Day 30 - Fire Ants

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 30 - Fire Ants
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
f/5.7 at 1/80 sec.
ISO 400, 135mm focal length

These fire ants form part of a colony which have made their home at a sour sop tree near where I live.

Day 29 - Black Stray Cat

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 29 - Black Stray Cat
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
f/5.7 at 1/60 sec.
ISO 400, 75mm focal length

Another of the stray cats living in the neighborhood. This one has a pure black coat. Just thought of turning the whole picture into black and white.

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof 1
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/125 sec., f/11.3
ISO 100, 60mm focal length

Day 28 - Carps on the Roof 2
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/400 sec., f/12.9
ISO 200, 53mm focal length

Day 27 - Clouds

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 27 - Clouds

Clouds 1
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/400 sec., f/11.3
ISO 200, 19mm focal length

Clouds 2
1/50 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 3
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 20mm focal length

Clouds 4
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 5
1/400 sec., f/10
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 6
1/800 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 7
1/320 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 18mm focal length

Clouds 8
1/1250 sec., f/7
ISO 100, 28mm focal length

This was supposed to come out yesterday.

I took the pictures relatively early. I even tried to setup a panoramic view of the ricefields. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that well.

The good news is that the clouds were dramatic yesterday.

Day 26 - Gates

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 26 - Gates (1) 
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/5
ISO 400, 28mm focal length

Day 26 - Gates (2) 
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/5
ISO 200, 37mm focal length

Day 25 - Sunset on Window

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 25 - Sunset on Window
Canon EOS 550D, 18-135mm lens
1/40 sec., f/8
ISO 100, 135mm focal length
(image cropped)

Day 24 - Subdivision Sunset

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 24 - Subdivision Sunset
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/5.7
ISO 200, 18mm focal length

A sunset picture of the subdivision. Most times, the camera is aimed at the western horizon. This time, I had my back to the sunset.

I don’t go out of the house till late afternoon. The sky’s colors are wonderfully wild and dynamic. If this keeps up, most of my pictures for this product would be shot around sunset or the pictures would be night photography shots.

At the moment, I don’t follow a listing or genre of photography for this project but I hope to go shoot some portraits soon. At some point, I will have to take stock of the pictures and take shots which lack representation.

Day 23 - Water Dragon

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 23 - Water Dragon
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 800, 135mm focal length
No flash.

A table top dragon fountain. 2012 is the year of the water dragon. Coincidence? I don't know.

Day 22 - Bukid Sunset 2

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 22 - Bukid Sunset 2
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/32
ISO 100, 42mm focal length

Day 21 - Bukid Sunset

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 21 - Bukid Sunset
Canon EOS 550D
1/50 sec., f/9
ISO 200, 47mm focal length
36 photos stitched with Hugins Panorama Creator

A panorama picture of the rice paddies near where I live.

Day 20 - Hornet's Nest

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 20 - Hornet's Nest

Nikon D80
1/200 sec. exposure
ISO 160, 50mm focal length

I borrowed my Kenneth's Nikon for the prime 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Canon EOS 550D
1/30 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 100, 126mm focal length

Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 1000, 135mm focal length

Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 1000, 126mm focal length

I don't remember if I'm allergic to hornets, but I didn't want to find out.

Day 19 - Pecorino

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 19 - Pecorino
Canon EOS 550D
1/50 sec. exposure, f/5.6 aperture
ISO 200, 62mm focal length

Yes, I love cheese. Pecorino is an italian cheese, just slightly less revered than parmiggiano regiano.

Day 18 - Old Train Station

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 18 - Old Train Station
Canon EOS 550D
1/160 sec. exposure, f/11 aperture
ISO 200, 18mm focal length

I haven't asked around but it's my guess that this was formerly the Guiguinto Train Station. The old train track is to the right of the structure, and is also where the North Rail (Manila to Clark rapid transit) will pass through. The tracks have been removed and soon the elevated train will start construction here. I'm not sure where the new train station will be situated.

What I really want to do is to shoot this structure with either the morning sun shining from the right, or a light painting. I doubt if I can accomplish the light painting as this is very near the road, with relatively heavy traffic. Even if there was a blackout, the place would still be bright.

For inner Sherlock, those are ipil-ipil trees growing from the cracks between the bricks. Ipil-ipil is a fast growing tree and those trees are maybe a year or two years old.

Day 17 - Sunset on Banana Tree and Bushes

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 17 - Sunset on Banana Tree and Bushes
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec. exposure, f/10 aperture
ISO 200, 29mm focal length


These trees are on opposite blocks of our subdivision.This part of the subdivision was recently opened and so far has few houses. It was close to sunset, and this is the only angle which does not show any dwellings.

Day 16 - Highway Goats

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 16 - Highway Goats
Apple iPod Touch

These goats were foraging along the bank of the road leading to the new NLEX exit going to Guiguinto and Pulilan. The NLEX exit hasn't been opened yet. But once it does get opened to the public, these goats would have to be tethered tight and no longer allowed on the road.

2012 366 Days and 366+ Pictures Project (some thoughts)

So far, I’m moving with this project. I haven’t skipped a day yet. I just hope that I can continue. I don’t think I’ll have a photographer’s block (even if there such a thing). What concerns me is that I might run out of subjects and go the easy route and recycle topics.

I don’t really think I’ll go the other route where I’ll post old photographs. I don’t want to make this into a diary either. I just want a fresh take or a different perspective on the things and subjects which are readily available or accessible.

After 15 days, I know I’m learning a lot. I can keep up the momentum. I’m keeping some subjects for sandbagging purposes. I won’t take them unless circumstances force me. I’ve also decided to keep the moon shots to a minimum. Unless there is a compelling reason, there won’t be any more moon shots. I need to do more sunsets and sunrise. But I really need to get a polarizer for those shots.

Day 15 - Colors

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 15 - Colors
Apple iPod Touch

Vehicular bridge over the NLEX spur.
Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan

I don't think that there's any occasion but there are a lot of flags such as these in our area.

Day 14 - Pusakal

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 14 - Pusakal
1/50 sec. exposure, f/11 aperture
ISO 200, 135mm focal length

This cat is just one of a lot of other stray cats in our neighborhood. I caught this one sleeping on a bench. He didn’t show any reaction at being obviously woken up from a nice nap.

Day 13 - Cayenne

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 13 - Cayenne
1/100 sec. exposure, f/8 aperture
ISO 200, 57mm focal length

Caught a Porsche Cayenne in traffic along Aurora Ave. in San Juan. Brand-spanking-new! That was fun.

And, no, even in traffic our vehicle was not able to keep up with this Porsche.

Day 12 - Tarps and Trapos

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 12 - Tarps and Trapos
Apple iPod Touch

This has always been the case, that the local politician has to advertise what he has done for his constituency. Was the advertising necessary? Not for the people. It’s the people’s money, and they should expect it to be put to good use, and not to buy tarp advertising.

Day 11 - Trinoma

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 11 - Trinoma
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec. exposure, f/8 aperture
ISO 1600
24mm focal length
11 photos stitched with Hugins Panorama Creator

It is never a good idea to shoot panoramic pictures of a mall or any high volume traffic area. You’d end up with repeating people or, worse, headless people.

Day 10: Village Rotunda

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 10: Village Rotunda
Canon EOS 550D
1/60 sec., f/7
ISO 200
18mm focal length

It was almost sundown when I took this picture. It was too cloudy in the east, and the sunset was not very visible.

Day 9 (Additional) Night Photography

It rained the night before, just when the moon was full. But last night the skies were clear and my son and I took the opportunity to take some night shots.

Moon Shot
Canon EOS 550D
1/500 sec., f/14
ISO 400
135mm focal length

Top:  The moon was so bright. Cropped from 18mp to 1200x800.

Taking a Shot at the Moon
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 400
64mm focal length

Second: My son, Kenneth taking a shot of the moon. He uses a Nikon D80, with a 70mm-300mm lens. Yup, he uses a Nikon and I use a Canon. He also has more lenses, courtesy of my brothers who use Nikon D90s.

Night Clouds
10 sec, f/3.5
ISO 400
19mm focal length

Third: Night clouds. This was tricky and I don't think it worked out well enough.

Day 9: Itlog na Pula

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 9: Itlog na Pula
Canon EOS 550D
1/200 sec., f/5
ISO 100
47mm focal length
No flash

It’s an inside joke. I’m sorry, I just had to post this.

Day 8: Light Rain

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 8: Light Rain
Canon EOS 550D
1/40 sec., f/5.7
ISO 800
135mm focal length

It rained for practically the whole day. I waited for it to stop, but unfortunately, it was already evening and it was still drizzling.

This was shot in the early evening. No flash, just a flashlight. Seriously, I use flashlights most days. This time, I only had one assist, Darwi, and I was able to use only one flashlight.

Again, because the picture was dark, there’s not much for processing. I cropped it a bit, making the water drop a bit off center.

There are days, that all I want is a prime lens, 50mm, f/1.8 or better.

Day 7 - Ready for Occupancy

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 7: Ready for Occupancy
Canon EOS 550D
10 seconds exposure, f/10
ISO 400 
18mm focal length

I had some problems on the post-processing on this one. The light was from a strong amber streetlight, on a yellow ochre painted house. The sky was a bit cloudy, with a waxing moon (about three-quarters). 


[Tech talk follows. You can skip this part.] I do my post-processing on GIMP, and usually limit it to adjusting the levels. I'm not sure if I could have gotten better results with the Canon RAW file editor. The MacBook needs to visit the shop. I think it's a hard disk problem. But I digress.  


This time, I had to adjust using the curves as well. If you're familiar with the tools and the pictures, you can imagine that the histogram would be high on the dark end, with the red spread thin from up to the highlights. The green and blue would be spikes on the shadows and that's it. You need to adjust the curves on the greens and blues to get the dark blue sky. Otherwise, the black sky would blend with the top of the house, resulting in an invisible roof. [End tech talk.]


I am learning a lot about my camera and what it can do. In an ideal world, I would have used a wider lens. The 18mm on a Canon EOS 550D is roughly equivalent to a 2mm on a full-frame DSLR or a 35mm film SLR. For this kind of a shot, I would have wanted a wider lens, bordering on a fish-eye. Like any photographer, the wish list is very long and keeps getting longer. [End of more tech talk.]

I don't blame the equipment, in fact, I am pushing my camera to see both my limits and the camera's as well. This is the edge of the envelope as far as this goes.


This house was finished before Christmas, but the owners have not yet moved. This is the same site as the bulldozer pic I posted a while back.

Day 6: Boxing Christmas

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 6: Boxing Christmas
Apple iPod Touch

Christmas Season 2011 is officially over.

The Christmas decorations were down, stowed and boxed this morning. By the time I got up there was nothing left but a neat box of decorations, except for the Christmas lights. I'm not sure if the Christmas lights would be taken down anytime soon.

I haven't tried instagram yet as I haven't downloaded the app. I find the tilt-shift feature as pretty compelling.

This may sound weird but although I'm more comfortable with my Canon EOS 550D, I can and do use any camera available. My phone camera is a little dinky relatively low-res device and when there's something I find amusing, I take the phone out and take the picture.

I have a wish list of camera related devices and accessories. Sadly, I'm not sure I can fulfill the list any time soon.

Day 5: Venus

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 5: Venus
Canon EOS 550D
10 sec. f/5.7
ISO 800 18mm focal length

I was trying to frame the star (I think that's Venus) between the branches, and the electric post.

Day 4: Half Moon

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 4: Half Moon
Canon EOS 550D
1/80 sec. f/5.7
ISO 200 126mm focal length

I wasn’t able to take a picture of the half-moon while it was rising, and serving as background to some structures or trees. This picture was taken around 6:00pm and already getting dark.

[Note to self: either take a shot of the moon rise or moon set, or borrow a camera with a longer lens in order to see the details of the moon.]

Day 3: Shelfware

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project

Day 3: Shelfware
Canon EOS 550D
1 sec. f/5
ISO 200
18mm focal length

My work shelf with some shelfware.

Day 2: Mt. Arayat

2012 366 Days 366+ Pics Project
Day 2: Mt. Arayat

Canon EOS 550D
1/125 sec. f/7
ISO 200
126mm focal length

Cloudy, muggy afternoon shot of Mt. Arayat, sunset of January 2, 2012. Taken from the subdivision where I live.

366 Days, 366+ Pics, Day 1: Aftermath

Canon EOS550D
1/60sec.,  f/5.6
ISO 200 18mm-135mm lens at 18mm.
Fill flash used. Manually focused.

 Around 12:40am of January 1, the firecrackers have died out, and almost nobody else was out on the streets in our subdivision.

Since we don’t live in the metro, the smoke was a lot less than what we were used to. Supposedly, there was also less fireworks this year. Considering that we live very near the firecracker capital of the Philippines, that’s a big improvement.

With my son, Kenneth, we went out to take shots of fireworks. I forgot to bring my tripod and had lousy shots of fireworks. Kenneth had several good ones. He’s had some practice these past few weeks.

At the street corner, the trash we found was mainly from a judas belt and several flares and fountains. Looking at this pic, I definitely see that I have a lot of work to do before I can be satisfied with my shots. Oh well.

2012 366 Days and 366+ Pictures Project

It’s a leap year this year, and I was thinking of doing a 366 pictures project. There are several things this would help me accomplish. If I keep at it, I can be sure of getting a daily practice with my camera. Not shooting on a regular basis makes me rusty and easily forget the simple things. I need this more to practice my skills, and develop them, than for anything else. I just hope I can be persistent in this. I already have several dates on my calendar for night photography. And several dates for early morning, dawn, or dusk photo shoots. I don’t think I’ll do people that much, specially portraiture. Most of the pics would be of random objects. At some point, I would be doing panoramic shoots as well as HDR attempts. I will definitely be posting some action shots, as well as light paintings and long exposures. I would also be posting multiple pics for some days. I just hope that I don’t go zero for a lot of days. I definitely see some lag time between shooting the pics and posting them. The posts will also be on my other blogs, as well as Twitter (maybe), Facebook (some), Google+ (definitely). I’ll try to add the camera settings for most of the pictures. I would also be posting some guest shots every so often. Most of these would be by Kenneth. So here goes nothing.