The Green Side of Things: A Bird, Bee and Bug

It’s amazing how green my images look once it’s been processed. It doesn’t look that way when I shoot or when I review it in my camera. Just adding a little adjustment here and there and then “Poof!” it turns green! I’m sure the Incredible Hulk and my Lasallian brothers and sisters would be happy with such a color.

But truth be told, I am not that much a fan of the color green. It is my school’s colors, yes, so I proudly wear the color; but I was never a green person. I’m more of the blue person. However, recently, I have had a liking for all things green. And here you see the results. This is one of many nature sets that I will post here.

I hope you like all things green; there are a lot more where this came from. (I just noticed, this blog has an orange feel to it.)

Hope for the Flowers : Butterflies

"How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."
— Trina Paulus (Hope for the Flowers)

I am totally hooked! Macro photography is so much fun; even if it means I have to get up early in the morning to get the best shots.

Here is a collection of butterfly shots I took last weekend. I wake up at around 6:30am just so I can take shots in the soft morning light. It’s not as colorful as most would expect but at least these species are endemic to the playground / park in front of our house. I think there are only four different species in this set and I hope to shoot more next time.

There are other critters that I shot during my early morning walks but I’ll save that for another time.

Stalking the Tiger

I was thinking of what to blog next and found out that today is Earth Day. So I made a decision to blog only about nature from today until the end of this month. Good thing that the previous post was about nature in the “macro” level; it goes with my Earth Day theme.

And speaking of nature, I went to a zoo and got a couple of amazing shots of a majestic creature: the tiger. It was for me a dream to be able to take close ups of a tiger; even if the tiger was in a cage. I really didn’t mind that this isn’t really its true habitat and that I was safely behind a steel fence. All I wanted were photos of this big cat; and that is what I got.

Oh, and in case you were wondering why I like tigers, it isn’t because of Winnie the Pooh’s friend Tigger (only girls like that character) but a certain jungle cat named Hobbes. He is one half of my favorite comic duo Calvin and Hobbes.

All the Small Things

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be." -- Robert Fulghum , It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It

What I love about nature photography is that there is not much left to do but capture the beauty that is presented to you. Nothing ever comes close to what the natural world has to offer; it is spectacular at every level. And speaking of levels, I took it one step closer with my close-focusing Sigma 70-300mm APO Macro lens. It isn’t true macro photography but its close. I’m hoping that I’d have the time, patience and discipline (to wake up early) to shoot more of this kind of shots.

And I promise that I’ll take pictures of butterflies next time.

The Ugly Truth

Street photography is my favorite field in photography; it shows the realities we face every day. I find it also appealing because I get to shoot from the hip and in burst mode. Out on the streets, I don’t worry much about composition or settings; I just shoot what is available because everything happens so fast.

On the day when our beloved city celebrated its 73rd founding anniversary, I was out on the streets shooting the festivities. I never expected that the shots I liked best were the ones that showed not the colors of the parade but the ugly truth about life on the streets. As we celebrated, there were people walking about, sticking their heads, even half of their bodies, inside the garbage bins looking for something to sell to the local junk shops or food. It is sad to think that we were celebrating while they starved. After seeing the half starved kid being carried by her mother, I lost interest in the parade; my interest shifted to the people that were there but not for the parade but fighting for their survival.
I know that it isn’t really pretty to look at, but I’d rather shoot pictures showing the real plight of the people than the glitz and glamour of parades and festivals. This is the ugly truth: there are people out there that are starving and need our help.

I hope we can make a difference.