Wednesday, December 22, 2010

what happens in the photobooth

will never stay in the photobooth!

this all went down during my brother's wedding two weeks ago.

please don't be scared.




Monday, December 6, 2010

giving directions

applicable to cab and tricycle drivers.

to ige's house: "diyan lang sa may poso."
to my house: "diyan lang sa may pusa."

quick list

adding to my Christmas wishlist:
  1. postcards box (the one i have is already full!)
  2. workout clothes (specifically for running: road & trail)
  3. trail shoes (my 7-year-old Merrells are dying)
  4. small backpack / trail bag (i sound serious in this trail running thing huh?)
  5. 60 gallons of melted cheese (heheh)
  6. portable cloud
  7. a bonsai foxtail palm
  8. hot-air balloon
  9. trip to Batanes
  10. panda hug
  11. laing pizza
  12. mozzarella fondue
  13. scuba lessons (heheh)
  14. teleport machine
  15. the bestest risotto in the whole world
  16. 10-foot bunny
  17. finished thesis (har har)

because it feels nice to wish for whimsies.

Monday, November 15, 2010

testing the Tip-Wic

Hi! In a previous blog post I wrote about how I got lucky winning TAO's Tip-Wic.  Last week I got it from Leigh (thanks, Leigh!), and after a few hectic days with the Lopez Museum exhibit, I finally got around to actually opening the package and testing it.
 front
 back

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

wish wish wish

because Christmas nears.   At the start of the year I was able to give myself a few *big* items that I had wished for: an external drive, a Lomo LC-A camera, and a take-anywhere digicam, a Lumix FS4 that, according to Mervin who borrowed it for our Lopez Museum gig, "takes pretty pictures."  I really shouldn't call it a wishlist anymore since I end up buying the stuff myself anyway, haha.

So what am I "wishing" for this year?

Monday, November 1, 2010

i love film cameras, part three

What I love about my cameras is that no two are "operated" the same way, and each has its own talent and specialty!

Snap Sights can take photos underwater (and over water too!).

i love film cameras, part two

Let me introduce you to a couple of old ladies.

Half-frame cameras are cute, fascinating, and they take twice the amount of pictures as full-frame cameras! My Pens' meters have gone quite wonky but they still work.  The EE-2, fondly called Li'l Blush, has taken a lot of fun pictures!

i love film cameras, part one

I love them so much i've decided to make my first November blogpost all about my cameras!  I hope the world never runs out of film and film labs.  *wish*

First up is the Polaroid 320 Land Camera given to me by my dad.  I think he was into exploring ebay then, haha.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Hairy Harry and my behind

Hairy Harry and I had an adventure at yesterday's 10.10.10 Run for the Pasig River.  We did the 5k from CCP to the Mall of Asia.
 
 
oh, my front this time. Miss Iggy finished the race too!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Dutchess,

the dog named after an ice cream flavor.


 
 
i thought my mom was joking when she said she was going to have a shih tzu as a gift from one of her students.  we already have two big dogs (a labrador retriever and a golden retriever), two aspins, two dachshunds, and a (very pesky) boston terrier.  i wonder how a toy dog her size would fare amidst the ruckus. hahaha.

and of course, we'll also have to see what the felines have to say.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

i just can't believe my luck

that, just a few days after winning TAO's Tip-Wic, i win something again.

remember Hairy Harry and his arrival in the mail?  well, i did join four paws & lomography.com's competition and erick alerted me that i won second place!  yipee!  i won a diana mini camera along with other lomography items.

Monday, September 27, 2010

oh my jolly god i actually won something

A few months ago I blogged about writing with pens and notebooks again through the rediscovery of my grandfather's fountain pen.  I have been lurking about the Fountain Pen Network-Philippines' e-group and blog-stalking their members (heehee), and since then, window shopping (and a few successful purchases) for fountain pens and notebooks has been a regular habit when going to the bookstore.

I now look at ballpoints with disdain and scoff at how they would hurt my wrist if I continue to use them, and beam with pride whenever someone needs a pen and I hand over my Lamy cp-1.  How do you use this, the borrower asks me, and I feel the golden glow of self-importance in the presence of the lower creature who knows not how to use the exquisite object that is my fountain pen (I'm kidding--but it does feel good to show off.).

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hairy Harry


is an orangutan from Indonesia.  We're joining a lomographic photo contest in which I take him to places and take photos of him using analog cameras.  I was so lucky to be picked to adopt Harry!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

the new tinies


My beloved rat Gypsy died last week, and my mom lost no time in planning a trip to Avilon Zoo to get new rats--"apat na kaya," she suggested, "para masaya sila."  Gypsy started showing signs of being sick after her companion Dublin passed away last July.  [Gypsy also had a mammary cyst common to half of the female rat population.]  The night before she died, she just lay in my arms sniffling, hardly moving at all.  It was difficult to say goodbye, so I just said goodnight to her before I went to sleep.  When I woke up she was gone.  

Saturday, August 28, 2010

saturday at home

i spent it sleeping, watching 'the killers' on dvd and the news on tv, having my hair treated (the yearly make-it-straight thing), cuddling austin, checking my tumblr, and scanning old photos then uploading them to tumblr.  


then uploading them here:


first, i would like to say hi.

my aunt's first communion.  she's the one with the downcast eyes and twisted braids.

my great-grandfather. my grandmother writes at the back of this photo: "Pa seems to be lonely not knowing yet the death of Uncle."

a funeral scene postcard.

“This was taken near the big rock in front of the house.”
my dad (in the foreground, inside the inner tube) and his siblings & cousins April 1968.  this is also where i “learned” to swim by accidentally being swept away by waves.

inscription on the back reads: "Good Friday in the fishpond."
This was in Santiago Cove in Ilocos Sur, Philippines, where my maternal grandmother’s family comes from.  Date on photo: 1968.

my aunt and my dad.

L-R: My grandfather, my grandmother, three aunts, and my dad. 
Inscription on the back of the photo (most probably written by my grandmother to her sister in the States):
"Aug. 12, 1970.  This was taken at the U.P. campus.  Anabel & Benjo are very much taller than me.  I guess that when you will visit us Cecile will also be taller than you."

“The kids had your lot with mark X as their background.  This is with concrete roads and gutters as you could see.”
March 1971.  That’s my dad at the right.

my aunt and my dad (seated) with their dolls: a bonnie lassie for her, an indian chief for him.

"Pa is giving instructions to the men catching fish."

the beach!

tracks

there's a lot more old photographs stored in our living room cabinet, and when i have another lazy, stay-at-home time, i would definitely scan and upload them too.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Canonet QL17 GIII test roll


I've always wanted to have a rangefinder.  I learned how to use an SLR with my Lolo's Canon FTQL; I felt learning how to use an RF would round me up pretty nicely as a film photography enthusiast.  I did a lot of research about the different kinds of rangefinders, the photos taken with them, and whether they'll only run on phased-out batteries or if they could be used on full manual mode.  I was glad to see for sale what I think the best RF was for me: the Canonet QL 17 GIII.  I met up with Candace, from whom I also purchased my Snap Sights underwater camera, and gladly bought the RF.  She also gave me five rolls of film, which was really sweet.  :)  I couldn't wait to test the camera--Candace wasn't able to test it herself since buying it--to see if I need to have it CLA'd (cleaned, lubricated, adjusted) at Hidalgo.

The first thing I did was to take out the deteriorating black foam by the back cover--they'll surely let in light leaks, which I don't want to have with this particular camera.  I asked ige for some black Blu-Tack to use as sealant.  I then did a bit of lens cleaning just to be sure.  Finally I loaded it up with the Fuji 160 NPS film Candace gave.  I hoped I still knew how to tweak manual exposure settings, because I was going sans metering.

After finishing the roll I went to Photoline at SM San Lazaro to have the roll processed and printed because I really, really wanted to see my shots right away.  I did contemplate on having the negatives scanned to CD, but I didn't want to shell out cash (imagine that!) on something uncertain.  [I did the same with my Olympus Pen EE.  When I saw the shots I decided to just let it retire.]

Enough blah, so how did I do?  See here! :)  [The texture on the photos is from the photo paper.]

Miel taking a bath

Carla

Bianca & Katya

cranes!

the morning papers

too many

Miel & dada

I think the camera and I did pretty well!  Here's a long, beautiful friendship! :)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

the little red camera that could

my youngest sister was once given a small keychain digital camera which she doesn't use anymore.  she was already also given a small videocam that could also take still photos, so the keychain cam remained hardly used in her cabinet.  i remembered it when someone at the lomomanila yahoogroup offered to sell similar cams.  so i asked the sis if her keychain cam still works, and if it does, if i could use it.

since it was her 18th birthday yesterday and she received a lot of cool stuff i think it was a great time to ask her for it. heheh.

so here it is!  the vistaquest vq1005 keychain camera.  i named her pinch.  thanks b!


slide to open and reveal the lens & pop-up viewfinder.  the space between the tip and joint of my index finger rests on the shutter button.

the little button turns the camera on and selects different modes.  the camera has options for picture quality (low, normal, fine), and photo/video mode.  there's also a little lever at the left side that gives you the option to take photos in macro or inifinity.

here are some sample shots:

laptop display. my mom was watching something biology-related.

walking to commonwealth to catch my daily bus to work.

it was still pretty dark.

the girl in front of me in the bus.  across sandiganbayan.

the guy seated across me. 

pavement in ust, by the fountain of wisdom.

i didn't use the tiny viewfinder; just did a lot of shooting from the hip, hehe.  the post-processing i did on the photos was simply the work of the "i'm feeling lucky" button in picasa.  :)

Monday, July 19, 2010