#201 Stalker@Work

The sun awakened us to a moist and misty morning. What previously was a dark and formless expanse before dawn, now in full daylight, turned-out to be a large field strewn with fallen cane. Nearby, a bunch of workers were loading them onto a waiting truck. For students of lifestyle & environmental photography, we were in Disneyland!

Rural folks at work fascinate us no end. Whether they're planting or harvesting rice, corn, or coffee... or carving wood or firing pots... or farming salt or hauling fish... we've traveled across our country to photograph them all. This morning we came to photograph sugar farmers harvesting cane. It's as noble a profession as any we've seen. And now we've collected timeless images of them as well. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: Whenever I get the chance, I shoot with some of the best photographers and image makers I know. It's never too late to learn something from those further along the learning curve. It's also a great way to see more than a single perspective at the same time. Try it today.)

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Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

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For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#200 Hauling Cane

One of the reasons we went to the land of sugar was to witness cane being harvested. In Hacienda Salamanca, that wish came true. Not only was the light beautiful that morning, it was also streaming in from the right direction. It was a composition I had imagined months ago. 

But what I didn't anticipate was that this profession could soon vanish. Why? The sugar industry started losing tariff protection last year, and in all, prices could be a third lower by 2015. Will the industry survive? It likely will, but I suspect it will be at the expense of the most inefficient part of the current supply chain: the purely manual step of  cutting and loading cane. Sigh. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: Learn to shoot in black & white by imagining the scene in black & white. That means ignoring colors and paying attention only to the interplay of shapes and patterns, and of light and shadows. It helps to set your digital camera's display to black and white to help the feedback loop along.)

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Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#199 The Dawn Magician

A magician? And at dawn? Well that's what the sign said!

Shortly past three in the morning, we drove up the hills in the direction of La Carlota in Negros Occidental. About an hour and a half later, and in clear view of Mt. Kanlaon in the distance, signs in the sky told us we were within moments of peak light. (... when the colors of dawn would be most intense.) We quickly turned into a side road that turned-out to be part of Hacienda Salamanca. That's right. The hacienda of a magician. Now we don't really know if a magician once owned the place, but if one did it could certainly explain the magic we saw in the sky that morning. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: Peak light at dawn is very very brief, no more than 30-45 seconds. To capture it at its zenith, learn how to read the clouds and anticipate which ones the dawn will light up. Practice makes perfect.)

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#198 The Burning Fields

Driving home after shooting sunset, we chanced upon a roadside field all ablaze. How lovely!

We were in Talisay City in Negros Occidental, in the motherland of sugar. Before us, folks were clearing a field for harvest by burning it down to the ground. Soon, the thickening smoke and soot made photography quite difficult. This is what we endure for our art. But if you pause for a moment and look beyond our art, it's really a familiar story: the old must go to make room for the new. After clearing the harvest, they will plant the next crop. And then it's the same cycle all over again. Just like in life. How lovely. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: A high enough ISO, and a slow enough shutter speed, helped the dancing blaze paint its own portrait. But wait, this is just another landscape photograph and we need some foreground to establish perspective. There's a clump of trees nearby. When viewed from the correct angle, their ghosts-of-a-silhouette can anchor the entire scene. How lovely.) 


Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)