Lecian Carnival in Dumaguete

I can't remember when the last time was since I visited a carnival. I know I have been to one before but I never had appreciated it then as I did now. My companions and I went to take pictures there one afternoon, though we knew they open later and the fun things happen in the evenings 'til late night.

Walking around, we saw different families doing their own thing, setting up their own stalls, checking the rides before they open. I also saw they had little homes set up near the back, so I figured they temporarily lived there. Most of them who were doing the work are the men and boys. It seems that the people who run the carnival live very basic lives.

What I love most are the colors and the artwork I see painted on the rides, the railings, the wooden horses, the ride names — basically anything that has been painted on that appears colorful. I just can't help but admire how the painted signs have been done. They are not perfect and flawless but still, the typography and styles have been done by hand without any machines or special equipment to do it. I have a new-found respect for their artistic vision.

I didn't go on any rides because for one, I'm ashamed to be the oldest one riding with a couple of kids, and second, I am afraid of heights. So I was perfectly happy to stay on the ground.

I used a roll of film for it and shot a couple using digital. For this, I used the Konica C35 AF2. It's just point and shoot film, and my favorite thing about this camera is that I get light leaks due to the slightly loose back cover. And there are times the auto focus disappoints.

Here are some of my digital ones, which I also like to look old. What can I say, I love film photography.

Low resolution photography

We put up the Christmas tree today, got a few more ornaments like reindeer, santa's boots and candy canes. We've always used Christmas balls but that kind of got boring.

I took a picture and discovered I could take bokeh photos with my phone! Really! I mean, I never thought it's possible because cameras in mobile phones usually autofocus, not allowed to change aperture, but hey I got a bokeh shot by accident today!

Well, we have plastic trees here, not the real ones because real Christmas-looking trees don't grow in the Philippines.

And here are a few instagram photos, edited using various editors. I have quite a couple of apps on my phone just for editing pics, I swear it's what I do to kill time aside from playing games. I have Photo Editor, PicsPlay, DramaPic, FxCamera, Snaptastic and a few more. I am dying to use Vscocam but I don't have iPhone so would have to wait until I get one.

I took quick selfies one afternoon, trying to make something good out of the light I got from the window blinds. Really good to feel sunlight on my face. Been really loving LR these days. I just discovered a super easy way to create collages and diptychs using the Print Tab!

Cornfield Love

A preview of my recent shoot with Glenn (me as second photographer) from weeks ago. I don't have a lot of new photos to share. Things have been uninspiring lately, even my Instagram is filled with nothing but pictures of food. I need to have more creative forces.

Sun God

I don't get to see something like this often. So while I was with a colleague having an e-session with a couple, I caught sight of this beautiful miracle and literally ran to it. When I saw it all closer in front of me, I swear I heard music in my head playing hallelujah. I had nothing better than a 35mm 1.8 so not too much justified but I was glad I took home a souvenir of what I saw. What a splendid creation of God.

Dusk Whisperer

First set of my collab shoot with Joselle last Monday. It was a bit raining and some of these were shot while I was under an umbrella. This was the first time I shot an entire session in raw (.nef). I never really shot in with raw format before because they eat up so much space and I never really got a huge difference in post-processing. But now I kinda get it. Shooting in raw allowed me to fix the reds because I always lose detail when I shoot red-colored subjects. But raw doesn't give out as much vibrance and sharpness as my jpeg preset in my camera. It looks pale and just average ok but in my opinion not really ready to publish right away.

Anyway, it is Halloween, so happy (scary) halloween to all! Not going to any costume parties for now but hoping you all get to wear your dream costumes! Should be fun!

Part 2 is coming up in the next post.

 

Everything, processed in Lightroom 3, using raw (except the last two pictures which are jpeg).