Studying

We went to panera and just can’t resist this image in front of me. Took this with the iPhone…

MBH 5K Walk/Run 2012 – a practice in panning…

Last Saturday, I volunteered to take some pictures of the annual charity 5K walk/run of our local hospital (MBH or Marshall Browning Hospital). I positioned myself mostly at a spot close to the finish line. I figure that this is the area where most would do their sprint, do their best and all kinds of expressions can be captured…

here is a shot at the starting line…

and here are some of the running shots….

the running shots are taken at 1/60sec with panning…some of the shots are still blurry…i did not use any flash, maybe next time I could use a flash to freeze the runner better and yet get the blur in the background.

and here is the shot of the winners….

and for the volunteers and committee that made it a happen….

spear-fisherman

this is a snapshot of a local spear fisherman of Apo Island. Caught him as he was heading towards the ocean. He is carrying a hand made spear made primarily of wood, and a wooden flipper.

untitled

i leave this picture untitled. it is up to the viewer how to interpret it.

taken january 2012, in the Philippines.

making of a nipa roof

These women are stitching together nipa roof for use in houses and huts. the materials used are all traditional and are grown locally, within a mile of where they are working. they are paid PHP1.00 for each “shingle” that they make. I forgot how many they make in a day (pardon my memory).

This livelihood is getting lost since people are resorting to modern houses.

old roots

spotted an old massive bamboo root washed ashore at a beach in the Philippines. as i was trying to trying to take a shot, an old man entered into the frame. cropped the picture a little bit, converted to black and white and burned some. January 2012

full of wisdom…

We hear it all the time, as a man ages, he shall have wisdom (don’t know exactly who said that

meet this man while waiting at a shed for a bus to go to the city. Alangilan, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Philippines, December 2011

magdadaro

magdadaro

magdadaro is the name we call a farmer that tills the land with a water buffalo or locally known as carabao. This was shot in Jagonipa, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Philippines. December 2011

this magdadaro is preparing the land for rice planting.  The water buffalo or carabao pulls a tiller made of bamboo and wood to loosen the soil.  After the soil is loose, the weeds, with a little mud, are removed and placed around the “dike” (as you can see on the left side of the frame) to control the water coming in/and out of the field.  Once the season is right and the field is ready, the farmer will plant the rice seeds or seedlings.

sifting the rice grains

This is the traditional way of sifting the grain and getting rid of empty husks.  We let nature through the force of the wind, blow the empty husks away while gravity pulls down the grains straight down. hehe

We use a handwoven “nigo”, like the one she’s holding, and slowly empty the rice grains.  The process will be repeated until empty husks are virtually gone from the pile.

then the grains are dried and sent to the granary.

carabao at work

the carabao or water buffalo is a real farmer’s help, in preparing the land and in carrying the harvest. I saw these carabaos along the highway between Bayawan City and Sta Catalina, Negros Oriental as I was visiting my hometown.