Friday, May 28, 2010

Life's a Beach

We are at summer’s end. One more beach outing before school opens again and the last flights of the tourists depart. There is my last beach set for the summer of 2010. Perhaps the next time I will be in the beach, it won’t be as crowded and hot. I’ll try to explore new beaches; those hidden from the public’s eye.
And I need to go back to street photography because in two and a half months time it will be Kadayawan. Also I am enjoying the Urban HDR genre right now; I’ll practice landscape later.

Paradie (1 of 10)

Paradie (4 of 10)

Paradie (5 of 10)

Paradie (6 of 10)

Paradie (7 of 10)

Paradie (8 of 10)

Paradie (9 of 10)

Paradie (10 of 10)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Urban HDR

I do not know much about art. Combining colors and showing depth with a brush or pencil isn’t my thing. The only “art” I can do is graffiti; which isn’t exactly mainstream art.

And the same goes for digital art. I do not have time patience for vectoring or flash animation. I guess it is all about attention span in my case. If I can’t finish something creative in 30 minutes then I won’t ever be able to finish it at all.

And then came High Dynamic Range photography. Now, this is something that interests me. It is art and photography rolled into one; and best of all, I can do it in less than 30 minutes. It’s amazing how a set of similar photos shot at different exposures, an HDR software and a little Photoshop can do. Finally, here is an art for someone who loves photography and has a poor attention span. Urban HDR here I come!

This is just my first try at HDR. I hope to post more soon!

grunge copy

Mi Casa

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Pearl of the South

“Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.” – Leonardo DiCaprio (The Beach, 2000)

The beach is one of those places that I will never be sad. The waves keep my spirit calm, and the wind keeps me cool. It is for me, a sanctuary; a place where I can find peace. Nothing ever bothers me when I’m walking along the shore or when I am sitting and watching the sunset.

And this is one of the best beaches here in my hometown; this is the Pearl Farm Beach Resort. Only forty-five minutes from Davao by boat, this is a very accessible island getaway. What you pay for here is money well spent. How I wish I could afford to go there every weekend; that way I won’t ever be stressed out.

I hope that I’ll take more trips to the beach this summer and that I can take more photos to share with you guys. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Pearl Farm (1 of 11)

Pearl Farm (7 of 11)

Pearl Farm (5 of 11)

Pearl Farm (4 of 11)

Pearl Farm (3 of 11)

Pearl Farm (10 of 11)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Carnival Lights

Constant improvement is my goal…

I found some photos I took two months ago. It was from a local “peryahan” or carnival and I remembered that I was supposed to post this in my blog. As I was experimenting with the photos in Lightroom (boosting saturation and the likes), I found out that applying strong contrast to a subject that has motion blur makes it look like it is moving a whole lot faster than it actually does. These things are really new to me since I don’t really have much knowledge about post processing photos; but I am learning. Hopefully, I will get better at post processing with time and I hope to share whatever things I learn to anyone who wants.

Ferris Wheel

Octopus

Coaster

Just for the record, even if I am studying post processing, I still prefer only minimal editing to be done on my photos.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

A True Bug's Life

“All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs…”

I have proof that learning can be fun! Recently, I took photos of what I thought were beetles; though I never really cared what they were until after I was reviewing my shots. Since I have never seen such beetles before, I searched them on the internet. And after an hour of searching, I came up blank. Just as I was getting bored, I saw an article about True Bugs (Hemiptera). Then, I got to identify the creatures I shot; and learned about them in the process.

The blue metallic bug that I thought was a species of metallic beetle turned out to be a Metallic Shield Bug. And the sleek red bug was a Cotton Stainer. I learned about what these insects eat and where/how to find them. Also, I learned how to differentiate them from beetles. Beetles have strong chewing mouth parts (mandibles) while true bugs have tube like mouth parts (proboscis). And based on experience, I know that when you hold these bugs, they produce some foul smelling secretion that doesn’t wash away easily.

I wish to learn more; and have fun while I am at it. Perhaps schools should also adopt a similar path to learning. I hope that kids these days would care to learn about nature as much as I do.

Metallic Shield Bug

Cotton Stainer

Afternoon Delight