While on the road going to La Union, a thought suddenly popped in my head. I sent a text message to some of my friends asking if they thought about the things they would like to do while they were still alive, and one of them told me he has a list of things he would like to do. In my head, there are already some things I would like to do while I am still alive, and one of those things was to get published - or getting the pictures I took get published.
I know for a fact that I am a very unhealthy person - and I am a little sure I have a shorter life compared to some people (although I know God only knows just until when I am alive), so if I wanted to cross out the "things to do" in my list, I had to act fast.
When we got home from a short sojourn in La Union, I chose around four or five images and submitted it to "Picture Perfect," a photography themed magazine included in the Tuesday edition of Manila Bulletin, one of the leading broadsheets in the country. I just wanted to take a first step, but being a person who have been criticized, mocked, and ostracized to some level when I was still starting, I had hesitations of submitting pictures. Not that I am being hard on myself (or maybe I am), but as a person who uses a point and shoot camera, part of me thinks it would be difficult for me to get published. I was actually ready to submit more pictures weekly, should the first set get rejected.
The pictures I submitted weren't the best pictures I captured. But, the reason why I submitted these was because these were the pictures taken from my most recent trip, and I just wanted to share the moment. If these weren't published, I am ready to submit more pictures. =)
Yesterday, I received an e-mail from the columnist Raffy Paredes to say I will be on the November 17 issue of the magazine. I awaited for the newspaper man to deliver the paper, but he forgot again. I sure want to have the hard copy of the magazine where I am at, so I head to the market to get myself a copy. The pictures were small (maybe because I submitted a small picture - 1200x900 pixels, 50KB), but it was just fine.
I cannot scan the magazine, but if you want to read the whole article, click HERE. A picture on the first page was mistakenly labeled as a picture by Ariel Franco, I hope they'd run an erratum on the next issue.
Still, it's a great day for me. "Getting myself published"? Check!
*** Jenn ***
