Night (SOOC)

With my mother getting a little "crazy" over Facebook because it allowed her to communicate with old friends again, there will be days that I will be sharing the net book with her, so I am now really trying my best to resize and upload as much pictures I could on my own Facebook page, because I am neck-deep in pictures I need to upload.


I am now about to edit September 2010 pictures, and to make my editing easier, I am checking each of the folders and delete all those I didn't want to put in the albums. Reading that this week's prompt on Shoot and Edit / Good to WOW challenge is "night," I decided to go with this picture, which I took exactly a year ago today. :)

I am very much a morning person. With this prompt, I realized 90% of the pictures I have on file were taken during daytime (until sunset). I guess I personally prefer to take pictures during daytime partly because I am using a point-and-shoot camera and we all know most p&s cameras can't handle night shots that well.

Edit Me! | Week 17

This week's SOOC is provided by Jill Samter, who is not only a talented photographer... it was also through her that I looked deep into myself and affirm that I am beautiful in my own special way. :) Anyway, like with the other SOOC pictures provided for the Edit Me! challenge, this was another perfect SOOC that actually didn't need much post-processing, but for this challenge, I came up with this:

First look at the image and I already felt how vintage it was. My first edit was actually something that focused more on the vintage feel of the image, but I decided to make another edit because I found my first edit quite dark. I decided to share this edit instead because even if there were changes in the colors, it still had a hint of the original colors of the image. I do love to keep the red barn (if it is a barn, correct me if I am wrong) red, the grass green, and the skies blue.

For this edit (as always I used GIMP), I did:

• Scaled image to 640px on the longer end.
• Ran the Golden Autumn lomo script (minus the grain, vignette set to 40%, exposure set to 0.5).
• Ran the Ancient Warmth action, after which, I adjusted the curves because this action kinda makes the image a little darker.
• Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "yesteryear" texture, set to Multiply at 80%.
• Flattened and saved the image.

Very easy edit, and I hope you like it.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 090411

I was supposed to share this yesterday, but for some reasons, Internet connection was unstable. I was away last Sunday, so it was just last Friday when I learned about the prompts for this week's hunt. For this week, the first four pictures were taken while I was away, and the last picture was take last Saturday.

Here are my interpretations:

01. Stairs

This stair would lead to the Carmen Peak of Chocolate Hills in Bohol. Tourists had to take 200+ steps before they could reach the peak, but there were several sheds where guests can take a rest should they want to. Actually, the chocolate hills can be seen even if you don't take the stairs, but of course, the view was just better once you're at the peak.


02. Macro

This picture of butterflies coupling was taken at the Simply Butterflies sanctuary - also in Bohol. There weren't much butterflies that time (because there were typhoons weeks before), but we still had a great visit - thanks to the sanctuary's very jolly and witty tour guide.

03. Clouds

This was taken on our flight back to Manila from Bohol. Taken somewhere in Batangas, this picture was something memorable for me because the plane had to be on stand by as there was heavy air traffic in Manila. The pilot told passengers that we had to be hold on for a few minutes because they weren't given the signal to push through yet, and it was just amazing to see the plane holding its position. After a few minutes, the plane would make a turn, but we always go back to this same position until we were given the go signal to leave the area.


04. Abstract

I don't know how to interpret this, but I guess the stalactite and stalagmite formations inside the Hinagdanan Cave is a bit abstract. :)

05. Smile

This was the only "smile" picture I had on file - taken last Saturday when we attended the neighbor's kiddie party. This was the balloon popping game - supposedly for kids only, but since there was an extra balloon, they give it to sister, which meant she had to pop it. :)

The Philippine Tarsier

Making a comeback to Live Every Moment meme, but since this week's prompt is "aninals," I am also going to link this post to Camera Critters.


This animal is the Tarsier, probably the smallest of all primates. An adult tarsier is about the size of an adult human's fist, and it lives by eating insects and other animals (it can eat birds and bats as well). Its head can make a full 360 degree turn, and is a nocturnal animal.

On our second day in Bohol (where the Philippine tarsiers are found), we went on a city tour and although this wasn't my first time to see the tarsiers in person (I already traveled to Bohol in 2008 with my dear K), this was a completely different tarsier sanctuary and I appreciated this visit more because we went there right after eating lunch - giving me and my camera just the right amount of light I needed. Although the tarsiers are much active during night time, some of them were actually awake the time we visited. Sadly, most of them were high up the trees, so the only way for me to take pictures of them was to stretch my hand up.

Each tree with a tarsier had its own "guard," to ensure none of the visitors were touching them and the tree where they are staying. Guests were allowed to come closer if they wanted to, provided the tree and the animal weren't touched - sanctuary staff didn't want to stress the tarsiers. Guests were also asked to turn of their camera flash while taking pictures.

The tarsier is one of the Philippines' precious gems as far as animals are concerned. Outside the Philippines, tarsiers can also be found in Borneo, Sumatra, and in Sulawesi (Indonesia).

Around the Garden

It's been two days since I got home from my out of town trip, but I attended to some things first, so it's just now that I was able to update this photo blog.


The prompt for Foto Friday is "Around the Garden / Yard," and I chose this picture, which I took last Saturday. We were in Cebu that time, and the driver of the van we rented took us to the church of Birhen sa Simala - Lindogon (a Catholic Church), and since it was already noon time when we finished touring the church and saying our own prayers, we decided to eat lunch there first before traveling back to the city. Thankfully, there was a food place near the church.

I finished eating before some of our companions did, and instead of staying seated, I went out of the food place just to check the surroundings. They had a little garden with lots of this flowering plant, and as I focused my camera, I got to see some critters, too.

I only got to take a few pictures, but this shutterbug was very satisfied because aside from the bees, I also got to take pictures of a wasp and an unknown bug.