photo post in digital.

Kid left for vacation today and he'll be gone for a little more than a week.
on the list: take, process, drool over photos.

but before anything, random pictures from the digital camera.

Keith and I haven't been back to the regular sessions of our art class since May. I started getting really busy in May then was again absent for 2 weekends (in about 3 weeks duration) on a work-related trip to Canada. In july, work on the Studio Practice were at its height and our art teacher also got busy with his upcoming exhibits in places outside Iloilo but while I was absent though, art teacher and Keith met regularly to check on the progress of Studio Practice. At this time, the studio is almost done (art teacher had tried camping inside, actually). The last i visited the place in a month ago, the slabs are done and it only needed installation of the plywood at one section of the wall (i'm terrible at directions--have no idea if it's north, south, east or west wall). we're still thinking of leaving it "open" for the light but Iloilo is gets very wet sometimes and we don't want to compromise the previous works inside. for the updates, the gallery owner Rock Drilon has visited Studio Practice, art teacher informed. and because of that he's really pumped to start on with the installation/architectural project for the indigenous people of central panay. He and Keith might visit the uplands next month and it's too bad by then it'd be very impossible for me to be going with them. 

At this point, i think i'm done with the kindergarten level of art class but i'm not yet sure if i'm ready to do something a notch higher. The project (the dayjob) i'm currently engaged in is ending in March 2013 and after that i'm not really sure what will happen. We're expected to close office in June 2013, but there were some "good news" that we might extend a little for a few more months (due to our overperformance--and that is probably true) and the low burn rate of our colleagues in the opposite part of the world. Then there are other potential engagements in line, not final but when it becomes, there is a possibility that i'd have to relocate to the south. I'm still haven't thought much about the relocation part but is excited of working in other cities. 

what i really do want now is go back to taking pictures and learn to use the full potential of my 35mm. i have been reading through posts of film photographers (thomas locke hobbes has been very inspiring) and i'm very much willing to learn the technicalities of (film) photography if i see a chance. Keith has also invited me to bike across Panay as soon as the new baby learned to walk (the new baby i have yet to give birth to in January). but before that, i have yet to purchase a bike. I'm thinking of getting an urban bike (99% of the time i'll be using it for commuting to work and for grocery shopping--and going around with the kids if i do find a good kids trailer) but if i do take Keith's invitation, i might just as well scrap the idea of an urban bike and get a good road or mountain bike instead (that will be a lot pricier though).

So while i wait to spill this big bean out of my belly, everything's planned ahead: the bike, the self-teaching in using my 35 mm. (and maybe finish what i've been writing and decide on the concepts for the exhibit that art teacher has been prodding us).

puto posts

Several things happened last July. 

The major happening was, my grandmother in-law died. We spent the four weekends of that month in the island. Then the death gave way to the reunion. My mother in-law, who's residing in the other part of the world also came home, along with her sisters (who also live in that part of the world). The reunion in the wake was technically the second time I met her, my mother in-law. The first time was when her son invited me to the island for a family event (we were not even going out that time yet). Then she left the country and a lot of things happened. We met again a decade after, this time I'm with a son and married to her son, and she, on the other hand, missing a body part, and sadly, is already without a mother. 

The other happening was i brought a friend to my parents' farm to (re) acquaint him with the typical Filipino farm life. He's born a Filipino but lived in many elsewheres and he's returned to the Philippines to spend some good three months working with me (yes, i have a day job) and working out his appetite for Filipino food. He was also into film photography and i think it was one of the many reasons why we clicked, in addition to the fact that he knows and reads Granta (I have yet to meet somebody who likes Granta--and found one i did, but a citizen of another continent!). My mother fed him vegetable soup (star of the soup was the breadfruit) and little fried fishes (with heads, of course) and again he said that he's really close to deciding to permanently live in the Philippines. Alas, he had to leave a week after the visit to finish the remaining semester in the university, back in the place of four seasons and a good urban biking program. 

then i ran out of film.

FIN

Toddler photography with a flash!

Gogol was recently gifted a black Yashica t4, bought for 10 dollars at a camera store several seas away, from across the continent. this camera has a plastic body and comes with a flash (!!), a very novel technology from the flashless slr cameras at home.

Gogol has been wanting to shoot. i could tell judging by the frequency of his nags to shoot his installations or his drawings (but never himself; never a portrait of him). He would most often prefer they were shot digitally, and was initially disappointed seeing that my minolta did not have an lcd screen where it should be. he soon learned the realities of film photography and is now just happy to shoot, regardless of when he'd actually see the product of his work on print (or scan, i should say).

the first shots of his yashica was with a Fuji Superia 200 film that was also bought from across the universe. it came in 24 shots; quite expensive at 5 dollars (exclusive of tax).

when the film scans came back from the processing center, again, the flash photography was something of a wonder. Keith and I thought it was amazing. I'm thinking i would try the camera (and the flash mode) in one of my walks.

lovely, lovely camera.
Yashica T4 justifies the want to expand on the Yashica slr collection.


FIN.