Night Shots: An Experiment

Can you guess what these people are doing?

No, they are not waiting for their death by firing squad.

I didn't use any flash for these because I don't want to disturb them.

Although it looks like it.

I went spying on my neighbors practicing their street dance entry

for the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Tacloban 2013.

Somehow, I got the feeling that I got transported back in time.

  Eerie.. But this is I think is the effect of the beat of the drums.
Sound can distort how images develop.

I can't help myself but wonder a bit if these were real people dancing and not ...ghosts..

Good thing I'm way past my hallucination days. :)

  Looks like an Egyptian dance to me.
But it's not. It's a tribal dance.

Pintados dance to the beat of the drums and chanting alone. 

No other instruments.. Just drums.

Notes:
Canon Powershot S2 IS 5mp digital camera 12x optical image stabilized zoom

The Art of Tattoo

Tribal Tattoo

This is the traditional way of tattooing by the tribes in the Philippines. 

Tattoo marks were once used as a rite of passage of boys to manhood. They also marked their bodies with tattoos after their very first kill.

  In modern times, tribal tattoos in the Philippines are still preserved although there are very few who can perform this. Compared to the modern tattoo, tribal tattoo is more painful. i suppose, thus the notion that people with tattoos are tough.

But as time goes by, tattoos are now considered as a form of an art work, body art. More and more people decorate their bodies with tattoos as a form of self-expression. 

 The artists and expressionists find body art as a more personal way of expressing their freedom and individuality.

Cool piece. Ink vessel.

Henna Tattoo

For some who wanted to try having marks on their bodies yet unprepared for the permanency of the tattoos, they can always opt for hennas which can last from two weeks to a month. 

Permanent Tattoo

Ricky Sta. Ana, premier tattoo artist and product endorser graced the judging of the tattoo competition.

Interesting Designs

Artist tattooed on his model's back a portrait of our beloved city councilor.

 Did he do justice to it? 

You be the judge.

This is the most interesting entry for me. Look at how intricate the design is. Artist must have a very keen attention to details.See the little soldiers. Only an expert and a true artist would be able to do that perfectly in 5 hours or less.

Photos taken during the Inktrada III: Tattoo Art Festival of Tacloban, a tattoo competition held annually as a part of the Sangyaw Festival of the City of Tacloban.

For more information on the artists featured above, please click here.

Inktrada II entry photos click here.

Requiem

To Remember Me

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital; busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped. 

When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives. 

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman. 

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. 

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. 

Give my kidneys to the one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week. 

Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk. 

Explore every corner of my brain. 

Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window. 

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow. 

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness and all prejudice against my fellow man. 

Give my sins to the devil. 

Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever. 

-Robert N. Test

Blast from the Past

Practicing my photo editing skills.

I don't look too bad in real life. :)

Sketches

Tried making picquote.

But thought about it over.

Vanity is a sin.

Guess who's that girl with me.

That's Rica Peralejo.

Pre- sexy movies era.

Post-Bojo Molina.

Now she's an active motivational speaker.

For singles.

To wait for the right person.

For that God-given partner for you.

Obviously, this was for Christmas.

A Taiwanese photography studio asked me to do this.

To pose as a model for a sample photo book.

To be able to get the Filipino market.

All this photoshoot was for free.

Never thought I'd wear an all-red dress.

I look like Mrs. Claus.

:)

I wonder what's with the hand under chin pose?

Vanity and Me

Just feeling happy.

And free.

I can be serious sometimes.

If you want to be happy. 

Be.

-Leo Tolstoy

Full-face.

Moon face.

Why'd my hair turned wavy?

Pensive...

What was I thinking at that time?

What's for dinner?

:)

 One of the rare moments I get to have a nice shot.

Me and my bestfriend.

Shades.

Practice edits.

Colored my hair.

Reddish brown.

New color for me.

An experiment.