Another angle of the Manila Cathedral Sometimes when we look back on our school days, there are things that we wish that we could have done better or at least paid more attention to. For me, that’s my history class. Well, good thing about history is that it doesn’t change (unless further discoveries will be made), so it’s still not too late to learn more about it. I like what they said from the manilacathedral.org : The story of the […]
Taken from Jazirat Al Hamra in Ras Al Khaima, UAE. This is an abandoned village, also referred to as “ghost town”. from wiki: Ras al-Khaimah (ras al-Khaymah, literally “The Top of the Tent”) is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the southwest of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman. The emirate has a population of about 300,000 inhabitants. It covers an area of 656 square miles (1700 km²), […]
Wiki: The first cathedral, made of nipa and bamboo, was constructed in 1581. It was damaged by a typhoon in 1582 and razed by fire in 1583. The second cathedral, which was made of stone, was built in 1592. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1600. Construction of the third cathedral began in 1584. The new structure, consisting of three naves and seven chapels, was blessed in 1614. It was toppled by another earthquake which shook Manila in 1645. […]
From wiki: A kalesa or calesa (sometimes called a karitela) is a horse-driven calash (carriage) used in the Philippines. The word, also spelled calesa, predates the Spanish conquest and descends ultimately from an Old Church Slavonic word meaning “wheels.” This was one of the modes of transportation introduced in the Philippines in the 18th century by the Spaniards that only nobles and high ranked officials could afford. They are rarely used in the streets nowadays except in tourist spots and […]
There are a lot of old structures and ruins in Intramuros. This particular one was one of the first we encountered during our photo walk. The old San Ignacio Church ruins can be seen behind the statues. The five statues symbolize the five religious orders to disembark in the Philippines. They were the Augustinians, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the Dominicans and the Recollects. Here is the view from the other side…. Here’s how I took this shot: Gears: Canon 7D […]
Wiki says: Intramuros, located along the southern bank of the Pasig River, was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century and is the oldest district of the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Its name, in Latin, intramuros, literally “within the walls”, meaning within the wall enclosure of the city/fortress, also describes its structure as it is surrounded by thick, high walls and moats. During the Spanish colonial period, Intramuros was considered Manila itself. —— I had […]
I’m back from a short 2 weeks vacation from the Philippines. During my stay, it was hard to find time to shoot. There’s just tons of things to do back home, not to mention that I was paranoid about the security issues of walking on the streets with a DSLR camera by myself. Well, maybe it’s just all in my head but, better to be safe than sorry. I mean, we all know Christmas season is just around the corner […]
This was the same day I took the Dubai Marina picture I posted before. Taken during sunset. Dubai Marina is a great place to shoot, a lot of interesting subjects and not a lot of security guards that freaks out everytime they see a tripod. Here is how I took this shot: Settings: f6.4 | 1/25 | -3,0,+3 AEB Gears: Canon 7D + Tamron 18-270mm VC Post processing: Stacked and aligned from Photomatix Digital blending in Photoshop, resized and watermarked. […]
Sometimes you go out and you find something weird. Weird but good… as a ‘photographic subject’ kind of way. You get the point. So there we are, going back to Hatta, walking around and scouring for a good spot for this good sky (these clouds that you see is a rarity in UAE). There is just not enough clouds in this country. How I took it: Settings: F8 | Av mode | +2, 0, -2 AEB (bracketed shots) Gear: Canon […]
Another shot from Fujairah. This was taken from Miramar Beach Resort. Woke up at 5am to have a glimpse of sunrise. My lens fogged up heavily… mainly because of the temperature and humidity. How I took this shot: Gears: Canon XSi (450D) + Sigma 10-20mm Manfrotto 055XProB Manfrotto 468MGRC2 Ballhead Post processing: Took 3 bracketed shot from ACR; merge as HDR to Photoshop Saved as tiff file and tone mapped in Photomatix Opened in Photoshop again to adjust the colors […]