1. He has in his hands, one of the most advanced (d)slrs in the market and yet, and yet, he does not know what makes a photograph beautiful.

Never mind the rules and conventions that govern amateur/professional photography. At least you must have for yourself, what constitutes a photograph to be beautiful.

There was a time when Erson and Mayo and I were almost inseparable. We saw each other everyday. At that time, it never crossed my mind that we will eventually break away from it all.



Looking back, I wasn't too interested in looking at the future.There was a kind of a standstill then. Nothing else mattered but the thesis we were writing and Zuma, I guess. The simplicity of it all is almost unreal.

Photos stolen from: http://bubudynasty.multiply.com.

Today, I fell inlove with a photo.
This one:

It must be the lighting. Or the beer bottles on the table. Or the atmosphere. Or how one person can be confined to his own space, even when he may be right smack in the middle of Mogwai.

I have absolutely no idea why I love this photo. All I know is that it's something I like looking at, again and again and again.

The things that bring me sorrow eventually transcend themselves. Happy Sunday!  

So I passed by the TV last night and saw Angel Locsin and this woman talking about food and emotions.

This woman explained that the flavours we taste today are different from the flavours we will taste tomorrow and that the sadness that tore us apart yesterday will not be the same sorrow we will feel today.

It is sadness or happiness, yes, but triggered by a different circumstance, and would always be a different kind of pain or joy from the other pains or joys we have felt; nothing is the same.

And for inspiration: Her Photostream (I'm officially inlove again).  

Mein hobby ist fotografieren.

I don't delude myself that "I'm a photographer" because I cringe just by typing that. I only take photos because I would like to remember the ones that I stared at and why they were worth staring at.

Lessons I learned along the way: selective color, composition, symmetry, negative space


( and... )
Das ist alles. So far. I'm not hurrying though.

Everything is personal. Every photo, every word, every layout. There is that small shred of you in that generic photo capture, even when you think you're just being a copycat.

Isn't it wonderful to look at how you spill yourself in everything you touch?

I can’t sing to save my life, nor can I dance, swim, drive (forgotten it now), sketch, draw or paint. But I can take photographs. Decent ones.

He turns 22 today. :) Maru and I are buying his cake, his chicken and his spaghetti ingredients to be chowed on later.

These pictures were taken on the last day of 2008. The day and the year ended very well. :)

I do not want an SLR anytime soon. I don't even drool at the thought of it, I would rather spend money (if i had any) to more useful things like books and work clothes. For the first time in my life, I am proudly content with one material possession and that is: my Canon point-and-shoot.

I don't know what the hype is all about concerning SLRs as most moneyed people own them but produce very elementary results. It's a SHAME and a SHAM, really.

What I do want for Christmas is an end to my continuing restlessness which started this February and a fisheye lens (but this really can wait) and World Peace? Oh gad. I'm losing it.

My brother can be a very good trashtalker. On most days, maybe when he is bored, or when I cannot keep up with his being a smart ass, he morphs into an evil trashtalking Fauno (hahaha, we loved Guillermo del Torro's El Laberinto del Fauno). Oftentimes I can barely keep up, because as you can see, I am too nice to trashtalk back to him because I would rather that he stop being crazy. 

Several days ago, he accompanied me to the American Cemetery for me to practice my photographic eye and he kept on saying, "Inggitera ka kasi!"

I didn't see it that way when I first thought about it since we weren't doing anything during the All Saint's and All Souls days and visiting the American Cemetery even if it was a very very cloudy October 31, was a fairly good exercise in photography. I nearly walked out on him when he wouldn't stop saying I was an "inggitera" and when he finally died down, we only came up with a handful of decent photos.

Come to think of it, isn't inggit that drives you to be competitive? When you see someone excelling in a similar field of interest whether it be a hobby or profession, you become proud of that someone especially when you know them or when they are Pinoys who are excelling internationally and then you secretly cheer on yourself that you can do it, too (with lots of practice, a fair amount of patience, and less trashtalk from family members -- :)). Just as long as you don't hurt anyone and you don't steal anyone's ideas, your inggit can be used in a healthy way, at least that's what I believe. 

Kath = Brilliance + Thoughtfulness + Mush + ♥

Oh I love you, Kath. Because she suggested this wonderful link.

Sometimes, I wonder why there are people (Lifesavers, that's what I call them) who know exactly how to brighten up your day when you barely have the time to brighten up yours.

One example would be Uncle Jong who sent me a silver watch on my birthday (when I was actually saving up for a silver watch because I am almost always late and time deprived).

Another fine example would be Kath♥, who took her time to comment on my long dormant Multiply to show me that there is a life out there, waiting to be documented in photographs. What's brilliant about is, that I have been meaning to post a photo a day using Keno (honestly, the thought did cross my overworked mind several times already!) but you know effing unlucky I get because 24 hours in a day is never enough. And then I say to myself that Keno is much too overweight for a cam to be carried everyday, anyway. And that I cannot afford to be mugged (I would die if anyone snatches that cam from me) because I work til 8pm and get home around 930 which is the best time for camera/cellphone/wallet snatching. And oh, I work on Saturdays, too.

Then again, if I took a photo a day, uploaded them every Sunday and managed to do this religiously (with stress on the word: religiously), I'd feel delightfully fulfilled. I guess all I really needed to start was the nudge that was posted as a comment in my Multiply. And yes, I would like to be "able to look back at any day of your year and recall what (I) did, who (I) met, what (I) learned…" and "to document (my) travels and accomplishments, (my) haircuts and relationships" and of course, to be "a better photographer."

I'm still undecided if I should post the photos here or in my Multiply. I'd start on Sunday. Wish me love. :P

It's weird how Maki, Jane and I were born on the same month and with our birthdays not too far apart. Maki will have hers on the 29th, me on the 28th and Jane on the 24th. When Aileen celebrates her birthday, it signals that our birthdays are nearing. 

I only have one birthday wish, though.  Come to think of it, I no longer remember what I wished for last year or the years before that. Much more, if those wishes ever came true.

I write about this always: That I am being robbed of time. Thus I'm being robbed of the chance to "drain the cup to dregs" so I merely "sip the bubbles on top."

Everything is barely savored.

I can only look and then I'm dragged away. And off I go to another place, another time, another moment.

It scares me. Because I can't seem to get used to this. I live in three places and yet they all twirl around and I don't live in any of them for too long. Long enough to convince myself that this is where I should be.