Grayscale Thursday: Imprisoned

“Unforgiveness denies the victim the possibility of parole
and leaves them stuck in the prison of what was,
incarcerating them in their trauma and
relinquishing the chance to escape beyond the pain.” 
-T.D. Jakes

Previously, I got a shot of this monkey with an eye contact.

During our visit at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Marilao, many were entertained by this monkey, not only kids but adults too. However, looking at the photo, I can see the sadness in their eyes while inside the cage trying to entertain and give joy to the audience.

Can you see the sadness too?

Up, Up and Away Wednesday: Divine Mercy Bell Tower

"When I admire the wonder of a sunset,
or the beauty of the moon,
my soul expands in worship of the Creator."
– Mahatma Gandhi

Finally, I was able to share these shots taken when we attended a Sunday Mass at the Divine Mercy Shrine two months ago.

Up, Up and Away Wednesday: Electric Grid

"Know what yo want to do, hold the thought firmly,

and do everyday what should be done,

and every sunset will see you

that much nearer to your goal."

- Elbert Hubbard

Go on, keep moving and enjoy life. One day you will notice, you are just few steps away from your achieving your goals.

Random Shots Friday: The Monkey

"If you look at the monkeys,

you can learn many things about men:

if you look at the men,

you can learn many things about madness!"

- Mehmet Murat Ildan

One thing I learned in photography is to have eye-to-eye contact with your subject especially animals. I took several shots of this monkey but this is the only one it was looking directly on the lens.

By the way, this monkey is at Divine Mercy Shrine in Marilao, Bulacan. I just hope they got permit from the wildlife bureau before placing them in cages.

Flower Power Tuesday: Luminous Flowers

“She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me.

I ought never to have run away from her...

I ought to have guessed all the affection 

that lay behind her poor little stratagems.

Flowers are so inconsistent!” 
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Just want to share one of my experiments in photo-editing by making the flowers luminous. By the way here is the original photo:

Nature's Touch Monday: The Golden Grain

“A simple act of kindness

is the size of a rice grain that

can weigh as heavy as a mountain.”
- Feroz Bham

I remember that one of the symbol of my Alma Mater is the palay or we referred to as "Golden Grain". Actually, our year book is named after it.

Being humble is like a grain of rice that bows towards the ground as it gain weight.

Start the week with a smile!

Nature's Touch Monday: Water Droplet

"You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean;
if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty."
-Mahatma Gandhi

A water droplet about to fall from the tip of a "cogon"  used as roofing for the bahay kubo.

Nature's Touch Monday: Tridax and the Fly

“A weed is but an unloved flower.” 
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I think I really need macro lens for better shots of this kind.

Family Day Sunday: Mother and Child

"Think for a minute, darling: 

in fairy tales it's always the children who have the fine adventures.

The mothers have to stay at home

and wait for the children to fly in the window.” 

- Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

I already posted this one in Chemist Dad but still I want to share this here.

It is really heart-warming to look photos of mother and her child/children.

Nature's Touch Monday: Holding On

"No matter how hard things get in life,

just don't worry about it,

hold firm to your grounds and fight with your head up 

because after a heavy rain there will still be sunshine."

- Brighton Simpsons

A balete plant that grows in a crevice on the wall.

Grayscale Thursday: The Ring

“Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it.

And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. 

How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?” 

-Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

I took this shot in Tarlac just before the sun sets. I wasn't able to take a shot while the sun is still above basket to make it look like a ball of fire.

Family Day Sunday: The Little Drummer Boy

“Childhood is not from birth

to a certain age and at a certain age.

The child is grown, and puts away childish things.

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.”

 -Edna St. Vincent Millay

Matt used to imitate Pocoyo after watching one of the episodes with drums. This is a stolen shot since he doesn't want to make a pose in front of camera.

Random Shots Friday: Bahay Kubo

“If you look the right way, 

you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

-Frances Hodgson Burnet, The Secret Graden

I took this in one of our visits at our hometown. This is one of the views you can see upon staying at our bahay kubo. It only proves that Nueva Ecija is still the Rice Granary of Central Luzon.

Grayscale Thrusday: Water Droplets 2

"In one drop of water
are found all the secrets
of all the oceans."
Khalil Gibran

Up, Up and Away Wednesday: Double Rainbow

"And when it rains on your parade,

look up rather than down.

Withour the rain,

there would be no rainbow."

-Gilbert k. Chesterton

I took this photo last month at Tarlac. It was fascinating having two rainbows at a time wherein the other one seems to be a reflection of the other.

Flower Power Tuesday: The Onion

“In joy or sadness 
flowers are
our constant friends.” 

-Kakuzō Okakura, The Book Of Tea

I know that most doesn't have idea on how onion flowers look like. Just stare on the photo above or you can plant your own at home and see how they grow until their flowers bloom.

Grayscale Thursday: After Work

"The price of success is hard work,

dedication to the job at hand, and

determination that whether we win or  lose,

we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

-Vince Lombardi

Up, Up and Away Wednesday: St. Joseph Chruch

Who is the happier man, 

he who has braved the storm of life and lived or 

he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?

–Hunter s. Thompson

Bell Tower of St. Joseph Church, San Jose City, Nueva Ecija

Flower Power Tuesday: Peanuts?

"For happiness one needs security,

but joy can spring like a flower

even from the cliffs of despair."

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I took this photo in one of the gardens in our Tarlac plant. I don't know the name of this plant but it looks like peanuts having yellow flowers sprouting from the ground.

Family Day Sunday: Matt and Ring Stacks

Since I had a segment before on my Chemist Dad, I decided to have the same theme here. And for the first photo, here is our little Matt with his ring stacks toy. 

Taking shot of our little Matt is a challenge for me. Most of the photos I got are stolen shots. He doesn't pose and keep still in front of the camera. Good thing I got some like this one.

Enjoy the rest of the week with your family.

Photography Tips: Capturing Wildlife-Eye Contact

I decided to dedicate Saturdays for some photography tips I gathered from different resources like books and internet. This time, I will try to have series of tips in wildlife photography since one of my dreams is to take photos in the wild.

Wildlife is one of the challenging subjects when it comes to photography  since you have to deal with wild animals. The risk is there but one that really challenging is that animals are moving unlike flowers that are just stationary.

First tip is to keep an eye contact. There are some animals that are good to take photos because of their color or some amazing features. It is not bad but it is better to focus on their eyes as much as possible. Never mind the other parts if it will become blurred or out of focus. Animals looking directly on your lens create a connection between the subject and the audience. This also reveals personality of the animals making it more interesting compared to animals looking out of your lens.

Below is an example of capturing wildlife by having eye contact:

Photo by :Grant Ordelheide

Random Shots Friday: Fallen

“Most important thing in life is learning how to fall.” 
-Jeanette Walls, Half Broke Horses

I took this photo in one of my afternoon walks with Matt. These are yellow bells that scattered in street nearby. Got enhanced them by making the other parts grayscale.

Grayscale Thursday: Water Droplets Part 1

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” 
-Dr. Seuss

Water Droplets over leaves of euphorbia plant

Up, Up and Away Wednesday: Sunset at San Miguel

“The first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of color -- oranges, pearly pinks, vibrant purples...” 

Anna Godbersen, The Luxe

Flower Power Tuesday: Red Ixora

"Flowers don't worry about how they're going to bloom.

They just open up and turn toward the light that makes them beautiful."

-Jim Carrey

Ixora or santan

I took this photo in one of the gardens in our workplace. We called this as Santan while others referred to this as Ixora. How about you, how do you call this plant in your local dialect?

Nature's Touch Monday: The Mini Hopper

Green little vaulter, in the sunny grass,
Catching your heart up at the feel of June,
Sole noise that's heard amidst the lazy noon,
When ev"n the bees lag at the summoning brass.

- To the Grasshopper and the Cricket (Leigh Hunt)

Violet Mums

One Sunday, Matt's Tita went back home having this plant. It was lovely so I made some shots on it.

Gallant Soldier: From Yellow to Black

Few weeks ago, I was surprised when I saw the same plant having another flower. I realized that this is how it looks like when the yellow flower wilted. The lovely yellow flower turned into a black spikes. How amazing, right?

Yellow flower of Gallant Soldier

Turned into black spikes.

Flower Power: Calachuchi Close-up

Just want to share a close-up photo of our calachuchi which keep bearing flowers all year long.

Butterflies

These photos were also taken by my Canon Ixus 70. When I posted this one in my FB, Mommy thought that these taken using my new toy.

Macro Mode

I still have some photos taken by my 5-year old Canon Ixus 70 in macro mode.

Photos Up Above

Finally, here are some shots using my new toy.

Immaculate Concepcion Church - Sta. Maria, Bulacan

Mommy's Shots

The following photos were not taken by yours truly, I just did some editing. I would like to give the credits to Mommy who took these photos while inside the car.

Day's End 4

I really can't stop taking photos during sunset. Though I cannot directly shoot the sun, there are some views that made more dramatic by the rays of the setting sun.

Here are two more photos with sunset:

Flower Power: Yellow

Here are some of yellow flowers I gathered in our vicinity. I took these photos when either in the morning or late afternoon. These are the best time to take a shot of flowers since the color is not yet affected by direct sunlight.

Portraits 1

I am now trying to capture portraits as part of my photography collections using my old Canon Ixus  70 digicam. I can sense that a new DSLR is coming. Right Mommy?LOL.

Here are some of my portraits:

Palaspas Vendor
(taken on Palm Sunday 2013)

Day's End 3

Here is another batch of photos I took during sunset. Looks like summer, spring or fall?

Blue Sky Background

Here are some of experiment photos. I used the natural blue sky as the main background for my subjects - posts.

Black and White

I was supposed to enter this photo in a photo contest again but I didn't joined for some hesitations.

A bit blurry. How I wish I learn playing this instrument soon.

Enhanced!

In the following photos, I tried to emphasize the main subject by enhancing their color and making the others grayscale. I used Photoscape in editing the said photos. Editing this photos takes a lot of patience.

Original

Edited