pinholed

There is something truly magical with shooting in film--something that digital will never capture: the fusion of light and celluloid, the images that form when chemicals react. The basic, basic science of it all, of capturing light.

Here are some photos from a DIY pinhole camera, a birthday gift for the boyfriend last September. Ige and I assembled it one afternoon in October, but I only got to finish the roll this month (I think I'm the one who will be using it more often, ha ha). Will try bw film in it (and endless panorama, and multiple exposures...) next time. :)

fifteen years

my high school friends and i had a reunion dinner of sorts as a post-christmas & new year / chinese new year celebration last january 23 at penpen's resto in cubao x (i still call it cubao x; it's expo now). 

here are some photos grabbed from dash.

 susa & dash

daboys bart & bogs

mich and her fiance jeff

me, my pimple, and susa :) we were both chewing.

my friends believe in my mathematical skill so much i am always the designated accountant after every barkada meal we have.  shouldn't forget the service charge!

fooooood

bart, bogs, and his girlfriend dalyn

barkada shot!

i took a couple of photos too, haha.

 

 spoon & fork handles

the view from outside, by the gutter :P

and some instax shots!

i forgot to tell the staff who took the picture to point the camera a little to the right to avoid parallax error (what you see in the viewfinder isn't exactly what you'll get in the photo, as the lens is situated a little below & to the right of the viewfinder).  so i just drew bogs there instead.

there you go.  cheers to another fifteen+ + years! :)

on film: Urban Sketchers Philippines at Harbor Square

Camera: Canon AE-1 Program
Film: Lucky Super New asa 200

Film photos taken during the Urban Sketchers-Philippines January sketch session at Harbor Square.

The thing with taking photos with film nowadays is that you can't see the results right away--aside from not being digital (read: instantly view onscreen), one-hour photo labs are scarce and compared to the service I get from Digiprint (5 rolls developed, scanned, and delivered to my doorstep for PhP 247.50, 2-5 days' waiting period), they're more expensive.  So that is my excuse for the (late) photos.  But I'm sure nobody's complaining.  It's always nice to have something to look wait for and to forward to.

father carpenter

 

Nikon F80 film SLR, Lucky 200 film.  One sunny morning.

sad.

photos courtesy of the internetz.

a little bit of china

i was at the national library this morning to give them copies of our book on community development.  as i was about to leave i decided to spend a few minutes perusing the chinese exhibit at the lobby.  do excuse the 3.2-mp cellphone photos!

the first thing i noticed about the exhibit was the set of brushes on the holder on the table.  the girl wasn't doing her calligraphy yet, but i guess she noticed me hovering around the booth.  she offered to write something for me if i had paper.  good thing i had a piece of scratch with me, so i asked if she could write my name. "but i don't know your name," she said.  "lauren. l-a-u-r-e-n," i answered.  she paused for a while.  "we don't have--" she was thinking of the right word, and i understood. so i offered, "what's the nearest word for my name?"  she thought for a bit, and wrote two characters.  "law-lah," she said (the "lah"'s sound sounds like it has a question mark at the end).  (please forgive me, i don't know how to write what i heard, but that's the nearest to her pronunciation/intonation.) 

some of the national library staff gathered around and wanted their names written too.

here's the calligraphy of my name (or the nearest to it), "law-lah" and the girl (i forgot to ask her name) from confucius institute.  here she is writing 'good luck' upon the request of one of the staff (michael, he said) who wanted the lucky characters written under his name.

 the ink smells awful, but the calligraphy is really nice! :)

other stuff in the exhibit were traditional opera costumes, a musical instrument, tea set, dolls, and textbooks on language.  it was really interesting.  a nice surprise after a simple library visit!

Velada Tomasina

Today we put on our period costumes and strolled around campus.  As part of the Neocentennial Celebrations, tarpaulin likenesses of the old UST campus and Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros were erected at Plaza Benavides (or, to the alumni out there, "Lovers' Lane").  A historical marker was unveiled, marchas were played, and carriages took us around campus.  It's interesting to see people--students, faculty, support staff--walking around in barongs and baro't sayas.  Even the guards wore the uniform of the guardia civil!

i wore a long billowy black skirt, a tapis, white baro, and a head scarf.  i would like to think that during the spanish era, i was a tindera.  or a hacienda worker in manila.  :)  behind me is the facade of the old sto. domingo church.

with the 'big men' of the university--former and current vice rectors for religious affairs (where our office falls under) 

a sea of students in period costume...and their modern-day backpacks.  at the background is the likeness of the university in intramuros.

 video crew in camisa de chinos...and a guardia civil in relaxed stance.

 i love their leather satchels!  you can see the old sto. domingo church in the background.

i wanted to approach this man and take his photo.  but i kinda lost him when i tried to walk around to the other side!  isn't he a dapper chap?  and with a film camera in his left hand too!  i didn't see what it was but it had bellows...

 watching the unveiling of the historical marker behind the benavides monument.

professors from the college of fine arts and design.

 this student's skirt was really beautiful.

 there were so many people it's hard to get a "just us" photo, haha.

tv interview (that's a real priest, btw)

 we're with the band.

with my uh, novio.  he was so sweet to come see me after his class.  he looks annoyed at the camera though.

 impeachment court.

 the historical marker. it's quite a long read.

 band!

 

we also got to ride a carriage. caretela?

 

 matador's got pink socks!

  

there's a tree growing from the building! :P 

more photos in my flickr.