Festival Queens

They carry the image of the child Jesus in their hands. All eyes are on them as they dance under the sun. For a day they are hailed queens.

Pick your Muse. It will be another year before they once again conquer our streets.

Photographer's Block

It is imagery blindness. Writers dread a similar phenomenon. An inspiration drought deadlier that the worst weather irregularity.

In a world of vast possibilities and a million possible frames I stand blind. Unable to snap as colors beg for attention. The world passes me by in isolation and disconnect.

I am still here. My vision is on an indefinite leave.

The Could Have Been Entries

I was to submit these photos in the contest. I just read the revised rules and sadly these pictures are not going to make it. Perhaps they could be in my first solo exhibit. Somebody wake me up from my dream! Let's have a look at them, shall we? Do hit me with a whip if I over indulge, I may like it too much though. LOL

One of the girls in the one of contigents in the festival. You can tell there was a lot of dancing going on. This wan not even taken on the peak of the festival like the rest of this batch.

I took a number of portraits. I just found out that the contest does not want these.

I even snapped this girl sucking on a tube of frozen delight.

Do you think this boy is pissed that I was taking his picture? He seemed happy and gay to me that afternoon.

Now this girl has fierce eyes. I almost said ouch when I took this shot.

More to come later. I just have to sort hundreds of frames from last weeks shoots.

Pit Señor!

I have been silent in the last few days because of the Sinulog Festival. A very colorful festival which anyone should catch in January when you visit the Philippines.

I am joining a photo contest so I am not posting my best pictures yet. I promise to post my entries after the festival. Wish me luck.



For any information about Sinulog you may click here.

Cebu at Night

Taken 3o minutes ago I instantly worked on these images as soon as have I saved them in my back up drive. I did say "images". These are 4 photographs stitched together via Photoshop CS3's auto-align layers tool. It may seem to be a regular shot but you could click on the image so you could see it in full size. I could have taken another photo to make it look longer but the moon was not very cooperative tonight. I'm glad the clouds covered it or else I would have ended up with a panoramic image of Cebu City with a big hole of overexposure in the night sky.

I had to climb to the 7th floor of the building via the fire excape. Not a very nice feeling when all you have between you and immediate death are two 15-inch diameter pipes. I guess this photograph is worht the fright.

Withering Addiction

Spotted during a refuelling stop I used my Sigma 300 mm macro lens. A very reasonably priced lens for what it could do. I realized it focuses faster than the 55mm lens that came with my D40.

Anyway, I thought it's just appropriate create an entry dedicated my my 6th nicotine cold turkey. The longest I have avoided cigarettes is 6 months. The new year is looking brighter for my lungs. Now if I could only stick to quitting.

For Another Year of Enchanting Images

Ahh...2008 is almost history. An interesting year in so many ways. I have traveled to 4 different countries, made hundreds of exposures and got my own DSLR (finally). This year reconciled me to a passion that I have put to rest for too long. I will treat '08 as my year of enlightenment, my turning point. This year, my heart listened to my eyes. Never ignore the things that make your heart skip a beat. With that in mind, I should be better armed to face 2009. We should all be. Happy new year everyone!

P.S.: I have read Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book". He mentioned that putting the horizon smack center is taking the amateur route. I hope this shot is one of those rule breaking shots that work. What do you think?

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Crabby Camouflage

I took a me a number of shots before I got this one. The water made it a little bit tricky to take. I'm glad I was able to capture the movement of the bubbles though. My shaky hands did not help either.

The Stolen Bride

New Orleans has its surprises. As I walked around Bourbon St. in the French Quarter I chanced upon a pre-wedding shoot. I was glad the photographers did not mind me taking these shots. I used my 300 mm lens from across the street attempting to be less invasive. I have never photographed a bride before and it was a rare opportunity so I went for it. The angles are not perfect but considering I had not business taking these pictures I think they came out great. I was glad she took notice of me and gave me a couple of glances and even a smile. Who ever this bride is, "Best wishes to you." If anyone of you knows who this stunning bride is, give me a holler so I could personally send her a thank you note.