SLR-ing

Yesterday, I woke up feeling excited. I felt the thrill of enthusiasm in taking pictures. My SLR has been sitting on my desk for a while; it has been months since I took pictures with it. I’ve been photographing unknown persons, nature, still life and yesterday’s was quite different. I never thought of doing a fashion-oriented shoot. It was not easy at all. Everything was improvised, from the lights, reflectors, umbrella, clothes.. the whole studio itself. Everything was amateur and that contributed to the excitement.

The photoshoot was not simple as it sounds, everyone was directing, demanding and desiring for the best shot. And it seemed like I was with the people who neither cared nor noticed my idea. I felt invisible. I felt like I was with people who thought I wasn’t that good enough to be there. Perhaps they know so much better than I do. Disappointing as it may sound though, I still had an energy-draining fun.

It was a new experience. I’ve never photographed a friend (with my SLR) nor directed a shot. It was a test of patience between the subject and the photographer. Everything turned out well. We learned from our pictures and we had a random fun.

I'm looking forward to have a better SLR-ing day (hopefully a different subject). I’d be again feeling the thrill of enthusiasm that’ll last through nights. From this, I learned to keep in mind the importance of taking little steps; little steps towards where working is fun, little steps towards where I really want to go. Small steps could take long to reach a goal but what’s important is that we are progressing.

Roland Garros 2006

It was an unpredictable French Open finale. I was bidding for Federer to win over the clay court. The no.2 seed Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in clay court last night. Federer only lost four matches this year and those four were from Nadal. Federer who is currently ranked as world no. 1 has never won any title in Roland Garros. Nadal defended his title with a four-set (1-6, 6-1, 6-4. 7-6) win. It was a well-played topspins for Nadal. Federer was weirdly bugged by unforced backhand errors and was unable to put pressure on Nadal’s serves.

It was a nail-biting match between the top seeds of tennis. Tension came forth as Nadal served for the match at 5-4 during the fourth set. Though Federer managed into a tie-break, Nadal’s consistency pulled the victory against the no.1 seed. Federer was craving to win all four consecutive grand slam titles but Nadal snapped his attempt in tennis history. The grass court "Wimbledon" season will start soon and i'll be expecting Federer to nail this one.

all summer long

Summer season is officially closed and I didn’t even get to enjoy it. Despite living in a tropical country for almost 20 years, I’ve never admired the sun. I am not a fan of summer. The plague-like heat of the sun is my concept of hell. Its battling glare frazzles my eyes. Its feverish weather torments me. Its summery wind annoys me. Its humidity hassles me. Its..It's not my preferred season. And its long-hour stay on the beach is death-dealing.

But I’ll say I miss summer. I regret that I did not benefit from it. The little part of summer that I experience was in the confines of my own room. Summer class has my attention for five weeks. I was grounded for almost the entire vacation. I lost my phone; I won’t be getting one ‘til regular class starts. These are the highlights of my summer escapade. Ayos!

Since it has been randomly raining these past days, it’s most likely too late to enjoy summer. Scraps of summer are fading. School will soon start. Rain will soon come. School will soon be suspended. Roads will soon be rain-soaked. Rivers will soon be over-flowing. Manila will soon be submerged. However, there is one pathetic remedy to rekindle summer in the confines of your own home— a piece of the Beach boys’ record.