March 7, 2015
Legacy
Trek Shot
The painting is huge, seven meters wide by 4 meters high, it covers the whole wall of the foyer of the museum building. The painting is the Spoliarium by Filipino artist Juan Luna, it was a gold medalist in an exposition in Madrid , Spain when the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, the year was 1884. The museum building is the old congress, done in the 1920s and designed by American Architect Daniel Burnham.
This is one of two buildings that is the National Museum of the Philippines.
I’ve been planning this visit for quite sometime now, and with a friend I finally did it. The first building, the old congress building houses the art pieces, paintings, sculpture and other art works. On permanent display are the works of notable artists including Rizal who is shown to be an accomplished artist himself, a real genius. I have some comments on the set up though, the lighting do not show the paintings’ real beauty, glare and color cast of the incandescent bulbs and natural light filtering through the curtained windows interfere with the painting’s colors and hues. There are so many empty halls, I’m sure there are yet plenty of treasures in the museum’s store room worthy of being displayed and admired.
Taking photos inside the galleries are allowed but flash is not. I have to boost the ISO up and aperture wide to get handheld photos of those I liked to shoot. Ayala Museum do not allow cameras, this is a very good thing for visitors like me.
The second building is the old Finance building, and this building houses the artifacts collection including among others, the recovered treasures of the San Diego, a Spanish galleon that sunk in the waters of Batangas. On display were the defensive and offensive hardware of the galleons, and jars and chinese plates. The jars I teased my friend are akin to the amphorae of the Greek and Roman wrecks found in the waters of Mideterranean Sea. Those were used to carry Olive oil and wine. The jars found in the San Diego contained fermented fist paste, called bagoong (ha, ha). No gold and silver treasures were on display. The upper floors displayed the artifacts dug up from different regions of the archipelago, no gold yet were on display, just potteries and china. And yet more empty rooms. There were some dried leaves of plants, but are not native to the country, they were from South America, Australia and some other countries. I was hoping to find at least a dried sample specimen of the “gabi” plant, a native delicacy as cooked “laing”, there was none, maybe even this is not native to this place, Hawaiian maybe?
I had some fun interacting with some Tourism students who were there for their “OJT”, kind of apprenticeship they need to complete as a requirement of their course. I convinced them to act as if they were real Museum Guides and me and my friend as Museum Guests and Tourists on the country for the first time for a visit. We had great fun and I’m sure the girls enjoyed it too as I think they learned more from the questions we asked them.
We spent five hours including a lunch at the canteen which ran out of food as we came in. We have to wait for some food to be cooked for us but we didn’t mind, the whole experience is worthwhile, and a second visit is planned as I was not able to cover all that there is to see. I do hope that the people running this place will take more efforts to enrich the pieces on display so more people especially school kids to come and visit and see for themselves their Legacy.
Re enactments
Trek Shot
Growing up in the island, my most enjoyable recollection of Christmas was watching the Pastores. The team of young girls, called Pastores or Shepherds, would go around town in their colorful attires, singing Christmas carols and dancing gaily and getting monies or gifts from the houses they chose to carol. The little girls made the tradition exceptionally unforgettable and an experience to cherish.
I witnessed another re enactment of a similar tradition, that of the way of the cross during lent. Traditionally the event is cast with adult participants. There are the centurions, the townspeople and the ladies following the Christ carrying his cross as they move around town on their way to the crucifixion site.
The main cast this time are children. I followed them from the start to finish in and around our small community. The players, pre teen boys and girls in their costumes really made good in portraying the men and women much older than them.
These three girls, back lighted by the phosphorescent smoke shows just that, subdued emotion of lent.
The Village Station
Trek Shot
The place is now deserted save for a few grazing cows and foraging domestic fowls. The villagers who were gathered here an hour earlier have left, going down to the city, four hours drive away over rough mountain roads on a four wheel drive truck.
Although the place look lonely now, I find it to be serenely beautiful. The village is in the mountains of Kalinga, nine hundred meters or so high and from this outpost I was able to see the breathtaking beauty of the rice terraces beyond. Seeing the rice terraces was my primary objective in trekking to this place. My friend Jules was insistent on taking me to see the place where he first saw light and I was so grateful, I never expected it to be this awesome place.
I got a bonus of sort with this scenery, really beautiful in its simplicity. I wanted to stay a little longer for still undiscovered wonders but we have to go, we didn’t want to be caught in the dark coming down the mountain.
Someday I may go back and find more secrets in this place of the Kalingas.
Shitepoke
The long slender neck extends the creature’s height to close to a yard. Skinny, he can not compete with a fat goose for heft and bulk. He is quick to take flight, elegantly hopping and then fly away. The herons also are patient, standing still for minutes, waiting for their meal. With his sharp eyes, no prey can escape from him.
Here’s one I saw, posing for a portrait. He’s such a good model that even under low light, I was able to snap this picture of him using a telephoto lens at 1/15 secs – handheld!
The Forest Nymph
Sunday afternoon, taking a break from a hectic week, I found myself deep in a forested place. The air is cool with a slight breeze, scented with the refreshing smell of the trees’ foliage. I wasn’t alone, there were birds all around, majestic eagles, hornbills with their colorful beaks, parrots and mynahs. The crocs and the iguanas were there too to keep me company. I wander around, going deeper and deeper into the woods. The trees seem to be egging me to go in, the canopies becoming thicker, blocking the light, I wonder, what’s in there beyond?
There is a break, a sound of laughter, people? here? couldn’t be, silence, not a hush could be heard, suddenly I saw her, at the edge of the lake, garbed in colorful cloth, gesturing to somebody unseen. A youthful, and beautiful maiden, a Nymph deep in the woods. I said to myself, Is This real?….
Of course it is, In an instant I find myself shot back in the real world, in a park in the center of the city, among people frolicking, picnicking. This place called the Wildlife Center, where rescued animals are rehabilitated and made ready for release back to the wild.
Rose
Trek Shot
Saturday, it was gray outside, not much incentive to go out for a hike. Took to bed instead for a short nap. It did rain although not much. Just enough precipitation to shower the spring flowers now blooming in the garden. By the steps were some roses, they are not really something, just the ordinary variety that one can see in not so grand a garden. There were peonies too, they bloom beautifully come mother’s day and today they were at their best.
I decided to do something creative to pass the time.
I can’t help noticing the red roses by the steps. their petals wore beads of sparkling dew from the rain, very natural. I went up to my room, grabbed the camera and tripod. I chose a lens that I thought would be best to capture the beauty of this flower. I set up the tripod and camera with a 50 mm manual prime lens.
The sun was blocked by the thick overcast so the lighting was perfect, diffused and not harsh. I took several shots, tried varying composition and camera settings. I wanted to show the rose’s freshness by highlighting the rain drops on its petals. I made the rose stand out by blurring the background, the 50 mm, f1.7 prime lens is as good as anything in my arsenal for this kind of shoot.
I was shooting for a good half an hour, clicking away at the flowers, deleting those that I did not like. The beauty of a DSLR is that the images just taken can be viewed right away and re shoot if needed and it doesn’t cost anything to shoot and delete and shoot again until the right composition is attained. The way an image is composed in-camera determines the like ability of the picture. There are rules to keep in mind in composing a picture but breaking them sometimes give an even more exciting pictures.
I shoot in RAW format so a post processing is necessary and after adjusting the levels and contrast, here’s one of the pictures taken of the Rose By The Steps After The Rain..
Casual Crossing
Trek Shot
Down below flows the powerful current of the mighty Chico River. Known to many kayakers for it’s challenging white water. And here I was, at the place where a massive concrete barrier was built to control and harness the potential of this river. A man, with a rucksack walked past through me, casually climbed down the steel rung along the concrete wall. He promptly rolled up his pants, slung the rucksack back on his back and casually treaded upon the submerged top of the dam, raging current notwithstanding.
Then he’s gone, crossed over to the other side of the river.
Biodegradable
Trek Shot
A boy fast asleep atop the refuse bins outside a convenience store. This is one of the many images I see on the street as I take my morning walk.
Biodegradable, Recyclable,Non Biodegradable – take your pick, we can fit in any one of them thrash cans.
fleeting scenes 