heto na ang ulan
papatak sa pisngi
dadampi sa labi
ginhawa sa paglalakbay
heto na ang bus
siksikan ang madla
lahat pauwi na
sa kanilang mga bahay
———
June 10, 2011
Sa bus pauwi
ganito mararamdaman mo kapag nakasakay
ka sa bus na ang driver ay natatae:
iwasmoulomosabintanaparadikamauntoghaharorootngtodotapossabaybrek(!)
harorootulitsabaypihitsakaliwapihitsakanan t xt ms g sa c el f onmodimonamabasahabangangkonduktoraynaninigilsayow8tlangpow8tlangtanginanaman…
——–
June 8, 2011
Bus byaheng Baclaran
I wonder if strike-anywhere
matches will work on
a bridge that I’ve crossed
a year ago after we helped
build a regime. We were sent
home, and left forgotten.– June 5, 2011
“Walang bulaklak sa burol ng dukha,
pawang natabunan ng biro at luha,
sa ilalim ng lupa’y nilugmok ang bangkay
diyan nagmumula ang tamis ng halaman”
mga unang linya sa kanta ng Patatag noong 1985.
Noong panahong nasa rurok ang pakikibaka laban kay Makoy.
“Pulutin mo ang punlong may bahid pa ng dugo
ipahid ang basang tela sa sumabog niyang puso
alaala ito ng mga luha alaala ito ng nagbabagang lupa”
ang panapos na linya sa kanta ng Patatag noong 1985.
Ngayon ay bibigyan daw ng Full Military Honors si Makoy.
————
June 4, 2011
Paranaque City
The garbage collectors come stealthily
like thieves in the day.
But once in a while they blow their horns,
an unmistakable reminder
that it is Saturday.
—————-
June 4, 2011
Paranaque City
patak ng ulan sa gabi,
sabay ng kalmadong kulog,
uyayi sa pagtulog.
————————
– May 30, 2011 (Paque)
I love film photography, and I share Rasmus Rasmussen‘s top 5 reasons for loving it:
1. No Chimping
By not being able to check every picture, immediately after shooting it, you can focus on what you are about to photograph, rather than what you just shot. Less chimping means a sharper mind, and keeping a sharper mind will make for better images. Plus, if you chimp too much around actual living subjects, chances are they’ll lose patience and get tired or annoyed.
2. Frame Limit
Because you only have relatively few frames per roll of film, people tend to concentrate more on getting the shot. This is in sharp contrast to the digital mentality of clicking away and trying to sort through the results later. If you only have a limited number of shots, you’ll want each one to be as good, as it can possibly be.
3. Random Elements
This is especially true for those of us who enjoy playing with Holgas, Polaroids, box and toy cameras. With these, there’s always a chance that something strange and wonderful will happen to your picture, such as light leaks, vignetting, colors that are slightly off and so on. Very often, these random elements will add beauty and uniqueness to the final result.
4. True Black and White
It’s easy enough to desaturate a digital photo in post processing, but it’s really not comparable to shooting in black and white. I love film grain in B/W photos, but if it’s digitally added, it just doesn’t look right. But more importantly, if you know you are shooting in black and white, you can keep it in mind when composing your shot, to get the most out of any contrasts and shapes in the frame. Something that’s easy to forget if you’re shooting a digital color photo, which you may or may not convert later.
5. The Romantic Factor
Have you ever heard the sound a Hasselblad makes, when its curtain shutter goes off? It’s a wonderful, thick sound. How about the feel of a metal lever against your thumb, as you manually forward the film in an oldschool rangefinder camera? The slight resistance as it advances to the next frame. Ever had that doubt, that you might have positioned the number in the little red window a little too far to the right? These are all romantic reasons for loving film photography, and I am a sucker for them. There’s just something magical about these mechanical devices.
So there you have it. I’m sure there are more reasons to love film photography, just as there are reasons to love digital. This is just my personal top 5 list. Yours might look different, but you’ll only know if you pick up a camera and get to work.
Click on the links below to view my film Photo Albums on Facebook:
Canonet Album:
Photos taken with a 1969 produced (by Canon Japan), CANONET QL17 35mm Rangefinder.