Juggling

I browsed through my backlog of Sinulog photos and found this. The people in the background were a little distracting so I thought of processing the image via CS3. I'm still learning the program so I applied previously learned tricks of radial blurring and HDR imaging. A little frame here and watermarks there and voila! I'm so glad the streak of colors came to life.

A Street Named Colon

Once the heart of the city, Colon St reeks of architechtural decay. Quiapo in Manila is what comes to mind. The old buildings that are usually preserved in old cities stand here begging for restoration. At day break the homeless rise from the pavement that are their beds. Tourists avoid this place but the hardcore travellers will find character in Colon.

"Street Doll"

Where there are street kids there are street dolls. Like their owners they are in need of a good bath and attention. To them a doll is their ticket back to innocense.

"Orient Reflection"

Buildings from its years of glory look down to the puddles that rise after a little rain.

"Bottom Feeder"

Even urban widlife has found refuge in Colon, where there are food carts and barbecue stands there are cats that have no need for human touch.

I regret that I had only an hour to walk the country's oldest street. I'm sure I will be back to capture more of its character.

Cebu Heritage

"Faking Sunrise"

I had to be up at 4 am for a street photography fun shoot organized by PCC (Photographer's Club of Cebu) last Saturday. I had a great time despite my lack of sleep. I'll post more photos when I get a chance to tinker with them. In the mean time feast your eyes on the photo above.

It's the silhouette of the Cebu Heritage Monument. Done with 5 photographs, auto-stitched and auto-aligned via CS3. Cropped to define the edges and color matched with a photo of a sunset. This photo was taken at 7 in the morning when it was almost impossible to get silhouettes. The details of the monument were evident the original photographs. I used curves to hide the details and bring out the silhouette. I hope I was able to fake sunrise. What do you think?

Deconstructing a Tourist Spot

Aside from structures older that the rest of us there are a number of things in common that litter the typical tourist spot in the Philippines. Below are a number of them.

"Rooffa"

There are pidgeons/doves (I know they are similar but different). Unlike the ones in Venice, out local fowls of tourist spots are aloof. Food attracts them but do not expect them to land on your head and shoulders while pecking your grains. There are doves/pidgeons, not only once but twice. LOL

"Looking Back"

"Rocker in the Dark"

There are blind musicians to serenade those who need a room. LOL

"Souvenir Menagerie"

"Souvenir Menagerie Too"

"For Lilly Feet"

There are shops that sell items to remember the place by.