somewhere in Buhangin where they rest for the night. It actually does not sound right, in my opinion. It seems they were inviting them for a good reason but the children and their parents are making it as an excuse to beg on the streets.

Other photos features the Monteverde Avenue (specific descriptions are available in the flickr photostream). You can see that pedicabs were still a primary means of transportation even on this side of the city which is considered as one of the commercial centers where banks and wholesalers can be found, or as a highly urbanized city like Davao. The lack of discipline of motorists and laborers can also be seen in the photos. Vehicles parking along side the road and laborers transporting goods disturbs the flow of the traffic, causing congestion at the corners intersecting this avenue.

In the last portion of the slide were night and low light photos I took at long exposure time. You can see a float made by the Davao Fire Volunteer Brigade as an entry in a fluvial parade contest that was held a day before these photos were taken. It was an opportunity missed but I am not regretting it since I caught very nice landscapes and a nightscape at Samal Island on that day.

Enjoy the slideshow!

La Familia Nightscape

La Familia, Samal Island

This is my first post of the year and I’ll be taking this opportunity to thank all of the viewers of my blog and my flickr account as well. I am also very thankful to your likes and comments which inspires me to shoot more and improve my craft.

The last six months of being back into photography has been great and 2011 has been an exciting year, full of challenges and surprises . I’ve learned a lot from the online materials and tutorials that I browsed, the video tutorials, articles and reviews. I’ve also learned the limitations and capabilities of my gears. But most importantly, I’ve learn to appreciate more the beauty around us.

I hope to grow more this year and the incoming years in my photography skills and to continue to share to all of you my works. Thanks to all. Happy New Year!

Island Garden City of Samal

Sunset at Samal Island

Island Garden City

Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS)
Davao del Norte
Mindanao, Philippines

Christmas Series – The Giant Christmas Tree 2

The Giant Christmas Tree

Reflection of a Christmas Tree

In my last post, I featured the giant Christmas tree at the Sugbu Cultural Center. It’s length is about 50 paces, according to the security guard, or about 38.1 meters. But with that height, I actually wondered how did it’s reflection fit in the glass of the cultural center which is actually shorter? Until now I am still thinking about it and settled with “it’s physics”.

With Christmas just three more days away, people all over the world are already becoming so excited with the gifts that they will receive or the parties they will be attending. Sometimes we are actually forgetting what Christmas is about because of the consumerism and our desires for material things. I hope that we can reflect and bring Christ into the center of our celebration.

On the other hand, our brothers in northern Mindanao, Philippines, are in a great sorrow as about a thousand was killed and many are still missing by the flood caused by typhoon Sendong. The survivors are also in danger of contacting diseases because of the poor sanitation of the evacuation centers and the lack of medicine, food and other basic needs. I hope that if we can’t donate, at least let us include them in our prayers for the safety of the survivors and the rescue teams and the recovery of the cities that were affected specially Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

********************************

There are a lot of non-government organizations, foundations and individuals receiving donations for the victims but the links below are the only ones I found to have detailed information:

• ABS-CBN Foundation
• GMA Kapuso Foundation
• Philippine Daily Inquirer
• Philippine Red Cross
• Rural Missionaries of the Philippines

**I am adding these links to help publicize the foundations/organizations that are reaching out the flood victims. I am, by no means,  not receiving, nor charged them with this publicity. It is my way of giving a hand to the volunteers in helping the victims.

Christmas Series – The Giant Christmas Tree

The Tree of Joy

Beneath the Tree of Joy

It is that time of the year again where we see a lot of colorful lighting and huge decorations all over the streets, houses and parks in celebration of the Christmas season.

In this and in the next two upcoming posts, I will be featuring a giant Christmas tree erected near the recently built cultural center at the University of the Philippines Cebu premises. This is one of the custom built Christmas trees as a project of the Cebu provincial government. Another similar tree, if I am not mistaken, can be found at the Cebu International Convention Center.

Such decorations has already become a tradition in celebration of the Christmas season. However, let us not forget the true meaning of this special holiday — the commemoration of the birth of the child Jesus.

Seasons greeting!!!

Purple Hue

Stigma of a Gumamela

Crimson Leaves

In a recent post, I did explain a type of post-production technique I saw in DigitalRev’s Pro Photographer, Cheap Camera challenge featuring Sean Lee Davis.

This is my second time applying that technique and it always amuses me. Maybe some might not consider this as photography anymore, which I think is actually true in a sense that it does not represent anymore what your eyes originally saw and what the camera originally captured. I myself does not call this as photography in its purest sense since it involves too much rigging of the photo. But still I am certain that it is a work of art, an abstraction of reality. It still tells a story depending on your perspective and mind set. This is also an opportunity to exploit the extent and capabilities of digital media, of what it can offer.

CA Bldg

Silhouette

It has been awhile since my last post here. Schedule has been a little hectic and I can’t squeeze in updating my blog. But still, I have been taking photos and this one is a bit of an experiment.

I first saw this type of post production technique in DigitalRev’s series which featured Sean Lee Davis, a photographer, writer, and director. I took a photo of a bird on a branch of a small tree and tried to create something unique out of the silhouette and make it look like an old photograph by adding a split tone. It turns out interesting to my eyes.

P.S. You can check another edit of this photo (without split toning) here.

A Fisherman on a Cloudy Day

Cat

Innocence

Omangon Island

Omangon Island
Marihatag, Surigao del Sur
Philippines

Liquors and Glomax

Derby Arena

Davao City, Philippines

Cockfighting, locally known as sabong, is a legal blood sport and a very popular form of gambling especially among the men in the Philippines. A cock derby arena is where two roosters fight for their lives. It is similar to the structure at the left side of the photo.

It is believed that sabong was introduced to the natives by the Spanish soldiers during their colonization of the Philippines.

Cans & Paintbrush

Confusion

Unmoved

Somehow, this is related to the photo in this post.

Hanging Flip-flops

Feline

Available at flickr.

Underneath a Parasol

Available at flickr.com

Candlelight

“Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
-Chinese Proverbs

Also available at flickr.

In A Hurry

A snapshot of a passenger in hurry for his flight at Francisco Bangoy International Airport.

View larger size at flickr.

The Terraces

The Terraces
Ayala Center Cebu
Cebu City, Philippines

View this in flickr.

Refrigerate

Sense of Smell

Also available at flickr.

Water Crystal

Umbrella and Two Cups

Something I will always remember from the first UP Cookout I attended until the end.

Raindrops on a Leaf 2

 

(Access this photo at flickr.com)

Floral Emotions

Blue thou art, intensely blue;
Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?
- James Montgomery

Thank you to Sevs, Winston, Vic and Mounir for the help.
Also check out Vic’s portfolio.

(You can also access this at flickr.com.)

Lunar Mare (Maria)

The moon has always been an inspiration to many. Being lovely and mysterious had influenced a lot of poets as well as song writers to compose songs about it, its loveliness or even the romance under the moon.

But what really makes the moon look beautiful? In my opinion, those lunar marias give it the tone and texture, the contours that plays with our eyes.

Thank you to a friend for a helping hand.

Check this at flickr for a bigger size.

 

Thirsty Cup

“When the cup is full, carry it even.”

For other sizes, access this on flickr.

Momentarily

“Precisely the least, the softest, lightest, a lizard’s
rustling, a breath, a flash, a moment – a little makes the
way of the best happiness.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Afloat in Midair

This is another experiment of mine which they call water drop photography. This is the kind of photography that amazes many including the geeks of Discovery Channel. Check their time warp episode for this.

Thanks to a friend for the idea.

Illumination

Yet another intentional camera movement (icm) experimental shoot. The first icm photo I published can be viewed here.

Photo with a higher resolution is also available at flickr.com.

More about icm at photoradar.com.

Yellow Flower

Green Stems

This is something I have been experimenting on for quite a while. They usually termed this as intentional camera movement (ICM) photography . This can be achieve by having long exposure and intentionally moving your camera in some direction. As photoradar says, icm ‘can be a great way to give your photos a contemporary twist’. For me, it is an opportunity to recreate your photos into something similar to an abstract painting.

More about icm at photoradar.com.

Droplet

(You can also access this at flickr.com.)

Pinks of Love

(You can also access this at flickr.com.)

Doze off

One lazy dog on a sunny afternoon…

Raindrops on a leaf

I took this photo just after a heavy rain poured over the city.

Our backyard was wet and the leaves were dripping with rain water.

(Access this photo at flickr.com)

At rest

Yellows and Greens